The past matters. The future matters. The followers of Jesus had heard the stories
of God from the past . . . heard the words of the prophets . . . heard the
story of Israel. They have also heard
the stories of Jesus—his ministry and life . . . heard his words . . . and,
heard the story . . . heard the promises of what could be. And, yet, in our reading this morning the
followers sit in a spiritual limbo, stuck between the past and the future . . .
uncertain about their faith and all that they had heard. The followers sat between the pressure from
the civil authorities who are not sure of the movement’s purpose or desires,
and the resurgence of the Judaism that saw them as a threat. They were stuck between the past and the
future as pressure pushed in from all sides.
The question is how does one bridge the
past to the future?
Surprisingly, the answer is quite
simple. You live in the present.
I realize that this sounds too simple,
but you cannot go back to the past because it has already taken place. Nor can you go to the future because it has
not yet happened. This only leaves the
present . . . the now . . . and how it is lived based on the past and hoped for
the future. All any of us can do is to
live in the present moment.
The writer who is addressing the
followers of Jesus in our reading this morning is telling them that the only
way to bridge the past to the future is to live in the present . . . that’s
what gets you there. The writer is also
saying that they also have the answer to what living in the present looks like
. . . Jesus. Jesus shows the way . . .
Jesus is the way. In the words that he
spoke, but more importantly in the way that he lived his life. The witness of Jesus is a powerful one for
two reasons . . . because he is the reflection of God . . . and, because he got
there by traveling down the same road that we travel. Thus, it is, that the writer urges the
followers to be reflections of Jesus in their daily lives.
The writer of Hebrews saw Jesus as a
reflection of God. The writer wrote: “The Son
is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being . . .” When it comes to explaining the Bible, I am
probably too simple in my explanation to others; but, this is how I understand
it. In the Bible I see God as a parent .
. . a holy parent. As a parent God is
attempting to raise the children to be gracious and loving towards the parent
and one another. But the children are
children, and more often than not they disobeyed. Like any good parent, God attempted to use
all the parental controls available . . . God spanked them, sent them to their
rooms, took stuff away from them, yelled at them. God tried every trick in the parents’
handbook, and nothing seemed to work.
That was the Old Testament. At some point God must have wised up and
remember that the best example is through one’s own actions . . . show the
children how they are supposed to love God and one another. Which brings us to the New Testament and a
new ploy by God. God decides that it
would be best to come down and show them how it is to be done. Through Jesus God does this . . . Jesus
becomes a reflection of God . . . Jesus represents all that God is . . . grace,
compassion, and love . . . all wrapped up in a human form. Jesus shows the way . . . and he does it as
one of us. As one of us he shows us the
way.
I recently saw a picture in which Jesus
is holding up a hand mirror in front of his face. In the mirror the reflection that Jesus sees
is of people . . . common everyday people just like you and me. I have not yet encountered a Christian church
. . . a church that is Christian . . . that does not espouse the theological
idea that it is not the body of Christ as embodied in its members. Over the years, in all the congregations I
have served, I have ended numerous worship services by charging those present
to go out into the world and be the presence of Christ to another. In other words, as Jesus is the reflection of
God, we are the reflection of Jesus.
We live in uncertain times . . .
frustrating times . . . scary times. We
live between what once was and what is yet to be; but we do not have to be
stuck in the muck and mire of that uncertainty.
All we must do is to live in the present and to do it as Jesus has done
it. If we can do that, then we can live
in certainty that it is all going to work out in the end. How do we know this? Because Jesus accomplished the goal . . .
and, he did it as one of us. Jesus shows
us the way that it can be done.
It all begins in the present moment . .
. right here, right now. That is all
that there is . . . the past is gone; the future is yet to come. All we have is the present moment and how we
choose to live that present moment. We
can get stuck between here and there, or we can live in what we have. And, in what we have, we can choose to live
it as Jesus lived. We can be loving and
compassionate . . . we can be gracious and respectful . . . we can build and
encourage . . . we can be helpful . . . peaceful and just . . . inclusive and
caring. We can be love. We can reflect Jesus for the world to see.
That is our charge as the followers of
Jesus.
There was a time in a lot of churches
when a part of the worship service was dedicated to everyone greeting everyone
else. And, when these greetings were
shared, the people proclaimed: “The Christ in me greets the Christ in you!” Who do others see when they look at you? Who do you see when you look in a
mirror? I hope it is the reflection of
Jesus . . . he is the way . . . yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Amen.
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