Monday, April 25, 2011

Being Christian: Jesus Calls, We Follow

“Jesus Has Been Raised, So We Follow”
“Gracious Lord Jesus, open our hearts and minds by the power of your Holy Spirit so that we can hear what you want to say to us today.”
What if the four Gospel writers had made it very clear that, when Jesus died on Good Friday, he had stayed dead! What if Matthew, Mark, Luke and John had written that, when Jesus’ body was taken down off the cross and put in the tomb, his body had stayed in the tomb -- or that his body went the way of most of the bodies of those who were crucified. You see, their bodies were usually dumped into a pit and left to rot – or to be eaten by dogs. What if the male disciples did not finally wonder about what the female followers of Jesus kept insisting – that they had found the tomb empty when they went to honour Jesus’ body with proper burial spices. (Although I don’t know how they expected to do that when Jesus’ body was sealed securely in a tomb behind a very heavy stone.) What if the disciples did not go to see for themselves what the women told them they saw -- or didn’t see! It would have made things a lot easier for us who follow Jesus in today’s sceptical climate. It would be easier for us to say with some degree of certainty that what Jesus taught -- his teachings -- were all that really mattered. It would be easier for us to say that his philosophy of life was what was of supreme importance because, like all noteworthy ideas, they have stood the test of time. Most people do agree they are good teachings – perhaps even extraordinary. Most agree they are good moral teachings – perhaps even exceptional. Most agree they are ethical teachings – perhaps even outstanding – that are meant to help us become the best people we can be.

But we are in a predicament this morning. We are in a predicament because we cannot be certain that what the women reported they saw and experienced on the third day after Jesus died did not in fact happen as they said! And we cannot be certain that what the men saw and experienced after they finally listened to the women did not in fact happen as they said! A predicament is a difficult and perplexing situation to be in. One dictionary even calls such a situation “embarrassing.” You see, those women followers of Jesus and those 11 disciples came to believe Jesus did not stay dead! They came to believe, in fact, he was raised from the dead just as he had told them several times. Because he appeared to them very much alive and recognizable as the Jesus they had followed merely days earlier. He appeared to them and they worshipped him. Though some had their doubts about whether this really was Jesus or not. And who wouldn’t? At least at first!

It certainly would be easier for Christians in today’s pluralistic society if we could be absolutely clear that Jesus’ body stayed dead. But we can’t be that confident. It certainly would be easier for us because then we could focus all that we mean about the Christian life and the Church on what Jesus taught. We could focus on what Jesus taught rather than on Jesus’ resurrection. We could focus on what Jesus taught rather than on the Risen Jesus Christ being with us and in us and in his Church and in the entire world today through his Holy Spirit.

It is a fact that no one talks about the Buddha’s risen presence -- only his teachings. No one talks about Muhammad’s risen life -- only the writing of the Qur’an. No one talks about Moses’ risen life -- only the teachings of the Torah. No one talks about the Apostle Paul’s risen life – only what he taught in his letters in the New Testament. No one talks about Confucius’ or Aristotle’s or Plato’s or Descartes’ or Augustine’s or Rousseau’s or Socrates’ risen lives -- only their prominent teachings. But we, as the Church and followers of Jesus today, do talk about the resurrected life of Jesus Christ -- not merely his teachings. Of course, the Christian faith does include the rich and remarkable teachings of Jesus. We readily admit that. In fact, they are foundational for the understanding of our faith. But the Christian faith is much more than Jesus’ teachings. The Christian faith is centred on the living God who has come to all humanity in Jesus of Nazareth -- as our United Church’s creed so openly states. The Christian faith is not a mere superb philosophy to live by. The Christian faith is a living relationship with a living God who lives in his believing people – in his believing Church -- through his Holy Spirit.

When Matthew 28 was read, did you catch that intriguing phrase toward the end of the passage? I was taken by Matthew’s honesty to include such a statement because it adds to our predicament this morning. When I read it, I was also impressed that Jesus did not correct or attack the attitude. He seemed to let it be part of the record as if it could be a normal experience for his followers. Did you hear the statement in verse 17: “When they saw him, they worshipped him, even though some of them doubted.” Some had their doubts! After all, people rising from the dead is not the usual experience – either then or now.

We who worship today also have our doubts at times. And even Jesus’ very first worshippers had some doubts about him. I appreciate the way theologian Dale Bruner commented on this passage that he called “Doubting worshippers” [Frederick Dale Bruner, Matthew: A Commentary. Volume 2: The Churchbook Matthew 13-28, Revised and Expanded Edition. Eerdmans, 2004, p. 810]:
“By reporting doubt and worship in the same sentence, Matthew tells his church that the structure of the Christian faith and life is bipolar: disciples live their lives between worship and doubt ... or mixed with worship and doubt. Just as Jesus in the wilderness lived between the ... Holy Spirit and the Unholy Spirit (4:1), so Christians live their discipleship in a war between the spirit of worship and the spirit of doubt. Christians are both believers and doubters, adoring and wondering, trusting and questioning ...
“All disciples experience this bipolarity; and it is not healthy to deny it.”
How did Jesus handle his disciples who doubted? He did two things. First, he drew near to them all. We might think he would shake his finger and say “Don’t doubt me – here I am!” But he didn’t. He came close to them to reassure them. He came alongside them because he knew they would need his loving presence and his power with them. So Jesus also promised to draw near to us as well through the Holy Spirit as he did with the believers in the Early Church. Second, Jesus spoke to his disciples directly and gave them a definite command that the Church has called its Great Commission. It remains the Church’s commission to this day. We heard it earlier in the Bible reading; now, here it is again:
“Jesus drew near [to them] and said, ‘I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. [That is significant for us to know.] Go, then, to all peoples everywhere and make them my disciples: baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teach them to obey everything I have commanded you. And I will be with you always, to the end of the age.’[This is also important for us to know as well.]”
Jesus was teaching his disciples to meet their doubt head-on by obeying his mission command – to go and develop learners for him, to baptize them and teach them to obey everything he commanded them. Jesus was saying that the way to know God is to obey the will of God. The famous missionary doctor Albert Schweitzer who founded his Lambarene hospital at Gabon, Africa, in the early part of the past century knew the meaning of obedience when he declared: “Follow him and you will know him.”

So what are the significant take-away messages for us about the resurrection of Jesus Christ today?
  • Our attendance at this service of worship -- and at any worship service -- only makes real sense because Jesus rose from the dead and is here with us and in us as he promised through the Holy Spirit. Why else would we be here?
  • Reciting the New Creed of the United Church only makes real sense because the crucified and risen Jesus we proclaim in the creed is here with us and in us – to be our hope in life, in death and in life beyond death. Why else would we say it?
  • Taking part in Holy Communion only makes real sense because, once again, we are remembering and giving thanks that Jesus Christ gave his life for us. His body was actually broken and his blood actually flowed from his broken body for our suffering and for the forgiveness of our sins. So we take the bread and the wine not because we are worthy in any sense but because we accept Jesus’ invitation in faith to know him and be nourished and sustained in our journey of faith with him.
  • Even though we may have times of doubt and hesitation, listening to the message of the Resurrected Jesus Christ and responding in obedience to his message, as Albert Schweitzer indicated, is the way to handle our doubt.
And is that not also the way to handle our predicament this morning? If we follow the Risen Jesus we have been told is alive and here, we will come to know him. Our theme this Lenten and Easter season is simple really: Being a Christian means when Jesus calls, we follow. It is the same today as it was 2,000 years ago. The first followers of Jesus -- the eyewitnesses -- saw an empty tomb. But that wasn’t all they saw. They also saw a living, breathing Jesus Christ who was supposed to have stayed dead -- but he didn’t! He was raised from the dead, as he himself said would happen. The first followers of Jesus – the eyewitnesses -- saw Jesus in a body they recognized. And he ate with them and talked with them. He was not a disembodied ghost or spirit.

But we live in 2011 and not in AD 33 or so when Jesus’ resurrection occurred. I can only tell you that faith comes by hearing this message about the Risen Jesus and following him as a result. But following him is not automatic. It is a gift God offers us -- a gift called grace. And it is an intentional choice we make. So no one, no minister -- not me for sure -- can really convince anyone to follow. All I -- or you -- can do is witness to God’s grace and hope and love and healing and forgiveness in our own lives. That’s what those first followers did. They witnessed to God’s presence with them and God’s call in their lives. And they were eager to go and tell their world to follow Jesus too because it is through Jesus that people find the abundant life they are looking for in this life and also resurrection life in the life to come – for that is also what Jesus said people will find in him.
A woman once approached a pastor and asked, “So what happened with Jesus after the Resurrection?”

“Well, he ascended into heaven and he's still alive,” the pastor said.

“I know he was resurrected, but he's alive?” she asked.

“Yes, he's alive.”

“Alive? ALIVE?! Why didn't you tell me?!”
Rev. Mark Aitchison is a friend who is the senior minister at Islington United Church in the west end of our city. Mark posted on his Facebook page the following statement:
“The greatest man in history, named Jesus, had no servants, yet they called him Master. He had no degree, yet they called him Teacher. He had no medicines, yet they called him Healer. He had no army, yet kings feared him. He won no military battles, yet he conquered the world. He committed no crime, yet they crucified him.... He was buried in a tomb, yet he lives today!”
My friends, Jesus Christ is risen indeed! When you hear his call, do not be afraid to follow.

Jesus Christ is alive and here for you and for me. Amen.

Rev. Chris Miller,
Easter, April 24, 2011

OYM Oriole-York Mills United Church, Toronto
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Sunday, April 3, 2011

Being Christian: Jesus Calls, We Follow “Some Follow, Some Don’t”

On Saturday evening, I often watch a television program called Behind the Story. The host will usually have three guests who talk with him about what they think is behind the news stories of the week. There is usually an underlying story behind each story. How true that is for the story of the man born blind in John Chapter 9! If we had read Chapter 8, we would have heard Jesus clearly state [verse 12]:
“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
While John – in Chapter 9 -- wanted us to sample Jesus’ ability to restore sight to a man who was congenitally blind, John also hoped we would see the dawning of spiritual light in the blind man who was healed and also the dawning of Jesus’ light in all those who would read or hear his Gospel and be open to believe. That we would see what the man eventually saw – that Jesus is the life-giving light for the world.

Now that particular insight of faith took time to develop in the man born blind. At first, he considered Jesus merely a man who used mud to heal his eyes (verse 11). Then after he had some time to think about what his healing meant, he called Jesus a prophet (verse 17). Then, as the authorities continued to question and push him about the identity of Jesus, he told them he believed that “unless this man came from God, he would not be able to do a thing [to heal my eyes]” (verse 33). Finally, he confessed his belief that Jesus was the Son of Man. In a short time, he had come to believe Jesus was more than a mere man – Jesus spoke and acted in miraculous ways with God’s authority. He now believed Jesus was Lord. And he worshipped him!

In writing his Gospel, not only did John hope everyone would see Jesus as the life-giving light for the world, John also revealed to his readers toward the end of his book -- in Chapter 20:30, 31 [GNT] -- the real story behind all the stories he told in his Gospel (including the man born blind):
“In his disciples’ presence Jesus performed many other miracles which are not written down in this book. But these [miracles] have been written in order that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through your faith in him you may have life [eternal life with God].”
One thing that intrigued me about this story of the man born blind was the confusion among those who knew him as a neighbour and those who had seen him begging when he was blind. 
“Is this the same man? Sure looks like him, doesn’t it? But it can’t be him, can it? How could it be – he was born blind?”
There was also the conflict between the healed man and the religious leaders who had to accept the reality that the man could see – that he had been healed. But they did not want to accept Jesus as the one whom the man said had healed him.
“Say it was God who healed you. Don’t say it was this man Jesus. He’s not from God!”
As well, there was the intimidation the man’s parents felt at the hands of the religious leaders. They were afraid to admit what they really knew or how they really felt about “the man called Jesus” who healed their son because they might be expelled from their place of worship. That would be difficult to accept because all their friends went there. What would they do? Where would they go?

Some elements in the story sound very like articles and stories we might find in our national church magazine, The United Church Observer, asking Who is Jesus? Was he merely a human mentor, a teacher with fine teachings? Or is he truly the Messiah, the Son of God who did perform signs and miracles as the New Testament Gospels and letters record? The story of the man born blind and his healing by Jesus revealed questions and conflict and eventually the call for personal decision in the face of opposition or rejection.

Our basic theme this Lent is “Being a Christian means that, when Jesus calls us, we follow.” But the reality is that, when Jesus calls, some follow and some do not. In his Gospel, John reminds us that what we know happens among people in the 21st century is not all that different than what happened with people during the first century when Jesus physically lived among human beings. Some followed. And some did not.

Why do some people not follow Jesus?

For instance, do some people deliberately disbelieve what they hear or see? Some of the blind man’s neighbours and those who had seen him begging on the street for money were so surprised they didn’t know what to believe at first. They wondered if this man who could see was really the same man who was formerly blind. He said he was! And if they wanted further confirmation, they could have asked his parents and they would have clearly identified him as their son. But most of the real questioning and disbelief came from the religious leaders who were already having clashes with Jesus before this incident. We know this because the man’s parents were very careful not to talk about any possibility of Jesus being the one involved in their blind son being able to see because they already knew they would be thrown out of the synagogue. Then the conversation between the man and the religious authorities also revealed how differently they viewed Jesus. They saw Jesus as a sinner because he did not observe their Sabbath law – therefore, he could not have healed the man despite the evidence standing before them. Interestingly, the man born blind had not yet seen Jesus but he had a different viewpoint and answered honestly:
“I do not know if he is a sinner or not. One thing I do know: I was blind, and now I see.”
At the end of this incident, some of these religious leaders overheard Jesus saying:
“I came into the world to bring everything into the clear light of day, making all the distinctions clear, so that those who have never seen will see, and those who have made a great pretense of seeing will be exposed as blind.”
These leaders then asked: “Does that mean you are calling us blind?” [The Message Bible]

In The Magician's Nephew [Collier Books, pp.125-26], a novel from the Chronicles of Narnia series, author C. S. Lewis gives us careful insight into the meaning of spiritual blindness. The land of Narnia was created when Aslan -- the Lion who represented Jesus – sang it into being. That creation song revealed Aslan's majesty and glory. We could call it a grand “call to worship!” But there was one person – Uncle Andrew in the novel -- who refused to hear the song. And the consequences were staggering. Lewis writes:
When the great moment came and the Beast [Aslan] spoke, he [Uncle Andrew] missed the whole point for a rather interesting reason. When the Lion had first begun singing, long ago when it was still quite dark, he had realized that the noise was a song. And he had disliked the song very much. It made him think and feel things he did not want to think and feel.

Then, when the sun rose and he saw that the singer was a lion (“only a lion,” as he said to himself), he tried his hardest to make himself believe that it wasn't singing and never had been singing -- only roaring as any lion might in a zoo in our own world. “Of course it can't really have been singing,” he thought. “I must have imagined it. I've been letting my nerves get out of order. Who ever heard of a lion singing?” And the longer and more beautifully the Lion sang, the harder Uncle Andrew tried to make himself believe that he could hear nothing but roaring.

Now the trouble about trying to make yourself stupider than you really are is that you very often succeed. Uncle Andrew did. He soon did hear nothing but roaring in Aslan's song. Soon he couldn't have heard anything else even if he had wanted to. And when at last the Lion spoke and said, “Narnia awake,” he didn't hear any words: he heard only a snarl. And when the Beasts spoke in answer, he heard only barkings, growlings, bayings and howlings.
Like Uncle Andrew in the novel and some of the religious leaders in John 9, there are also some today who dislike what they see and hear in Jesus – in his life and in his teachings. So they refuse to acknowledge what Jesus clearly said. They turn away from the light in Jesus. They claim they see what is good but then deliberately reject the author of all goodness. I don’t really understand that. But in Matthew 6:23, Jesus said: “If the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!”

Why do some people follow Jesus?

The story of the man born blind and then healed tells us one significant reason. The man is one among many people – countless men and women over the centuries – whose personal lives have been touched or healed or made well or who have experienced deep forgiveness or reconciliation or hope or joy or peace because of what Jesus Christ has done for them and in them through the Holy Spirit. Sometimes Jesus does heal people physically. Why that doesn’t happen more often, I don’t know. But I do know Jesus heals people in many different ways.

In the April 2011 issue of the magazine Christianity Today is an article [p. 42] titled “God of the Schizophrenic.” David Weiss, an ordinary individual like you and me, writes about how he rediscovered his faith amid the ravages of mental illness and the expensive electroconvulsive therapy (electric shocks) and the drug treatments he endured. This is how he concludes the article:
“Though my illness persists, I have finally met the God I had heard about but never truly experienced [before]. A God who heals. A God who loves. A God I cannot logically explain to my psychiatrist. A God who manifests his genius by salvaging good from the evil in our lives. Someone unlike me. Someone unlike the well-meaning inquisitors who judged me and sought spiritually to cure me. Someone I never would have discovered without my affliction. 
“A God who calls himself Emmanuel – God with us.”
Some follow Jesus because they do see that God has truly come to us in Jesus. In fact, that is what the United Church New Creed confesses: “We believe in God … who has come in Jesus.”

In the latest issue of our church magazine, there are a number of letters to the editor written in response to an article in February’s issue titled “Sacred, yes, but is it church?” That article outlined several United Church clergy and congregations whose spiritual journey is more about what they call “sacredness” than about any sense of believing in God who has come in Jesus. It is illuminating and encouraging that many readers had great difficulty with the article. Here is a sampling of what they wrote:
“These post-theistic congregations have turned their places of worship into little more than coffee-houses for self-centered conversations. They have not only thrown out the baby with the bathwater; they are now worshipping the tub.”

“I am uncomfortable with the concept of a church that has God ‘taking a back seat’ to spiritual questing and community development. God is the subject of my spiritual quest, and my community is a community of Christian worship. At my yoga studio, I experience a sense of the spiritual and of community, but it is not a church.”

“In my 84 years, I have never doubted that fact that God is. Many times I have had the assurance of God’s love and care during my life’s journey. I know that my redeemer lives!”

“So let’s say I order a ham and cheese sandwich but say, ‘Leave out the ham.’ Is it still a ham and cheese sandwich? Let’s say I call myself a Christian but say, ‘Leave out the Christ.’ Am I still a Christian?”
And a final letter:
“Neither spirituality nor sacredness defines the church. So what is it? The answer can be found in Connie denBock’s column in the same issue: “Without Jesus, there’s not much to justify church.”
My friends, in this season of Lent, we have the opportunity to look truthfully within ourselves, to approach God with repentance and gratitude and to draw closer to and follow Jesus Christ. As I conclude this message, let us renew our hope in God as we anticipate the joy of Easter by confessing together that “We are not alone, we live in God’s world.”

Please turn to page 918 in Voices United and stand as you are able.
We are not alone,
  we live in God's world.

We believe in God:
  who has created and is creating,
  who has come in Jesus,
  the Word made flesh,
  to reconcile and make new,
  who works in us and others
  by the Spirit.

We trust in God.

We are called to be the Church:
  to celebrate God's presence,
  to live with respect in Creation,
  to love and serve others,
  to seek justice and resist evil,
  to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen,
  our judge and our hope.
  In life, in death, in life beyond death,
  God is with us.
  We are not alone.
  Thanks be to God.
May this confession be so for you and for me.

Rev. Chris Miller,
Lent 2, March 27, 2011

OYM Oriole-York Mills United Church, Toronto
Visit with us online!
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