Pastor's Sermon

When You See Jesus, You See God

Matthew 10:40-42

I went to the Barnes and Noble Bookstore last weekend. I was looking for a book that was recommended by a Pastor I met in Minneapolis, called, “I Thought my Father was God”. While I was in the store, I noticed all these black and yellow books that not so subtlety revealed they were “for dummies”. They have all kinds of books for dummies. Do any of you have one? The only one I have is “Windows 98 for Dummies”. It’s pretty “user friendly”, especially when it guides you toward what’s ahead in the chapter. The title of Chapter Three reads, “Windows 98 Stuff Everybody Thinks You Already Know”. Nonetheless, I really don’t like to display this book prominently in my office, because it’s not something I’m very proud to admit, but I just haven’t taken the time to learn all there is to know about computers. So, it sits there in its black and yellow shiny jacket among my theological and spiritual books, my undergrad English literature and all the other preaching, teaching and counseling books and nursing books. Sometimes, we just have to admit, there are some things that just remain mysteries until we have the motivation to take on the task of learning what it is we need to learn.

There is a story of a substitute Sunday school teacher who couldn’t open the combination lock on the children’s supply cabinet one Sunday morning. So she went to the pastor and asked for his help. The pastor started turning the dial of the combination lock, stopped after the first two numbers, looked up serenely toward heaven, began moving his lips silently, turned to the final number and opened the lock. The teacher gasped, “I’m in awe of your faith, pastor.”

“Really,” he said, “It’s nothing. The number is on a piece of tape on the ceiling.”

I really wish all the answers to all of life’s problems were on a piece of tape on the ceiling, don’t you? Then, when we hit a difficult time in our lives all we would have to do is look up!

The message today is titled, “When You See Jesus, You See God” because Jesus says in our Gospel lesson today that “He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives Him who sent me.”

We believe that in the life and teachings of Jesus and in his resurrected presence, we discover everything we need to know about God. You ask, “What is God like? Look to Jesus. Does my life matter? Well, what does Jesus say? What happens to us when we die? Jesus has the answer. Yes, when you see Jesus, you see God.

When you see your neighbor, you see Christ. If you want to know how to treat your neighbor, ask yourself this question: If this were Jesus, how would I treat him? And then act accordingly.

Jesus says, “And whoever…gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water to drink, truly I say to you, he shall not lose his reward.”

A cup of cold water….There’s a fascinating true story that happened around the second and third centuries when a series of plagues overwhelmed much of the known world. Since this was also a time when the Christian faith was just beginning to spread, you’d have thought that the Christian faith would surely have died. Many people would certainly ask, “What kind of God would allow this to happen?”

Well, strangely enough, it was a time of great church growth. People flocked to the Christian faith because they noticed that Christians seemed to be surviving the plagues better than the general population. The reason for this better survival rate was not that God was saving Christians and destroying heathens. The reason was that the Christians were taking seriously the command of Jesus to offer a cup of cold water.

Christians didn’t know how to stop plagues any better than anybody else, but while the pagans pulled away from the dying, the Christians ministered to the dying by giving them food and something to drink. Many of these Christians caring for the sick died in this loving act, but the number of Christian caregivers who died was small when compared to the numbers of the victims who recovered. That little bit of food and drink they received from these saints was sometimes just enough to help them weather the storm. Jesus said, “Whoever….gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water to drink…he shall not lose his reward.”

To be fair to our text, Jesus appears to be talking about how we treat other Christians, but taken in the context of Jesus’ total teachings about love for God and love for humanity, we are on solid ground to say that any time we do any good for another human being; we are ministering to Christ himself. Who can forget his words in Matthew 25: “I was hungry and you gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me drink: I was a stranger, and you took me in: I was naked, and you clothed me: I was sick, and you visited me: I was in prison, and you came to visit me. Then shall the righteous answer him, “Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty or a stranger, or naked or sick, or in prison?” And the King shall answer and say…”Inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me”.

When you look into the face of your neighbor, you are looking at Christ. The way you would treat Christ is the way you should treat your neighbor, with respect, with consideration, with compassion and with caring.

That’s a tall order, isn’t it? That’s not the way we treat most people, but that’s the way Christ means for us to treat all people.

There’s a novel by the writer Dostoevsky titled, “The Idiot”. The central character in this novel, Prince Myshkin, doesn’t fit into the society around him. His peers are striving for status and power. They judge each other only on the basis of money or appearance or family connections. In their world, there is no real friendship or intimacy. People use each other to meet their own needs. And into this world walks Prince Myshkin. He just doesn’t get it. He treats everyone, whether poor or rich, with respect and kindness. He has no hidden agenda, no need to dominate others. He is pure in thought, word and deed. This makes him a fool in other’s eyes. At the same time, all these empty, cynical, status-seeking people are strangely drawn to him. He attracts others, not through money or power, but through the strength of his character and genuine caring.

Well, if that kind of person is called an idiot, I wish we could welcome a lot more of those kinds of people into our church.

When you see Jesus, you see God, and when you see your neighbor, you see Christ. We should be asking ourselves if we could all make a commitment to the God who is revealed in Jesus. Part of that commitment would begin with looking for the face of Jesus in every person we meet. I wonder if could we make that commitment? Could we treat everyone, whether poor or rich, with respect and kindness? With no hidden agenda, no need to dominate others, could we be pure in thought, word and deed? This may make you out to be a weak person in some people’s eyes, but at the same time, all of those who mock you, all these empty, cynical, status-seeking people will be strangely drawn to you. You will attract others, not through money or power, but through the strength of your character.

The next time you meet up with someone who seems as if they may benefit from a caring smile or a friendly gesture of acceptance, remember Jesus words, whoever gives to these little ones, even a cup of cold water, shall not lose his reward.

Let us pray: Dear Lord, we pray that we will be drawn closer to you as we minister to each other. Help us to recognize your love that sustains us in our daily walk with you. Bless us we pray, as we look after our brothers and sisters in the faith. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.