Noticing

2 Imagine two people coming into your meeting. One has a gold ring and fine clothes, while the other is poor, dressed in filthy rags. 3 Then suppose that you were to take special notice of the one wearing fine clothes, saying, “Here’s an excellent place. Sit here.” But to the poor person you say, “Stand over there”; or, “Here, sit at my feet.” (James 2:2-3)

23 After a long time the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned under their slavery, and cried out. Out of the slavery their cry for help rose up to God. 24 God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 25 God looked upon the Israelites, and God took notice of them. (Exodus 2:23-25)

When I read these two different accounts of noticing together (one from the Torah, one a New Testament letter written to early churches), I am struck by the contrast of what we humans tend to notice and what God notices.

In his letter to the churches, James seems to be pointing out the people’s tendency to hold the wealthy and well-dressed with honor, treating them with respect. While doing this they overlook, ignore and even treat with disdain anyone who is poorly dressed, with ripped, stained clothing and an unkempt appearance, perhaps a foreign face.

James is urging the people to dig deeper, to notice what lies beneath surfaces. This kind of noticing implies taking your time, giving more careful attention and restraining snappy judgment. James is urging the people to notice in the way that God notices.

The account from Exodus reminds us of this. The Hebrew people were immigrants in Egypt, upon whose sweaty backs the Egyptians built their Empire. God heard the groans of the Hebrew people, listened to them, took special notice of them - and then did something decisive.

God’s presence filled a bush in the desert, where the shepherds of Midian took their flocks to graze. One of the shepherds noticed this blazing bush that wasn’t burning up. This pausing to notice encouraged the Lord to speak from the bush to the shepherd Moses.

God’s decisive action was to see who was paying attention and then to work through them. The rest, as they say, is ancient history.

In the world we live in today, it is important for us to step back and reflect a bit on how we notice. What do we pay attention to? What escapes our attention? What (or who) do we avoid focusing on?

Then, what assumptions and conclusions do we make about what we see and hear? These are crucial questions we need to be asking ourselves. Many powerful people are vying for the authority to shape our interpretive lenses.

We have a responsibility to pay attention to the voices of the poorly dressed, the “least of these,” the marginalized in our midst. As we take notice of them in their plight, how might God act decisively through us?