In 1981 in California a man left $57,000 in his will to Jesus to use when He returned for the Second Coming. It was to be invested in an interest earning account in a bank and to my knowledge it is still there earning interest. It should be worth about $684,000 by now.

Can you see Jesus showing up at Bank of America and using His newfound wealth to run out and buy Himself a new Lexus, a new Versace robe and some Donald Pliner designer sandals?

Nowhere in the gospels can I find a Jesus who is so concerned with money and appearance. Indeed, Jesus goes out of His way to condemn this desire of greed and possession. The Jesus we know from the gospels and tradition was about the love of God, not about keeping score with money, which I fear has become the obsession of American culture. For every public service ad you see or hear about loving one's neighbor, I daresay you see at least a hundred encouraging you to buy something to enhance your image.

Consider this: an automobile has an engine and four wheels and is used to transport us from one place to another. A $3,000 Yugo fits this definition extremely well, yet there is not a single Yugo in the lot this morning. Each one of us who has a car or truck has bought into a particular advertising gimmick. For example, I was convinced that my Chevy pickup would somehow give me a feeling of power and superiority, for which I paid considerably more than a Yugo and the Chevy has much worse gas mileage.

And while it's nice, yet expensive, to feel this way, I know that Jesus is not impressed. If Jesus is in fact the Master who will return in glory, what is it that I can do to show Him that I have been a good disciple?

The clue is in the first reading. The Book of Daniel was written approximately 165 years before the birth of Jesus, during a time of persecution of Israel by the Seleucids. The author is writing to a people who are in darkness and oppressed, yet the Messiah is imminent. But the author challenges the people to realize what they must be when the Messiah arrives. It's not about being well dressed; it's about being faithful to all that has been promised to the people of Israel. And this faithful response is to be conscious and obedient to the command of love of God and neighbor. Listen again to the words of the reading:

           But the wise shall shine brightly
           like the splendor of the firmament,
           and those who lead the many to justice
           shall be like the stars forever.

It's about justice.

We have to get out of our minds this idea that justice is the business of courts and lawyers. It's about each one of us. I preached a mission this past week at St. Luke's in Barrington and on Tuesday evening we spoke about our global relationships. I was looking over my notes from prior missions and I found the issue that I had used when I had written those notes. At that time I preached about a black man who had been dragged to his death in Texas by his white neighbors. I recalled the last time I preached the mission I used the example of the young gay man who was tortured to death in Wyoming. I wanted to use something more current this past week and I used the imminent deportation of the man from Exeter, right here in our own state. I challenged my listeners to ask themselves if the man, who is a native of Syria, would be facing deportation after 20 years in this country if he were Swedish.

As I was praying before the mission it became apparent to me that it is so easy to find issues of injustice, so much so that from year to year old injustices are pushed out of our minds to make room for the new ones. And that, my brothers and sisters, is the tragedy. It is tragic that after 6,000 years of civilization we can see examples of injustice right here in the nation that was founded on the premise that all men are deserving of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and in the state that was founded by Roger Williams on the doctrine of religious freedom.

This life is meant to be the dress rehearsal for eternity. The sins and injustices we experience and witness in this life will not be a problem as we live in the presence of God, for in His presence there is only love. It is a love that is so powerful that it has even taken on a physical form. It is why even nailed to a cross, the love of God does not show us any evil, or revenge, or condemnation, or injustice.

Like all true dress rehearsals, this life gives up to us the small errors as well as the glimpses of the work's greatness. I saw God's love in person this week when a large man helped a crippled old woman to her seat in church when she had come for the mission. I saw God's love in person this week as I watched one of my students bandaging a badly injured hand. I saw God's love in person this week when one of my foster children, the first baby I ever baptized after I was ordained, came running towards me and gave me a big hug. While injustice is all around us, so is the love of God.

I close with this story. A rich and powerful man journeyed to India on a political junket and met Mother Teresa in Calcutta. He was speechless in awe as he watched the small nun wash sick bodies. He finally said to her, "I want to remain here permanently with you." The woman, whose wrinkled face showed thousands of miles of wear, said with a smile, "No, no. It is but an illusion. Go home and bloom where you are planted. The message that each one of us is a member of God's family is as much needed where you came from as it is here. We must do small things with great love." This last line so moved the man who would become President George W Bush that he quoted it in his brief inaugural address in Washington, DC in 2001.

This week why not see how many times you can make Jesus present here on earth? And here's a proverb to motivate you.

           "I sought my God; my God I could not see.
            I sought my soul; my soul eluded me.
            I sought my neighbor, and I found all three."

This week, become the presence of Jesus to someone.