What Does God Look Like?

March 2, 2014, Transfiguration Sunday



Matthew 17:1–9 [Jesus is transfigured on the mountaintop.]
And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him.
And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.” And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.
And as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Tell no one the vision, until the Son of Man is raised from the dead.”

Collect of the Day
O God, in the glorious Transfiguration of Your beloved Son You confirmed the mysteries of the faith by the testimony of Moses and Elijah, and in the voice that came from the bright cloud You wonderfully foreshadowed our adoption by grace. Mercifully make us co-heirs with the King of His glory and bring us to the fullness of our inheritance in heaven; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
What Does God Look Like?

What does God look like? No one has ever seen God, except in visions and in the Person of Jesus Christ. But what does God look like? It is something beyond the imagination of humans, I am sure. But we humans need something to see or something to imagine when we think about something. Let’s list some of the common images of God: An old man with a great white beard sitting on a throne. A great white, blinding light. Bolts of lightening to punish sinners. A judge. The architect of the universe. A shepherd leading his sheep. A mother hen taking care of her chicks. A friend to walk next to us. A cool breeze or a gentle wind. The force of the universe that is in everything. Pure energy. In pagan religions, idols try to capture the image of God as a person, an animal like a strong bull or lion or dragon, a person with many arms to show that God can do many things. Since God is infinite, we cannot grasp the total form of God.

Genesis Chapter One Verse 26, 26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness.”

But, people try to make a god in their own image. That is to say, they create a god that they can control. This is a god that will grant my every desire. That will permit every behavior of mine. That will destroy my enemies both national and personal. That will be my personal servant. That will give me health and wealth and happiness.

Or people make themselves god. It is a type of idol worship. They think they are the center of the universe. I am god. Everyone should obey me. The world exists to give me happiness. I can do anything I want to because everything I do is permitted by me. I decide what is right and wrong.

Perhaps this is the basic sin: making yourself god. Genesis Chapter Three explains that the root of sin is when people want to decide for themselves what is right and wrong, and what is good and bad. When people want to decide without God it is like eating the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. On that day people start to die because they are living without God. Do not blame Satan and the Snake. Do not blame Adam and Eve. When given the chance we do the same.

God makes the decision of what is right and wrong, and what is good and bad. As Genesis 2:16-17 says, “And the LORD God commanded the man, ‘You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.’” For many people, this is the image of God, and the form that they will see on Judgment Day.

And then God made another decision of what is right and wrong, and what is good and bad. It is the decision of love and mercy and forgiveness and reconciliation. To show that love, God took on the form of something that humans could see and understand. God was born in Bethlehem as a helpless baby. Jesus grew up to be a Holy Spirit-filled charismatic Messiah who proclaimed the love of God. Through signs and miracles he showed the form of God that loves us and cares about us. It was a form that people could see and hear and touch, and that could speak to and reach out to and touch people.

And then Jesus took the form which we see on the cross. When he took the sins of the world upon himself, he took the form of every sinner. He became the criminal. He became the murderer, the sinner, the thief, the gossip, the liar, the pervert, the blasphemer, the adulterer. He took my form. He took your form. He took the form of the person on the other side of the room. He took the form of your friend and of your enemy. And taking that form, he died to forgive and recreate and resurrect you and me.

Philippians Chapter Two talks about the “transfiguration” of Jesus. “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death — even death on a cross!
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

So, what does God look like? How does Jesus come to us today? He comes in Word and Sacrament. Here we can see and hear and touch and taste our Lord. He comes in love that moves our hearts and strengthens our bodies. We might not know what the face of Jesus looks like, but we know what his heart looks like. God is love.

Amen.

Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church


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