I was part of a panel discussion a few weeks ago that Katy Byrne organized. The
title - a little bit of truth in advertising - was "5 White Guys Talk About God" - and
Katy's provocative question that was prominent on the advertising flyer was this:
If there is a God, where is he?
It is a tricky question: does the nature of God place God in a geographic location?
Does God have a gender?
Geography gets more difficult for Christians. In the Gospel of Luke, after Jesus is
raised from the dead, he ascends into heaven. Where is that? Jesus gets out of the
way, so to speak.
The story arch of Luke is this: the Spirit of God is present in the world, then moves
into Jesus, and then through Jesus, not to heaven, but to Jesus' successors who carry
the Spirit. Jesus gets out of the way so that the Spirit of God can keep moving in the
world.
Here is a radical statement: The point of Christian faith is not adoration of Jesus.
I am not saying that Jesus doesn't matter - far from it. I am saying that the point of
Jesus' presence in this world is not to have us be His biggest fan.
Remember the scriptures? Jesus says to Mary "do not hold on to me." Jesus says
"greater things than I did, you will do." Jesus says follow me. Jesus says if you want
to do something wonderful for me, do something wonderful for your neighbors.
The Christian faith says that Jesus takes away the guilt of our sin. The scriptures
echo constantly that in Jesus we are forgiven. But for what purpose?
The purpose is not that we would stand around all day and say thanks.
I loved my parents, but they weren't really interested in me following them around
saying how great they are. I had a foot injury a few months ago and my
chiropractor got my foot right again. But the point of having my foot work again is
not that I can lurk around his office and say what a great job he did.
We are forgiven, saved, healed, inspired for something - not just from something.
Luke's vision of the Spirit of God moving through Jesus to the disciples and to us is
so that we don't get stuck merely watching Jesus without following..
Christianity is not a spectator sport. We can live fully in the realm and reign of God
when we live fully , making room for the spirit in our lives.
Where is Jesus? We meet him in the breaking of the bread.
Where is Jesus? He is present here when ever we gather remembering him,
whenever we remember how his spirit binds us together- different and contrary as
we are. Jesus is with us when we are his hands and feet in the world.
Where is Jesus? The question is where are you and where am I? It is our task is to
live the Jesus way, that Jesus might live fully, here, among God's people.