5th Sunday of Easter
Cycle A
May 14, 2017 9:30 and
11:15am
Saint Mary Parish, Pylesville
He/She Looks Like…
Probably
all of us, and especially you who are parents have had the wonderful experience
of seeing a newly-born baby.
One
of the things that almost always happens is that family members and friends look
closely at the baby’s physical features.
They try to see who the baby looks like or takes after.
We
hear things like: “He has his father’s
forehead and hair.” Or: “She has her mother’s eyes and complexion.”
These
are warm and wonderful statements. And what’s
underneath them is that we like to see family members, especially parents or
even grandparents in the physical features of a baby.
What Does God Look Like?
Maybe we have not thought about it this way, but
Jesus gets us caught up in something like this with God.
We and perhaps most persons have wondered: what is
God really like? And so, over the
centuries, our human imagination has produced many images of God.
Some artists have depicted God as a grandfatherly
old man with a gray beard. Others have
depicted God as simply a brilliant, bright light.
And these images of God are important. They have consequences on us as persons and on
the way we relate to God and to one another.
For example, we may have an image of God as
vindictive or punishing, like some of the Old Testament writers did. This can lead us to be unfeeling and maybe
even harsh with others.
Or our primary image of God may be as a judge. This can lead us to feel distant from God,
afraid of God and inappropriately guilty.
So, what we think God looks like or how we see God’s
traits is very important. As I said, it
forms us as persons and effects how we relate to God and to one another.
We See God in Jesus
In today’s gospel, Philip asks Jesus, “Show us the Father.”
He wants to know what God is like. And Jesus responds, “Those who have seen me have seen the Father.” “I am
in the Father, and the Father is in me.”
So Jesus is saying that he is like a clear pane of glass
through we which we can see God clearly.
He is the full and accurate self-disclosure of God.
In Jesus’ thoughts, feelings, words and actions, he shows
us the mind and heart of God. So, like looking
at a baby and seeing the parents or grandparents in the baby’s features, we can
look at Jesus and see the Father, God himself.
So God Looks Like…
For example, we hear Jesus
saying, “Let those who are without sin
cast the first stone.” From this we
know that God is understanding and patient with our humanity and our failings.
We see Jesus mingling with tax
collectors and other so-called sinners.
From this we know that God is outreaching and amazingly inclusive.
We see Jesus saying “Let the little children come to me.” From this we know that God greatly values
those whose life is vulnerable, from unborn children to the disabled, all the
way to the frail elderly.
And we hear Jesus saying “Whatever you do for the least of my
brothers and sisters, that you do for me.” From this we know that God is especially
compassionate toward those who cannot afford to pay for both food and
electricity, or those who are refugees or minorities and on it goes.
So, by looking at Jesus and his
thoughts, feelings, words and actions, we can know a great deal about God. And these images of God that Jesus gives us
have an effect on who we become as persons and how we relate to God and to one
another.
