Why
believe in Jesus?
S
Most people like Jesus. they don’t like St Paul very much, they think he hates women,
they’re sure he hates sex and they think he makes a lot of trouble for people
– but if St Paul has it bad, they like the church even less:
too much money, way too much power, too much dressing up, far too many old men with far too much influence and all of it about sex of course: birth control, condoms, sex before marriage and the like ..
– and just to cap it off, they don’t like Christians much either,
too self-righteous, too certain they’re right, and on the whole - boring
– they can’t take a laugh, they don’t know how to enjoy themselves … party poopers.
But Jesus – now he was different wasn’t - he was a good bloke – misunderstood of course – but a good bloke.
But is that right? Was Jesus a good bloke? Is that why we believe in him? Because he was a good bloke……?
Some people believe in Jesus because they think that he was a bit more than just a good bloke.
Some people are looking for a mystic. A guru - a spiritual leader who will teach his followers about the kingdom, about prayer, about inner spirituality, about good karma and how to be at peace with yourself ….
You can imagine it - there he is him sitting cross legged on the ground, his disciples seated around him, transfixed as he hands out wisdom – “ a disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master” “those who find their life will lose it, those who lose their lives will find them, enter by the narrow gate….” But is this the real Jesus? Is this why we believe in him?
The son of man came eating and drinking. He didn’t live in an ashram and he went to dinner parties with sinners, he brought booze to weddings and generally seems to have had a good time! “Behold - they said “a glutton and a drunkard” So perhaps he really was more of a bloke after all. Nice to think Jesus was a guru – but somehow it doesn’t quite ring true.
Well – you might say – he was a man who cut through all the red tape of religion and got to the very heart of things: It’s not about going to church – or the synagogue – you see, it’s all about who you really are. The Sabbath – with all its rules – was made for human beings not the other way round. What I desire is mercy not sacrifice…. “you tithe mint and dill and cumin but have neglected the weightier matters the law – justice and mercy and faith” . Yes the quotes are there - Except that he did go to the synagogue, and he took part in worship – he did keep the Passover - .. The Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat: so practice and observe whatever they tell you….. he said …. “Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets. I have come to not to abolish them but to fulfil them. For I tell you unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees you will never enter the kingdom of heaven!”
So, although it’s very nice in our secular age to think that Jesus wasn’t ‘religious’ he actually was – he knew his Bible, he said his prayers – he followed quite a lot of the law really.
OK – but it’s really all about society isn’t it – you might say - it’s all about injustice, equality and human rights. Jesus was a man who went to the outcast and the excluded: people on the margins of society: “Go to the streets and lanes of the the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.” he was a friend of tax collectors, prostitutes and sinners –“her many sins have been forgiven her because she loved much – he said as the woman wept at his feet – It is not the healthy who need a physician, but the sick!
So here we have him – this is why we believe in him - A man who is tolerant of human failings, human sins, human weaknesses. Inclusive, open, generous. … just the sort of leader we like.
– Go, sell what you have and give it to the poor - if anyone wants your coat, give them your cloak as well, if anyone forces you to go one mile, go two with them, Give to those who beg from you and do not refuse those who would borrow from you. I was in prison and you visited me, I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. Go and do likewise! “Remember that you in your lifetime received your good things and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here and you are in anguish”
Lots of evidence here - And yet he was friends with the rich and the famous – Nicodemus, the religious leader, the rich Roman Centurian who sponsored the synagogue. The woman with the jar of very precious ointment. And when it came to sin he was fairly tough said “Go, and sin no more” “if you right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away, it is better than you lose one of your members than that your whole body go to hell” there’s nothing liberal and woolly about that! Sounds a bit more Daily Telegraph than Guardian to me! Yes he was into justice big time – but somehow that’s not the whole picture.
So perhaps he was a peace activist - “you have heard it said: an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, but I say to you, do not resist anyone who is evil but turn the other cheek” “Put down your sword, those who live by the sword will die by the sword.”
Except he also said - “Do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth’ I have not come to bring peace but a sword, for I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother and a daughter in law against her mother in law. Those who love father or mother more than me are not worthy of me.”
So who then is this Jesus? More than a spiritual leader, more than a man of integrity, more than a man of justice or of peace - more than everything - who is he? And can we believe in him?
Well let me promise you there’s nothing new about the question. As the disciples sat there on that first Maundy Thursday almost two thousand years ago they were probably asking exactly the same. I wonder who this Jesus really is? Why should we believe in him? They weren’t gullible idiots – they were hardened tradesmen who lived in the real world. – they’d seen charlatans and con artists. Why should they believe in this man?
He certainly wasn’t the messiah they were expecting – that’s for sure: he wasn’t anything like Moses, he hadn’t led them out of the slavery of the Roman Empire – although James and John still wanted him to do that. He hadn’t been like King David either and pushed Herod and others off their thrones to become the new king of a unified Israel – although Peter probably would have liked that. He hadn’t deposed Caiaphas to become the chief priest and teacher of the faithful although the crowds probably wanted him to do that. In fact as they sat there on Maundy Thursday keeping the Passover together perhaps they reflected that not much had changed really. The Romans were still beating people up, taking their taxes and crucifying people. Herod was still having his wild parties and chopping off St John the Baptist’s head. The religious authorities were still just as hard line and exclusive as ever…. What exactly had Jesus done in his short time preaching around the place, had he actually achieved anything? - he had healed the odd leper, he’d fed a few thousand hungry people, he’d even walked on water …. But how does that change the world? Is he really worth following now the going’s getting a bit rough?
What had he said? “When I am lifted up I shall draw all people to myself. The Son of man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many” …. For millions of Christians nowadays that’s the answer, that’s what Jesus is – he’s a ransom. He’s paid the price, he’s redeemed us, he’s brought us salvation. That’s why we believe in him… But I still wonder if that is enough? Does that, on its own, do justice to Jesus? Is that really all that Jesus is … a bargaining chip in some divine deal between God the Father and the Devil? Is that why he lived and preached the parables and told people how to live their lives? Is that why he got so angry with scribes and Pharisees, cleansed the temple and loved the sinner? Was he just a business transaction? The living equivalent of a briefcase of used banknotes notes? And is that why we should believe in him – rather than just say “thank you” ?
“Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but those who do the will of my Father who is in heaven.” “on that day many will say to me “Lord Lord did we not prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name And then will I declare to them I never knew you; depart from me you evildoers. Somehow I think there was more to Jesus even than a ransom – and more to following him than just believing that he’s saved us.
And is he God? The Jewish authorities certainly accused him of thinking he could speak for God – Who can forgive sins but God alone? Who else but God would judge the world and yet Jesus claimed that he would? What did it mean when he said “and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Mighty one and coming on the clouds of heaven?” it’s no wonder Jewish authorities needed no further evidence of blasphemy! Jesus had a very exalted view of himself! According to St John’s Gospel he said ”Before Abraham was “I am” - and they picked up stones to stone him there and then! Whatever Jesus was and is – he was more than just a bloke –even a very good bloke. An enigma yes, a challenge – yes – a really nice bloke – no!
Some of the scribes and Pharisees said to him “Teacher we wish to see a sign from you”
You really can’t blame them, can you – he’s a puzzle. And yet he refuses to give them a sign… but tonight for us – for his followers he does. Tonight he gives a sign for those who have ears to hear, eyes to see and a heart to believe: It’s not the sign of a mystic guru or the sign of a great warrior – it’s not the sign of a radical freedom fighter or of a radical pacifist - it’s the sign of Jesus - the Messiah.
He gathers his disciples together in the upper room, he shares bread and wine with them – he talks about his death and he washes their feet – this is the sign of who he is and what he wants.
And it’s four “C’s” Community, Communion, Commemoration, Compassion. He gathers, he shares, he remembers and he serves. And he tells us to do the same – to gather, to share, to remember and to serve
It’s not the sign people want of course – it’s not what they wanted then, and it’s not what they want now. People are still desperately disappointed when they come to me looking for inner spirituality and meaning in life, and all I have to give them is Community, Communion, Commemoration and Compassion – Come to Church, Take Communion, Read the Bible, Be kind to one another - they’ve seen it all before!
People want incense sticks and chants, they want manifestos and marches, they want communes and special insider knowledge – but all they get is Community , Communion, Commemoration and Compassion. Come to Church, Take Communion, Read the Bible, Be kind to one another. This is the challenge to see the value in what has been in front of our eyes all the time.
“The reason I speak to them in parables is that “seeing they do not perceive, and hearing they do not listen, nor do they understand. For this people’s heart has grown dull, and their ears are hard of hearing, and they have shut their eyes; so that they might not look with their eyes, and listen with their ears, and understand with their heart, and turn - and I would heal them.”
Jesus teaches us that we have to learn to be the Body of Christ together – there is no private faith between me or you and God, there is no private life between me or you and God. No inner secrets for you or me and nobody else. Whether we like it or not, we are all bound together in one body with each other – What hurts one, hurts all, what helps one, helps all. - that is the challenge.
Jesus teaches us to share the Body of Christ – and to share it with rich and poor alike, there are no distinctions at the communion rail for we are all children of the same heavenly Father - and if there are no distinctions there, then there are no distinctions anywhere – If God will share his life with us, then we must share everything we have with one another as well, both inside and way beyond this building. We might not like that either – but that is the challenge of Jesus.
Jesus teaches us to remember his death – to tell the story of his dying so that others might live – of letting go of life ourselves so that we might gain life, of strength in weakness – a complete reversal of the power structures of the world - we don’t like that very much either – but that is the challenge.
And he tells us to serve one another as the Body of Christ – to serve the people of the world just as he served others – on our hands and on our knees if needs must, until it hurts.
This is the challenge – this is why we believe in Jesus – because his message is still there light years ahead of us, still leading us on – and still worth working for: - Community, Communion, Commemoration and Compassion… For over 2000 years Christians have been repeating the same message over and over again – and for 2000 years we have been avoiding what it really says, being self-centred, selfish, self-obsessed and self concerned, protecting our rights, excluding others.
We say we have put our trust in Jesus, but we have ignored what he said, even after 2000 years.
This is what he believed. This is what he died for. This is why I believe in him.
The Rev'd Paul
Kennington
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