Be the Presence of Christ Today

Reflection by Matt King

About seven or eight years ago, when I was serving on the ministerial staff of a church in Charlotte, NC, our pastor charged our team with coming up with a single phrase that we could use to inspire the congregation throughout that year. It needed to be easy enough for all ages to remember, but challenging enough that it would lead us all to grow. It needed to be something that could be used across all worship, discipleship, and missional ministries. It needed to be based not only in the scriptures, but specifically in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. It needed to help us understand what it meant to live out our faith as Christ’s church today.

After much discussion and debate over what words to use and how to use them, we came up with what felt like an appropriately urgent imperative that our congregation could remember. It was one we all needed to hear and be reminded of each day. Be the Presence of Christ Today. It’s still something I think about all the time. It’s a command I hear in the back of my mind almost every day when I wake up. It keeps calling to me like some unshakable mantra that has taken hold of me more than me choosing it. Be the Presence of Christ Today.

In reality, this isn’t a new or even very nuanced thought. Though it may sound intimidating to some of us at first, given the reverence we hold for Christ, this is the mission of every Christ-follower. It is the mission of all who seeks to live out the commands to love God and love neighbor. After all, to be a Christian literally means to be a small version of Christ. Our faith is never solely about our individual lives, but is always about allowing our lives being shaped in ways that enable us to be sent out on mission to the world around us. To truly open yourself up to learning from Jesus, and to truly follow Christ’s Way, always leads to a place where our lives more clearly reflect Christ’s image in the ways that those around us desperately need.

I’m sure you’ve heard it put any number of other ways. It still echoes of the “What Would Jesus Do?” movement that I grew up with in the 90’s. I can hear former Bible study leaders encouraging me as a child and teen to be sure to live my life in a way that not only brings honor to God, but that points others to Jesus. “After all,” they’d say, “you may be the only Jesus that someone sees today.” Even today there are some in our congregation who still like to bring up the words of the Edgar Guest poem entitled, “I’d Rather See a Sermon than Hear One Any Day.” Even though they may say it sarcastically, and at my expense, they have a point.

The first stanza of the poem says:

I’d rather see a sermon than hear one any day;
I’d rather one should walk with me than merely tell the way.
The eye is a better pupil, more willing than the ear;
Fine counsel is confusing, but example is always clear,
And the best of all the preachers are [those] who live their creeds,
For to see a good put in action is what everybody needs.

I love to preach. The preaching act is what first helped me recognize my calling to ministry, and crafting and delivering sermons will always be one of my favorite ways engage with and express my faith. As I sat in the pew as a child listening to my father preach, sharing the rich stories of the faith and their application for everyday life, I was quickly struck by the powerful ways the Spirit can work through words from the human mouth to lift our spirits. A truly inspired and Spirit-filled sermon can comfort us in our times of grief and distress, give us hope when all seems lost, convict us of the ways we try to go our own way instead of God’s, and challenge us to be more Christ-like each day.

Aaron Sorkin put it well in The West Wing when he wrote a line for President Bartlet that said, “Words when spoken out loud for the sake of performance are music. They have rhythm and pitch and timbre and volume. These are the properties of music and music has the ability to find us and move us and lift us up in ways that literal meaning can’t.” This should be as true of a sermon that speaks to the spiritual work of the Gospel upon us as much as any spoken art. Still, the most moving sermons are not the ones that are preached with words. They are preached with our lives.

Just the other day another article was written referencing another poll telling us again that people, especially members of the younger generations, are spending less time going to church for worship, Bible study, discipleship training, and missional service. Even with the advantages of modern technology that enable us to record and share what is said on Sundays in worship, this means that people are simply hearing fewer and fewer sermons. Whatever their reasons for not participating in church life, including the fact that preaching across the board needs to improve and more adequately address the needs of the day, this means that the preachers cannot be the only ones preaching.

St. Francis of Assisi is credited with saying, “Preach the gospel, and when necessary use words.” It seems as though one of the greatest challenges facing the church universal, and our church specifically, is remembering how important it is to tell the story of our faith each day through the way that we live. Each day we go out into the world we preach a sermon about what we believe about the God who created, redeems, and sustains the world, and who sends God’s people out to proclaim the kingdom of God’s abundance wherever they are. Think about the week that is about to end. Did we preach a God who is angry, vindictive, full of judgment and wrath? Did we preach a God who is loving, forgiving, welcoming, desiring for all people to live life to the fullest? Did we preach a God who values the mighty and powerful over others? Did we preach a God sacrifices on behalf of those who need it most?

The primary task of the church and individual Christ-followers is to bear witness to Christ in the world each day. Scripture tells us that we are part of the Body of Christ. We might say that we are called to be Christ’s hands and feet in the world. We are called to show Jesus to the world by making sure that they can see Jesus in us. We are called to help our friends, our neighbors, our classmates, our coworkers, and often our family members a different way of living life that is rooted in Jesus. Where we see greed, we offer charity. Where we see rejection, we offer acceptance and hospitality. Where we see judgment, we offer grace. Where we see hate, we offer love. Where we see division, we work for unity. We do it all in the name of Jesus because we want everyone to know the way that faith in Christ can shape the world.

Sunday is coming, and I’ve got that sermon written and ready to preach. What are you going to preach the rest of the week? Try this. Be the Presence of