Seeing God

Gospel: John 14: 6-14

So many people want to see God and go to great lengths in order to do so.  They look for God in visions and esoteric experiences of all kinds.  They imagine God in all sorts of forms and images, all of which leave us unsatisfied and wanting.  But if God is infinite then every finite image will always come up short and lacking in what we truly desire.  Even the disciples who are present with Jesus continue to ask him to show them the Father.

But if God is love, then we can see God in this world, present in deeds of love offered for others.  This is why people saw God in Jesus.  Every act he performed was a deed of love and mercy for others.  In healing others of their ailments, in liberating them from the demons who tormented them, and in nourishing others at table with food and his presence Jesus showed the love of God and thus showed us God in the world.

If we want to see God, then we must look for these deeds of love.  If we do not see God, then we can make God present to others in offering deeds of love and mercy to others.  Perhaps the reason for disbelief in our world is the fact that people do not see these deeds of love and thus do not see God.  They see instead deeds of hate, even in people claiming to represent God.  If we want the world to believe, if we want them to see God, then we must do these deeds of love as the Lord Jesus did.