Matthew 10:37- 42
What is your image of God? I think we all have an image of God, but of course with any sort of reflection we know that isn’t how God looks. Many Christians imagine Jesus when they think of God, but what we really imagine is some picture we’ve seen of Jesus. And you would have to go far and wide to find a picture that was not of a white man with blue eyes and a beard. And we can probably say that is not at all how Jesus looked. When I was a kid my image of God was pretty conventional -- in the Cathedral of Saint Helena, my parish church, you could see God reaching out to bring Adam to life, and he was elderly, long flowing robes, grey beard, being held up by a pack of angels -- and God did not look like a loving father, more like a king.
That’s one of the problems we have nowadays. People don’t resonate with the images of God that we put out there. We call him Creator, and that’s fine, though it’s hard to relate to that. We call him Father, and sadly, a lot of people in the world, especially the western world, really have very little positive experience with a father. A common complaint is that fathers are too busy making their way in the world to be truly present to their children. I’m guilty. And of course for others “father” connotes an abuser, or maybe someone who comes by every other weekend to take you out for ice cream and a movie. And then there are those who have never known their father. We call him a just judge, and in the same breath the fountain of mercy. And we have prayers and songs about how Jesus, and sometimes Mary, spends a lot of time interceding for us so as to stay the righteous anger of God.
Today’s gospel is divided into two parts. The first is a bit scary. Can I really say I love Jesus more than anyone else? I’m not even sure what that means. And taking up my cross and following? I automatically began to draw comparisons: I know people who have taken up their cross in spades, and others who haven’t touched their cross, and I hope I’m somewhere in between. And I’ve had a very privileged life, all through no fault of my own. And even though I’m old, I don’t want to lose my life, if I’m honest with myself. As the old country song goes, “Lord I want to go to heaven, but I don’t want to go tonight.”
Jesus is God, I believe. And that’s Jesus talking to you and me. And I fall short. Maybe you do as well.
But then we hear some other lines -- who receives you receives me, and receives the one who sent me. Whoever receives a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, likewise for a righteous man, likewise for even giving a glass of water to someone because he is a disciple -- I get the same reward as those. So what does “receive'' mean in this context? It’s like the first reading -- the woman who made it easier for Elisha the prophet to go about his mission. Now that's the kind of God I can go along with, right? My charitable contributions are buying me points. When I give up some time and energy to be of service -- well, I’ll be rewarded.
And Jesus is God, and he is talking to you and me. And maybe I won't fall short. Because even though I’m not a great saint, even though I haven’t given up everything, I do some things to make the efforts of God’s messengers a little easier. And thus I receive Jesus, and receive the Father who sent him into the world. What could be better than that?
Which is your God? Which is your Jesus?
Sometimes we get a better idea of God when we look at Jesus’ actions as opposed to his words. Words are always tricky. When you say something very clearly -- to you -- others can misinterpret. But it’s harder to misinterpret actions. During Jesus’ active ministry he went about the towns and villages of Galilee -- farm country, seaside towns, places far from the temple and official religion. And he would meet people where they were and give them what he could give them. He didn’t ask much except from the apostles and the rich young man. Some of those he healed wanted to join his movement and yet he sent them home to bring the good news to their families. When he met people who needed something, he gave them what they needed -- always in the direction of making them whole, bringing them back into the mainstream of human life. And then he turned toward Jerusalem and during his last weeks on earth he alienated most of his followers, and died alone, except for his mother and the beloved disciple.
And that’s what we should do as well. Encourage those who seem to have a mission from God; help those in our path that need something we can give them; be sensitive to the cry of the poor, and poor comes in many flavors. If someone needs a drink of water, I can take care of that. And if we go about doing what Jesus did, meeting the needs of our fellow human beings, supporting those who are trying to bring the world to Christ, we will gradually find ourselves walking towards Jerusalem, where our faith will be tried, where we will recognize that we have been taking up the cross, and we have been loving him more than any others, and that his resurrection will be ours as well.
So deep in our hearts we have to answer the question, who is God for me? For some, it will be the God to whom I give everything; and to others it will be the God who rewards even a drink of water offered because we see Jesus in the other person. And it is the same God.
