March 2010

It’s always a treat to watch the Olympic games. The more of the fast down-hill skiing and the ski-jumping that I watch, the more grateful I am that our sons did not take to that sport. Likewise, I am thankful that they did not take up bob-sledding or the luge. We need a message at the bottom of the screen that says: “Do not try this at home.”

The figure skating has always been a favorite to watch – the sheer grace of it, and the elegance of couple-skating. Curling, however, is a rather peculiar ‘sport’. How did it get to be an Olympic event? It seems just too silly.

The Olympics leave me with a sense of awe. So many athletes from throughout the world, coming together in good sport.

The MOST marvelous thing about watching the Olympics, however, is the way that we are transported to the scene by the cameras. It’s almost as though we were there. It’s probably BETTER than being there in person, because we can see things close-up through the lens of a camera, things we would miss if we were merely watching from within a crowd. We can see the faces of the athletes, their anticipation, their concentration, their joys and their disappointments. And all the while, we are not ourselves standing out in the cold!

Since we could not all travel to Vancouver, we are content to watch the events unfold through someone else’s eyes, through their cameras. The camera personnel have been so good that we even forget that they are there! They help us to focus (literally!) on what is going on, not on the fact that they are working very hard to capture the images that we see. Since we cannot be there, everything we see is through their eyes.

If WE were to serve as the ‘camera people’ for Jesus Christ, and everything others learned about our Lord came through us, how well would they see him? Would we be able to give them a ‘close-up’ view of Christ? How well could we seemingly ‘transport’ others to the scene, so that they might feel that they were there? Or maybe we are getting in the way, and letting the focus be on ourselves rather than on Jesus.

I love watching the Olympics. They can be exciting. I also have a deep appreciation for the folks who make it possible for me to watch them. They work very hard behind-the-scenes so that I can feel connected to what is going on. As followers of Jesus Christ, that is OUR role - - to share the excitement of a life in him with others, to make it possible for THEM to feel the connection with what God has done, and with what God continues to do.

Where is our focus? Are we helping others to see Christ through our eyes, through us? (Or merely in spite of us?) Like those camera-people who are covering the Olympic games, working behind the scenes and keeping themselves out-of-view, we must be careful not to get in the way of the Good News of Christ, while we diligently seek ways to help others experience it for themselves.

The Olympics come only every four years. The message of Jesus Christ is ALWAYS with us - - to be shared. “We’ve a Savior to show to the nations, who the path of sorrow hath trod, that all of the world’s great peoples might come to the truth of God…” (H. Ernest Nichol, 1896, UMH #569, st. 4)

God bless,

     Rev. Kit