Friday, April 23, 2010

Jesus Sightings

Countless people claim to have seen an apparition of the face of Jesus. Sometimes the image of Jesus appears on a wall of the church. Or on a tortilla. Or in their grilled cheese sandwich. One family reports having a Jesus in the shape of a Cheetoh, another man saw the image of Jesus in his chest x-ray. Talk about having Jesus in your heart!

I'm not questioning the piety of these folk, but clearly, there is something wrong here. Most of the "Jesus sightings" we hear about are nothing more than attention seekers seizing their proverbial five minutes of fame. Or the money. Take Mario Rubio, who found the image of Jesus in her burrito in 1977 and immediately quit her job, choosing to work at the "Shrine of the Tortilla" that she constructed in her backyard for tourists.

Even the gullible raise a wary right eyebrow at these stories. But is it possible to see Jesus? And if so, how? Where do we start looking? Is the search more like searching for lost car keys or the needle in a haystack?
The Bible give us a hopeful answer with the story of two men along the road who experienced a "Jesus sighting" after the resurrection. Cleopas and his friend find Jesus revealed to them in some very ordinary ways, ways that offer hope for a "Jesus sighting" to those of us who never get to see Jesus in our soup bowl or grilled cheese sandwich.

We'll talk about seeing Jesus in the ordinary living of life during worship on Sunday. If you're in the Washington, DC metro area, join us at First Baptist Gaithersburg at 10:30, maybe you'll have a Jesus sighting of your own!

Keeping an open eye,
Pastor Gary

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