Sunday, November 24, 2019

“Seeing the Holy” (Colossians 1:11-20)


What does Jesus look like?

Is he the blond-hair, blue-eyed, fair-skinned image we often see hanging on the walls of churches?  In the sanctuary and foyer of the St. Charles Catholic Church in Pryor (Montana) the image of Jesus is Native American—dark hair, brown eyes, and dark complexion.  There are as many images of Jesus as there are cultures in the world . . . African, Japanese, Russian, and Aboriginal from Australia.  There is the very Arabic Jesus image derived from the Shroud of Turin.  All of these are images of what people think Jesus looks like . . . hundreds, thousands of images.  And, yet, no one knows what Jesus really looks like.

That is the problem . . . no one knows.  There are no pictures of him as there were no cameras when he was alive.  There were no paintings of him while he was alive, after all, he was no one famous at the time—just a trouble-maker.  All the pictures of Jesus we have are what artists imagine he looked like . . . often tainted by their own cultures.

We have no written description of Jesus in the New Testament . . . there is nothing that gives us a verbal picture of what Jesus looked like.  We do have over in the Book of Isaiah, chapter 53, a description of the coming Messiah known as the “suffering servant”.  Isaiah writes in verses two and three: “He has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to him.  He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and like one from whom men hid their face.  He was despised, and we did not esteem him.” (Isaiah 53:2-3, NIV)

The bottom line is that no one knows what Jesus looks like . . . we just don’t know.  But, inquiring minds want to know . . . it is our human nature to want to know.  Plus, if we can picture Jesus—know what Jesus looks like, our reading this morning tells us we will know what God looks like.  How cool is that!  The writer of the letter to the congregation in Colossae says it as plain as day: “The Son is the image of the invisible God . . .” 

Thus, it only makes sense that to know the Son is to know God.  Yet, we are stuck with that quandary . . . what does Jesus look like?  Do you know?  If I asked everyone here this morning to draw a picture of Jesus, we would have as many different images as we have people in the pews. 

Yet, at the same time I think that we can try to come up with an image of Jesus that we can all agree on.  To do this we need to take a different approach.  I want you to think of Jesus and what he represents . . . think of his attributes . . . think of the things that he was passionate about.  For example: Jesus was compassionate . . . he showed compassion to others.  Here are some more words we could use to describe Jesus: merciful, forgiving, love, peace, patient, companion, passionate, justice, joyful, caring, and faithful.  I imagine that there are even more words that we could add to the list of how we see Jesus . . . of who he is.

Are you getting a mental image of Jesus?  Are you beginning to see him?  As we consider the attributes and what he represents, we begin to get a picture of who Jesus is—the essence of who he is.  This is not a physical picture that we are seeing . . . it is a spiritual picture.  And, as we begin to see Jesus, we begin to see God.  Jesus is the reflection of God.  If we can see Jesus, we can see God.

Our reading this morning is a response to the congregation in Colossae and the seemingly innocent mingling of pagan practices into their worship and faith.  They were kind of mucking up the water.  The first part of the letter is a “teaching moment”, while the second part is “practical moment”.  The writer wants the congregation to know that when it comes to faith and living one’s faith that there is only one way . . . God’s way.  God’s way as demonstrated by Jesus.  Jesus comes to reveal God and God’s ways.  Focus upon that and things will be fine.  As the early church was fond of saying, “Jesus is the way.”  Jesus is the revelation of God and God’s will for all of creation.  Thus, the writer implores the congregation to get back to the foundation . . . back to the basics . . . as demonstrated through the words and life of Jesus.  In other words, the congregation—the gathering of the faithful . . . the “church”—should be like Jesus.

Another way of seeing what Jesus looks like is to look at the “church”.  How many times have you heard it said that the “church” is the presence of Christ in the world?  The writer in the letter alludes to this when the writer says: “And he is the head of the body, the church . . .”  The problem with the congregation or “church” in Colossae is that what they were presenting to the world was not Jesus; thus, the admonishment of the writer to the congregation to put Jesus central in all that they did . . . to do what Jesus would do.  This was important because this would be the image of Jesus that the world sees.

Seeing it this way, it probably makes us step back and wonder about our present time as a congregation . . . as a “church”.    As you look around you at the “church”—not this one in particular, but at the “church” in general, would you say that the image people have of it is one that shows them Jesus?  From looking at the “church” are people seeing that image of Jesus and, ultimately God?  Are they discovering all of those attributes that we used to describe what Jesus looked like . . . or have they come to see something else? 

One argument is that what the world is seeing today as “church” is a far cry from the description of who Jesus and God are.  It has been said that is one of the reasons why denominations and churches have seen a staggering decline in membership and participation.  Many see “church” today as removed from Jesus squabbling over dogma and politics . . . see the “church” as a hypocrite . . . that it does not represent Jesus.  Such was the situation in the Colossian church.  The writer’s purpose and goal was to bring them back . . . to bring them back to God.

This then becomes something we must consider in our time and place as we search to see Jesus . . . to see the “holy”.  As individuals we see Jesus in others when they display and live those attributes and virtues that make Jesus who he is . . . when they are living all those descriptive words we mentioned earlier.  When people live as Jesus lived, we see Jesus.  In many congregations one of the greetings between the faithful was “the Jesus in me greets the Jesus in you.”  In others, we see Jesus . . . we see the “holy”.

We also see Jesus through the congregation . . . through the “church”.  If the congregation is striving to live as Jesus lived, we see the “holy”.  When the “church” works towards those attributes and virtues of who Jesus is, it becomes the image of Jesus in the world.

And, Jesus “. . . is the image of the invisible God . . .”

The call of the writer is for those who read the letter to be a conduit to the world around them of what Jesus looks like and is . . . to become that image of Christ.  Thus, it is that those of us who are the followers of Jesus could be the only glimpse of Jesus that others see and experience.  Because of that it is important that we give a clear picture of Jesus who is the image of God.  That image will be shared through how we live up to those descriptors we used to describe Jesus . . . how we embrace compassion, love, grace, peace, and justice . . . how we are willing to welcome and embrace others who are different from us . . . how we set the table so that all may participate . . . how we work together for the common good of all . . . how we be like Jesus.

We do it as individuals . . . we do it as a congregation—the body of Christ.

What does Jesus look like?  Look around and tell me.  Amen.

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