Winning Words 9/30/11
“If Jesus stopped you in the street, would you recognize him?” (Mark Allan Powell) Powell has written a new book which explores the question, “Who is Jesus?” The Bible says that Jesus appears in a variety of disguises. He’s a blind man, a person on welfare, an immigrant, someone in hospice, a beggar at the corner. Costumes are not only used on Halloween. Think! When did you last see Jesus in disguise? ;-) Jack

FROM PL IN MICHIGAN: Now you are scaring me! What if Jesus is disguised as Sarah Palin!? This next sentence is really a serious question, Jack. Is their any evidence in the scriptures that Jesus had a sense of humor?//// FROM JACK: Jesus could show up as Sarah and show you that he has a sense of humor. He could also show up as your wife. Once Jesus was responding to criticism by the self-righteous. "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the log that is in your own eye?" That's irony as humor.

FROM PRJS IN MICHIGAN: I think the real question is not "Would you recognize him physically?" but "Would you recognize HIM?" The thing that is difficult to recognize about Jesus is exactly what has plagued churches for 2000 years....We want Jesus to be made in our image. The problem is having our image restructured so that it allows us to meet Jesus as he really is. Who, thus far in Christian history, has been able to do this?//// FROM JACK: Jesus was God in disguise. The appropriate question is: "If God stopped you on the street, would you recognize him?"

FROM JACK: There's an old song that we used to sing in Sunday School...
(I'm writing this from memory...and sing the words...quietly.)
If the Christ should come to me, as of old in Galilee,
Come again in lowly guise From his home in Paradise,
Would I know that it was he, the man from Galilee?
(We'd then sing with enthusiasm...)
Yes, I would know him. Yes, I would know him.
The man from Galilee.

FROM BF IN MICHIGAN: I think I see him everyday and he does appear in different forms!////FROM JACK: Do we just say, Hi," and then pass by? That's a question I ask myself.

FROM SH IN MICHIGAN: Actually, I think Jesus is in disguise in everyone all the time but the problem is I don't always name Him as being in disguise. Yesterday, I was home working all day and at least two times I heard and was thankful that Jesus is in disguise in my mother-in-law and my Godson and also in the leader of our Altar Guild, I believed I heard disguised Jesus while talking on the telephone. they said such kind and understanding things. Then my husband too, the very latest person I saw Jesus in disguise. I've known these people are Jesus for a long time now but originally it was all hope and not what I considered certain and spiritually I haven't always been in this kind of place in my mind and heart. That was yesterday, today I'm going out and eager to see who Jesus in disguise appears now. Tuesday night I watched a "Round Table" on Channel 7, a group of diverse people with a couple of anchor moderators, talking about breaking down barriers between ethnic groups and so forth and making the Detroit Metropolitan area a more peaceful and harmonious city. Jesus was certainly there too.////FROM JACK: Jesus in disguise? That certainly can make life interesting, when we think about it.

FROM PRJM IN MICHIGAN: Didn't Luther call these "the masks of God"? Even more Halloween-y! :-)//// FROM JACK: "All our work in the field, in the garden, in the city, in the home, in struggle, in government--to what does it all amount before God except child's play, by means of which God is pleased to give his gifts in the field, at home, and everywhere? These are the masks of our Lord God, behind which he wants to be hidden and to do all things." (Martin Luther, Exposition of Psalm 147.) Luther did have a way making theology understandable.

FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY: Knowing his own disciples didn't know Him, I probably wouldn't either. I've seen His work all the time, through those close to me and those I don't even know. I'd even like to believe He has worked through me on occasion. I wonder how many times I've missed Him.////FROM JACK: I wonder if Jesus likes to play games with us...sort of like, "Where's Waldo?"

FROM HR IN MICHIGAN: Some guy with a beard, sandals, looks like a hippie, has a nice smile////FROM JACK: Hey, that's Fidel Castro....without the smile and the sandals. Could he also have a backache?

FROM MK IN MICHIGAN: Not exactly the same but I have a cousin, he is a tall, handsome, charming man with an incredible laugh, he would not harm a soul…he is an out of control alcoholic who has become homeless after many attempts at sobriety and when I see a homeless person I think of Jim, for me that is Jesus in disguise. It changed forever the way I look at the homeless.////FROM JACK: Jesus was forever trying to get people to look at situations and people with an understanding eye. That is so difficult to do, because our emotions and prejudices get in the way. I remember hearing of a curch woman who was totally against all alcoholic drinks. Someone reminded her that Jesus once changed water into wine at the wedding in Cana. She harumphed and said, "That's one thing I didn't like about him." Regarding Cousin Jim, this old song comes to mind... She's More to Be Pitied Than Censured (William B. Gray)

At the old concert hall on the Bowery,
'Round a table were seated one night,
A crowd of young fellows carousing
With them life seemed cheerful and bright.
At the very next table was seated
A girl who had fallen to shame,
All the young fellows jeered at her weakness,
Till they heard an old woman explain:

She is more to be pitied than censured,
She is more to be helped than despised.
She is only a lassie who ventured
On life's stormy path, ill-advised;
Do not scorn her with words fierce and bitter
Do not laugh at her shame and downfall.
For a moment, just stop and consider
That a man was the cause of it all.

There's an old-fashioned church 'round the corner
Where the neighbors all gathered one day,
While the parson was preaching a sermon
O'ere a soul that had just passed away;
'Twas this same wayward girl from the Bow'ry
Who a life of adventure had led.
Did the clergyman jeer at her downfall?
No! He asked for God's mercy, and said:

She is more to be pitied than censured,
She is more to be helped than despised.
She is only a lassie who ventured
On life's stormy path, ill-advised;
Do not scorn her with words fierce and bitter
Do not laugh at her shame and downfall.
For a moment, just stop and consider
That a man was the cause of it all.

FROM PLAIN FOLKS CHESTER: Sorry, Hack, you lost me on that one. If He is in disguise, how do I know I have seen Him?////FROM JACK: That's the point. He can be in anyone, and it's up to you to ask yourself, "Could that have been Jesus?" The important thing is not whether or not you see Jesus, but that he sees you and sees your reaction to "him."

FROM CJL IN OHIO: As Lincoln said: It's not the years in life that count it's the life in the years.////FROM JACK: "I didn't say a lotta things they say I said." That could have been a quote from Abe, but it really was from Yogi. However, you seem to be right about these words attributed to Lincoln.

FROM RJP IN FLORIDA: Do you think He could ever be a rich man providing for the less fortunate??? Must he always be portrayed as a beggar or street person? I know many wealthy people who wear the face of God in their daily lives..................////FROM JACK: I understand what you are saying. Of course, God can come in any form he chooses. For example, couldn't Warren Buffett be Jesus in disguise, as he seeks to get other wealthy people to give of their resources to help the poor...or couldn't he/she be Bill and Melinda Gates as they set up a foundation to help the needy in the 3rd world? Yes, Jesus can be the giver as well as the givee. Thanks for your interesting response.

FROM BLAZING OAKS: "Lord, WHEN did we ever see you hungry, or sick, or in prison??!" and He replied, "Inasmuch as you have done it for the least of these, you have done it to me..." I DO think that if Jesus did return (or has He, in some poor village in a 3rd World or S. American or African or Asian country?!) that we would not recognize Him or realize it was Christ returned to Earth..."when did we ever see you...?!" Bill had an experience that shook him to the core, when he pastored the Dixon Baptist church. He heard the church door open (those were days of unlocked doors) and footsteps coming up the steps to the Sanctuary. As he came out of his office, he said "I could smell him (alcohol and unwashed body and clothes) before I ever turned the corner to see him." The man started to talk, explaining that he smelled of alcohol due to medicine he took, and of course wanted financial help... Bill looked into his eyes, and suddenly felt he was in the presence of Christ! A light seemed to emanate from the man, and Bill was transfixed by a dirty old bum (to most) with piercing brown eyes. So much so that he gave the man his last $25.00! He shook the man's hand and wished him well, & told him we all have the same heavenly father. The man replied, "you've made me feel like a human being again...." (If I remember correctly). It wasn't easy to shake Bill up, but that was one time, he was awed!! I think we meet Christ in many guises...so did Bill!////FROM JACK: Jesus coming to your husband in that form? That's hard to believe. Jesus, coming as a baby and being laid in a manger? That's hard to believe.

FROM CWR IN B'MORE: ........hope you don't mind. I took the liberty to forward your latest Winning Words to a colleague or two and some family here. (Here's what I forwarded).......think about this one as it relates to how we treat or view "panhandlers" who approach us or who are sitting cross legged on the sidewalks.....or an old lady with a coin basket ,begging, as we exit a grocery store parking lot..........are people "down and out" on purpose? Who are these people? And does how we react to their behavior say something about us?////CWR AGAIN: .....by the way....the old Beggar Lady that I referenced in my last response to you told me a few days ago that another "old Lady" stopped and talked with her for awhile and found out that she (the Beggar) in her "younger days" had been a Dressmaker.....so guess what? The "old lady" hired the Beggar to make a Wedding Dress for her Granddaughter. Today when I passed the corner, for the first time since I've returned to Baltimore, the Beggar was gone...she was employed making a Wedding Dress. Cheers. Keep the Faith.////FROM JACK: Sometimes Jesus Winning Words as a false face.