Last week we completed the brief series of messages on
The Abundant Life, a series I defined
by the qualities of faith, hope, and love. Several weeks ago I mentioned that upon completion of that
series I would follow it with one titled Stages
of Faith. That series is
proving to take more time to prepare than I had anticipated so I am postponing
it for now. I am, however, adding
a message to the series on The Abundant
Life. After completing last
week’s message it occurred to me that it needed a postscript, and so this week
I will offer the message Faith, Hope, and
Love – A Postscript.
The idea for a
postscript came after thinking about how the problems of our world are so
deeply entrenched that it could seem, perhaps, a bit naïve to think that faith,
hope, and love were enough to solve the world’s problems. To say, for instance, that I believe
Jesus meant what he said when he told us to turn the other cheek could seem
like a very simplistic answer to some very complex questions. In thinking about this further, the passage
of Scripture that I am using for today’s message came to mind. In that text, John tells us of a day
when many of the followers of Jesus were so discouraged after hearing Jesus
teach that they turned back and no longer
followed him (verse 66).
John
6:60-69 –
60 On
hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can
accept it?”
61 Aware
that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this
offend you?
62 Then
what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before!
63 The
Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to
you—they are full of the Spirit and life.
64 Yet
there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the
beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him.
65 He
went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the
Father has enabled them.”
66 From
this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
67 “You
do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.
68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom
shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.
69 We have come to believe and to know that
you are the Holy One of God.”
People are often surprised to hear
that verse (66 From
this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him). We have
an image of Jesus preaching and teaching before large crowds and being
overwhelmed by people wherever he went.
We think of the image of Jesus as one loved and adored by
multitudes. While those images are
certainly correct, John tells us of a day when those crowds dissipated, a day
when the people who had gathered to listen to Jesus reacted very negatively to
what he had to say. It was a day
when people responded to his teaching by saying, this is a hard teaching.
Who can accept it?
(verse 60). And then, according
to John they turned back and no longer
followed him (verse 66).
What was it that
was so difficult that many set aside their desire to follow after Jesus and
turn away from him? Reading it,
from our perspective, it is difficult to find anything that sounds so
objectionable that we would turn away, but many of those who heard Jesus on
that day found it next to impossible to continue walking with him. Honestly, as I have thought about this
verse over the years I have struggled to come to any conclusions about why the
crowd reacted in such a negative manner, but I will offer an estimation.
Primarily, I
think, it was because most of the people could not accept the core principles
of the teaching of Jesus. That
some were saying this is a hard teaching,
who can accept it (verse 60) was not just a reference to a specific
teaching of Jesus, but to his overall message, I believe.
By this point in
his ministry, it was becoming obvious that Jesus was not going to be who many
hoped he would be – he was not going to be the political messiah that many
wanted, leading them in liberation from Rome; he was not going to be one who
would peform miracles on demand, healing every person or giving people
everything they wanted or expected (in fact, he explicitly rejected this on
several ocassions, such as Mark 8:11-13 – 11 The Pharisees
came and began to question Jesus. To test him, they asked him for a sign from
heaven. 12 He sighed deeply and said, “Why does this generation ask
for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to it.” 13 Then
he left them, got back into the boat
and crossed to the other side); he was not going to provide continuous
meals, as in the feeding of the 5,000, which took place just prior to this
passage; and, while much of what he had to say was certainly good news, much
was also very challenging. Considering
this, it’s not a surprise that many people did turn away from following Jesus,
concluding, perhaps, that they were better off looking elsewhere for the
answers they were seeking to life.
After the crowd
left, Jesus turned to the twelve disciples and asked you do not want to leave too, do you? It is not difficult to detect the note of sadness in the
voice of Jesus, as he almost sounds as if he expects them to leave as
well. At such times, there is
always someone who is the first to speak, and as is the case in general in the
gospels, in this instance it was Peter.
It is easy to misread Peter’s response, so be careful how you read his
words. Some hear his words as a
note of resignation – Lord, to whom shall
we go? – as though he is saying we
don’t have any better options, so lacking a better choice we’ll just stay here
with you. No, Peter, however,
really nailed it when he offered his response, especially in his words you have the words of eternal life. Peter knew, in searching for the
ultimate answers in life, that there was only one place to turn, and that was
to Jesus.
So by way of
that introduciton this morning I want to again affirm faith, hope, and love as
not only the core values of our faith, but really as the only way forward for
our world.
Faith.
I don’t know how
many of you have taken the time to read the series of columns I have written
for the Sentinel-News in recent weeks
about a conversation between belief and unbelief, and I don’t mention them to give
them a push, but to say that I have thought about faith and its implications
for a long, long time. And I’ve
thought a lot about the perspective of no faith as well. Today’s skepticism is very frustrating
to me, not because I find in it particularly challening or because it is at all
intellectually comprehensible, in my opinion, but because I find it to be so
shallow and badly reasoned.
Richard Dawkins,
Sam Harris, and the late Christopher Hitchens are representative of what we
might call the more intellectual strand of atheism today, while Bill Maher,
Ricky Gervais, and Penn Jillette represent that point of view on the pop
culture end of the spectrum. As I
read and listen to them, however – and the other public proponents of that
point of view – they strike me as philosophical lightweights and it’s very
difficult for me to take them seriously.
If I want to learn about the point of view of no faith, I read the
classical expressions of atheism, such as Bertrand Russell and Friederich
Nietzche. They knew the
implications of their beliefs, or lack thereof.
I believe that
faith really matters, for many reasons, and one of them is because it attaches
itself to something that is eternal, which makes all the difference in the
world. If there are no eternal
values, if there is nothing beyond this world, what foundation is there for
anything beyond a bleak, Darwinian approach where the strong and the powerful
always prevail (which is what has happened for enough of history as it is).
But faith brings
something very different to this world, and to humanity. It brings a glimpse of the eternal,
where the powerful and the strong do not rule, but love rules. It reminds us that we are called to
care for one another and to work for justice and equality. It reminds us that we are not alone in
this vast universe, but are created with meaning and with purpose.
Hope.
When the crowd
turned away from Jesus they made a decision to go back to the same old, same
old, to return to the status quo, and to accept that things really can’t
change. Human history tells us
that the status quo often wins and that things often do not change, but hope is
daring because it tells us this – things
don’t have to stay the same. In
fact, things are not meant to stay the same. This world was not created so that a few could dominate and
rule the many. This world was not
created so that so many would live under oppression and live in want while some
live in abundance. This world was
not created to have some enjoy the status of first-class citizens while others
are relegated to second-class status or worse. This world was created, humanity was created for something
far better, and that is represented by the kingdom of God.
But hope is not
only necessary; it is also frightening and unsettling, because the hope that
reminds us of the gap between what is and what should be is a hope that asks
and begs for change, and change means a lot gets upended and the status quo and
the powers that be don’t want anything upended. It was this hope that turned the religious leaders against Jesus
and this hope that brought the full, crushing weight of Rome down upon Jesus
with a cross.
But it is a hope
that endured, and continues to endure, and it is a hope that endures because
Rome did not have the final word, and to this day, and all days, power and
force and evil do not have the final word.
There are many
days in our lives when it’s tough to hold to hope. There are days when we feel as though we are hanging by that
final thread and our grip is slipping away. We feel that not only is there no hope in the world but as
though the world has rolled over on top of us.
But the hope of
God is a hope that will not only continue to endure but will usher in the
promises of God. It is a hope that
reminds us not only that things can
change, but that things will change. It is a hope that will help us regain
our grip, climb up that last thread by which we felt we were hanging, and claim
the promise that God is ever with us!
Love.
While hope is
the fuel that upends the status quo, it is love that fully ushers in God’s
kingdom. And it is a far deeper
love than any kind of mere greeting card sentimentality, not that there is
anything wrong with that kind of love.
The love to which God calls us is more powerful than anything this world
could possibly imagine. The love
of which Jesus told and demonstrated reminds us that any love which does not
work for the benefit of those outside of our circle of friends and family is
not fully the love of God. A love
of friends and family is a wonderful and beautiful experience, but God calls us
to a love that is all-inclusive, even, as we spoke last week, of our enemies.
Now, it is
important to understand that kind of love is not an emotional state of being
but one of will and action. When
we talk of the agape love of God, we are not talking about manufacturing an
emotional feeling. When we are
called to love our enemies we are not being asked to have warm feelings toward
them. C. S. Lewis wrote that the rule for all of us is perfectly
simple. Do not waste time bothering whether you “love” your neighbor; act
as if you did. The love of
which Jesus speaks is far more than just an emotional state of being; if means
to work for the good of others, to work to see that they are treated justly,
equally, and fairly. To work to
see that they are fed, clothed, and sheltered. It is a love that says to an enemy even though you might hate me and mistreat me, I’ll keep loving you in
return and working for your good!
To do this does not require an emotional feeling towards others; it
requires a commitment to the agape love of God.
Donald
Wuerl, the archbishop of Washington, DC, recently wrote about an experience he
had when speaking at a conference at Harvard University. At the conclusion of
his presentation an attendee asked: What
do you people think you bring to our society? I like his response, and include it this morning –
The
reference to “you people” was to the front row of the audience, which was made
up of representatives of a variety of religious traditions, all of whom were in
their appropriate identifiable robes.
I answered with questions of my own: “What do
you think the world would be like if it were not for the voices of all of those
religious traditions represented in the hall? What would it be like if we did
not hear voices in the midst of the community saying, you shall not kill, you
shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness? What would our culture be
like had we not heard religious imperatives such as love your neighbor as
yourself, do unto others as you would have them do to you? How much more harsh
would our land be if we did not grow up hearing, blessed are they who hunger
and thirst for righteousness, blessed are the merciful, blessed are the
peacemakers? What would the world be like had we never been reminded that
someday we will have to answer to God for our actions?”
To
his credit, the man who asked the question smiled and said, “It would be a
mess!”
I
like that response, and I agree that without faith, the world would be an even
bigger mess than it already is.
But let us not lose hope, but hold to our faith and continue to live the
love of God!
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