The historic Jesus and the writer of the epistle to the Hebrews both stress that Christ-centered, witnessing, faith communities seek and serve the Christ of faith in all persons. In the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit, Jesus as Messiah initially revealed and modeled the full incarnation of the Trinity, through his spiritual body and that same potential through the spiritual body of every person. The universal body of Christ is the Christ-centered, spiritually awake remnant within the faith communities of all religions, who actually obey the call of the historic Jesus to self denial, taking up their own cross daily and following Jesus in living the Paschal Mystery [Luke 9:22-24].
To the historic Jesus, feasting at Christ's table and sharing the free gifts of God's love, grace and truth with others is the essence of spiritual practice and formation in the universal body of Christ. The believer's sacrifice of praise which is always pleasing to God is the conscious decision, under the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit to cast out, crucify and put to death, the inappropriate dominion of the mind of the flesh, within one's own self and life. These conscious act of true repentance and obedience are the sure foundation and fertile soil for bearing the spiritual fruit of the believer passing over from the slavery of sin into the freedom of God's love through the Christ of faith [Galatians 5:22-26].
Let us choose to follow the historic Jesus in seeking and serving the Christ of faith in all persons. The bible clearly states that in order to bear the spiritual fruit of those who profess and confess the name of Jesus, one must deny self, take up one's own cross daily and follow the historic Jesus in living the Paschal Mystery. Let us then choose to imitate the historic Jesus in humility, hospitality, compassion, trust and obedience, so that we may also feast at Christ's banquet table, in the hidden spiritual kingdom of heaven in our midst and within each person [Luke 17:20-21, Colossians 1:24-29, Revelations 3:20].
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