Matthew 5:16, Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.Perhaps the most frustrating aspect of Christianity is that the faith is not sight, not yet. We yearn to see the Savior who loved us to the end. We so desperately want to see the Risen Lord that we want it or should want it above all else. In fact Revelation ends with the hopeful statement, "Even So Lord Jesus Come Quickly." Why? We want to see Him in all of His Glory and to be with Him is our goal. We are not like some weird groups who need to have experienced nirvana or get high on some substance to "see" our Creator or Holy Person! Yet while on Earth we devise objects or images of the One we love to see.
One obscure example that does not exist anymore is the infamous "Jesus Tree" of Logan county West Virginia. When I was growing up, the old Holden Junior High school was torn down. All that was left was the large stone steps and a flattened off place where grew the tree in the photo above. Lots of people went to go see it, and I have to admit it was really neat. I don't think many people went there to "worship it" but were just curious. After the expansion of US Highway 119 came along, the whole area of upper Holden was demolished along with the Jesus Tree. If it was the only sighting of Jesus you had, you lost it in the way of earthly progress!
Fortunately, to see Jesus one doesn't look for the transient, earthly things. Jesus has been captured in paintings, sculptures, songs, etc. I love art, especially baroque art that surrounded me while at my academic college, but, to see Jesus you don't need to go to the Art Gallery. People who see Jesus, see Him in the lives of those who possess Him. So there are two sides of this article, the First dealing with how to see Him, the Second how to show Him.
How to see Jesus,
We simply exemplify His Life by doing that which naturally pours out of a heart He has changed.
Find a Christian person who has sacrificed for you and you have seen Jesus. Remember that person who encouraged you in your hour of trial and you have seen Jesus. Notice that seemingly glowing face as the sing hymns and praises to God in worship and you have seen Jesus. Recall that person who has wept over your sinful lifestyle and desired all be done to restore you, and yes, you have seen Jesus. Seeing Jesus in this world will not come as a face to face meeting with Himself, that is not the way the Lord wanted it for this age of Grace. Its one thing to see Him face to face, which will happen, but its more expressive, more involved and more real in a sense to see Him exemplified in the lives of His followers who they themselves live the Scripture of 1 Peter 1:8, "whom having not seen, ye love." We do not have to be anything but genuinely caring and earnestly doing so for His sake. Jesus never called us to glow with a Holy light, but that the Light of His testimony would glow in us. Jesus never called us to raise the dead or heal the sick, but He will be noticed when we take the time in our health to reach out to those who have no health or help. Others see Jesus when we live Him in our lives.
Second, to show Jesus.
In addition to the aforementioned, we have a somewhat mistaken idea that doing good deeds and saying kind words alone is the key to representing Christ to others. The essence of that is absolutely true, BUT, lost people are kind and do kind deeds. Most philanthropic organizations are not Christian related. The difference lies in the reason and motive for what we do. Many charities and benefactors do things with the guise of goodhearted intentions, but in the end it makes themselves look good. As Christians our whole goal is to magnify the Saviour who lives within us, not glorify the body that He lives in. So in addition to helping out the neighbor with the yard work, or, encouraging that shut in on the phone we need at times to remind them that we do what we do for the Lord's sake. We need to live our lives so that no outward reflection is construed with the true nature of our generosity. Did you know that Jesus Himself, when He did miracles did not want others to tell about it? This is not because He was being secretive about something, but His main desire was to glorify the Heavenly Father, even though He is the Second part of the Trinity. The whole thrust behind serving Jesus is glorifying Him and the Father. If your church has an outreach function that serves the community hot dogs and soda, you most likely want them to remember and hopefully come to your church, not the one thing they remember is how good the hot dogs were! How true to stay in keeping with our works and testimony towards Christ. Now, that testimony needs to be polished. That doesn't mean we are perfect, but it does NOT excuse us to keep from trying! Many Christians lean on the splintering crutch, "well no one is perfect." Our whole lives are to be striving towards Godly perfection. We know we will never be perfect in this life, but we are not running the race for a non obtainable goal, rather, we strive for perfection so the Person of Christ be clearly seen as much as possible, AND, that we do Him honor by trying to follow Him as closely as we can. When we do this, we show Jesus for all to see.
Do others see Jesus in you? There are not too many Jesus Trees around, but there are a lot of Jesus Followers around. Strive to be more than a tree that is static, but be a living example that interacts and changes the world around you for Christ's glory!
Father, help me and those who read to make a difference in our world by touching individual lives. Help us not to take credit or desire our own vain glory, but bounce back any glory we receive straight to the throne of Grace. Thank you for desiring to use broken pots like us in the process. We love you, not as much as we ought, but help us to continue growing and seeking you daily. Thank you for loving us. In Your Name, Amen.
