Why I Love Jesus

Sermon from 5th February 2012

Woe to me if I do not proclaim the gospel!

My sermons so far have been on the personal side, but I try as much as I can to put them in universal language, to try to bring up questions that are universal. Questions we can all ask ourselves. In sitting with today’s readings however, I feel the need to be a bit more confessional this evening. I am going to testify!

What led me to this realization, that this sermon calls me to tell you about the Jesus I know personally, was wrestling with the passage from first Corinthians. Paul’s epistle disturbed and challenged me, as his writing often does; especially his emphasis on “wining” people and saving them. Rhetoric that is so often used to justify any number of shaming, fear mongering and harmful speech in a competitive bid to convert people who are considered damned.

It is not, and never will be my goal to convert another person to my religion. There was a time when I would have said that it’s a violation or at very least an imposition on another to do so. But my reasons have shifted somewhat since then. I now believe the only way one can truly become a Christian is by choosing it for yourself. If I cajole, manipulate or seduce you into wanting to be a Christian, are you embracing Christ or me? No, best let people see the transformation in my life and ask how I became that way. It’s a matter of attraction rather than promotion. And honestly if someone I know and love finds a spiritual path that works for them, I do not particularly care if it’s the Christian path or not. Christianity is not for everyone. But it is for me.

I have struggled with Christianity. It would not let me go. But as long as I felt obligated to be a Christian, pressured into it, I could not fully embrace it. When I was ready God put people in my life that were Christian. People I admired. Who talked about their faith in a way I respected. Who invited me to join them but had no investment in “winning” me over.

I have been embarrassed to be a Christian, based on the assumptions of what that means in this culture. I do not want to be thought of as a homophobic intolerant bigot, who is all in other people’s faces about their sins. I’ve been apologetic about being a Christian as a result. I’ve been careful to hide it in the past. But no more! I have drawn a line in the sand for myself. In claiming my Christianity I am not endorsing all other Christians. I am admitting my deep connection and love of Christ.

I spent a year in deep meditative contemplation of the Gospels; entering the story as if I were a disciple myself. I have profoundly followed Jesus through his ministry, death and resurrection. I have hung on his word, followed him towards certain death, been crushed by his death, and astonished by his resurrection. I have heard direct messages to me from his lips. I worship him, am utterly devoted; continually give him my whole life. Except when I take it back in fear or confusion, but that does not last as long as it used to.

Even when I was doting on Jesus, falling in love with him really, I was never all that impressed by the physical healings or expulsion of demons; those kinds of miracles didn’t speak to me in and of themselves. What drew me to Jesus was his compassion, pity, forgiveness, his charismatic presence; his ability to inspire faith in others. He was willing to come down into the trenches with the least of his society; to party with sinners and tax collectors, to embrace the unclean. He never even took credit for any healings. How many times after a healing did he say: “Your faith has healed you.”

What he seemed most about to me; why I felt devotion enough to sacrifice anything for him, was witnessing how He could take your hand and put it in the hand of his Father. It is not because we are not worthy to reach out to God that Jesus has to intercede on our behalf, but because God could not reach us in our walled off woundedness and despair.

Why would I not want to share this good news? Oh the enemy feeds me all kinds of reasons. This is too personal – no one can relate. Not everyone’s experience of Jesus, even if they give themselves the chance will look like this. It’s inappropriate, boring, and on and on. These experiences were mystical, a gift, and I can’t guarantee another person that they’ll have one. And yet something inside me, a still small voice, insists that all people, made in the image of God as we are, have this potential.

And so, yes there is that part of me that wants to shout as Isaiah did:

Have you not known? Have you not heard?

I do know, though, that I would not serve Christ by being all up in people’s faces. A subtler approach is called for, in many cases.

Let’s look back to what Paul was saying today:

I have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some.

Ah what a call to co-dependency this can be. In order to help others, save their very souls, are we to abandon ourselves, to be false, conniving, manipulative in order to “win”? Is falsehood and inauthenticity being called for here?

I would say no.   A Jew, someone outside the law, someone who is weak; these are all ways Paul has described himself in other letters.

I imagine this passage is really more about meeting people where they are at. I have found myself in various stages and levels of consciousness about my faith. There are trials and tribulations I my own journey. Remembering where I was at and how much I could hear or grasp at the time can inform me on how to approach someone who I’m trying to communicate with.

Yet I’ve known many people who use Christianity as an excuse to not look at themselves, to not find those places where empathy and compassion reside, because they don’t have time for navel gazing, others need their help. I want to remind them that Jesus said love your neighbor as yourself, not instead of yourself.

Oh, they argue, we’re in a culture of greed and individualism. We’re too self-absorbed and self-pitying for contemplation to be anything but self-indulgent. And indeed, I do not deny that being helpful to others is definitely a way to “get out of yourself” to break with self-absorption and self-pity. But I would argue that self-absorption and self-pity are not reinforced by an introspective practice. They are paradoxically the result of outward focus; taking on the negative messages you’ve received and worrying about what others think about you. Being present to yourself, connecting with who you really are is often the key to compassion and empathy. Observing your thoughts and feelings with the distance and discovering that they are not who you really are is a way to wear these things lightly. Besides, a guide, or spiritual director is vital in this process, it is not an exclusively solitary practice.

As we saw in today’s Gospel, Jesus Christ, true God and true man, needed to get away and pray. To be done with helping in one town and move on to another. If God incarnate needed this to avoid burnout, who are we to think we don’t?

He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless.

Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; but those who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength…

More than this, I’m convinced that meditative, contemplative prayer, is how Jesus stayed in such firm and empowering contact with His loving divine parent; the source of his compassion, forgiveness and acceptance of the unacceptable. It is through that kind of prayer that I know and love Christ. It is guiding others through that kind of prayer that is the most cherished part of my ministry.

The readings:

Isaiah 40:21-31

Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?

It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to live in; who brings princes to naught, and makes the rulers of the earth as nothing.

Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown, scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth, when he blows upon them, and they wither, and the tempest carries them off like stubble.

To whom then will you compare me, or who is my equal? says the Holy One.

Lift up your eyes on high and see: Who created these? He who brings out their host and numbers them, calling them all by name; because he is great in strength, mighty in power, not one is missing.

Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, "My way is hidden from the LORD, and my right is disregarded by my God"?

Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.

He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless.

Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; but those who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.

1 Corinthians 9:16-23

If I proclaim the gospel, this gives me no ground for boasting, for an obligation is laid on me, and woe to me if I do not proclaim the gospel!

For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward; but if not of my own will, I am entrusted with a commission.

What then is my reward? Just this: that in my proclamation I may make the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my rights in the gospel.

For though I am free with respect to all, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I might win more of them.

To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though I myself am not under the law) so that I might win those under the law.

To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law) so that I might win those outside the law.

To the weak I became weak, so that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some.

I do it all for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings.

Mark 1:29-39

As soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John.

Now Simon's mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once.

He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.

That evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons.

And the whole city was gathered around the door.

And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.

In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed.

And Simon and his companions hunted for him.

When they found him, they said to him, "Everyone is searching for you."

He answered, "Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do."

And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.

Sermon for October 30 2011

I suspect I am not the only one who is tempted by this passage to point fingers at others who fit the description of the Pharisees, while earnestly wanting to be of service. Many Divinity students I’ve known, especially those with a focus on Social Justice find this passage juicy in this way. It’s all too easy to look at those who have power and authority, and see them in the light of Jesus’ critique here.

They love to have the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues - Have you seen the Cardinal’s mansion here in Chicago?

They do all their deeds to be seen by others; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long. Jesus often critiques public displays of piety, saying that the reward is in the ego boost that affords. I think of passages like this when I see fish magnets on the backs of cars.

They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of others; but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them.

This behavior is my greatest temptation into self-righteousness. Religious leaders who set themselves up as gatekeepers of God’s love, mercy and presence; who say they know who is and isn’t deserving of grace; they get under my skin. And here Jesus seems to be pretty annoyed with them as well!

Do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach. Here I have to pause, however. The question “Do you practice what you preach?” is something I think we can all take a moment with. We all need to look at ourselves.

Am I, in pointing fingers at those I label Pharisees in my mind, thinking the way these gatekeepers do? Am I forgetting Jesus’ admonition to not fret about other’s sins, but instead look at my own?  

We are not, Jesus tells us, to be gatekeepers. “You have one teacher; you have one Father--the one in heaven; you have one instructor, the Messiah.” This could equally be direction to not submit to gatekeepers. We can have direct experience of God, and God’s messiah, Christ Jesus.

This could lead one to an individualistic point of view, “It’s just me and God; me and Jesus, I don’t have to listen to anyone else.” We do not live in isolation. We don’t have to have authority over one another to discuss, get feedback and reality checks on what God seems to be saying to us.

The greatest among you will be your servant. But even sincere servants can lay heavy burdens on the shoulders of others. It’s all too easy when being of service to sincerely believe you know what is best for the person you’re helping. Even if it’s clear that what you’re offering is not something they really want?

Which brings us to the central paradox of today’s scripture; All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted. It is all too easy to read this passage in a traditionally messianic sense of the deliverer who will revolutionize the social order.

Mary’s hymn sounds much like this interpretation:

“He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty.”

Jesus’ sayings, however, often are intended to induce a reversal of a way of thinking, rather than a reversal of social order. What if we do not look at this passage as referring to an event, but rather in a chorological sense? First, all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and then all who humble themselves will be exalted. It could be a perpetual cycle.

A symbol one sees in ancient manuscripts is the wheel of life, showing people being raised to new heights and then falling to new lows. If you look closely though, it is often the same person that is a King at the top of the wheel that is a beggar at the bottom. Not that I take this literally. Rags to riches stories are few and far between. The one per centers are not likely to ever end up on the streets.

I do believe we are called to work for social justice, do not get me wrong. It is more our attitude towards social justice that I think is addressed in today’s scripture.

Rather, let us consider the differences between Pharisees and disciples as the battle within ourselves; the constant struggle with ego and true-self, or in Pauline terms, flesh and spirit.

One way to think of the exultation of the humble, is through a profound spiritual experience. Spiritual enlightenment does not “cure” us of our ego, however.

I had a friend who was practicing deep meditation for years in an eastern tradition. He told me once he could feel his moment of enlightenment coming on, and expected to be rid of his personality forever. He was greatly disappointed that when it came, he still had to deal with his old personality. He could see it for the false self it was, but it didn’t go away.

Another description of enlightenment I’ve heard is to imagine yourself as living in a dark room. In the corner is what looks like a coiled snake. Enlightenment suddenly fills the room with light and you see it’s only a coiled rope. But the room goes dark again. It looks like the snake is still there, but somewhere deep inside you know it’s just rope.

Throughout the letters of Paul, you see evidence of his profound joy at the Good News he received in his encounter with Jesus. Nonetheless, he admits there are things he still struggles with. He knows his faith freed him from the bondage of sin and the full weight of the letter of the law, but time and time again he falls into rivalry and slips into wanting to lay down rules.

When I say ego, I’m referring to it in a spiritual sense; where our selfishness, dishonesty and defensive fear reside. I am not referring to a healthy sense of self, seeing ourselves as the cherished child of God we are. Having said that, let us look at this passage as if the Pharisees are our ego, and discipleship our loved and loving spiritual core:

The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat; therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it;

In other words, the ego is intimately connected to our thinking mind, which has much information that is useful to us. Our knowledge of scripture and tradition, for example; or our ability to recall the time we saw the coiled rope.

but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach.

I have read that’s it’s not even possible to entirely practice what we preach. We human beings have very high ideals that are well worth striving for, even if we can never get there. It does us good to examine our actions, however and see how close we come.

They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of others; but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them.

Where and when do we put burdens on others? What our our expectations and are they reasonable? Do we treat others the way we ourselves wish to be treated?

They do all their deeds to be seen by others; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long.

It doesn’t say we are not to have phylacteries and fringes; self-adornment is a fun and a fine thing. We don’t need to hide our faith, either. It’s when we do these things in someone’s face, or demand that someone look at us that the ugliness of the ego shows up.

They love to have the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues,and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have people call them rabbi.

We all want to be validated, to be seen by others as we are. How easy it is for that basic human desire to become distorted, though. For us to spend lots of money on prestige items; to monopolize conversations; to manipulate people to see us how we’d rather be seen than how we truly are.

But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all students.

The best definition of humility I’ve ever heard is to remain teachable.

And call no one your father on earth, for you have one Father--the one in heaven.

Our true sense of worth comes from being a child of God. No accomplishments, honors, wealth, or any other way we seek some other sense of worth can sustain us. It all comes down to our right to be here simply as a creature loved by God.

Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Messiah.

Last week we heard Jesus’ summary of the law: "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."

If we can truly love God, as God loves us; Love ourselves as God loves us; and love our neighbors as we love ourselves, then we will live out the spirit of the law, whether the letter is fulfilled or not. These two commandments are not easy, which is why we need a community of people committed to them, for mutual support as we struggle with them. We serve each other in this way, both in the support we give and in witnessing others struggles that remind us of our own.

The greatest among you will be your servant. All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted.

Our greatest sins I believe happen out of a kind of amnesia. We forget that we once saw that the snake is really a rope, and so we defensively, aggressively or passively harm others. Or we can convince ourselves that the light has remained on - be blind to our ego’s existence. Let us remember that we are both Pharisee and disciple, and that we need community to help us discern which part of us is prevailing.

Readings for this sermon:

Joshua 3:7-17

The LORD said to Joshua, "This day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, so that they may know that I will be with you as I was with Moses.

You are the one who shall command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, 'When you come to the edge of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.'"

Joshua then said to the Israelites, "Draw near and hear the words of the LORD your God."

Joshua said, "By this you shall know that among you is the living God who without fail will drive out from before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites:

the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is going to pass before you into the Jordan.

So now select twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe.

When the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan flowing from above shall be cut off; they shall stand in a single heap."

When the people set out from their tents to cross over the Jordan, the priests bearing the ark of the covenant were in front of the people.

Now the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest. So when those who bore the ark had come to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the edge of the water,

the waters flowing from above stood still, rising up in a single heap far off at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan, while those flowing toward the sea of the Arabah, the Dead Sea, were wholly cut off. Then the people crossed over opposite Jericho.

While all Israel were crossing over on dry ground, the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, until the entire nation finished crossing over the Jordan.

1 Thessalonians 2:9-13

You remember our labor and toil, brothers and sisters; we worked night and day, so that we might not burden any of you while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God.

You are witnesses, and God also, how pure, upright, and blameless our conduct was toward you believers.

As you know, we dealt with each one of you like a father with his children,

urging and encouraging you and pleading that you lead a life worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.

We also constantly give thanks to God for this, that when you received the word of God that you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word but as what it really is, God's word, which is also at work in you believers.

Matthew 23:1-12

Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples,

"The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat;

therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach.

They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of others; but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them.

They do all their deeds to be seen by others; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long.

They love to have the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues,

and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have people call them rabbi.

But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all students.

And call no one your father on earth, for you have one Father--the one in heaven.

Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Messiah.

The greatest among you will be your servant.

All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted.