August 31, 2006
Who's that?
I hate talking to people who, rather than keeping eye contact, look past me to scope out the rest of the room and see who else is there. At my recent 40th year high school class reunion I discovered all of us were practicing this rude behavior. Catching a vaguely familiar face out of the corner of my eye, I’d stop a conversation in mid-sentence and say, ‘Who’s that?’ A tap on the shoulder, followed by bear hug kept people moving from one renewed acquaintance to another. Then of course there are multiple huddles and finger pointing as people tried to put names with faces that no longer match. More than a few times after finally identifying a classmate I thought, ‘No way! That can’t be…’ And then there were a couple of people whose photos never made it into the class annual and my mind refuses to make any connection. Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Matt 16:13-16 NIV. I too know that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God…but there are still times when I don’t recognize Him right away.
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Gail;
----Peter really had an advantage in being able to so quickly respond that Jesus was the Christ. He saw Jesus with his eyes, and the things Jesus was doing. For nearly three years he had the opportunity to daily assess and weigh the things he saw Jesus doing and saying. In this time he was able to amass the intellectual evidence necessary to reason that this man he was watching was the Christ, and to grow the intuitive perception to confirm it.
----Some may argue this point, but I believe it is a bit more difficult to know when you are seeing Jesus today, even in yourself. We do not have His physical form to look upon like Peter did. But we do have many physical actions to look upon. So when we see hungry children fed and war destroyed homes rebuilt from the efforts of benefactors, are we not seeing Jesus? When we learn some new religious practise that brings great, great meaning to us, and maybe even convinces a few other people to lay down their lives to know the Lord, isn't it "Jesus" to make certain that our brothers and sisters join us in doing that religious practise, too?
----The Jesus we see today in actions and attitudes is not the actions and attitudes. So when we see Hezbolla (spelling? who cares anyway, I always call them Fullabulla) feeding the children in southern Beirut and rebuilding their homes, we know they are doing this for political gain. Jesus is no where near their hearts, therefore, He is not alive in their actions. But when one brother in the Lord lays the big guilt trip upon another brother concerning a pet religious pratise, the question becomes more difficult.
----Jesus lives in the motives of the heart. When those motives are given enough effort, they become actions. Through the motives behind them, Jesus is visible in the actions as well. So when one brother dominates those around him, he may have a proper motive in his heart, i.e. the building of the faith and practises of his beloved brothers and sisters, but his actions will not be correct because we are not to be domaneering over one another(I Peter 5:3). Therefore, does the right motive carry the vizability of Jesus through the wrong action? Maybe, if we understand the action in light of the motive. I suppose it is like using a magnifying glass to read fine print or help decipher muddled print.
----I have to ride herd on my motives always. I know of many actions I have made, and some that I am in the process of making, about which I continue to question my motives. I also know of many motives I have that are fine and solid in the Lord, but I just can't quite get the propriety of their actions right. So I know what you are saying, Gail. Sometimes we have to look closely to see if it really is Jesus we see in the happenings around us and from us.
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