John 13:35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
I recently attended a dinner theatre to watch Agatha Christie’s Mousetrap. I love mysteries, but I clearly missed a few clues. And the most jarring oversight didn’t even occur in the play!
Since the dinner was a buffet, the person who attended our table greeted us and took our drink orders. He returned at intermission to make sure we didn’t want more coffee. Only later did I realize our waiter and the man who played the inspector in the show were one and the same. He wasn’t even disguised, which made my cluelessness even more egregious. Sadly, I realized I hadn’t really looked at him.
It made me wonder how many other folks I fail to see. Cashiers, custodians, waitresses? I think it’s especially easy for folks in the serving industry to seem invisible. We focus so much on our agenda, that we overlook our fellow image-bearers completely. How can we demonstrate the love of Christ to others if we don’t even acknowledge them? Maybe if we took the time to look them in the eyes or offer them a smile, we might leave them a clue about what God’s like.
Jesus spoke a lot about the importance of loving other people. He said our love for others would show the world we were his disciples. In other words, our love serves as clues directing others to him. To his kindness, his compassion, his grace.
I witnessed one of those clues in my class the other day. One of my students stayed afterwards to ask whether I thought he could still pass the course after messing up on his first two speeches. Another student happened to overhear him, and immediately offered his help. As I prayed with my student, it became clear that God wanted to show this distraught, insecure student how much he loved him through his classmate’s kind offer. We both saw the goodness of God a bit more clearly that day.
So lately I’ve been paying closer attention to the people around me. I want to leave clues that help them realize they are important enough to be seen, and if seen, acknowledged, and if acknowledged, loved.
Why don’t you join me in leaving some clues?