I have seen the face of Jesus. He doesn’t look like Swedish Jesus (anglican featured with flowing blondish/brownish hair). He doesn’t look like an pictures of Jesus that I’ve seen. But he is the face of Jesus. This face has lines from age and sun, glasses that are taped to hearing aids, wayward eyebrows that move astounding distances on his face, but none of that matters. It is the man who shines brightly as the face of Jesus.
This man, has been in my life as long as I can remember. He was part of a small group with my parents when they were young in their marriage. He regularly would bring together science and religion for the children of the church. I remember dissecting a deer with him in his backyard as part of a social studies/science field trip in middle school. But these are just random things.
He is a man who GIVES. I’ve watched him throughout my life giving to people. He leases out homes, and never evicts someone because they can’t pay rent. He processes over 1,000 lbs of deer meat annually and GIVES it away. He GIVES his time, playing with and speaking with two broken children who lost their mother last fall. He GIVES continually to his wife, becoming her care-giver, chauffeur, and nurse, for the past 6 years. He constantly GIVES to missionaries and all he asks of them is to write their testimony (for their own keeping).
He is a man who makes no sense. The wrinkles lining his face, calluses on his hands, and forever stained overalls speak to the fact that he doesn’t stay still. There is always more that can be done, no reason to sit and rest unless there is someone to sit and rest with. And yet, I’m not sure if I’ve ever met a man who has more peace. It’s not the peace that makes you stop, but the peace that makes you move. Peace that once it infects you, calls you to minister to your whole family. Peace that spoke for stories to be told to nieces and nephews. Peace that gently led and pushed until his sister accepted Christ, after 60 years of hearing the good news. Peace that rests in his very soul, because he has witnessed miracles, slow and hidden, but miracles nonetheless.
He is a butcher, carpenter, seamstress, chef, science professor, husband, father, mentor, and gardener. But before all those titles, he asks a question, “What would you have me do?”
He has never told me so, but you can see it in his eyes. His eyes are searching for where God would have him serve, as a servant. With no hopes of getting anything back, with no need for any kind of thanks. He serves as a servant because that is what God has called him to be. But it is his service that makes him stand out. It is his selfless giving, that reminds me of the face of Christ. So filled with love, that no acknowledgment of servitude is needed. I’ve seen and heard of more giving and serving from this man than I can say.
I could call him one of my supporters, but it isn’t me he is specifically supporting. He believes in the work that God is doing in my life. He believes in the work that God will do through me. He is supporting the Kingdom our King has provided.
