A Clarence Point of View

Here it is, Wednesday, and I am still trying to get words on the screen.  I am really struggling with the messages lately and could use someone to help me discuss and process.  There is so much competing for my attention right now.  Do you feel it too? It doesn't take being in the midst of a crisis like George was with the bank to feel overwhelmed, despondent, lost, helpless and hopeless.  If only there were some definitive, finite, subjective way to get it all under control.   If I do this, this and this, then everything will be just fine.

That is what was happening in the scripture this week - Phillipians 3:7-14.   Paul is talking to the Gentiles in Phillipi who are listening to teachers telling them that if they follow the Jewish law they will get to "be holy" - the focus is on the law .  They have lost their perspective.  Sure, the laws give them the comfort of concrete steps they can take as the means to a finite end - knowing Christ and God.  Paul tells them (and us) clearly that it is a process not a product, a journey not a destination.  He even admits that he is not there, but is pressing on towards his goal - having a righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith and knowing Christ.

The pastor used a brilliant illustration for the children's story this week.  She tried to take a picture of the children, but had the camera pointed the wrong way.  Of course the kids caught it and tried to stop her, but they couldn't.  It was easy for them (and the adults) to get the point - she was focused on herself and not others.  George Bailey allowed the needs of others to shape his life - staying at the savings and loan when his father died, giving away his honeymoon cash during a bank run, lending to neighbors who were probably bad risks financially but good people.  He focuses on making the best success of the savings and loan that he can, and that is how he defines himself. When the deposit is lost and the business is failing, George can see no value in anything he has done.  He feels himself a failure with no way out.


When Clarence jumps into the river, he changes George's focus.  He immediately goes back to shaping his goals and actions by the needs of others, saving Clarence.  God comes to George through Clarence, kind of a "burning bush" moment.  When he sees how the town looks without his influence, George realizes that it is not the things he has done, but the people with whom he has been in relationship, and the way he has conducted himself in those relationships that really matters.

All those things competing for my attention, how do I put them aside and get to know Christ, get to holy?   The first step is to remember that God comes to each one of us in small ways, every day.  We simply need to be open and recognize him.  God reached out to Paul and the Phillipians through Jesus, and to George through Clarence, and while we probably aren't going to get a burning bush or Clarence moment, God also reaches out to us first every day. We simply need to accept the invitation and live in relationship.  And know that no matter what, you matter.