By Steven Norris
Leonard Sweet tells the story of a monastery where the monks were not at peace with each other or with God. They were often impatient, angry, or jealous. Their prayer times were interrupted by petty squabbles and interpersonal conflict. Work was interrupted by sarcastic comments, sideways glances, and a general cynicism in the hearts of the brothers.
Then, one day the Guest Master of the monastery answered a knock on the door. A visitor stood in the shadows and whispered, ”One of you is the Christ.” Turning away, he was gone in a moment.
The Guest Master related this incident to a meeting of the brothers later that morning, and afterwards, everyone left in silence. They had much to think about. “What do we do with this information?” they wondered. “Who might it be?”
It did not happen all at once, but slowly the whole monastery was transformed, as the monks learned to deal with each other in a new way. Peace descended as they sought to be aware of the Christ among them.
This week marks the beginning of Lent. What if we decided to use this time to look earnestly for Christ in the face of everyone that we meet over these next forty days? After all, scripture tells us that we will never meet a person who was not created in God’s image. It tells us that we will never have an encounter with a person that God does not passionately love.
In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus tells a story about the final judgment. He says unambiguously, “I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.”
Confused, they asked when these things happened. Jesus replied, “whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” Jesus went on to suggest that the opposite of this statement was also true: to fail to do good to others in our day-to-day lives is to fail to do it for Christ. (See Matthew 25:31-46)
Similarly, in the book of Hebrews we read, “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it” (Hebrews 13:2). Truly, we never know who might be standing on the other side of the door, the checkout aisle, or in the car next to us in traffic. Could it be an angel? Could it be Christ himself?
Over the next forty days, what if we decided to look out at the world through a different set of lenses? What if we remember that the sacred may be hidden in the most ordinary encounters? What if we treat each person as if they might be Jesus in disguise? How would our family be different? Our church? Our community? Our world?
As Leonard Sweet suggests, “Perhaps in seeking Christ in others, we might discover more of Him within ourselves as well.”