ALIENS IN OUR WORLD
1 Peter
2:11 Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain
from sinful desires, which war against your soul.
"I've
always felt like an alien myself. In fact, I often think of myself as an outsider
in my own life." Words of actor John Lithgow after receiving an Emmy Award
for his role of a visitor from outer space in the television comedy 3rd Rock
From The Sun.
You know
the feeling. At a gathering of people, a colorful joke is made and everyone
begins laughing. Everyone but you. You feel awkward. You don’t understand what
is so funny. The humor is lost in your mind. Maybe you understand their
laughter but refuse to join in. You ask yourself why are they laughing at
someone’s misfortune. Welcome to the “alienness” of the Christian life. There
will be more times of such awkwardness.
I walked
into the service garage to pick up my car. The mechanics were huddled together
around a car. As I approached from a distance, I could hear an occasional curse
word and laughter as one man was telling an apparently funny tale. As I got
closer one of the men, he knew me as a Christian, looked up and saw me. He
turned to the others. Their laughter and conversation abruptly stopped. They
straightened up and welcomed me. What caused them to change their behavior and
stop their discussion? The presence of an alien reminded them of our
differences. It brought to their mind the differences between themselves and
me. This alien did not laugh at their jokes, spoke a different language and was
friendly to all. The alien was different then them. Not wanting to offend, they
stopped for a moment in order to get the alien on his way again. As I talked to
the mechanic in charge of my repair the others stood there watching in silence.
After thanking him and paying the bill I turned to leave. In silence they
watched me walk away and get into my car. As I drove away I noticed that they
had turned away and had returned to their loud and boisterous discussion. Their
world had been interrupted. But now, the alien was gone.
Prayer: In
the image of Christ, remake me. May I appear to the world as an alien, an
outsider that looks acts and loves not as they do, but as does Christ? Amen.
