MANIFESTATIONS OF LOVE

Zechariah 12:1-13:9; Revelation 19:1-21; Psalm 147:1-20; Proverbs 31:1-7

“They will look on me whom they have pierced and mourn for him as for an only son. They will grieve bitterly for him as for a firstborn son who has died.”

“Then I saw heaven opened, and a white horse was standing there. Its rider was named Faithful and True, for he judges fairly and wages a righteous war. His eyes were like flames of fire, and on his head were many crowns. A name was written on him that no one understood except himself. He wore a robe dipped in blood, and his title was the Word of God. The armies of heaven, dressed in the finest of pure white linen, followed him on white horses. From his mouth came a sharp sword to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod. He will release the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty, like juice flowing from a winepress. On his robe at his thigh was written this title: King of all kings and Lord of all lords.”

“He takes no pleasure in the strength of a horse or in human might. No, the Lord’s delight is in those who fear him, those who put their hope in his unfailing love.”

There are a lot of portraits of Christ painted throughout the New Testament, but probably none are on more opposite ends of the spectrum than today’s views from Zechariah and Revelation. On one hand is the Suffering Servant; on the other, the Victorious Messiah. Folks who look for a one dimensional Savior are out of luck. Jesus comes to us in many iterations because we have many individual needs. He comes to us as we need Him most: sympathizing with the widow; laughing with the children; in anger and discipline when we deliberately stray; forgiving and loving those humble enough to confess and repent. As multifaceted as the personality of Jesus is, it’s no wonder some people have difficulty grasping the complexity of His nature. However, that’s not the real problem.

The real problem comes when, in our unsuccessful efforts to “pin Him down,” we become frustrated with Christ and therefore reduce Him to the point He becomes a creation in our image, rather than the other way around. To be more specific, when I need mighty, divine intervention in my life, the Suffering Servant is not likely to speak to me or reach my heart. I’ll be looking for an Almighty Messiah – and I might just miss the answer to prayer God would give me in an unexpected view of His character.

I never realized how my own mental picture of Jesus framed my expectations of Him and, subconsciously, limited His power in my life, until I read a book pointing out that, according to Isaiah, there was nothing good looking about Him. Now, I’d read that Scripture over many times - every Christmas, in fact. I’d heard the words. Still, when at last they finally sank in and I realized all those idyllic, Sunday School portraits were nothing more than well-intended lies, it gave me pause. Do Christians worship an ugly guy? I know it should not matter, and I did not worry about it at the time. But then I read The Shack, a book that describes God, among other ways, as a large, rotund African-American woman, and the issue once more demanded attention. I had to face the truth. The way I see God to some extent determines (more accurately, limits) how much I will trust Him, and the ways in which I will allow Him to minister to me. As I began to take this line of thinking further, I soon realized that no one image of Christ could possibly cover all the ways we need Him in our lives. Finally, that lead to the ultimate realization. What I most often look for is a “quick fix” Messiah. What Christ wants to be and needs to be is a long term friend, guide and confidante. There is only one character trait that needs to be absolute in the way we see Jesus. The one absolute constant in our Redeemer is – and must be – that no matter how and when He makes His presence known, the effect and impact of that knowledge always leads us back to the Throne of Heaven.

If, then, we are to be as Christlike as we are called to be, even in the throes of everyday life and our own multiple personalities (e.g., father, son, husband, attorney, friend, to name just a few), we need to be sure of our personal orientation to the Holy Spirit first. Then, we need to use whatever aspect of our personality best works to reach others for Christ in the given situation. I’ve seen many so-called disciples whose real desire was simply to form a group they could lead. For these individuals, their position of leadership was more important that getting folks to Christ. But Christ should never be just a tool we use to build and grow our own peer group. He is the end, not the means. If He is not our ultimate goal, and the goal of those we hope to lead, somebody is seriously off course, and it is not Jesus.

True strength is not what we think it is. Numbers of followers do not establish it. Catchy slogans do not define it. Even the financial and other support and gifts given us by others do not prove our capacity or our credibility. True strength is found in only one place, and can be attained in only one way. We must fear the Lord and put our hope in His unfailing love, in every and any way it comes to us, trusting that, when it comes to manifestations of love, the Spirit really does know best. To be clear, though, “fear” in this sense has nothing to do with terror. It is instead the type of fear Moses felt when he was told to remove his shoes on Sinai, for he was on holy ground. It is the original, and only real, “awesome.” We stand in silence before our God not because we are scared of Him, but because there really are no words to explain His glory or to describe the depth of gratitude we should have for His grace. Once we understand it is OK to be a bit mystified by all God is, putting our hope in His unfailing, and multidimensional, love is the easy part.