Notice What Needs to Change

Scripture: Isaiah 5:1–7; Luke 12:49–56

Sometimes getting close to God changes what we notice.

The prophet Isaiah looked at God's people and saw a vineyard. God had lovingly planted and cared for it, expecting good fruit. But something had gone wrong. Where God desired justice, Isaiah saw injustice. Where God desired righteousness, people were crying out because they had been hurt.

Jesus noticed things, too.

Jesus noticed people others overlooked. He noticed when religious rules became more important than people. He noticed greed, injustice, fear, and hypocrisy. And because Jesus loved people, he did not always remain quiet about what he saw.

That could make people uncomfortable.

In Luke 12, Jesus uses the startling image of fire. Following Jesus is not always comfortable or agreeable. God's love is gentle, but it is not indifferent. God loves us, our neighbors, and the whole creation too much to simply shrug when something is hurting.

Learning to follow Jesus, then, includes learning to notice.

Not so that we can become better at finding what is wrong with other people, but so that we can become attentive to what God loves.

A Practice of Holy Noticing

Try this sometime this week while taking a walk, driving together, eating dinner, or talking about your day.

1. Notice

Ask:

What did you notice today?

Begin broadly. Don't start with problems.

Maybe someone noticed beautiful clouds, a friend laughing, a person sitting alone, an argument on the playground, litter beside the road, someone sharing, or someone being treated unfairly.

Practice noticing without immediately explaining or fixing.

2. Wonder

Choose one thing that caught your attention and wonder about it together.

I wonder what God notices here.

I wonder what is good here.

I wonder if anything is hurting.

I wonder what God might want for this person or place.

Children may notice something adults haven't noticed. Resist the temptation to quickly supply the “right” interpretation. Listening is part of the practice.

3. Look Inward

Before deciding what someone else ought to do, ask:

Is there anything God might be showing us about ourselves?

Perhaps we walked past someone.

Perhaps we were unkind.

Perhaps we have more than we need.

Perhaps we were afraid to speak.

Or perhaps we discover that we were already participating in something good.

God's invitation is not always correction. Sometimes God helps us recognize goodness so that we can join it.

4. Take the Next Loving Step

Now ask:

What might love do next?

The answer does not need to be dramatic.

Invite someone to play.

Pick something up.

Share.

Say, “That's not kind.”

Ask someone if they're okay.

Apologize.

Tell a trusted adult.

Pray.

Sometimes the faithful response may even be to keep listening until we understand better.

Choose one small thing you can actually do.

Why This Matters

We sometimes imagine faith as knowing the right things about God. Scripture gives us a much bigger picture.

Coming close to God changes how we see.

Isaiah came close to the holiness of God and then looked differently at the world around him. Jesus invites his disciples to pay attention to the signs around them. Again and again, people who encounter God begin noticing people and circumstances they previously overlooked.

This is one reason noticing can become a spiritual discipline.

We aren't training children merely to identify problems. We are helping them become people who can pay loving attention to God, themselves, their neighbors, and the world.

And sometimes love will disturb us.

That discomfort does not always mean something has gone wrong. Sometimes it may be the beginning of compassion.

Wonder Together

• I wonder what you notice that other people sometimes miss.

• I wonder how we can tell the difference between judging someone and noticing that something is wrong.

• I wonder if loving someone ever means saying something difficult.

• I wonder what Jesus notices when he looks at our neighborhood.

• I wonder what God might be inviting us to do.

Don't rush to answer every question. Wondering itself can be prayer.

Pray Together

Place your hands over your hearts.

Leader: God, set our hearts on fire with your love.

All: Help us notice what you notice.

Open your hands toward one another and toward the world.

Leader: Give us courage to follow Jesus.

All: Show us the next loving step.

Leader: When something needs to change,

All: Begin your good work in us.

Amen.

Make It a Family Rhythm

Try adding two questions to dinner, the ride home from school, or bedtime:

What was beautiful today?

What do you wish were different?

Hold both answers before God.

Over time, this little practice can teach us something important: disciples of Jesus do not look at the world primarily to find what is wrong with it. We learn to look at the world with love.

We notice beauty and give thanks.

We notice suffering and draw near.

We notice injustice and seek what is right.

We notice our own part and allow God to change us.

And then, trusting that God is already at work, we take the next loving step.