IMAGE OF GOD IN BELIEVERS
DR. JIM DIXON
LUKE 10:25-37
OCTOBER 10, 1993
A very strange thing happened in 1977 in the city of Lake Arthur, New Mexico, at the home of Maria and Eduardo Rubio. Maria was in the kitchen and she was cooking a tortilla in the skillet. As she cooked the tortilla, she was amazed to look down and to see that the face of Christ, the image of Christ’s face was beginning to form on the tortilla. She called her husband into the kitchen, Eduardo. He came in and as they looked, they both decided this was a miracle. So they kept the tortilla and they converted their living room into a shrine, the shrine of the holy tortilla.
Now, they reported this to the media, and it was carried in newspapers all across this country. It was carried in the Denver Post and in the Rocky Mountain News. Incredibly, thousands of people began to make a pilgrimage to Lake Arthur, New Mexico, to visit the home of Maria and Eduardo to see the holy tortilla that was there. Incredibly, now more than 10,000 people have claimed to have been healed by the holy tortilla at the home of the Rubio’s.
Now, I think most of us don’t really know what to make of a story like that. I’ve got questions. Some of the questions aren’t really that important. I mean, I want to know whether it was a corn tortilla or a flour tortilla. But some of the questions perhaps have a little more substance. I mean, I want to know why it is that our Lord Jesus Christ would choose to heal 10,000 people through a tortilla. Of course, my suspicion is that He didn’t. I mean, my suspicion is that many of those people who shared various afflictions and solutions to those afflictions were involved in certain psychosomatic manifestations. Perhaps some people were really healed, but if they were healed, it was not because of the tortilla, but because they had placed their faith in Jesus Christ. Certainly, Jesus Christ has power to heal.
I know this without a doubt: Jesus Christ wants to manifest Himself to this world. He wants to reveal Himself. He wants to be seen. He wants to be manifested and revealed, but not through tortillas, not through cloud formations, or through shrouds such as the Shroud of Turin. No, Jesus Christ wants to reveal Himself, wants to manifest Himself, He wants to be seen through you. He wants to be seen through you.
Now, as we study the New Testament, it becomes very clear that it is the plan of the Father that all who believe in the Son as Lord and Savior might begin to reflect Christ, so that people might begin to see Christ in us. As we go to the Old Testament, in the Book of Genesis, we see that God created us in His image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them. It was the plan of God that as people looked at each other, they would see something of God’s nature there. The Bible tells us the world has fallen. Sin has permeated the creation. We are not what we are meant to be. The image of God in man is broken and distorted. We no longer look at each other and see the divine was meant to be there.
But in Christ, you see Christ has come into the world and He offers new life. He offers new birth to all who believe in Him as Lord and Savior. When we give our life to Him, He indwells us with the Holy Spirit. Now through all who believe it is possible once again for God in some measure to be seen in us, in those of us who believe. But I would tell you this morning that it is not possible for Christ to be seen in you or in me unless we manifest this fruit called kindness. You can’t see Christ in someone who isn’t kind.
Giovanni Bernardone was born in what is now called the country of Italy. He was born in the 12th century. He was born in the year 1181. Giovanni’s father was a wealthy textile merchant. In Giovanni’s teenage years, he looked forward to the social and political privileges that generally accompanied those who were wealthy. Giovanni was selfish, he was self-focused. He had very little concern for any others. Something happened, however, in the year 1202. He was taken captive by the enemy. You see, this was a time in Italy’s history where the region was divided into city states. Giovanni’s city was at war with the neighboring city of Perugia, and he was taken captive by the Perugians. For three horrible, miserable years, he was in prison.
Then in the year 1205, Giovanni had a vision of Jesus Christ. His life was transformed radically. He entered the priesthood. He consecrated his life to the service of Christ. He entered the priesthood and he took his wealth and he used that wealth for the building of churches. He personally took a vow of poverty and adopted a lifestyle of simplicity. He went into the inner cities and he began to minister to the poor, began to feed the hungry and clothe the naked. He longed that people might see Jesus Christ through him and in him, and through his actions.
In the year 1210, Giovanni founded the Franciscan Order approved by Pope Innocent III. The Franciscan Order continues to this day. In the year 1212, Giovanni became a missionary to the Muslim world. He was told that it’s not possible that the Islamic peoples will convert to the Christian faith. But Giovanni said, “If they can see the kindness of Jesus Christ in me, they’ll love Christ.” He went forth, and many did see the kindness of Christ in him, and many gave their hearts and lives to Christ. It was in the year 1224 that the stigmata began to appear on the person of Giovanni, the crucified marks of Christ, the marks of His shed blood as Giovanni began to bleed in his hands, his feet, his side. The blood spontaneously generated. He said he would gladly have bled to death if it might enable one person to see the crucified Christ in him.
Giovanni died in the year 1226, and in the year 1228 he was canonized by the Roman Catholic Church. Of course, today he is renowned and he is famous, not as Giovanni Bernardone. His middle name was Francisco, and he is known to us today as St. Francis from the city of Assisi. St. Francis is renowned today for his kindness to animals, with which he seemed to have a peculiar gift of God. Of course, he is claimed and embraced by environmentalists and animal rights advocates. We should understand that the Roman Catholic Church did not canonize St. Francis because of his kindness to animals. The Roman Catholic Church canonized St. Francis because he was so kind to people. Through that kindness, the world saw something of the person of Jesus Christ.
Now, we are not a Roman Catholic church, and we’re not going to be canonizing any of you. But the Bible tells us that all who believe in Jesus Christ truly are saints. If you believe in Christ, you are a saint, and it is the will of the Father that the world might somehow see the Son in you, might see Christ in you. It’s only going to happen as you seek the fruit of the Holy Spirit we call kindness.
You know, this last Christmas just a few weeks ago, Barb and I and the kids went out to California to be with my mom and dad and my brothers and their families were there. It was the first time in so many years that we were all together at my parents’ house. It was great to see my mom and dad. You know I’ve shared many times through the years past how I accepted Christ through my mom, and how when I was five years old, I knelt with my mom in the living room and I asked Jesus Christ to come into my heart and be my Lord and Savior. I think I’ve shared many times how I saw Jesus Christ through my mom, how I saw our Lord Jesus Christ uniquely through my mother and through her life. I’ve often asked, I’ve often wondered why? I’ve often thought, “Why is it that I could see Christ so clearly in my mother?” I really know today, I know the answer is because my mother is so kind.
I think everybody who meets my mom and through the years have had the privilege of getting to know my mom, they all would testify that she is kind. Somehow in her and in her life, you see the kindness of Jesus Christ. You see, there’s not ministry without kindness. Certainly, as Christians, we are called to stand for the truth. We are called to stand for, we’re called to submit fully to the authority of the Word of God. I think as Christians, we cannot help but be concerned about the erosion of Judeo-Christian values in the culture and society in which we live in. Certainly, we need to have a prophetic voice. We need to take a strong stand. But it must always be with kindness.
If there’s not kindness, it will not impact, will not minister in this world. You know, our Lord Jesus Christ gave the great commandment that we should love the Lord our God with all of our heart, our soul, our minds. He said, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” A lawyer said to him, “Well, who is my neighbor?” And Jesus, of course, told the story of the Good Samaritan, how a man traveled on that Jerusalem-Jericho road and fell among thieves who robbed him and who beat him up and left him naked and half dead by the side of the road. Now, Levite came by. The Levite had no compassion, he just continued on. And a priest came by, and again, the priest saw this wounded dying man, but there was no compassion. And the priest continued on. But a Samaritan came, who in the sight of the Jews was little more than a half breed, and that Samaritan was moved with compassion and showed kindness to that wounded man, and bandaged him and cared for him, loved him.
You know, it’s an amazing thing when you think about that story that our Lord told. I mean, the priest and the Levite were called to be servants of God. Yet in them, through them, God could not be seen. God could not be seen in them because they showed no kindness. But you see in that Samaritan, you see the character and person of Jesus Christ through kindness. I think each and every one of us this morning, as we come to this table, we need to ask ourselves if we really want people to see Jesus Christ in us. I mean, do you really want the world to be able to see Jesus Christ in you? Are you willing to pray for the power of the Holy Spirit to begin to be released in your life and heart? That you might show the kindness of Christ to those around you.
God wants us to know that kindness has its rewards. There’s a story, with this we’ll close, it’s a story that took place 85 years ago. It’s a true story. It took place 85 years ago in the city of Philadelphia, in a third class hotel. An elderly couple came into the lobby. They were looking for a room for the night. The clerk at that hotel was a man named George Boldt. He was a young man. This elderly couple, as they came in, they had been to many other hotels looking for a room. But there were many conventions at that time in the city of Philadelphia and the hotels were packed. The clerk George Boldt said to the elder elderly couple, “You know, the same situation is here, we have no rooms. I’m so sorry. We have no rooms. We’re filled up.”
He could see that the elderly couple were just distraught. They seemed desperate, and he was moved with compassion. So the clerk said, “You know, I have a room and I work nights and I sleep during the day. You know, tonight you’d be welcome to stay in my room. I won’t even charge you for that. It’s not quite as nice as the other rooms in the hotel, but it’s clean. I keep my room clean, and I’d be honored if you’d stay in my room tonight.” That elderly couple said, “God bless you.” George led them to his room and the couple spent the night there. The next morning, the elderly man came out and he said, “You know, young man, you’re the kind of man that ought to be the boss of the greatest, the best hotel in the country. Maybe someday I’ll build that for you.” George laughed. He didn’t take the comment very seriously. He didn’t even know the elderly man’s full name. The elderly man had simply introduced himself as John.
Well, it was a couple of years later that George got a letter and it included a ticket to come to New York and various instructions. The letter was signed, “John.” George remembered, and he traveled to New York and there he met John, who took him to the corner of 5th and 34th Street in New York. John showed George this brand new hotel with red stone rock, with spires and turrets. To George, it looked like some incredibly beautiful castle out of an imaginary world. He’d never seen anything like it. George said, “What’s this?” John said, ‘This is a new hotel I’ve built for you. I want you to manage this hotel.”
George said, “Who are you that you could do this for me?” You see, it turned out John was John Jacob Astor. That hotel was the original Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York. George Boldt went on to become one of the most famous hotel managers in the world. I’ve heard that story a number of times, and every time you hear it, it’s used to illustrate kindness and perhaps the principle of reciprocity, that kindness is returned when kindness is given. Sometimes kindness is returned manyfold. I believe that is true. Yet we must all say it’s not always true. I mean, it’s not always true that when you show kindness to somebody, that that kindness is returned. Yet, for Christ’s sake, you and I are called to give kindness anyway. Christ wants us to know that, you know, He sees our kindness. When we’re kind, there will be a reward someday.
You see, in the Gospel of Luke, in the 10th chapter, Jesus Christ says, “No one who has given a cup of cold water, will go unrewarded. No one who’s given a cup of cold water will go unrewarded.” What a beautiful thought that someday some will stand before Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ will say, “Come oh blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from before the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me to drink. I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and imprisoned and you visited me. I was a stranger and you welcomed me.” They will say, “When, Lord, when did we do these things for you?” And He will say, in as much as you have done it unto the least of these, my brethren, you have done it unto me.”
Kindness has its reward. So this morning, as we come to this table, I think the Lord would challenge us to make a commitment to kindness. Now, I don’t think kindness just happens in our life. I don’t think we just happen to be kind people. I think the power of the Holy Spirit is released in those who have consecrated themselves to be all that Christ wants them to be. And I would ask you this morning, if you would, with me, make a decision that every day, for Christ’s sake, you’re going to seek to do at least one kind act for somebody. With me, you would pray that the power of the Holy Spirit might so work in our lives that that act of kindness might serve Christ’s kingdom in ministry. Let’s pray together.