Open Our Eyes, Lord

We have just returned from a week in inner-city Memphis for a mission trip. It was an eye-opening experience, to say the least. All week long, I was reminded of that old praise and worship song Open Our Eyes, Lord.

Open our eyes, Lord

We want to see Jesus,

To reach out and touch Him,

And say that we love Him.

The words to this song have always haunted me. On more than one occasion, I have found myself near tears and wanting to stand up in the middle of a worship service and ask if we really meant the words we were singing. Do we really want to see Jesus? A lot of times He is dirty, cold, hungry, and thirsty. Is that the Jesus we are looking for these days?

That is certainly the Jesus we look for when we are on a mission trip. On those trips, we see Him everywhere. We see Him in the 24-year old woman we worked for who is struggling to raise her four children and many of her own siblings. We see Him in the hundreds of families who have made the commitment to live in inner-city Memphis and love their brothers and sisters who are broken because they are broken, too. We see Him in the older man who lives in an abandoned car wash that smells of urine and beer. He wakes up each day shaking violently, desperate for a drink. We saw Him everywhere.

We are home now. Are our eyes still open? This is where it counts. It is not enough to go out and serve one or two times a year. It has to translate into the everyday. This is not to diminish the work done last week (and throughout the year through Service Over Self). But it is fleeting if it only lasts for a week or so here and there.

Jesus is all around us - always hungry, thirsty, dirty, cold, and broken. Sometimes in the most unlikely places. He is in that woman you see everyday at work who seems to have it all together. Or maybe in the man who holds it all together each day for his family, but is dying inside because of some secret addiction. That child who feels isolated and unloved at home and at school. Sometimes he looks like a friend or family member who is just having a bad day and stands in need of extra encouragement. And yes, sometimes He looks just like what we saw last week in inner-city Memphis.

There are times when the hunger is physical. There are just as many times when it is a spiritual hunger. There are times when the best thing we can do is offer a cup of water. Then there are times when the thirst can only be satisfied by Living Water. Sometimes the dirt is noticeable and real. Other times it is hidden in the recesses of our hearts. There are days when the need is for a coat to bring warmth. Many days the need is for listening ears and the warmth of a smile and a hug at just the right time. We encounter Jesus in our everyday. Will we recognize Him? Sometimes the task is like the one we tackled last week - a mission project. Most days it takes the form of the mundane - hospitality, encouragement, listening, courtesy, availability.

There's this old quote that I love. I wrote it out for my mom years ago and she still has it on her bulletin board at home. I wrote it in a fun sort of font because that is the way I understood it then. It carries new meaning today. The quote reads, "People see God everyday, they just don't recognize Him..." (Pearl Bailey). Oh, that we would open our eyes and see Him, reach out and touch Him, and say that we love Him...everyday.