‘Jesus our navigator for life’

By Rev Tracey Matthews

A wise person once said, “God made human’s in God’s image and we’ve been returning the favour ever since”. This is a short way of describing our human tendency to create images of God that reflect our own world views and understanding of how things work. We interpret God through our own experience of life and our relationships to others. If our own relationships have been loving, we will probably see God through loving eyes. If we’ve been mistreated and hurt by others, we may see God as a distant and punitive figure. We then project this experience onto our images of God. Is it any wonder humans have been arguing about God’s nature and purposes for thousands of years.

Thankfully, God has given us a corrective to this through the person of Jesus. The ancient stories of his life and witness, reveal a God that moves beyond our own limited understanding and images of God and human life. He points us to a way of being that challenges individualism, self-interest and violence. Through concrete actions Jesus shows us who God is. A God who heals, restores and invites us into abundant life. He is our navigator for the journey. The way, the truth and the life.