Hey, where’s Jesus?

While showing some friends around town, we ended up in the middle of what’s known as the Old Quarter at St. Joseph’s Cathedral. It is a famous site where tourists, influencers, YouTubers, Instragramers, and TikTokers all flock to get the perfect selfie.   This monument to the by-gone days of French Colonialism is quite impressive. The magnitude of it, the gothic architectural details, and gorgeous stained glass windows are all photo worthy for sure.  But, in all the years I’ve lived here, I’ve never once stepped inside. The gates have always been closed. But today, one of the side gates was open so we decided to go in.

Inside was dark, quiet and calm; a welcome respite from the noisy tourists outside. For a moment, I thought I might sit down and rest, but I was drawn to all the stained glass windows. The sunlight outside vibrantly illuminated each one depicting a different “Saint”.  There was St. Martha, St. Therese, St. Timothy, and many others. I even noticed a window dedicated to St. Michael the Archangel.  Hmm…I thought,  I didn’t know angels could be saints. I continued walking around the cathedral and realized something was missing. How could I have missed Him?  I turned to my friend and asked, “Hey, where’s Jesus?”  As soon as the words left my mouth, I realized how funny that sounded.  After all, I’m standing in a church, right? But in all the windows honoring various “saints”, I didn’t see even one that depicted our Lord.  How can that be? My friend said, pointing to a side wall, “Oh, I think He’s over there.”  Oh, okay, I thought. But shouldn’t He be the main thing? Should I really have to search for Him in a church?

Now, at this point I could go on a rant about how churches these days have become mere monuments, or how they aren’t teaching the Word, or there’s too many programs and not enough Jesus, or blah, blah, blah.  And, some of those things might even be true.  But perhaps the lesson from that cathedral is best applied to myself first. As a Christian, a follower of Christ, do people see Jesus in me?  Is He obvious? Or, do they have to go searching to recognize His presence in my life?  Is He off to the side, or front and center in my actions, my conversations, my thoughts, my relationships, and even in my smile? I remember what Jesus said:

“He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” 
John 7:38 NKJV

May these words of Jesus be truly said of us and may everyone we meet be in “the splash zone”!