Where’s the Panda?

Waldo has been replaced by a panda.

You kids remember the Where’s Waldo books from the 80s? Of course you do. Some of you are still looking for Waldo.  But a similar craze hit the Internet recently: Where’s the Panda?

This cartoon was uploaded to Facebook by Hungarian artist Gergely Dudás, and thanks to the wonders of this World Wide Web thing, it has gone viral.

I’ll wait right here while you look. And when you see him, you can’t unseen him. He’s obvious from that point on.

Jesus is like that. We are usually not aware of God’s presence among us because we’re not looking for Him. We expect God to make His presence known in big ways, announcing it with trumpet fanfares that rival the Star Wars theme. We’re looking for Him to stand out … or we’re looking for our own version of Jesus.

Jesus is among us, but the only thing that sticks out about Him is His love and grace. Look in the margins. Don’t look where the media tells us to look. Go to the poor, the wounded, or the forgotten. Go to those on the fringes.

Look at Jesus’ earthly ministry. Jesus was born to peasants. For 30 years, He lived in obscurity in an obscure town. Even when He began His ministry, He only went to Jerusalem—the religious and cultural center of the Jewish universe—a few times. He stayed in the small villages, teaching, healing, and loving other peasants.

Where’s Jesus? He’s right here. 

            “Come near to God and he will come near to you” (Jas. 4:8).