Pastor's column
Published Friday, April 11, 2008
Clay Mitchell
My very first viewing experience with High Definition TV came last fall during the Monday night football game between the Vikings and the Bears.
I wasn't amazed so much by the fact that the Vikings won as I was by the brilliant detail from the HD signal. It actually took my eyes a little bit to adjust to the clarity of the picture. As I write this now, I'm pretty sure I'm breaking one of the commandments (the one about not envying other people's stuff).
When I arrived home, my wife was curled up under a blanket and camped in front of our television set. I had to check if my glasses were still on because the picture from our feeble cable signal seemed so fuzzy and out of focus compared to the HD signal.
I am, by no means, a technical guru when it comes to televisions and signals and understanding how all of that works. I just know my eyes have been opened to a whole new world I had not known before. That happens in our spiritual journeys, as well.
There's a story in Luke 24 of two men walking together and discussing the events surrounding the death of Jesus and the recent news of his possible resurrection.
A stranger (whom we discover is the risen Jesus) joins their journey and interjects with words of his own, recounting the writings of Moses and the prophets concerning the Messiah.
As his teaching is coming to a close, so is their journey along the road. At their destination, the men insist that the stranger stay with them for the night since it is getting late.
At dinner that night, the stranger took the bread, broke it, and blessed it. At that moment the men's eyes were opened to the fact that Jesus has been in their midst. It was him all along.
I am encouraged to know that Jesus is present, always. Even in the mundane. Or when life is blurry and out of focus. He's here not only at Christmas or Easter which is when my spiritual reception tends to be a little clearer than at other times in life.
It is my prayer that, even though we may not always recognize him, our hearts would trust in (and be receptive to) his “present risenness” in our lives.
Clay Mitchell is the youth pastor at First Church of the Nazarene in Fergus Falls.
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