This Is A King?
Sermon
Sermons on the Second Readings
Series III, Cycle C
Object:
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created ... in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell...
-- Colossians 1:15-16, 19
I grew up during all those Godfather movies, and I never saw a single one. I don't know why. I was busy. It was a three-hour movie. I had to study. So when I heard jokes about a horse's head or making an offer that he couldn't refuse, I didn't get it. The same is true today, right? There are those who have not watched or read a single Harry Potter story or a single Star Wars movie. When they hear, "The Force be with you," some only think, "And also with you." They don't get it. That's true with many things. There are those who have never been on a golf course, never went sailing, and never had children. Their understanding of these things is limited.
There are even those who haven't heard much about Jesus except how to curse using his name. They've never cracked open a Bible. They've never darkened the door of a church. They've never attended Sunday school. Now, put yourself into their world and you hear that this Jesus
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created ... in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell...
-- Colossians 1:15-16, 19
You would expect someone like Jesus to stand out. You would expect someone like this to have words of wisdom. You would expect someone in whom the fullness of God dwelt to take your breath away. What you don't expect is the Jesus of the New Testament who says ...
Fortunate are those who are poor, Lucky are those who are hungry, Blessed are those who weep. If you are being persecuted, abused, beaten -- rejoice.
-- Matthew 5:3, 6, 11 (paraphrased)
Don't hate your enemies, love them. Do good things for them. If they hit you on one cheek, turn and let them strike you on the other. If they demand your coat, give them your shirt also.
-- Matthew 5:40, 43-44
Also, you know that it is wrong to murder, but I tell you that even if you think angry thoughts about someone it is the same as murder. And you know that you should not commit adultery. But I tell you even looking at another person and having lustful fantasies, you are as guilty as the one who crawls into bed with him or her.
-- Matthew 5:21, 27-28 (paraphrased)
Can you hear these words for the first time? Remember, you don't know that these words are from Jesus. You have heard nothing about the Sermon on the Mount. Lucky are the poor. Rejoice that you are beaten. Love your enemies. You think there's nothing wrong with cursing someone under your breath? You think there's no harm in just looking? Think again, you murderer. Reconsider, you adulterer. Now, what is your reaction? Honestly? It's got to be one of four.
First, that's just stupid! Philip Yancey in his book, The Jesus I Never Knew, quotes a professor at Texas A&M who had her English comp class read these words from the Beatitudes from Jesus and asked them to write an essay. She expected them to have some basic biblical knowledge but soon found out they had very little. She grew up in a church with a picture of Jesus teaching these words on a small mountain overseeing a green hillside surrounded by eager pink children. She never heard these words with disgust or anger. But that is what her students wrote:
The stuff the churches preach is extremely strict and allows for almost no fun without thinking it is a sin or not.
The things asked in this sermon are absurd. To look at a woman is adultery. That is the most extreme, stupid, unhuman statement that I have ever heard.
There is an old saying that you shouldn't believe everything you read and it applies in this case.
It never occurred to this professor that someone might call Jesus stupid. Yet what she heard from her students was a pure, unfiltered reaction to the words of Jesus that have not been spiritualized by the church. These words are offensive and when they were first uttered by Jesus, he didn't just puzzle the people, he infuriated them.
Second, it isn't that nice! It means you have no intention of taking it to heart. Jesus was just throwing out Hallmark™ card platitudes to the poor people, "God bless you." To those whose faces were wet with tears, Jesus comforted them, "Count your blessings." But we don't really believe it, do we?
Philip Yancey wrote that he and about a dozen evangelicals were invited to breakfast with President Clinton. Clinton was low in the polls with conservative Christians, and he wanted to hear from them. Each guest was given five minutes. What should he say? Yancey thought he should say what Jesus would have said:
Mr. President, first I want to advise you to stop worrying so much about the economy and jobs. A lower Gross National Product is actually good for the country because the more poor we have in America, the more blessed we are.
And don't worry about health care. You see, Mr. President, the more people who weep and mourn, the more fortunate that we are.
And I know that you have heard from the "Religious Right" about prayer taken out of schools and protesters against abortion being arrested. Relax, sir. More government oppression actually gives Christians an opportunity to be persecuted and we want to thank you for those expanded opportunities.
He didn't share those words with the president. Why? Because we really don't believe it. No one is striving to be more poor, more hungry, or more abused. This is America! Happy are the strong, the rich, the healthy, and the confident.
Even the church thinks this way. The theologian, Soren Kierkegaard, once attended a large cathedral in Europe that took decades to build and cost millions of dollars. The priest stood before an ivory altar in his silver threaded chasuble, lifted up the gold chalice of fine wine and read, "Blessed are the poor, blessed are the hungry ..." and Kierkegaard looked around and realized no one laughed. If they took Jesus' words seriously, there should be laughter because even the church isn't living it. Blessed are the poor? Isn't that nice? Bless his heart.
There is a third response from those who hear these words and think, if that is what Jesus said, then I'll do it. Let me tell you about Linda. Linda's not right. Linda's from New York where she had a home and a job and family. She said that God put it on her heart to leave it all and do ministry in Romania. She contacted "Smiles," an organization in Great Britain that works with the poor of Romania and told them of her intentions. The director, Kevin Hoy, said, "That's fine but have you been to Romania before?"
"No," she replied.
"Do you think you should come once before you quit your job and sell everything?"
She did, but only to appease the director. Her mind was made up. If Jesus called us to serve the poor, then Linda needed to roll up her sleeves and begin the work.
In Romania, Linda lives alone and raises pigs and chickens for food that are slaughtered for the poor. She's a city girl who spends her time cleaning out the pig sty. She gets up about 5 a.m. to go out and water the many acres of cucumbers, tomatoes, corn, and peppers while singing, "How Great Thou Art." She says that the plants think that she is singing about them and they like it.
She gets no salary. She has to raise all of her living expenses; nothing is provided for her. Her one luxury is a bath twice a week. For the past couple of years, I've brought Linda a jar of peanut butter when I travel with a missionary team to Romania. From her reaction, you would think it was filet and lobster.
I look at Linda, I hear her love for the pigs and the vegetables and how they will feed the hungry children we work with there. I hear her joy about living with the poor of Romania. I hear her sacrifice of what she has given up to serve God. And I think, she's not right. Even if I were single and had few responsibilities, I still wouldn't do that. Linda's not right. But in my heart, I know Linda is right, more right with God than I am.
Which brings me to the fourth response to these strange words of Jesus. How is it that Jesus made the law impossible for anyone to follow and then demands us to keep it? If I am angry with someone, I'm a murderer? If I have a lustful thought, I'm an adulterer? Give away all that I have to the poor? If my hand causes me to sin, cut it off? Do not worry about tomorrow? What am I to do? Cash out my IRA and scatter it among the panhandlers? Cancel my insurance and trust God? Throw out my television and cancel the newspaper and magazines with the ads that tempt me to buy more?
If these words of Jesus are not stupid, if they are not some Hallmark™ card platitude (isn't that nice), if they are true then the bar is too high for me to reach. If these words are true, they drop me to my knees and reveal to me just how far short I fall of Jesus. Now what?
It is right there, at that fourth response, dropped to our knees that we grasp the very heart of Jesus' message on this Christ The King Sunday. You misunderstand this and you misunderstand the very core of Jesus' teachings. You miss this and you miss who he really is.
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created ... In him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell...
-- Colossians 1:15-16, 19
These words of Jesus are not so much telling us what we should be like but what God is like. Even Linda, who is trying to be obedient to these words of Jesus, knows how far short she falls from the glory of God. She's been dropped to her knees. She knows that the chasm that separates her from God is huge and that at the last trumpet sound, when Christ the King will stand upon the earth, we all will stand on level ground before the throne of God -- murderers, temper-throwers, adulterers, lusters, thieves, coveters. We are all desperate and in need of a king who is first a Savior.
Jesus the king came to make self-absorbed, guilt-driven, dead people alive with the only words that make a difference, the only words that will drop you to your knees, the only words that matter when he returns -- "Your sins are forgiven for Jesus' sake."
That's not crazy talk. That's not Hallmark™. That is the very heart of Jesus' promise to return as King of kings and Lord of lords; so that you might know, believe, confess, and walk daily in the shadow of the cross and in the grace of God. Amen.
-- Colossians 1:15-16, 19
I grew up during all those Godfather movies, and I never saw a single one. I don't know why. I was busy. It was a three-hour movie. I had to study. So when I heard jokes about a horse's head or making an offer that he couldn't refuse, I didn't get it. The same is true today, right? There are those who have not watched or read a single Harry Potter story or a single Star Wars movie. When they hear, "The Force be with you," some only think, "And also with you." They don't get it. That's true with many things. There are those who have never been on a golf course, never went sailing, and never had children. Their understanding of these things is limited.
There are even those who haven't heard much about Jesus except how to curse using his name. They've never cracked open a Bible. They've never darkened the door of a church. They've never attended Sunday school. Now, put yourself into their world and you hear that this Jesus
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created ... in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell...
-- Colossians 1:15-16, 19
You would expect someone like Jesus to stand out. You would expect someone like this to have words of wisdom. You would expect someone in whom the fullness of God dwelt to take your breath away. What you don't expect is the Jesus of the New Testament who says ...
Fortunate are those who are poor, Lucky are those who are hungry, Blessed are those who weep. If you are being persecuted, abused, beaten -- rejoice.
-- Matthew 5:3, 6, 11 (paraphrased)
Don't hate your enemies, love them. Do good things for them. If they hit you on one cheek, turn and let them strike you on the other. If they demand your coat, give them your shirt also.
-- Matthew 5:40, 43-44
Also, you know that it is wrong to murder, but I tell you that even if you think angry thoughts about someone it is the same as murder. And you know that you should not commit adultery. But I tell you even looking at another person and having lustful fantasies, you are as guilty as the one who crawls into bed with him or her.
-- Matthew 5:21, 27-28 (paraphrased)
Can you hear these words for the first time? Remember, you don't know that these words are from Jesus. You have heard nothing about the Sermon on the Mount. Lucky are the poor. Rejoice that you are beaten. Love your enemies. You think there's nothing wrong with cursing someone under your breath? You think there's no harm in just looking? Think again, you murderer. Reconsider, you adulterer. Now, what is your reaction? Honestly? It's got to be one of four.
First, that's just stupid! Philip Yancey in his book, The Jesus I Never Knew, quotes a professor at Texas A&M who had her English comp class read these words from the Beatitudes from Jesus and asked them to write an essay. She expected them to have some basic biblical knowledge but soon found out they had very little. She grew up in a church with a picture of Jesus teaching these words on a small mountain overseeing a green hillside surrounded by eager pink children. She never heard these words with disgust or anger. But that is what her students wrote:
The stuff the churches preach is extremely strict and allows for almost no fun without thinking it is a sin or not.
The things asked in this sermon are absurd. To look at a woman is adultery. That is the most extreme, stupid, unhuman statement that I have ever heard.
There is an old saying that you shouldn't believe everything you read and it applies in this case.
It never occurred to this professor that someone might call Jesus stupid. Yet what she heard from her students was a pure, unfiltered reaction to the words of Jesus that have not been spiritualized by the church. These words are offensive and when they were first uttered by Jesus, he didn't just puzzle the people, he infuriated them.
Second, it isn't that nice! It means you have no intention of taking it to heart. Jesus was just throwing out Hallmark™ card platitudes to the poor people, "God bless you." To those whose faces were wet with tears, Jesus comforted them, "Count your blessings." But we don't really believe it, do we?
Philip Yancey wrote that he and about a dozen evangelicals were invited to breakfast with President Clinton. Clinton was low in the polls with conservative Christians, and he wanted to hear from them. Each guest was given five minutes. What should he say? Yancey thought he should say what Jesus would have said:
Mr. President, first I want to advise you to stop worrying so much about the economy and jobs. A lower Gross National Product is actually good for the country because the more poor we have in America, the more blessed we are.
And don't worry about health care. You see, Mr. President, the more people who weep and mourn, the more fortunate that we are.
And I know that you have heard from the "Religious Right" about prayer taken out of schools and protesters against abortion being arrested. Relax, sir. More government oppression actually gives Christians an opportunity to be persecuted and we want to thank you for those expanded opportunities.
He didn't share those words with the president. Why? Because we really don't believe it. No one is striving to be more poor, more hungry, or more abused. This is America! Happy are the strong, the rich, the healthy, and the confident.
Even the church thinks this way. The theologian, Soren Kierkegaard, once attended a large cathedral in Europe that took decades to build and cost millions of dollars. The priest stood before an ivory altar in his silver threaded chasuble, lifted up the gold chalice of fine wine and read, "Blessed are the poor, blessed are the hungry ..." and Kierkegaard looked around and realized no one laughed. If they took Jesus' words seriously, there should be laughter because even the church isn't living it. Blessed are the poor? Isn't that nice? Bless his heart.
There is a third response from those who hear these words and think, if that is what Jesus said, then I'll do it. Let me tell you about Linda. Linda's not right. Linda's from New York where she had a home and a job and family. She said that God put it on her heart to leave it all and do ministry in Romania. She contacted "Smiles," an organization in Great Britain that works with the poor of Romania and told them of her intentions. The director, Kevin Hoy, said, "That's fine but have you been to Romania before?"
"No," she replied.
"Do you think you should come once before you quit your job and sell everything?"
She did, but only to appease the director. Her mind was made up. If Jesus called us to serve the poor, then Linda needed to roll up her sleeves and begin the work.
In Romania, Linda lives alone and raises pigs and chickens for food that are slaughtered for the poor. She's a city girl who spends her time cleaning out the pig sty. She gets up about 5 a.m. to go out and water the many acres of cucumbers, tomatoes, corn, and peppers while singing, "How Great Thou Art." She says that the plants think that she is singing about them and they like it.
She gets no salary. She has to raise all of her living expenses; nothing is provided for her. Her one luxury is a bath twice a week. For the past couple of years, I've brought Linda a jar of peanut butter when I travel with a missionary team to Romania. From her reaction, you would think it was filet and lobster.
I look at Linda, I hear her love for the pigs and the vegetables and how they will feed the hungry children we work with there. I hear her joy about living with the poor of Romania. I hear her sacrifice of what she has given up to serve God. And I think, she's not right. Even if I were single and had few responsibilities, I still wouldn't do that. Linda's not right. But in my heart, I know Linda is right, more right with God than I am.
Which brings me to the fourth response to these strange words of Jesus. How is it that Jesus made the law impossible for anyone to follow and then demands us to keep it? If I am angry with someone, I'm a murderer? If I have a lustful thought, I'm an adulterer? Give away all that I have to the poor? If my hand causes me to sin, cut it off? Do not worry about tomorrow? What am I to do? Cash out my IRA and scatter it among the panhandlers? Cancel my insurance and trust God? Throw out my television and cancel the newspaper and magazines with the ads that tempt me to buy more?
If these words of Jesus are not stupid, if they are not some Hallmark™ card platitude (isn't that nice), if they are true then the bar is too high for me to reach. If these words are true, they drop me to my knees and reveal to me just how far short I fall of Jesus. Now what?
It is right there, at that fourth response, dropped to our knees that we grasp the very heart of Jesus' message on this Christ The King Sunday. You misunderstand this and you misunderstand the very core of Jesus' teachings. You miss this and you miss who he really is.
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created ... In him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell...
-- Colossians 1:15-16, 19
These words of Jesus are not so much telling us what we should be like but what God is like. Even Linda, who is trying to be obedient to these words of Jesus, knows how far short she falls from the glory of God. She's been dropped to her knees. She knows that the chasm that separates her from God is huge and that at the last trumpet sound, when Christ the King will stand upon the earth, we all will stand on level ground before the throne of God -- murderers, temper-throwers, adulterers, lusters, thieves, coveters. We are all desperate and in need of a king who is first a Savior.
Jesus the king came to make self-absorbed, guilt-driven, dead people alive with the only words that make a difference, the only words that will drop you to your knees, the only words that matter when he returns -- "Your sins are forgiven for Jesus' sake."
That's not crazy talk. That's not Hallmark™. That is the very heart of Jesus' promise to return as King of kings and Lord of lords; so that you might know, believe, confess, and walk daily in the shadow of the cross and in the grace of God. Amen.
