Love Lives
Sermon
Living In Hope
Cycle C Sermons for Lent and Easter Based on the Second Lessons
My friends, as we gather this Sunday to recall the passing of the weeks of Lent and move ourselves into the holiest of weeks in the Christian calendar, there is no better passage for us to reflect upon. Many scholars believe this passage from the letter to the church in Philippi may have been an ancient, early Christian hymn unfolding the stages of Christ’s whole being ― from being in the form of God, to becoming human, to surrendering to humiliation and death, and then to ascension back into heaven. Much of Christian theology rests in these verses. Let us explore them a little and then reflect on their meaning for us in this time and place.
Paul reminds us, as does the first chapter of the gospel of John, that Jesus, being in the form of God was at the beginning, was always divine from the beginning of time, or maybe more correctly written, before the beginning of time. Jesus, as God, was and is and will be. Divinity was never in question. Jesus is God. As we move into verse seven, we find an emptying of Jesus’ self so that he, as did the others in his time, became slaves to the ravages of humanity and the oppression of Rome, became fully human, encountering all that it meant.
From being born in a stable to parents with whom he became a refugee, to working with his family as a carpenter and then moving into his role as preacher, teacher, and minister to the people, Jesus was fully human. Yet, for Jesus, this was not the end. He humbled himself even further to be arrested and scourged. And as if that humiliation were not enough, he surrendered himself to be crucified and hung on a cross like a criminal.
That was not to be the end, however. From the cross he was raised, resurrected from the dead, and given authority so that at the mention of his name, all on earth and in heaven will bow. His divinity and his humanity, were both assured, both celebrated. The whole earth is called to acknowledge the humanity and the divinity of Jesus as this brings glory to our Creator God as well.
I wonder if this passage would be a good passage to use with new Christians and church school classes to summarize, as a beginning class, the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Surely, each verse can be expanded to connect with the Christ story, can be expanded by other texts, and can help us explore all the teachings of Jesus. It is, however, a succinct description of the actions of God in the redemption of the world.
What does this passage say to you in this time and place, about your faith, about your understanding of Jesus? From the first, there was misunderstanding and confusion about the duality of Jesus. How could one be both God and human? It is beyond human understanding. To accept that Jesus is God is key. Jesus is the word as described in John’s gospel. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1 NRSV). Jesus was, is, and always will be, just as God was, is, and will be. There is no separating the son from the Father, no difference, save that Jesus took a new step and became Emmanuel, God-with-us. As Paul wrote, Jesus gave up his equality with God and emptied himself to become a human being ― subject to pain, illness, hostility, and even death. I, for one, have always been amazed at the depth of love that brought God to live among us and to experience our existence. It is a sacrifice I cannot imagine.
Many of us can recount sacrifices we have made for family, friends, our work companions, our faith communities, but none of us began as divine beings. We, having been born human, can understand the humanity of Jesus but cannot begin to fathom the humility for a God to come to live among us and become one of us. In this time of the creation of Marvel Comics movies with Thor, Odin, and Loki, we can imagine the power of a God ― but can we imagine the humility of God to say: I will wholly become one of you, subject to all the pain and trial you experience? It is beyond my imagining. Is it beyond yours?
That is perhaps why there were so many theological debates about the divinity and humanity of Jesus. Perhaps he was wholly human but given divinity as a response to his selflessness and faith. I have heard that, haven’t you? Perhaps he was wholly divine and did not really experience true humanness. I have heard that, haven’t you? But to acknowledge both the divinity and the humanity of Jesus, to accept that Jesus chose to experience all of our humanity, is to accept the mystery of God and incarnation. This is difficult for some of us, easier for others. For some it seems unprovable, and yet, for me, that is what faith is about ― accepting that which I cannot completely prove or understand but seeking to accept as the power of God.
The presence of Jesus among the people as preacher, teacher, healer, leader, and sanctifier is clear in all our New Testament, Christian scripture writings. Jesus born of Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem. Clearly remembered and documented. The presence of shepherds and wise men, magi, from the east were also documented. The refugee status of the family as they fled to Egypt, was documented. Much of the childhood of Jesus was undocumented, except for discussing God and the law with the leaders of the church in Jerusalem. This humble boy with such great wisdom felt a call to serve and teach in “his Father’s” house, which was such a gift and such a wonder. The beginning of the public ministry of Jesus with his baptism at the River Jordan, was well documented as were his trials and temptations in the desert.
The most documented, for us was the life and active ministry, the three years when Jesus walked throughout Israel and Judah teaching people about a loving God who wanted a relationship with the people, wanted to love people more than judge them. The parables and stories, the healing, and praying, the miracles in our midst throughout the public ministry of Jesus, these were well-documented and gave us a peek at the loving character of God. The acceptance of those on the outside of the society, those who were shunned and marginalized was a key component of Jesus’ public ministry. But there was also anger ― the turning over of the money-changers’ tables, the naming as hypocrites the leaders of the church, more concerned with their status and the letter of the law than with the Spirit of God and God’s love for the least among us. Jesus was not afraid to speak the truth ― in anger and in love ― in a desire to have people turn away from human status and sinfulness toward God.
This preacher and teacher, this miracle-worker, the Son of God accepted the fact that a sacrifice was needed to reconnect the people with their God. This sacrifice was his to make, his to choose, and his to accept. What other God would allow themselves to be betrayed by one of their closest friends, to be arrested and whipped, to be ridiculed and spat on, and then finally to be sentenced to death, the death of a criminal on a cross? I cannot imagine the anguish of this man, this Son of God, as he chose to accept this fate for the good of us all. Can you?
I have sometimes chosen to put myself out in the world as an object of some criticism and scorn for what, I believe, are the teachings of Christ. But I do not know if I, as a human being, would have the strength to sacrifice my life for others. I do not know if, as a parent, I could sacrifice my child for others. Yet, such is the depth of the love of Jesus, the love of God in our midst. It is key that we remember this sacrifice when we are faced with the need to stand up for our faith, to face the scorn of others for expressing that which we believe.
And yet, our hope lives, for the death is not the end. Jesus seeking forgiveness for those who were killing him speaks to reconciliation beyond my imagination. Jesus dying for you and for me is beyond my understanding. Jesus loving that much is more than I can know, or perhaps ever feel in my own life. Our hope comes from the love of God that raised Jesus from the dead, that conquered death for all time. This is the hope we have been given. This is the reason why we bow at the name of Jesus, why we follow him and strive to become more and more Christlike in our own lives. We are not lost. Death is not the end. We will be with God at the end of our human existence.
This is the celebration portion of this text. God raised Jesus high so we could know the power of love, so we could speak the power of love.
When my eldest grandson was four, then living with only his mother’s family (who were not believers) as she and my son had divorced, he called me with the deepest of theological questions. “Grandma Bonnie, how and why did Jesus die, and how’d he get to be alive again?” How does one answer those questions for a four-year old? I told him that Jesus came to change the world, to help people learn to love one another. Some people did not want that to happen. They wanted power and to be able to judge others. Jesus told them it was not okay, and they were so angry they decided he was dangerous, and they needed to kill him.
“Okay, grandma, but how did he get to be alive again?” I told him that God loved him so much, because Jesus was his son and God loved us so much because we are also God’s children, that God could not allow his death to stand. God wanted to show the people in power and the people who had been listening to Jesus that Jesus was teaching the right things about God. So, God loved him back to life.
That seemed to settle the question for him. He knew love and he knew love was powerful. He knew I would tell him the truth, so his four-year old questions were answered. And although those answers are simplistic, they are true. Jesus loved and loves us too much to let the letter of the law rather than the love of God and people win. God loved and loves us so much that the living Christ is essential to our ongoing relationship with God and one another. Hate, anger, fear, and death could not be allowed to win. Love wins, always. Love wins.
This writing from Paul related, in very compact and simple terms, the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus. This writing from Paul reminds us that God loves us so very much that God’s son, Jesus, needed to come into our midst as one of us humans and teach us how to be in relationship with God and with each other. That is our blessing. That is our faith. How will you live out your faith in Jesus today and in the days to come? That is the question on my mind. Can it be the question on yours? Amen.
Paul reminds us, as does the first chapter of the gospel of John, that Jesus, being in the form of God was at the beginning, was always divine from the beginning of time, or maybe more correctly written, before the beginning of time. Jesus, as God, was and is and will be. Divinity was never in question. Jesus is God. As we move into verse seven, we find an emptying of Jesus’ self so that he, as did the others in his time, became slaves to the ravages of humanity and the oppression of Rome, became fully human, encountering all that it meant.
From being born in a stable to parents with whom he became a refugee, to working with his family as a carpenter and then moving into his role as preacher, teacher, and minister to the people, Jesus was fully human. Yet, for Jesus, this was not the end. He humbled himself even further to be arrested and scourged. And as if that humiliation were not enough, he surrendered himself to be crucified and hung on a cross like a criminal.
That was not to be the end, however. From the cross he was raised, resurrected from the dead, and given authority so that at the mention of his name, all on earth and in heaven will bow. His divinity and his humanity, were both assured, both celebrated. The whole earth is called to acknowledge the humanity and the divinity of Jesus as this brings glory to our Creator God as well.
I wonder if this passage would be a good passage to use with new Christians and church school classes to summarize, as a beginning class, the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Surely, each verse can be expanded to connect with the Christ story, can be expanded by other texts, and can help us explore all the teachings of Jesus. It is, however, a succinct description of the actions of God in the redemption of the world.
What does this passage say to you in this time and place, about your faith, about your understanding of Jesus? From the first, there was misunderstanding and confusion about the duality of Jesus. How could one be both God and human? It is beyond human understanding. To accept that Jesus is God is key. Jesus is the word as described in John’s gospel. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1 NRSV). Jesus was, is, and always will be, just as God was, is, and will be. There is no separating the son from the Father, no difference, save that Jesus took a new step and became Emmanuel, God-with-us. As Paul wrote, Jesus gave up his equality with God and emptied himself to become a human being ― subject to pain, illness, hostility, and even death. I, for one, have always been amazed at the depth of love that brought God to live among us and to experience our existence. It is a sacrifice I cannot imagine.
Many of us can recount sacrifices we have made for family, friends, our work companions, our faith communities, but none of us began as divine beings. We, having been born human, can understand the humanity of Jesus but cannot begin to fathom the humility for a God to come to live among us and become one of us. In this time of the creation of Marvel Comics movies with Thor, Odin, and Loki, we can imagine the power of a God ― but can we imagine the humility of God to say: I will wholly become one of you, subject to all the pain and trial you experience? It is beyond my imagining. Is it beyond yours?
That is perhaps why there were so many theological debates about the divinity and humanity of Jesus. Perhaps he was wholly human but given divinity as a response to his selflessness and faith. I have heard that, haven’t you? Perhaps he was wholly divine and did not really experience true humanness. I have heard that, haven’t you? But to acknowledge both the divinity and the humanity of Jesus, to accept that Jesus chose to experience all of our humanity, is to accept the mystery of God and incarnation. This is difficult for some of us, easier for others. For some it seems unprovable, and yet, for me, that is what faith is about ― accepting that which I cannot completely prove or understand but seeking to accept as the power of God.
The presence of Jesus among the people as preacher, teacher, healer, leader, and sanctifier is clear in all our New Testament, Christian scripture writings. Jesus born of Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem. Clearly remembered and documented. The presence of shepherds and wise men, magi, from the east were also documented. The refugee status of the family as they fled to Egypt, was documented. Much of the childhood of Jesus was undocumented, except for discussing God and the law with the leaders of the church in Jerusalem. This humble boy with such great wisdom felt a call to serve and teach in “his Father’s” house, which was such a gift and such a wonder. The beginning of the public ministry of Jesus with his baptism at the River Jordan, was well documented as were his trials and temptations in the desert.
The most documented, for us was the life and active ministry, the three years when Jesus walked throughout Israel and Judah teaching people about a loving God who wanted a relationship with the people, wanted to love people more than judge them. The parables and stories, the healing, and praying, the miracles in our midst throughout the public ministry of Jesus, these were well-documented and gave us a peek at the loving character of God. The acceptance of those on the outside of the society, those who were shunned and marginalized was a key component of Jesus’ public ministry. But there was also anger ― the turning over of the money-changers’ tables, the naming as hypocrites the leaders of the church, more concerned with their status and the letter of the law than with the Spirit of God and God’s love for the least among us. Jesus was not afraid to speak the truth ― in anger and in love ― in a desire to have people turn away from human status and sinfulness toward God.
This preacher and teacher, this miracle-worker, the Son of God accepted the fact that a sacrifice was needed to reconnect the people with their God. This sacrifice was his to make, his to choose, and his to accept. What other God would allow themselves to be betrayed by one of their closest friends, to be arrested and whipped, to be ridiculed and spat on, and then finally to be sentenced to death, the death of a criminal on a cross? I cannot imagine the anguish of this man, this Son of God, as he chose to accept this fate for the good of us all. Can you?
I have sometimes chosen to put myself out in the world as an object of some criticism and scorn for what, I believe, are the teachings of Christ. But I do not know if I, as a human being, would have the strength to sacrifice my life for others. I do not know if, as a parent, I could sacrifice my child for others. Yet, such is the depth of the love of Jesus, the love of God in our midst. It is key that we remember this sacrifice when we are faced with the need to stand up for our faith, to face the scorn of others for expressing that which we believe.
And yet, our hope lives, for the death is not the end. Jesus seeking forgiveness for those who were killing him speaks to reconciliation beyond my imagination. Jesus dying for you and for me is beyond my understanding. Jesus loving that much is more than I can know, or perhaps ever feel in my own life. Our hope comes from the love of God that raised Jesus from the dead, that conquered death for all time. This is the hope we have been given. This is the reason why we bow at the name of Jesus, why we follow him and strive to become more and more Christlike in our own lives. We are not lost. Death is not the end. We will be with God at the end of our human existence.
This is the celebration portion of this text. God raised Jesus high so we could know the power of love, so we could speak the power of love.
When my eldest grandson was four, then living with only his mother’s family (who were not believers) as she and my son had divorced, he called me with the deepest of theological questions. “Grandma Bonnie, how and why did Jesus die, and how’d he get to be alive again?” How does one answer those questions for a four-year old? I told him that Jesus came to change the world, to help people learn to love one another. Some people did not want that to happen. They wanted power and to be able to judge others. Jesus told them it was not okay, and they were so angry they decided he was dangerous, and they needed to kill him.
“Okay, grandma, but how did he get to be alive again?” I told him that God loved him so much, because Jesus was his son and God loved us so much because we are also God’s children, that God could not allow his death to stand. God wanted to show the people in power and the people who had been listening to Jesus that Jesus was teaching the right things about God. So, God loved him back to life.
That seemed to settle the question for him. He knew love and he knew love was powerful. He knew I would tell him the truth, so his four-year old questions were answered. And although those answers are simplistic, they are true. Jesus loved and loves us too much to let the letter of the law rather than the love of God and people win. God loved and loves us so much that the living Christ is essential to our ongoing relationship with God and one another. Hate, anger, fear, and death could not be allowed to win. Love wins, always. Love wins.
This writing from Paul related, in very compact and simple terms, the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus. This writing from Paul reminds us that God loves us so very much that God’s son, Jesus, needed to come into our midst as one of us humans and teach us how to be in relationship with God and with each other. That is our blessing. That is our faith. How will you live out your faith in Jesus today and in the days to come? That is the question on my mind. Can it be the question on yours? Amen.
