I didn’t post Tuesday; there weren’t enough hours in the day for everything on my schedule. Today’s offering was sparked by yesterday’s “flame of reflection” question, “How can I use this to make me more like Jesus?” That was the central theme of an In Touch Ministries‘ devotional. It was predicated upon the assumption that all Christians desire to conform to the image of Jesus, and in so doing reflect the image of our Creator. We understand the reference here is not to His physical image, but rather to His inner spirit manifested by how Jesus lived and taught. Now, some will declare that’s impossible; that Christ was God in the flesh and therefore perfect. How, they argue, can anyone be like Him? You’ve heard preachers pose a question during their sermons , and then lightheartedly say, “I’m so glad you asked” Imagine me saying that to you now as I suggest how we can be like the Savior, sinners though we are.
Trying to be like Jesus requires we know something about Him. It means even if we’re not Bible scholars (which few of us are), we should be at least among those who own a Bible and read it on a somewhat regular basis. That’s elementary. At our formative level we learned that God loves us. If we know only one verse in the Bible, it’s likely “For God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16), and one song, “Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so… yes, Jesus loves me.” As we advanced we came to understand that love – the most universal characteristic of the Savior – is both a noun and a verb. God set forth the concept and demonstration of it; and modeled both as stated in John 3:16. Thus, I suggest the way we grow to be like Jesus and conform to His image is to by loving like He did.
Jesus loved people irrespective of their economic or political status, ethnicity, nationality, creed, disabilities, ideologies, even their ignorance. His love enabled Him to look beyond their weaknesses and sins and see their needs. From His love flowed forgiveness, mercy, and grace; such that He gave His life on a cross so that they and we would be saved. This ultimate act of love takes us back to our question – “How can I use this to make me more like Jesus?” The “this” of the moment is the coronavirus pandemic and its impact upon life as we knew it before its attack. How indeed do we use this pandemic to be more like Jesus? We model His grace by supporting the efforts of the scientific and medical experts He provides us as they pursue protocols to fight the virus. We extend mercy to those in our communities whose needs exceed our own by helping and not hoarding; by promoting our collective welfare in following guidelines designed to protect us. We forgive those who in ignorance speak of what they do not know and pray that God will open their eyes and hearts to His truth.
We honor His ultimate sacrifice by vowing to never return to the way we were: selfish, apathetic, cynical, unforgiving, racist and all the other negatively connotated”ists” that prevented us from loving one another. We vow to reject whatever behaviors and attitudes we had pre-coronavirus that were destructive, and embrace those the virus has caused us to adopt if we are to survive.
Love. Joy. Peace.