What Does God Look Like?

In Crystal McVea’s book, Waking Up in Heaven, she describes an experience she had in December of 2009. She was hospitalized with pancreatitis and accidentally overdosed on pain killers. She died for nine minutes. She said, “At the exact moment I closed my eyes on Earth, was the exact moment that I opened my eyes in heaven.” She described heaven as a tunnel filled with bright light and felt the problems of this world fall away. Communication with God was uninterrupted. McVea said, “Time began to slow down and suddenly I was in the presence of God. I fell on my knees to worship him, and I was saddened by the fact that I hadn’t done more in His name while I had been here.” She chose to return to this world when she heard her mother’s voice. However, she knows heaven is still waiting for her in her future.

Do you believe Crytal McVea’s story? Doubters would say her story is the result of excess pain killers. Believers would say she saw God. If she saw God, then she was one of a handful who have ever seen God. People have longed to see God from the very beginning. That leads us to our question: what does God look like? There is no simple answer.

Don’t look to the Bible for an answer because the Bible doesn’t give us a description of God. In the Old Testament only four people saw God. There was Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Moses. You can find those accounts in Genesis 17, 35 and 48. However, in none of those accounts is there a description of God. In Exodus 33:18-23, we are told that Moses requested to see God, but his request was denied. God said no one can see Him. Do you remember the story? God places Moses on the side of a mountain and covers his eyes. God passes in front of Moses, but Moses only sees his back. The Old Testament is no help. The New Testament is no help. God is always hidden by a cloud, as at Jesus’ baptism and the transfiguration.

The art world has tried to answer the question, what does God look like? The image of God has inspired some of the greatest pieces of art in history. No one tried to portray God in art until the 10^th century because of fear. In the 10^th century some part of a human body appeared in art to represent God, a hand or a small part of a face. By the 12^th century private art was created and showed more of God. During the Renaissance both the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches protested the art world because they showed too much of God’s form. In 1511, Michelangelo (1475-1564) painted the Sistine Chapel. God’s fingers touch to create Adam. I find this information interesting, but it doesn’t answer our question, what does God look like?

Our reading, Isaiah 9:2-7, gives us hope at seeing God. Isaiah lived seven hundred years before the birth of Christ. They were politically stormy times for God’s Chosen People. Israel was in a state of decline, and the Assyria Empire was expanding. The people were hopeless, but Isaiah saw the big picture and offered them hope. He told them God had not forgotten them. With God, there is always hope. In verse six we are told their hope would come in the form of a child. We understand that child to be Jesus, the incarnation of God. You know the story.

It all began with an unwanted pregnancy. A young woman named Mary. She was a virgin, yet she finds herself pregnant. She is the hot topic in her little town of Nazareth. With very few options she travels to her aunt’s home, Elizabeth, to escape the judgment of her community. Elizabeth accepts her unconditionally and offers her hope. Elizabeth tells Mary God has a plan for her life. A man named Joseph would take Mary as his wife, and they will travel to Bethlehem to be counted in the census. Mary gives birth to this unwanted child in a stable built for animals. But God cares, He sent angels to some shepherds, who risk everything to see this baby. When they arrived, they saw the baby. However, they were not just looking at a newborn. They were looking at God. At Christmas, we celebrate the incarnation of God, Jesus! However, the story does not end there.

Jesus grew into adulthood. His earthly ministry began at 30-years-old and ended tragically at 33-years-old. On what we call Good Friday, he was executed Roman style like a common criminal and buried by his loved ones. The good news is the grave couldn’t hold Jesus. On the following Sunday, a few women make the great discovery that Jesus had been resurrected. The resurrected Jesus witnessed to his believers for 40 days before ascending into heaven. Ten days after Jesus ascended into heaven the Holy Spirit was unleashed on all believers to help them minister in the name of Jesus. Our good deeds are a way of thanking God for saving our souls and a way of reminding people about Jesus. In a perfect church, when people look at us, they should see God. When was the last time someone saw God in you?

During the Thirty Year’s War in Europe (1618-1648), the King of Sweden, Gustavus Adolphus (1594-1632), was killed in the Battle of Lutzen, in present day Germany. Sweden was thrown into mourning, and government officials met to determine how to replace the king. Some suggested a republic; others thought the crown should go to Adolphus’ cousin, the king of Poland. The chancellor of Sweden arose and said, “Let there be no talk of a republic or of Polish kings, for we have in our midst the heir of the great Gustavus, his little daughter, who is 6 years of age.” Some protested because they had never seen her. The chancellor said, “Wait a minute, and I will show you.” He brought in Christina, daughter of the king, and placed her on the throne. One of the representatives, who was especially suspicious of the move, pressed forward and gazed intently into her face. Then turning to the assembly, he exclaimed, “Look at her nose, her eyes, her chin! I see in the countenance of this child the features of the great Gustavus. She is the child of our king!” From all quarters of the room rang the proclamation, “Christina, Queen of Sweden!” Let me ask you this question.

Has anyone ever seen God in you? I am not talking about the way you look. I am not talking about your chin or your smile. I am not talking about your eyes or your cheek bones. I am talking about the things you do. I am talking about your very presence. You are a disciple of Jesus Christ! What do people learn about God by looking at you? Do you remember Crystal McVea? She said the words I hope you never say. Of her nine minutes in heaven, she said, “I fell on my knees to worship him, and I was saddened with the fact that I hadn’t done more in His name while I had been here.” How much have you done in His name? How much do you look like God?

Don’t Give Up Worship!

When I first retired, I worshipped in a small membership church. When I say small, I mean small. They averaged about twelve every Sunday. That figure is not really accurate because three of the twelve never attended worship. They escaped into the basement. They said they were preparing for the coffee hour after the benediction. I believe it was their time to visit with their adult daughter for their weekly visit. Can I state the obvious? When you only had twelve and three leave, the congregation grew a little thin. I suppose you could get mad at “the three.” I look at it differently. I felt sorry for “the three” because they are missing the best part of church. They illustrate a simple point. You can go to church and never worship. Have you ever gone to church and never worshipped? That takes us to our scripture, Isaiah 6:1-8.

Years ago, before our country was threatened by a civil war, before Columbus discovered a New World, or a man named Jesus was resurrected, there was a man who spoke on behalf of God. His name meant “The Lord Saves,” but we call him Isaiah. His ministry began about the year 740 B.C., which makes him a contemporary of Amos, Hosea and Micah. Isaiah lived in politically stormy times. The Assyrian Empire was expanding; Israel was declining. Perhaps, that is why Isaiah’s major themes are dark. He spoke about judgment and salvation. However, our reading is not about either. Instead, he talks about the importance of worship. He tells us we won’t experience three things if we don’t worship.

First, if you don’t attend worship, then you won’t experience God! In today’s scripture reading, Isaiah had a vision. In his vision, he experienced God. The first four verses of the text try to explain what he saw when he looked at God. The Lord is seated high and exalted. His robe fills the temple, and He is surrounded by divine creatures. Don’t get lost in the details of the text; look at the text in general terms. Isaiah is experiencing God, and I believe people who attend worship want to experience God too. The goal of every church is to get you to experience God. For once you experience God, everything in your life will change.

That is why Satan doesn’t want you to experience God. He likes you just the way you are. So, he promotes secondary things in the life of the church to a primary position. Have you ever been preoccupied during worship by some secondary thing in the life of the church? The temperature is too low. The sound system is too loud. The usher isn’t wearing a tie. The greeter didn’t know your name. The person next to you is annoying. The tables and chairs need to be set up for the next dinner or fundraiser. I could go on, but you get the point. Satan doesn’t want you to experience God, so he promotes secondary things. You can go to church and never worship. This is the sad truth. Most do not even go to church. According to Gallup Research, only 20% of Americans worship weekly, only 41% of Americans worship monthly. That leads us to our second point.

Second, if you don’t worship, then you won’t hear the truth. We go to church to learn about God. Look at the text with me one more time. In Isaiah’s vision, he compares himself to God. The experience is revealing. Isaiah identifies his own imperfections. Verse 5 says, “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.” Verses six and seven are key. They tell us something about the very nature of God. God does not strike him down because of his imperfections. God has a solution to his imperfection. A hot coal is placed on his lips and his guilt is taken away. Isaiah learns about God’s loving ways. If he had not experienced God, then his theology would have remained uncorrected. One of the reasons we have a poor national theology is that fewer Americans are worshipping all the time. In church, we learn the truth about God. If you don’t go to worship, then you will learn about God from other unreliable sources.

Augustine of Hippo (354-430) once said, “Our hearts are restless until we find our rest in God.” Augustine was saying within each person there is a spiritual hunger that must be satisfied. If people no longer go to church, then they will find their spiritual food in other places. Is your theology based on some creation from the entertainment industry, your craze for angels, your local fortune teller, your random acts of kindness, or your personal opinions? In worship you hear the truth. You learn about God and his plan of salvation for the world. How much do you know about God? How much of your personal theology is built on something you found outside of the church? Just because you have a thought or opinion about God does not make you wise or correct. In worship you learn the truth. That takes us to the third point.

Third, if you don’t worship, then you will never discover your purpose. You were born to be more than a consumer. You were created for a purpose. The scripture lesson ends with the famous words of verse 8, “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’ And I said, here am I. Send me!” Isaiah hears something in his vision that we often forget. Life is not about us; life is about others. The world tells us the key to happiness is to make yourself the star of your universe. Worship reminds us that the key to happiness is serving others. Researchers tell us people who serve others live longer, happier lives. Wouldn’t you like to live a longer, happier life? Our world is filled with problems. God expects you to make a positive difference in this world.

When I was young my best friend was named Jimmy. If you know me personally, then you know his last name. He lived five houses up from my family home. Being the same age, we were always in the same class at school. I cannot tell you how many hours we spent together. I never had a brother, but I had something better, Jimmy! He was always fun, and we shared our dreams with one another.

A Highway for Our God

In 1780, Colonel Abraham Davenport (1715-1789) was the Speaker of the Connecticut House of Representatives. On May 19 of that year, the sky of Hartford darkened ominously, and some of the representatives, glancing out the windows, feared the end was at hand. Quelling a clamor for immediate adjournment, Davenport rose and said, “The Day of Judgment is either approaching or it is not. If it is not, there is no cause for adjournment. If it is, I choose to be found doing my duty. Therefore, I wish that candles be brought.” The point is clear. Rather than fearing what is to come, we are to be faithful until Christ returns. That story takes us to our reading.

Our reading is Luke 3:1-6. It is impossible to read the Bible and ignore the Second Coming of Jesus. Did you know there are 1,845 references to Christ’s second coming in the Old Testament, where 17 books give it prominence? Did you know there are 260 chapters in the New Testament where you will find 318 references to the second advent of Christ? Did you know twenty-three of the twenty-seven New Testament books refer to this great event? Did you know one out of every 30 verses in the New Testament deals with Christ ‘s return? For every prophecy in the Bible concerning Christ’s first advent, there are eight which look forward to His second! Advent is a season to remember Christ’s first coming, but Advent is also a season to remember someday Christ will return. Do you believe in the second coming of Jesus? According to the Pew Research group, 62% of all Americans expect Jesus to return. The date of Jesus’ second coming is a great mystery. Matthew 24:36 says, but about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

The main character in our reading is John the Baptist. According to the text, the word of God came to him while he was living in the desert. Like a broken record, John only had one message: all must repent their sinful ways. It is Luke who aligns John the Baptist with the prophet Isaiah. Luke quotes Isaiah 40:35:

A voice of one calling:
                “In the desert prepare
                the way for the LORD;
                make straight in the wilderness
                a highway for our God.

Every valley shall be raised up,
                every mountain and hill made low;
                the rough ground shall become level,
                the rugged places a plain.

And the glory of the LORD will be revealed,
and all mankind together will see it.
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

Those words sound strange to our generation, but to John’s generation the message was clear. In those days when conquering armies attacked, the land was prepared ahead of time. The number of soldiers was massive. The sheer number of soldiers made it necessary to straighten the roads and level the ground. The work of the engineers was as important as the work of the soldiers; without the engineers there would be no battle.

That is what John says we must do before Jesus arrives. However, our preparation has nothing to do with geography. – our preparation has more to do with our spiritual condition. We must be prepared for his Second Coming. Luke 12:40 says, “You must always be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you least expect him.” In this blog I want to help you to be prepared for Christ’s second coming. Consider these three things with me.

First, you must prioritize your life. At the Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin, Germany, is a painting by German painter Adolph Menzel (1815-1905). It is only partially finished. It was intended to show King Fredrick the Great speaking with some of his generals before the Battle of Leuthen in 1757. Menzel painted generals in the background but left the king until the end. He drew an outline of Fredrick in charcoal but died prior to finishing the painting. Isn’t that the story of countless lives? How many people do you know focus on the minor issues and characters of their lives, forgetting what is important? Does God play a major role in your life or have the minor characters in your life taken over? We need to prioritize our lives and make God our top priority.

Second, you must purify your witness. According to the book Life of Francis d’Assisi, Francis once invited a young monk to join him on a trip to town to preach. Honored to be given the invitation, the monk readily accepted. All day long he and Francis walked through the streets. They rubbed shoulders with hundreds of people. At day’s end, the two headed back home. Not even once had Francis addressed a crowd, nor had he talked to anyone about the gospel. Greatly disappointed, his young companion said, “I thought we were going into town to preach.” Francis responded, “My son, we have preached. We were preaching while we were walking. We were seen by many, and our behavior was closely watched. It is of no use to walk anywhere to preach unless we preach everywhere as we walk!” You may be the only Bible someone in your life will ever read. How pure is your witness?

Third, you must perceive our Savior. One of the highlights of my ministry was being the pastor of a church that co-hosted a youth workcamp in Youngstown, Ohio. We did it twice and called those camps Mill Creek Workcamp. I remember seeing the excitement of those 400 campers from around the country. They reminded us of something we had nearly forgotten, God is moving. Every night at worship they would report on seeing God in numerous ways called “God sightings”. One night a work crew reported seeing God in the neighbor of their resident. God was well disguised. On Monday the crew arrived, and the neighbor opened his door and welcomed the workers with some ugly language. However, on Thursday the same neighbor opened the same door and told the workers that he had tools and they could use them, if they wished. It had to be God. God is alive and well in our world. When was the last time you saw God in your neighborhood?

The second coming of Christ is a complex topic. If you do not believe me then ask William Miller (1782-1849). He studied the Bible for fourteen years and was convinced Christ would return on April 3, 1843. His followers believed him. Some of his disciples went to mountaintops, hoping for a head start to heaven. Others were in graveyards, planning to ascend in reunion with their departed loved ones. Philadelphia society ladies clustered together outside town to avoid entering God’s kingdom amid the common herd. However, April 3, 1843, came and went, but Jesus never returned. William Miller may have been discouraged, but he did not give up. He went back to the Bible and recalculated his figures. He admitted the April 3 date was wrong and announced that the real date for Christ’s return would be March 22, 1844. The problem was March 22, 1844, came and went without the appearance of Jesus. Once again William Miller was disillusioned. There was more Bible study and calculations. He announced a third date, October 22, 1844. That date came and went without Jesus. Too bad he didn’t read Matthew 24:36.

We do not know when Jesus will return, but we know he will return. So, we need to act like every day is our last day. We need to prioritize our lives. We need to purify our witness. We need to perceive our Savior. John the Baptist said it best, “Make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.”