Power

“…that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death….” Philippians 3:10

“Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good….”

I’m sure you read this saying (or one of its many derivatives) many times before.  In recent years I’ve wanted to find out who wrote this saying and confront them.  Only to find out it was written by a 16^th century Spanish mystic, Teresa of Avila.

I’m guessing I’m not going to be able to confront her.  At least not in this life.

I want to confront her because her because this description of Jesus makes him seem very weak.  And powerless.  I don’t buy it for one moment. I’ve known too many people who have by and through Christ alone had their lives changed, people whom the Holy Spirit has literally grabbed a hold of and shaken them down to the core.  Frankly, I am one of them.  I never would have become a Christian back in 1980 if it weren’t the power of Christ and his resurrection working in my life through the move of the Holy Spirit.   

Christ is not as powerless in this world as Teresa and many others would want us to believe.

Yet.

Christ wants to use us; he wants to work through us. You are not the only body Christ has; you are not his only hands and feet on this earth.  But you can be his body and his hands and his feet and his mouth; you can be his instrument.  Christ wants to use you.  And me. 

Here is a challenge for me.  Allow the power of Christ to really work through me.  Maybe this is a great challenge for all of us.  How is Christ going to use us today, tomorrow, next week and the rest of our lives?   Are we open to being his hands, feet, eyes and mouth? 

I pray so. It is why we are here.  As a church.  As individual Christians.  As part of his body; to be his body.  Let us be about the work of Christ, and may the power of his resurrection flow through us….