Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks.  They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, ‘Sir, we wish to see Jesus.’ (Jn. 12:21-22)

I spent a year of college in England.  While there, I often took long bike rides into the countryside.  On those rides I often visited churches.

On one of my visits to a country church, I climbed into the pulpit.  I wanted to see what it felt like.  As I was standing there, I saw a plaque embedded on the pulpit that read: “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”

I never forgot that message. In the two churches where I served as senior pastor I put that message on a plaque on the pulpit. The message reminded me that I wasn’t in the pulpit for people to see me; nor was I there to give my political opinions, do book reviews, or be entertaining.  I was there for one purpose: make Jesus visible, Jesus heard, Jesus present. Every time I preached, I felt accountable to that message.

Even though I no longer stand in a pulpit on most Sundays, I still believe I’m accountable to the same message: “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”  Instead of that message being embedded on where I used to preach, the message is now embedded on my life.

I encourage you to embed that same message upon your life. The world needs to see and hear Jesus in us.  We are called to so closely follow Jesus that we begin to be changed into His likeness. Which means that our lives need to give others a glimpse of Jesus.  Which means that our words need to help others hear an echo of His voice.

“Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”  I can’t imagine a better message to embed upon our pulpits or our lives.

Reflection Questions:

1. Who have been the people in your life that helped you to get a glimpse of Jesus? What did they say or do that helped you to sense that Jesus was with them?

2. If you were to embed today’s scripture, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus,” upon your life, how might your words or actions change?

3. Making Jesus visible, heard, and present is the calling of everyone who claims Jesus as their Lord and Savior. How do you, or how do you plan to make Jesus visible, heard, and present in your life?