We Shall Be Like Him

I recently read about a man who became blind in young adulthood. He married and had children. And then, a doctor told him about a new procedure that could restore his sight. The operation was a success, and then this husband and father had the opportunity to see eye to eye, face to face, the people he loved but had never seen. (N.T. Wright)
That moment is what John is promising in this letter. We have heard about Jesus, we have been told about Jesus, we have even come to know Jesus for ourselves. But for now, we are blind. We have not seen what we are going to be. Yet, we are beginning to look like our brother, Jesus.
And when we see him face to face, the family resemblance will be impossible to miss. Have you ever noticed that people who live together start to look alike- even if they aren’t related by genetics? It’s true – because we start looking like the people we look at most. Our gestures match, our smiles, our reactions…and we just start looking more alike than different.
Throughout our lives, what we look like is shaped more and more by our experiences than by our genetics. Discipleship is the same way. We are now children of God, says John, and what we will finally be has not yet been revealed to us. We are still being formed – much like a work of art.
Legend has it that the Pope while gazing at Michelangelo’s marble sculpture of David asked, “How do you know what to cut away?” And Michelangelo replied, “It’s simple. I just remove everything that doesn’t look like David.”
Michelangelo didn’t know exactly what the sculpture would look like when it was finished, but he had a good idea; he had a good design. And so do we. We don’t know exactly what we will look like, but we have a good design. We have an example to follow as disciples.
1. Like good design, discipleship starts with a goal. And you create a plan. Michelangelo didn’t just start with a block of marble and a chisel. He started with sketches and then made models. We start with community and worship, then begin to study and pray. We become stewards of our time and resources. We serve and advocate and live in relationship with the least of these.
2. At the same time, like good design, discipleship removes the unnecessary. Priorities change. Things that once brought you fleeting happiness, you realize don’t actually bring you joy, and you remove them from your life. The worldly allures that once drew you in begin to lose their luster, and finally they just are not appealing at all.
3. It doesn’t happen overnight. Like good design, discipleship isn’t magic. It took Michelangelo three full years to sculpt David. It takes tons of time to create a masterpiece.
Day after day, he looked again at his sketches. He considered again his models, and he went to work. In the same way, time after time, we come to this table and we remember Jesus. We read the sketches of his life and we gaze at the model he is for us, and we go from this place continuing to be formed in his likeness. Amen.