“He is the image of the invisible God…” (Colossians 1:15a)

Most of you who read these devotionals are churchy people.  We churchy people are used to looking at Jesus to catch a glimpse of what God is like.  We believe, as Paul wrote in Colossians, that Jesus is the human embodiment of God.

So, we look at Jesus to see the nature of God.  From Jesus we learn that the transcendent God is also intimate; God comes close.  In Christ we experience God as seeking, loving, sacrificial, forgiving and life-giving.  As a paid-up member of the preacher’s union, I would encourage you to contemplate the nature of God revealed in the life and ministry of Jesus.  We believe that Jesus is fully divine and so in him we can indeed see God.

Jesus is also fully human.  Maybe it’s time we looked more closely to see what it would look like to live a truly full human life.  Jesus doesn’t just reveal God; he reveals what it means to live a full and rich life as a human being.  Jesus came, he said, that we might have abundant life, not just in some heaven someday, but here and now, as the earthly creatures we are. 

Jesus was a man who embraced his earthly life, making wine for wedding receptions and hosting picnics for 5,000 friends at a time.  He cared for the body as well as the soul; why else did he heal?  Like Jesus, we should luxuriate in the warmth of the sun and the touch of skin on skin.  We should savor the food we eat and cherish the glass of wine shared with our friends.

As we consider Jesus as the model for what it means to be human, we come to realize that humanity is the place of God’s dwelling.  We manifest God’s presence in the world.  God acts through us to do God’s will.  We are the ones who can heal and do the miraculous when we allow the Divine to flow through us.  We are God’s agents of liberation and life.  We are God’s sacrifice of love, poured out and broken to bring life and hope to the forgotten and forsaken.

Christ reveals the God of the universe who comes near.  Christ also reveals the majesty and dignity of our humanity, drawn up and made part of the divine purpose in the world.

Prayer: God of mystery and might, God of breath and heartbeat, reveal yourself in me and make me more fully human.  Amen.