WEBVTT 00:00:01.000 --> 00:00:04.780 A man was in a restaurant and he ordered a large pizza. 00:00:05.740 --> 00:00:12.060 When it was brought to his table, the waiter asked him if he would like it sliced into four pieces or six. 00:00:12.800 --> 00:00:15.640 The man thought about this for a moment and then he replied, 00:00:16.019 --> 00:00:20.600 you better make it four slices. I don't think I could possibly manage six. 00:00:22.339 --> 00:00:25.240 There are different ways of looking at the same reality. 00:00:25.239 --> 00:00:34.239 When I think about this passage from Matthew 25, that's what challenges me most. 00:00:35.519 --> 00:00:40.759 Jesus tells us that there will be a time when we will look back on our lives 00:00:40.759 --> 00:00:48.060 and realise that there were so many situations that we could have approached in different ways, 00:00:48.820 --> 00:00:50.939 looking at them, seeing them differently. 00:00:50.939 --> 00:00:59.140 Every day there are circumstances which present themselves with choices as to how we respond. 00:01:00.379 --> 00:01:05.060 On the one hand, we can look at a person in need and we can see them negatively, 00:01:05.659 --> 00:01:10.319 maybe treating them with suspicion or regarding them as an inconvenience 00:01:10.319 --> 00:01:15.180 or just focusing in on whatever happens to be negative about them. 00:01:15.180 --> 00:01:21.720 And incidentally, all of us have something negative about us because none of us are perfect. 00:01:23.320 --> 00:01:29.040 On the other hand, we can look at the other person and we can see them as an opportunity 00:01:29.040 --> 00:01:32.160 to serve Christ by serving them. 00:01:33.460 --> 00:01:36.820 Every day is bursting with opportunities. 00:01:36.820 --> 00:01:42.120 If only we could exercise just a bit more discernment in spotting them. 00:01:42.120 --> 00:01:49.359 In recent years, we've been talking of FOMO, fear of missing out. 00:01:49.960 --> 00:01:54.600 But there's nothing new about the idea of being poised to seize the moment. 00:01:56.840 --> 00:01:59.360 It was the year AD 79. 00:02:00.659 --> 00:02:07.659 The ladies' hands were full of rings, bracelets, necklaces, chains and other pieces of jewellery. 00:02:07.659 --> 00:02:13.539 Torrents of lava were erupting and pouring down from Mount Vesuvius. 00:02:14.759 --> 00:02:19.919 As she fled, this woman was not prepared to leave behind her valuable jewels. 00:02:21.359 --> 00:02:26.379 Encumbered by her treasures, she was overwhelmed by the rain of ashes from the volcano 00:02:26.379 --> 00:02:28.479 and was buried under it. 00:02:29.620 --> 00:02:32.079 During the course of modern building operations, 00:02:32.319 --> 00:02:36.939 her petrified body was found outside the area of the buried city of Pompeii. 00:02:36.939 --> 00:02:39.120 An ancient Roman port. 00:02:40.479 --> 00:02:43.579 Her body was unearthed in a sea of jewels. 00:02:44.840 --> 00:02:48.180 She lost her life in an attempt to save her treasures. 00:02:49.159 --> 00:02:50.699 In the rush of the moment, 00:02:51.240 --> 00:02:54.919 she was confronted with the question of what mattered most to her 00:02:54.919 --> 00:02:58.539 and ordered her priorities and choices accordingly. 00:02:58.539 --> 00:03:03.459 She seized what seemed to be of highest importance. 00:03:05.000 --> 00:03:10.180 And so it is that we face choices each and every day of our lives. 00:03:10.719 --> 00:03:16.019 We might not be faced with the critical moment of how we escape an erupting volcano. 00:03:16.020 --> 00:03:22.300 But let's not make the mistake of thinking that everyday life is any less critical. 00:03:23.560 --> 00:03:27.320 In every conversation, in every interaction, in every decision, 00:03:27.500 --> 00:03:32.860 no matter how mundane, there usually exists some kind of opportunity. 00:03:32.860 --> 00:03:41.580 And today's Bible reading challenges us to keep our eyes and our ears and our minds and our hearts 00:03:41.580 --> 00:03:47.900 open to the question of how God might be served in each such opportunity. 00:03:47.900 --> 00:03:51.420 In Romans 12, Paul writes, 00:03:52.159 --> 00:03:57.540 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 00:03:58.379 --> 00:04:00.500 And then in 1 Peter 3.15, it says, 00:04:01.060 --> 00:04:07.780 Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. 00:04:07.780 --> 00:04:18.939 See, that's the life we're called to live, to always be ready and ready to say and do whatever is needed to share hope and peace with others, 00:04:19.120 --> 00:04:25.540 to generate hope and peace, grabbing every opportunity we can to reach out into the lives of others. 00:04:26.379 --> 00:04:28.300 It might not always be obvious. 00:04:28.560 --> 00:04:29.899 I guess that's the point. 00:04:30.639 --> 00:04:33.240 That's the point of the story that Jesus tells us here. 00:04:33.240 --> 00:04:46.540 Most opportunities to bring hope and peace to the world and to transform the lives of others are presented to us in ways that are subtle and which can easily be missed. 00:04:47.360 --> 00:04:50.000 So let me leave you with the following image. 00:04:51.040 --> 00:04:56.960 I want you to imagine that you have in your hands a box of matches. 00:04:56.959 --> 00:05:04.899 When you look at that box of matches, when you pick it up and shake it in your hand, what do you see? 00:05:05.919 --> 00:05:11.359 Is it just a little cardboard box containing a pile of small wooden sticks? 00:05:12.879 --> 00:05:17.379 Or do you see something that needs to be regarded with a bit of care and caution? 00:05:18.839 --> 00:05:21.599 Would you give it to a small child to play with? 00:05:21.600 --> 00:05:26.080 Now, I know how you would answer that question. 00:05:26.439 --> 00:05:35.320 And the reason I know is because we've all learned to recognise that a box of matches is something more than a small box of sticks. 00:05:36.240 --> 00:05:41.240 When we see it, we see not cardboard and wood, but we see sparks and flames. 00:05:42.160 --> 00:05:46.680 We think not of the thing itself, but the potential that it carries. 00:05:46.680 --> 00:05:57.259 I believe that's how that picture of the sheep and the goats should leave us feeling about our lives that lie ahead of us. 00:05:58.360 --> 00:06:02.460 We see through and beyond that which is presented to us. 00:06:03.360 --> 00:06:14.199 Ready to meet and greet each conversation and interaction as an opportunity packed with potential to make a difference for some good in some way. 00:06:14.199 --> 00:06:23.439 So next time you're eating pizza, ask yourself, is that four slices or six? 00:06:23.439 --> 00:06:23.500 Six.