{"id":6475,"date":"2012-04-11T10:14:43","date_gmt":"2012-04-11T15:14:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theamericanjesus.net\/?p=6475"},"modified":"2012-04-11T10:14:43","modified_gmt":"2012-04-11T15:14:43","slug":"jesus-has-lost-his-shadow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/2012\/04\/jesus-has-lost-his-shadow\/","title":{"rendered":"Jesus Has Lost His Shadow"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

USA Today<\/em> ran this story<\/a> a few days ago about a shadow in a church in New Orleans that some are claiming resembles the face of Jesus.<\/p>\n

Apparently, like Peter Pan, Jesus has lost his shadow.<\/p>\n

Now, we obviously see this sort of thing all the time. Despite the fact that none of us know what Jesus\u2019 face actually looked like, we have the propensity of seeing him in everything from a grilled cheese sandwich, to tree bark, or even a potato chip.<\/p>\n

While it would be easy to simply ridicule these\u00a0alleged\u00a0sightings, this one in particular got me to thinking a little bit.<\/p>\n

Why is it that we see or, perhaps more\u00a0accurately, want to see Jesus everywhere and in everything?<\/p>\n

Perhaps it\u2019s because like Thomas we doubt what we cannot physically see or touch. Or perhaps our desire to be in the presence of Jesus is so strong and the opportunity to be in that presence so often lacking, that we project Jesus onto inanimate objects in order to fill this deep seeded need to be in his presence\u2026.<\/p>\n

\u2026.which got me to think again.<\/p>\n

Do you ever notice that sightings of Jesus almost never involve people?<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not talking about walking down the street, noticing a guy with long hair and a beard who\u2019s wearing sandals, and then exclaiming \u201cHey, that guy looks like Jesus!\u201d<\/p>\n

I mean, you almost never hear an uproar over a person or group of people who are so incarnating the love, grace, forgiveness, and fellowship of Jesus that the people in their community flock in droves to be near them the way so many do when Jesus supposedly appears on a potato chip.<\/p>\n

Clearly there have been countless people who have claimed to be the Messiah over the years; people like David Koresh, Jim Jones, or that guy in Australia who claims to be the reincarnated Jesus.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not the type of incarnated Jesus sightings I\u2019m thinking about.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m talking about people like Mother Theresa, Francis of Assisi, Dorthy Day, or Benedict of Nursia. People who so embodied the love and grace of Jesus that people around them couldn\u2019t help but exclaim \u201cHey, that looks a lot like Jesus\u201d and then rushed to be by their side so that, in a way, they can be in the presence of Jesus. These saints of the church weren\u2019t super heroes. They simply took seriously the idea that \u201cit is no longer I who lives, but Christ that lives within me.\u201d<\/p>\n

You just don\u2019t see that much anymore.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s like Jesus has lost his shadow.<\/p>\n

When we hide our devotion to Jesus safely away in the recesses of our hearts where we can\u2019t be scorned or ridiculed by our non-believing friends or when we relegate our faith to the realm of intellectual ascent, we cover up that light which was meant to shine upon the hilltop and are no longer capable of reflecting\u00a0the Jesus we profess to love so much to a world which so desperately needs him.<\/p>\n

So, it really shouldn\u2019t come as any surprise then that people are so eager and willing to see Jesus in a potato chip or a grilled cheese\u00a0sandwich. After all, where else can they go to be in his presence if the people who are supposed to be casting his shadow to the world refuse to do so out laziness, apathy, selfishness, or fear of scorn and ridicule?<\/p>\n

Jesus has lost his shadow.\u00a0If we as the church are to be the reflection of Christ we claim to be, then we must cast aside our false humility<\/a>\"\", drive away our fear of ridicule, and begin incarnating the love and grace of Jesus in such a radical way that the world cannot held but exclaim \u201cHey, that looks a lot like Jesus!\u201d<\/p>\n

Maybe then, people will no longer have to look for Jesus in potato chips, grilled cheese sandwiches, or the shadow cast by a church\u2019s\u00a0chandelier.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Grace and peace,<\/p>\n

Zack Hunt<\/a><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 USA Today ran this story a few days ago about a shadow in a church in New Orleans that some are claiming resembles the face of Jesus. Apparently, like Peter Pan, Jesus has lost his shadow. Now, we obviously see this sort of thing all the time. Despite the fact that none of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3437,"featured_media":6476,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nJesus Has Lost His Shadow<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"    USA Today ran this story a few days ago about a shadow in a church in New Orleans that some are claiming resembles the face of Jesus.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/2012\/04\/jesus-has-lost-his-shadow\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Jesus 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