The sharp-eyed girl
by Colleen Fitzpatrick
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A servant girl … looked at him closely and said ‘This man was with him’ (Luke 22:56).
Read Luke 22:52–62
When she was still a preschooler, my granddaughter spotted a teddy bear being thrown out of a window in an episode of Peppa Pig. ‘Grandma,’ she said, ‘that was defenestration’. Which, of course, it was.* This young woman has always been sharp-eyed and the go-to person if anything is mislaid at home or if grandparents need information about what’s what and there is no parent around to answer the question.
No – today’s devotion is not about recommending the practice of defenestration. Rather, when I pondered my granddaughter’s comment, I came to the questions: What do people see when they see me? And what do they see when they see the church? Would the sharp-eyed girl in today’s Bible reading recognise us as being with him?
Here, we have Peter sitting around the fire with a group of people. A young woman peers closely at Peter and recognises him as a follower of Jesus. We don’t know how or why she comes to recognise Peter. Maybe she had seen him with Jesus, or perhaps it was the way he was dressed and/or spoke.
How would people know that we are with Jesus? When we speak about others, do we do so with respect and put on the best interpretation of their behaviour? Does the light of Jesus’ love shine through our actions when we’re at home? Or with our friends?
And what do people think when they see our church? As the Lutheran Church of Australia and New Zealand (LCANZ), we say we’re a church ‘where love comes to life’. Is that the way others see us? What does the sharp-eyed girl see when she looks at the LCANZ?
Galatians 5 has some great encouragement for us. In verse 13, we’re told to ‘Serve one another in love’. In verses 22 and 23, we read that ‘the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control’. That’s something to live up to!
Inspirational God, nurture us so that we may bear your Spirit’s fruit and help us to provide loving service to those we come in contact with today, so that they may know that we are indeed with you. Amen.
*Defenestration means throwing a person or thing out of the window. It was used most famously in Prague to get rid of one of their rulers.
Colleen has a husband, two daughters, three granddaughters and a wide range of extended family and friends. She lives in Adelaide and loves the way the various parts of her life intersect. Colleen is involved in numerous committees within the church and community. She loves to read. Colleen coordinates her congregation’s prayer group and is delighted to respond to requests for prayer from friends and family.
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