“The Heart of Christianity”

Luke 10:25-37

July 11, 2010

 

            There is a delightful story about a 13^th century monk named Brother Juniper. Brother Juniper was a companion of Francis of Assisi. The story goes that Brother Juniper had so much pity and compassion for the poor that when he saw anyone who was badly clothed he would immediately rip off a piece of his own clothing and give it to him. Such was Brother Juniper’s habit that his superiors at the monastery ordered him under obedience not to give all or even a part of his clothing to anyone again.

            A few days later it happened that Brother Juniper met a poor man who was almost naked and who begged him to give him something for the love of God. Brother Juniper responded compassionately to the poor man’s request by saying, “My dear man, I have nothing to give you but my habit [the robe wore by monks]. My superior has directed that I cannot give it away to anyone. But if you pull it off my back, I certainly will not prevent you.” The poor man immediately jerked the habit off Brother Juniper’s back, turning it inside out, and ran away with it, leaving him standing there naked.

            When Brother Juniper went back to the monastery, the friars asked him where his habit was. And he answered, “Some good person pulled it off my back and went away with it.” Somehow I think this simple story gives a whole new meaning to giving someone the shirt off your back, don’t you agree.

 

            The story in our text is not just a variation on the golden rule; in fact, the emphasis is not upon the action of the Good Samaritan or the inaction of the priest or the Levite. I would suggest that it is as much about us as those who were listening to Jesus. We’ll come back to this point, trust me.

            Hermanson reminds us that Luke, like all good preachers, brings together two good but completely unrelated stories to help us identify the heart of Christianity. In doing so he adds the operative phrase, “go and do likewise.” Luke turns the parable into a plan of action and this becomes our challenge. If you a willing to look a step further you will note that the phrase “Good Samaritan” has become something of a catch-phrase for concerned assistance. But this is as good only as far as it goes. The real power of the story is about a way of living, an attitude which flows from a heart touched by the grace of God. In fact, when Jesus uttered these words they appeared as a square circle, an oxymoron [apparently contradictory expressions]. To those listening Jews it would have made no sense, thus more than puzzling.

 

            Before we go further we must remember that a parable is a narrative meant to provoke, challenge the mind, or stir the heart. When we listen to the parables of Jesus we hear, God happening, not in the future but in the present. It is through that paradoxical experience that we are exposed to the Spirit of God. Our conventional wisdom is challenged, our understanding is questioned. It lays us bare, naked in our imagination and the holy imagination of God is centered on us. I am suggesting that as we encounter such a parable we are left without pretensions and satisfactions in our own wisdom and the pretenses of society. We are brought face to face with the wisdom and expectations of God, for us individually and collectively.

 

            Mark Galli wrote a book titled Jesus Mean and Wild: The Unexpected Love of an Untamable God, in which he reminds us that the contemporary church loves to paint Jesus as gentle, meek…and mild. But a serious study of the ministry of Jesus shows that he often made other people feel decidedly uncomfortable. If we are serious about wanting to understand this parable we must be prepared for the emphatic focus of the truth and the call to respond accordingly. We are called to keep things in proper order- love God unreservedly and our neighbors as ourselves, and then respond to the needs of others with the same sense of spirit.

            Marcus Borg suggested there were two systems of religious thought which prevailed in Jesus’ day. There were those who preached that the primary goal of religion was purity [though primarily legally], such was the dominant system espoused by the Pharisees. There were also others, though a minority, who believed that the primary goal of religion is compassion. To them the central quality of God was compassion; such should be the ethos [characteristic spirit] of the church. While each of are essential characteristics of the essence of God they are not exclusive within themselves. The compassion of God flows from His holiness, and as such, we by necessity must experience a life-changing encounter with God that removes our contrariness to him and replaces it with God’s presence. It is then that compassion for others flows “naturally” from within.

            The “go and do likewise” is predicated by the “loving the Lord your God with all your heart…” 

 

            Some have suggested that there is a battle raging in the church between those who believe the right things and those who do the right things. I would suggest that this parable reveals that we must believe, that is respond to God’s grace, and that will lead us to live out that grace to those most in need. This is the heart of Christianity.

 

            How do you stand up to the revelations of this parable?

            Are you prepared to accept any revelation of your need by the Holy Spirit?

            Where do your priorities lye for this church?

            Go and do likewise.

 

Note: Material for this sermon taken from various sources.

This Is Christ?

Colossians 1:15-28

July 18, 2010

 

            Have you ever stopped and tried to picture in your mind what Jesus is? We live in such a fast-paced society that we seldom think about anyone long enough to establish a thorough picture of who they really are. Perhaps we have the same perspective about Jesus. We think we know who and what He is but when pressed on the issue we back off.

            I recently read a story about a soldier serving in Iraq who shared that he had thought the hardest thing he ever had to do was to pick up the body parts of one of his buddies. He thought that until the day he watched a young Iraqi boy do the same with the pieces of his father.

            Thirty years ago I never dreamed that one day I would be living in a world where you can witness what that soldier witnessed. Yet here we are- and we must ask ourselves who our God is. The post-modern Christian must asked, “Who is our Christ?” We can’t wait for the “bottom line” to reach us… it’s already here. As we attempt to identify hope in the midst our world, do we find Jesus? In the midst of our chaos, is Jesus the one who brings us hope?

            I would suggest that “understanding the identity of Christ is important to understanding God’s work in the world God intends for our lives and for the church.” This is imperative for us as individual disciples and the body of faith [the church]. The text before us offers an eloquent affirmation of the identity of Christ. This passage affirms that Christ is the revelation of the invisible God. We are told that in him, the fullness of God dwells. Yet Paul offers a further promise that through him God is fully revealed to us.

            Our Methodist tradition has always affirmed that we are able to know God (that is an essential element for faith) but we are unable to fully comprehend who God is. If we could, then we would be God. In our humanness we are limited to our knowledge of God but we can certainly recognize Him. There is a divine mystery about God, may we never lose sight of that.  But we can long to know more of God, and He will reward any honest seeking heart with further revelation of himself. Would you desire that?

            Your may remember the story in Exodus where Moses asks for a revelation of God. God hides Moses in the cleft of the rock, and shows him just a little bit of God’s glory. But, then God says, “But you cannot see my face, for no one can see me and live,” (Ex. 33:20). The idea of the hiddenness of God had to do with God’s holiness. The suggestion was that the unholy could not stand in the presence of absolute holiness and live. In other words, humanity could not fully experience the identity of God. If our story was to end here we would be stuck in the Old Testament.

            Yet, as a tradition we also affirm that God is gracious and desires relationship with humanity. Note- God so desires relationship with us and is so gracious to us that He wants to reveal His identity to us. In this era of grace, God has not hidden us in the cleft of the rock to show us just a little bit of His glory. God has fully revealed himself to us in the person of Jesus Christ. This is what this passage in Colossians affirms- that Christ is the revelation of God. It is in Christ; we can indeed look upon God’s face and live. We can know God and live. What was invisible has been made visible through Christ. For in Christ the fullness of God dwells.

            Do we recognize who Christ is? Verses 15-20 offers us a vivid revelation of God through Jesus, but verses 21-23 offer us revelation of God’s intent and goal for us all. It is God’s intent and goal that all of creation conform itself to the image of Christ. And it is here that most of us stumble…

            By being conformed to the image of Christ, we conform to the image of One who is holy and in intimate relationship with God. In Christ, we are no longer estranged from God and hostile in mind. The believer is no longer unjust and unloving and unable to make peace with one another and God. Rather, this encounter with the eternal God through Jesus Christ, comes from our conformity with the One who is already in intimate relationship with God [yes, I know that I repeated]. By having responded to offered grace, humbly accepting the provision of that grace, humanity finds itself in a new situation- as a new creature in Christ Jesus, and able to enter into the divine life and essence of God himself.

            Now get this! The very humanity that would kill Jesus is offered reconciliation and redemption to such an extent that that same humanity can be changed into the likeness of God through Christ. In other words, the humanity that would crucify Christ might become truly like him and, with him, would join with God in the divine community. We who were aliens and lost have been reconciled to God through the sacrifice of Christ. Our “elder brother” became our savior, bringing us back to the Father.

            We are called to be transformed so that we might be conformed to Christ, moving to God’s purpose and intent, to be in a close and personal relationship with God.

Do you understand God’s purpose for you?       

           

            That is why it is important to understand who Christ is. For in the midst of all the chaos in our world, Christ is the revelation of God’s purpose for our lives and for the world. So who is our Christ?

 

            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, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers- all things have been created through him and for him… He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross. Amen. Amen?

 

But the question is, “Do you know Jesus?” Nothing we do or say will bring us to God. The world is full of religion [man’s search for God], but when we meet and choose to follow Jesus, we do not find religion we find life. We find out who God is. And we know who Jesus is… and we know who God is because of Jesus.

 

Look at your heart, do you see Jesus there? Look at your life, is Jesus there? If you dare, look at your church, is Jesus there? What do you see? Is that Jesus? No? The great news is that it can, and must, be Jesus!  What are we waiting for?

 

Adapted from a sermon by Kennetha Bigham-Tsai