“I know him,” was the excited exclamation a little girl made when talking about Jesus. It makes me think of the scene from Elf where Will Ferrell jumps up and down flapping his hands as he loudly and proudly shouts, “I know him!!!” His excited exclamation was in response to the fact that Santa was coming to visit the workshop that he, an elf, was working in. Ferrell’s character was very disappointed when this wannabe Santa showed up smelling like booze and not possessing the same magical qualities and kindness that the Santa he knows possesses. How many of us have heard people exclaim, “We know Jesus,” but then the behavior witnessed from this same person is not a reflection of who Jesus is at all? The second half of the little girl’s statement was, “He lives in the sky.” From the mouth of one so innocent, this is a heartwarming statement, yet we know it to be incomplete. However, for many people who claim they know Jesus, this is really what they mean.
Many people know Jesus. They have heard him talked about. They know him as a historical figure or a religious leader. They believe they might get to see him one day. He is the Jesus in the sky. But it is an entirely different thing to know Jesus as the Jesus in our hearts. This requires a continued effort to learn about and seek Jesus on a consistent basis in our lives. When we do this, the knowledge we learn continuously transforms and produces a fruit that feeds the lives of many and not just our own. How well do you actually know Jesus?
As children and adults head back to school to further their education, we are going to continue to further our education. We will continue to seek Jesus, learn about him, read about him, and bear witness to him. We will not just exist within the walls of our church but take what we learn outside our church. We will head into our communities, our workplaces, our politics, our social clubs, our sports arenas (yes, even the golf course and the side of the riverbank), and we will be such a good reflection of Jesus that others will come to understand who he really is. We will face challenges, pushback, and weariness head-on as the heart of Christ pours out for the least of these, and thus our hearts pour out for them, too. We will show up, not as imposters of the real Jesus, but as true disciples of the Jesus who loves and cares for those whom we have been given permission to hate. We will stand up, stand strong, and stand out as the barriers to that hate spreading its tendrils out into the community and into our world. We are Sewickley United Methodist Church, making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world, and school is in session!
From One Light to Many Others,
Pastor Hannah M. Loughman