Sermon Outline: "The Image of God"
Dr. James L. Kidd

During the Advent season, nothing could be more appropriate than an invitation for us to ponder the face of Jesus. What might the face of Jesus look like?

I. What did Jesus look like?

A. Everyone has his or her own concept, which is a reflection of his or her own need.
B. The face of Jesus is made up of all people. He is a reflection of all those who believe in him.

II. God created us in his image.

A. If we look into the face of another, we are able to see a likeness of God.
B. In Jesus we have rediscovered the image of God.

III. The message of Christmas tells us that in Christ we are all connected to him and to one another.

A. We see signs of unity when people join together and are reconciled.
B. Because we have been given the vision, we also must look at one another to see the face of Jesus.

 

THE IMAGE OF GOD

A Sunday school teacher and her second-grade students were looking at a painting of Jesus. The teacher explained that, of course, no one knows what Jesus really looks like and so it is necessary for the artist to guess or to use some imagination in doing a portrait of Jesus. Little Bobby stared intently at the portrait, and finally he exclaimed, "Isn't it wonderful! It looks just like him."

We all have an image in our minds of what Jesus looks like. When you hear a story about Jesus, you picture Jesus doing certain things as described in the Gospels. We always have an image in our minds of what Jesus looks like, and usually, for most of us, he looks very much like the Sallman head of Christ or some of the more familiar portraits that have been done of Jesus.

In the Bethel Bible Series, which was put together by a group of Swedish Lutherans, Jesus looks like a blue-eyed, blond-haired Swedish Lutheran. Usually, when we try to portray what Jesus looks like, we identify him with ourselves.

The drawing "Faces of Jesus" is a compilation of portraits, drawings, and sculpture of what people all across the world in different cultures and from the very beginning of the Christian era have imagined Jesus to look like. So Jesus is black and brown and yellow and white and young and old. An artist in New York City once created a sculpture of a female Jesus, which was displayed at Saint John the Divine in New York City. The point, of course, is that we identify Jesus with ourselves.

But Jesus also identifies Himself with us. In one of the most famous stories in the New Testament, Jesus says that a man was hungry and thirsty, was in prison, and was a stranger and yet people took care of him. And he said, "As you did it to one of the least of these my brethren you do it to me" (Matthew 25:40). Jesus identifies himself with us. Jesus yearns for unity with all of us.

At the Last Supper with his disciples, Jesus prayed, "I do not pray for these only, but also for those who believe in me through their word, that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that thou hast sent me" (John 17:20-21). It was Jesus' hope that all of us might come together in him.

A pastor one evening was having dinner in a restaurant and happened to sit next to a young couple. He began to talk with them about their religious experience, how they felt about religion. They were a deeply committed young couple; they loved the Lord very much. They were Roman Catholic and talked about their concern for Christian unity and how in Jesus Christ all of us have been made one. The woman reached into her purse and took out a card. She said that it was a portrait of Jesus that illustrated the meaning of Christian unity in a powerful way. Her card was very wrinkled; obviously she had had it for a long time and had looked at it a great deal. As you looked at this picture at arm's length, you could see an ordinary picture of Jesus, but if you held it up really close, you can see that this portrait of Jesus is composed of forty-eight different faces. And there are all kinds of people: They are young and old, black and brown and yellow and white, male and female, all kinds of human expression are right there in that painting. The artist, it is said, "in fifteen hours of pure inspirational painting," completed this portrait.

During the Advent season, nothing could be more appropriate than an invitation for us to ponder the face of Jesus. What might the face of Jesus look like? What might the face of Jesus communicate to you and to me? The message of this portrait is familiar. It is rooted in the basic biblical message. In the book of Genesis, we are told that God created us in his image. So if we were to look at human beings in that time after God had finished his creation, by looking into the face of one another we would be able to see the likeness/ of God. We would be able to see the image of God, to see the glory of God in the face of another person.

But the biblical story tells us that something went wrong; the situation went astray. The image of God in human beings became distorted so that no longer when we look into the face of another human being do we see the image of God, the likeness of God, the glory of God. Rather, now we see the face of evil, and not the face of God. Saint Paul says, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). All of us! The image of God is no longer dearly to be seen in human beings.

But the biblical story goes on to tell us that God, our heavenly Father, comes to us in Jesus. That is what Christmas is all about. That is what the Advent season is all about. We are looking forward to the coming of Jesus, who is the likeness of God. Jesus comes and enables us to rediscover our heritage. In Jesus we have rediscovered the image and the glory of God. We see again what the face of God is all about, and we are made one by faith in Jesus Christ. In this portrait, you have a powerful illustration of the truth that in Jesus Christ all of us are brought together and made one. Saint Paul says that "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28). We sing a hymn, "In Christ there is no east or west, In him no south or north."

Paul says that in Jesus there is no male or female. There are female faces in this portrait, but in Jesus Christ we are all made one. In him there is no male or female. In him there is no slave or free, no black or white. We are all his children, and in him we are made one. We are all connected in that reality.

Some years ago, a man had a dream; it was what is called a numinous dream. In this dream, he was wandering around, lost. A wise man came and showed him a great hole in a big stone wall. He looked through that hole, and down below was the largest railroad station he had ever seen; it was about the size of the Grand Canyon. The man was filled with awe as he looked down into the vastness of this great railroad station. Trains were coming in and going out in all directions. The message of that dream was very dear to that man: in God we are connected to everything that is. The portrait you hold tells us, and the message of Christmas tells us, that in Jesus Christ we are all connected to him and to one another.

Now surely this unity in Christ applies to the church, which is called the body of Christ. It was at the Last Supper with his disciples, the first church, that Jesus offered his prayer for Christian unity, that all God's children might be one. We believe that God has answered Jesus' prayer and that there is ultimate unity among all people everywhere. This unity exists now in the heart of God, and when a thing exists in the heart of God, it is only a matter of time until it exists in all of history.

Obviously, it is not apparent in the world today, but from lime to time and here and there we see signs of that unity. We see a sign of that unity when the leaders of governments hold summits, instead of waging war. We see a sign of that unity when black and white and brown and yellow unite to pray and to work together for peace. We see signs of that unity whenever those who have been enemies are reconciled and brought together. We see signs of that unity in the Thanksgiving season, when families come together. We see signs of that unity when the church gathers all kinds of people, men, women, young, old, and all colors, to share from the same cup and from the same bread.

Today, as those who know what God has done in Jesus, we are united in Jesus. Because we have been given that vision, we are also invited to look at one another and there to see the face of Jesus. So this morning you are invited to turn to your neighbor. Don't say a word, but look at him or her. In the face of that neighbor, you are invited to see the face of Jesus because, once again, in him we know what it is to see the image and the glory of God in the face of another When you do that, you know that it is all right to smile! It is all right to smile not simply because some of us may look a little funny, but it is all right to smile also because of how wonderful it is to see Jesus, here in his church with us.