An Interview With Jesus

So I was sitting in bed a few days ago, gathering my thoughts together for the new day. Or was I perhaps winding down a day already drawing to a close? Whichever the case, there was a tall-backed office chair next to the desk by the bed and I imagined for a moment that Jesus was sitting there in it, looking at me.

It being an office chair, somehow Jesus turned into a bit of an executive in my mind's eye... a rather imposing CEO. I suddenly began to feel like a job applicant. Or perhaps a mail room clerk.

"What do you have to offer me?" Jesus asked.

I should have known better, but I found myself looking for things to offer him. Talents. Money. Faithfulness. But each thing I thought to throw before that chair suddenly turned as if to dust before I could get it to him. Nothing I had to offer seemed to be even worth offering. This man before me holds the universe in his hands. Even if I were to consider only his "human" resources, he'd still have men and women all over the world who surpass me in any way one could consider. And, let's be real about this... He's God.

I had nothing to offer Jesus. And we both knew it.

Things were not looking good. But my spirits rose. "Jesus," I said, "wherever I go, I would like you to have free rein to do what what you want to do through me. I'll do my best to honor this commitment."

It was my best offer, and we both knew it. He didn't press for more. In fact, I think I saw a twinkle in his eye. "Now you're talking," his small smile seemed to say.

But this odd little time with the Lord had one other interesting facet to it all. CEOs in black swivel chairs are usually of average height or taller. The more I looked at him, the more I realized that this Jesus sitting in front of me was short. Really short. He was only about five feet tall.

Now I'd never really given it much thought, but the logic was impeccable. (I do admit this was not a divine visitation. I was definitely constructing a vision in my mind's eye.) But my imagination had taken me to an odd nexus. I'd never really thought before about how short Jesus was when he walked the earth. But average heights have been rising for perhaps millenia. Just a few hundred years ago I think the average male European male was only about 5'-6". If Jesus were of average height 2,000 years ago, he'd surely have been a very short man by today's standards.

So there I was, looking at my short CEO. My five-foot Lord and God. For the first time in my life, I felt extremely biased and afflicted with heightism. What does it mean to serve a midget and call him your Lord? Perhaps those in the temple dealing with an 11-yr old Jesus were struggling with similar feelings. Who is this little fellow?

It was definitely a mind-bender, but Jesus grinned and his eyes now seemed to ask, "And do you still call me Lord?"

I did. But it was definitely a strange encounter. Food for thought. As if God indwelling a five-foot body could be any less (dare I say?) "belittling" than doing so in a six-foot one. The fact that I have to ask the question at all reveals how very little appreciation I have for the crushing humility of God's decision to take on human flesh. For me to quibble about the height of the body he indwelt is to miss the point entirely.

The more I reflect on it, the more I think I have not really learned in my heart the lessons on offer from the scriptures surrounding Samuel's selection of David to be Israel's second king. Saul, their first king, was tall. Very tall. And an utter failure — a wreck of a man. David, the man God chose to be Israel's second king, was "not so tall." But God had to talk some sense into Samuel who, like me, had some hidden and unhealthy reservoir of respect for height. Samuel was quite ready to anoint one of David's older (and taller) brothers as Israel's next king. God had other plans.

1 Samuel 16:7
But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

So little David went on to be king of Israel. Perhaps some Israelites had to get used to having a less stately looking king. Now I realize that I must do the same.