“Oh, there you are, Jesus!” September 1st, 2011

In 1991, the movie Hook hit the theaters. Robin Williams starred as the adult Peter Pan who had forgotten how to fly. But, when his children were kidnapped by the pirate Captain Hook, played by Dustin Hoffman, a little pixie named Tink, played by Julia Roberts, came to Peter Banning, the adult Pan, and took him to Neverland.

There is a scene where one of the lost boys holds Peter's face in his hands, pushes his eyes into a different shape, squeezes his mouth, and stretches the wrinkles out of Pam's face, then proclaims, "Oh, there you are Peter." Long story short, Banning realizes his true identity and begins to fly again as the revived Peter Pan.

I think of that scene sometimes when I look into the faces of those around me. Wrinkles of worry and from the cares of this world have turned them into a human Shar-Pei. (that is one of those severely wrinkled dogs). Like the adult Peter Pan, they have forgotten how to fly. So, I push their faces around, squint their eyes, iron out the wrinkles and then,"Oh, there you are, Jesus!"

The other night as my wife, son, and I were in a department store shopping in Kalamazoo, my son was begging to go play that "claw game" where you try to win a stuffed animal. With a hang full of quarters given to him by his Mom, we were off to find that game.

There standing in front of the game was a young man. He said, "Go ahead and play! I play this game all the time." He stepped back and my son blew through his quarters without winning the Clifford the Dog he had hoped to win. Then, it was on to the gumball machine.

Across the room, I heard this young man say to my son, "Hey buddy. Come here." He handed my son a blue Cookie Monster he had won on his first try. It was then that I saw it in this act of kindness that blessed my 4-year old. "Oh, there you are, Jesus!" This young man, whose name is Jeremiah, had learned to fly again. Miles away from Three Rivers, we looked at each other and realized we both work for the same company. "Thank you Jeremiah! I am so blessed we work in the same company. You blessed my son, blessed his mother and I, and I saw Jesus in you."

How many of us have forgotten who we are in Christ and have forgotten how to fly? We let the cares of this world wrinkle our brows and weigh us down. We forget sometimes that we have the Christ in us, the hope of glory. Our eyes are focused on the ground instead of looking towards Heaven from where our help comes.

As I walk throughout the campus here in Three Rivers, I am always excited to notice "Oh, there you are, Jesus!" in the eyes and faces of many. These are those who have learned to fly once again. Fly by faith with no fear of crashing because they know that God will catch them when and if they fall.

Today, I saw it again as I read the New Employee Introduction announcing a new member of the Armstrong family of employee's. Welcome home Mike Findley. May God be seen in you, through you, and back from us as we do this thing called "work" ... "Avodah" ... "worship".

"Oh, there you are, Jesus!"