You Are the Face of Jesus

It struck me today while I was working with the Youth.  I was spending my time trying to convince them that if Jesus were here, he would do amazing and wondrous things for them.  My fear is that the Jesus we claim isn’t powerful, but a thin gruel in the presence of our lives.

We talked about Jesus as the Good Shepherd.  Every time we did it, somebody “‘baa’ed”.  No, it was me.  The lesson was about seeking to connect Jesus to the world where they face people who do drugs, who tempt them to do drugs, who may commit acts of violence upon their persons because of drugs. 

I found myself saying, “If Jesus was here, he would get you out of …”

But what then dug into my gut was that there is no “if”.  Jesus is here, in the face of every person who calls Him Lord and Savior.  Trust me, that is not always a good thing.  I am reading a book on Teddy Roosevelt, specifically his policies in the Pacific during 1905.  As background, the author talks about the opium trade to China.  The opium was called Jesus Opium because it was the “Christian nations” of the west that were bringing it in. 

But being the Face of Jesus can be the most powerful thing we have.  Because, until Jesus comes back, we have two things to present to the world.  One is the Word of God and the other is our living it. 

A Neighborhood in the Kingdom of God is designed to be a neighborhood where people are seeking to be the face of Jesus. 

What does it mean to seek to be the face of Jesus?  It means that you do for others because of your caring and your love for them.  What motivates you?  The caring and the love you have already received from others who are seeking to be the face of Jesus.  It is not about heaven or hell, because Jesus was not about heaven or hell.

That will get me into trouble in some circles!

Because Jesus died for us on the cross, but was it just about heaven and hell?

 

Did Jesus want to die for us?  Not if you recall his words in the Garden of Gethsemene, “if this cup may pass from me…”  Did he have to die for us?  Like by some divine command?  Not according to John 10:18.  “Nobody takes my life from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.  I have the power to lay it down and I have the power to take it up again.”

No, he chose to die for us.  Why?  To go to the place of our ultimate weakness, our ultimate fear, our ultimate fate, and our ultimate punishment.  He went there and he conquered death, for us.  He conquered our ultimate weakness and ultimate fear-that death is something we CANNOT escape, that it will ultimately finish us off.  Through him, death is no longer our fate.  Death is not the end, death is the beginning.  No longer is death, the end, the separation from God, punishment for our sins.  Because in His death, Jesus took that punishment on himself.  He opened the way, the truth, and the life for us.

And what He has given us, we can give to others.  It is the promise of new life, if we dare to grab hold.  Then, we can be the Face of Jesus in turn, if we dare.