Family Likenesses
Sermon
It's very interesting to be in the local school when children and parents are there together. Some children resemble their parents so closely that the relationship, even with the age gap, is unmistakable. Other children have some slight resemblance but nothing marked, until perhaps you see them walk or listen to their pattern of speech or watch their movements. Then the relationship becomes much more apparent. Other children are very like one or other parent in character, so that you hear such things as, "She's her father's daughter all right!" But yet other children are so utterly unlike either parent that you wonder how on earth they all belong to the same family.
Sometimes things change as the children grow up, so that when they're adult, children who used to be totally unlike their parents suddenly look like a younger spitting image of their parents. And conversely, children who used to look like one or other parent, suddenly cease to resemble either when they become adults. It also seems to be true that people who are close grow more alike over the years, and in extreme case, some people even grow to resemble their dogs.
In "The Picture of Dorian Gray", that famous novel by Oscar Wilde, the anti-hero Dorian Gray is a dissolute young man who is into all kinds of sordid pursuits. As the years pass, Dorian Gray's friends gradually begin to look seedy and degenerate as their faces begin to reflect their lives, but Dorian Gray doesn't change. Despite his lifestyle, Dorian Gray remains as fresh and youthful as he ever was. But he doesn't get away with it, for his changes occur in his portrait which soon reflects the debauchery of his life.
Whatever front we may present to the world, we never really get away with it, for as the years roll by our faces begin to reflect what we're really like inside. Just as we can't control whether or not we'll grow to resemble either of our parents, neither can we control the information that we reveal through our faces. Somebody who is continually miserable soon develops frown lines and a downturned mouth and a sour expression, no matter how pleasant they try to be outwardly. And somebody who often laughs develops twinkling eyes with smile lines around the eyes and an upturned mouth, no matter how miserable they may feel at times. What we're like inside becomes much more apparent to the world as we grow older, because our faces reflect our characters more and more clearly.
When people saw Jesus they instantly recognised the family likeness. Jesus was the spitting image of God in his character and his ways, so that anyone who saw Jesus could see God on earth as a human being. The significance of this was mind-blowing for the early Church, just as it remains mind-blowing for us if we really think about it. It's incredible that God actually lived on earth as a human being and no wonder we celebrate that amazing fact every Christmas. But it may be that for us churchgoers the idea that Jesus is God has been part of our Christian psyche for so long that perhaps it no longer sounds particularly remarkable. This wasn't the case for the early Church. Those first few generations of Christians were the first human beings to realise that they'd been visited on earth by God through the person of Jesus, and they wanted and needed to tell the world about it. So as human beings so often do when something momentous happens or something amazing moves them, they set it out as a poem or a hymn and they used it as part of their church worship. That early hymn is recorded in St Paul's letter to the Colossians, and we read it today. Here it is again:
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
Jesus is God, they were saying, and so is supreme in the whole of creation and holds everything - the whole of life - together. For everything was created by God, whose whole character and family likeness dwell in Jesus. Jesus is the head of the church, the new "body" of God, and God has used Jesus to bridge the gap between himself and the world. Through the cross blood is shed, the sacrifice is made and accepted, and God's people are again at one with him.
In the Old Testament, interaction with God occurred through an elaborate system of sacrifices. There were certain sacrifices for peace, for thanking God for some special favour or blessing, for praising God's mighty and wonderful works, and for receiving God's forgiveness for sins. God's forgiveness for sins was received through a blood sacrifice. Because the blood of an animal was considered to be its life force, that blood had to be shed in order for God to cleanse life so that those who were seeking forgiveness could start over again. An animal was used as a kind of stand-in for the sinful person.
When Jesus died on the cross, his blood was shed for all human beings. He was the supreme sacrifice to end all sacrifices. Once the blood of a perfect human being had been shed, no more sacrifices were necessary because forgiveness and cleansing had been received for ever through the sacrifice of Jesus. In St Paul's words quoting that early Christian hymn, "for God was pleased .... through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross."
Christ is the king, the supreme being who rules over the whole of creation. But he isn't a bit like an earthly king, for his kingship is not in pomp or ceremony or wealth, but in service. God, the supreme being, lived on earth in the person of Jesus in order to serve ordinary human beings. From that first moment when Jesus was born to an unmarried mother in a dirty stable with no hot water and not even a proper bed, God set out his agenda for his life on earth. And that agenda was to wash dirty human feet, to care for sick human beings, to listen to and receive and forgive those who had done awful things in their lives. And he carried this through right to the end, by loving and forgiving even those awful, twisted sanctimonious Pharisees who in effect nailed him to a cross and killed him. And so this supreme being, Christ the King, voluntarily made the supreme sacrifice in the service of us ordinary human beings. That's some kingship!
That sort of love is breathtaking, and only God could love like that. Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation, filled with God's love and constantly pouring that love into human beings.
We too are made in God's image. We too bear the family resemblance, although some human beings are so utterly unlike God that you wonder how on earth they all belong to the same family. But a lifetime of growing closer to God can't help but show in our faces and in our characters. We can no more control the information which shows on our faces than we can control whether or not we'll grow to resemble God. Those who grow close to God deep inside themselves, shine like a stained glass window. People can look through them and see God.
But it has to come from the heart. The peace of God which passes all understanding shows on our faces and in our characters, but it doesn't come just from a lifetime of churchgoing. That churchgoing must be in the context of and for the purpose of growing closer to God. The peace of God in our hearts comes only from a relationship with Jesus, with God. And the closer that relationship, the more we begin to resemble Jesus.
The early Christians were known as Saints, and that soon became synonymous with a quality of life which was full of hope and love and laughter and peace and joy. We don't have to be extra specially good, or to be amazingly spiritual people who spend every minute of every day on their knees. We too can become saints and have a life full of hope and love and laughter and peace and joy, if we follow Christ the King and begin to love as he loves us.
Sometimes things change as the children grow up, so that when they're adult, children who used to be totally unlike their parents suddenly look like a younger spitting image of their parents. And conversely, children who used to look like one or other parent, suddenly cease to resemble either when they become adults. It also seems to be true that people who are close grow more alike over the years, and in extreme case, some people even grow to resemble their dogs.
In "The Picture of Dorian Gray", that famous novel by Oscar Wilde, the anti-hero Dorian Gray is a dissolute young man who is into all kinds of sordid pursuits. As the years pass, Dorian Gray's friends gradually begin to look seedy and degenerate as their faces begin to reflect their lives, but Dorian Gray doesn't change. Despite his lifestyle, Dorian Gray remains as fresh and youthful as he ever was. But he doesn't get away with it, for his changes occur in his portrait which soon reflects the debauchery of his life.
Whatever front we may present to the world, we never really get away with it, for as the years roll by our faces begin to reflect what we're really like inside. Just as we can't control whether or not we'll grow to resemble either of our parents, neither can we control the information that we reveal through our faces. Somebody who is continually miserable soon develops frown lines and a downturned mouth and a sour expression, no matter how pleasant they try to be outwardly. And somebody who often laughs develops twinkling eyes with smile lines around the eyes and an upturned mouth, no matter how miserable they may feel at times. What we're like inside becomes much more apparent to the world as we grow older, because our faces reflect our characters more and more clearly.
When people saw Jesus they instantly recognised the family likeness. Jesus was the spitting image of God in his character and his ways, so that anyone who saw Jesus could see God on earth as a human being. The significance of this was mind-blowing for the early Church, just as it remains mind-blowing for us if we really think about it. It's incredible that God actually lived on earth as a human being and no wonder we celebrate that amazing fact every Christmas. But it may be that for us churchgoers the idea that Jesus is God has been part of our Christian psyche for so long that perhaps it no longer sounds particularly remarkable. This wasn't the case for the early Church. Those first few generations of Christians were the first human beings to realise that they'd been visited on earth by God through the person of Jesus, and they wanted and needed to tell the world about it. So as human beings so often do when something momentous happens or something amazing moves them, they set it out as a poem or a hymn and they used it as part of their church worship. That early hymn is recorded in St Paul's letter to the Colossians, and we read it today. Here it is again:
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
Jesus is God, they were saying, and so is supreme in the whole of creation and holds everything - the whole of life - together. For everything was created by God, whose whole character and family likeness dwell in Jesus. Jesus is the head of the church, the new "body" of God, and God has used Jesus to bridge the gap between himself and the world. Through the cross blood is shed, the sacrifice is made and accepted, and God's people are again at one with him.
In the Old Testament, interaction with God occurred through an elaborate system of sacrifices. There were certain sacrifices for peace, for thanking God for some special favour or blessing, for praising God's mighty and wonderful works, and for receiving God's forgiveness for sins. God's forgiveness for sins was received through a blood sacrifice. Because the blood of an animal was considered to be its life force, that blood had to be shed in order for God to cleanse life so that those who were seeking forgiveness could start over again. An animal was used as a kind of stand-in for the sinful person.
When Jesus died on the cross, his blood was shed for all human beings. He was the supreme sacrifice to end all sacrifices. Once the blood of a perfect human being had been shed, no more sacrifices were necessary because forgiveness and cleansing had been received for ever through the sacrifice of Jesus. In St Paul's words quoting that early Christian hymn, "for God was pleased .... through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross."
Christ is the king, the supreme being who rules over the whole of creation. But he isn't a bit like an earthly king, for his kingship is not in pomp or ceremony or wealth, but in service. God, the supreme being, lived on earth in the person of Jesus in order to serve ordinary human beings. From that first moment when Jesus was born to an unmarried mother in a dirty stable with no hot water and not even a proper bed, God set out his agenda for his life on earth. And that agenda was to wash dirty human feet, to care for sick human beings, to listen to and receive and forgive those who had done awful things in their lives. And he carried this through right to the end, by loving and forgiving even those awful, twisted sanctimonious Pharisees who in effect nailed him to a cross and killed him. And so this supreme being, Christ the King, voluntarily made the supreme sacrifice in the service of us ordinary human beings. That's some kingship!
That sort of love is breathtaking, and only God could love like that. Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation, filled with God's love and constantly pouring that love into human beings.
We too are made in God's image. We too bear the family resemblance, although some human beings are so utterly unlike God that you wonder how on earth they all belong to the same family. But a lifetime of growing closer to God can't help but show in our faces and in our characters. We can no more control the information which shows on our faces than we can control whether or not we'll grow to resemble God. Those who grow close to God deep inside themselves, shine like a stained glass window. People can look through them and see God.
But it has to come from the heart. The peace of God which passes all understanding shows on our faces and in our characters, but it doesn't come just from a lifetime of churchgoing. That churchgoing must be in the context of and for the purpose of growing closer to God. The peace of God in our hearts comes only from a relationship with Jesus, with God. And the closer that relationship, the more we begin to resemble Jesus.
The early Christians were known as Saints, and that soon became synonymous with a quality of life which was full of hope and love and laughter and peace and joy. We don't have to be extra specially good, or to be amazingly spiritual people who spend every minute of every day on their knees. We too can become saints and have a life full of hope and love and laughter and peace and joy, if we follow Christ the King and begin to love as he loves us.
