Neighbor to Neighbor

During the season of Epiphany, I am pondering the means by which God the Holy Spirit brings people to the "Aha, I see Jesus!" moments. The Bible records Jesus as God in the flesh.

When people needed wine, we have no record that he sent them to the winery. When they wanted to know God, there is no record of Jesus sending them to someone else. So it is with our touching the world. As we come to know Jesus, we know to point others to that one and same Jesus. When they are thirsty, we know where the water is; hungry, we know where the bread is; lost, we know where to find the shepherd.

We know because, by God's grace, we've been there drinking, eating, and finding our way.

The Bible presents Jesus as the perfect, full presentation of God; the Creator and Sustainer of all Creation, the Word or complete expression of God, and more: God. Our aha moments are because God came to be with us.

There is much made of the idea that Christians are to "incarnate" Christ to the world. Yes, as followers of Jesus we are temples of the Holy Spirit and we are called to convey what God shows us. But there is only one incarnation. However fine the semantic line may be, there is a line nonetheless.

Finally, where would we be in relationship to Christ had we not been where others are? Paul loves to use phrases which refer to our former lives away from faith in Christ. Though our perseverance in faith depends only on God, our perseverance in this life depends on continuing to confront our need in the presence of Christ. Until our Savior enters, once again, our physical sphere, the growing, learning, and sharing will carry on.

We possess all we need to present Christ neighbor to neighbor.