To love another person is to see the face of God

If you could pick any word to describe yourself what would it be ? Maybe you would pick nice, maybe smiley, maybe grumpy, maybe beautiful, strong, clever, amazing, maybe modest !

How we see ourselves may be quite different from how others see us. This rang true to me the other day when I realised that it is very easy to judge other people and build up an image or impression of them which is completely wrong. 

Ian showed me a clip of a little boy who was in a shopping area with his football. He was playing football on his own when a man came up and started playing football with him. The man was brilliant and the little boy had a great time. When they had finished playing the man autographed the football, took off a wig and moustache and the little boy was in awe when he realised that the man was Christiano Ronaldo. How amazing !

Image is brilliant and it can cause all sorts of surprises - from famous people doing ordinary things, to the people asking, 'don't you know who I am ?'

There is a story of a woman who went into an Ice cream parlour in New England, when she walked in she was amazed to see the actor Paul Newman was the only other customer there and her heart skipped a beat as her eyes made contact with his.  The actor nodded graciously and the star struck woman smiled demurely.

Pull yourself together, she chided herself, You're a happily married woman with three children. You're forty-five years old, you're not some giggling teenager.  Get a grip!

She bought an ice cream, paid for it and left the ice cream parlour quickly. However when she got to her car she realised that she had left her ice cream in the shop. So she walked back in feeling very embarrassed. She was even more embarrassed when she realised that the ice cream was not on the counter. A voice spoke, and it was Paul Newman who said, 'you put your ice cream in your bag.'

Talk about being star struck ! But we all have an image of others which we relate to. In our epistle reading (Col. 1:15-20) we heard of Jesus and the fact that He is the image of God. He is the first born of all creation and then in the gospel reading (John 1:1-14) we were reminded that Jesus is the Word, He is the one who created the world, He is the one who brought salvation.

Jesus is the image of God, in Him is wisdom, in Him is life. We as His followers are meant to be something like Him. We are meant to be people who bear the image of God. We are the people who are to show what the word made flesh really means. We are to show that, as it is translated in the message Bible, the Word moved into the neighbourhood. God is with us. He is present and we are to show His image to all those around. 

The question is though what type of image are we showing. To be like Jesus is to be full of love and compassion, it is to show that God is amongst us by the way that we live together. It is about being someone who loves  the unlovables, who reaches out to those in need, who makes a difference by living out their faith.

It means being reconciled with God and each other, it means no back biting, it means no going behind each other's backs. It means love. 

I am sure that you will have heard of the amazing musical Les Miserables. I could preach so many sermons based on that musical because it is full of stories of grace and forgiveness. From the Bishop who covered up candlesticks being stolen from him and offering a second chance,  to a man reaching out to help a lady and her child who were in need this musical is about love, it is about fresh starts, it is about being in the image of God and what this means. 

The musical ends with the words, 'to love another person is to see the face of God,' those words are amazing and to be honest they say so much about image. We love because God first loved us, none of us are perfect; although some are closer than others; but God loves us so much that He would die for us. God revealed Himself to us as Jesus who is the image of God. He is not just the image of God though He is God but even with all the love that He offered some turned Him away as we heard in the gospel reading. God still reaches out to us in love and He calls us to do the same. 

The Christian speaker Francis Chan tells a story of a missionary who spoke in his Church. This missionary got to the end of his story of sharing the gospel with a remote tribe in Papua New Guinea by saying, 'I must give credit to my youth leader Vaughn who taught we what it is to love Jesus.' This was great but then the next week there was another guest speaker at the Church, who also gave credit to his youth leader Vaughn who taught him what it is to love Jesus. 

Francis Chan was telling a friend about this who said. 'I know Vaughn - he works in San Diego and spends time helping the children who are trying to feed themselves from rubbish bins, he shows them love by being there for them and giving them food and he tells them about Jesus.

Francis Chan was amazed and he thought that is exactly what Jesus would do.

I am not saying that we will be known all over the country for being like Jesus but it would be amazing if people could look at us and say, 'they are the image of Jesus because they show the love of God.' To be people who show the love of God will help others to look at us and see the face of God. 

This is love, this is our image that we serve the one who become nothing for us so that we could become something for Him. Each one of us has a part to play, each one of us can make a difference in our world. 

The world today needs love, it needs people who are willing to help others, it needs people who are willing to go the extra mile for others, it needs time spent in prayer, it needs action – all the things that Jesus did in his time on earth, and all the things that He calls on us, His disciples, to do today. To love another person is to see the face of God. May people look at us and see the face of God every day. AMEN