March 18, 2018 What Faith Can See: A New Story

There are few things as powerful or that capture our imaginations as much as that of a story.  We love stories.  We read stories to our children and when friends and family members get together they share stories.  The Bible shares a great many stories.  It shares stories of our forbearers in faith and stories that Jesus told – called parables – that illuminated his teaching.  Stories are a way of taking a truth and really embedding it into our hearts and minds, which is why I include stories as often as I can in my messages.

Some stories are so engrained in our consciousness that I can begin the first line and you can finish it.  How about if we try that?  Here are some first lines of famous stories that I will begin, and see if you can answer.

Call me…Ishmael.

—Moby Dick by Herman Melville

It was the best of times…it was the worst of times.

—A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens

In a hole in the ground there lived…a hobbit.

—The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien

‘All children, except one…grow up.’

—Peter Pan, or originally, Peter and Wendy, by J. M. Barrie

You don't know about me without you have read a book by the name of The Adventures of…Tom Sawyer…

— Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain.

The sun did not shine, it was too wet to play, so we sat in the house all that cold, cold wet day. I sat there with Sally. We sat here we two and we said “How we wish we had something…to do.”

—The Cat in the Hat, by Dr. Seuss.

Once there were four children whose names were Peter, Susan…Edmond, and Lucy.

—The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, b C. S. Lewis.

Once upon a time there were four little Rabbits, and their names were-Flopsy, Mopsy, Cotton-tail…and Peter.

 —Peter Rabbit, by Beatrix Potter.

And this one, surely, everyone will be able to complete.

In the beginning God…created the heavens and the earth.

—Genesis 1:1.

Today we continue the series of messages that will take us through Easter Sunday.  The title of the series is What Faith Can See.  In this series I have been speaking about passages that demonstrate how difficult it was for the disciples and others to understand the words and actions of Jesus, and the work of God.  It was not only difficult for the disciples, but is for us as well.

This morning we come to a well-known story from the life of Paul – his conversion on the road to Damascus.  This story is so well-known that it has entered into the lexicon of our culture as people often refer to a change in life or the changing of one’s mind as a road to Damascus moment.  What I want us to look at this morning is the change in Paul’s life story.  The title of this message is A New Story, and what I want to focus on is the promise that faith can bring to us a new story.  If you are unhappy with the direction of your life, if you are in the midst of a difficult season of life, if you are worn down by the struggles of life, God can write you A New Story.  One of the great promises of faith is that life can change, life can be different, and life can begin anew, wherever we are on the road of life.

Follow along with me as I read our Scripture text for today.

Acts 9:1-6; 26-28

1 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest

2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.

3 As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.

4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”

5 “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.

“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied.

6 “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

26 When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple.

27 But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus.

28 So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord.

As Luke begins the story, he has a dramatic opening line – Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples.  That’s an opening line that captures your attention, isn’t it?

Paul, at this moment, was still known primarily by the name of Saul, and he is on his way to Damascus to arrest followers of Jesus and return them as prisoners to Jerusalem (Acts 9:2).  At the time, Saul was the protector of the religious status quo, and in the followers of Jesus he saw a great threat to the establishment, of which he was a part.  In his mind, this new movement needed to be stopped, and stopped by any means necessary. 

Let’s stop there for a moment and consider this point –

Paul learned it is possible, and sometimes necessary, to change your mind.

It’s hard to admit when you’re wrong.  All of us, from time to time, will say I’m not always right but here’s a little test I want you to take, because it demonstrates just how hard it is to know that we are wrong.  In ten seconds, think of three times you were wrong.  Go ahead and start thinking.

Could you come up with three times?  That’s three times when you were wrong, not someone else.  I actually gave you an extra five seconds, just to make it easier.  Here’s the point in that experiment – even though we readily admit that we are not always right, and even thought we acknowledge that it’s hard to admit when we are wrong, we find it very difficult to come up with a few times when we were wrong.

Paul was a great example of the truth that just because you are absolutely convinced about something, it doesn’t mean you are correct.  Paul was convinced in his mission.  Paul was unwavering in his commitment to dragging followers of Jesus back to Jerusalem so they could be imprisoned.  Paul had the backing of the religious authorities.  Paul could recite all the Scriptures that he believed backed him up.  Paul could justify in every way imaginable his mission.  But here’s what we have to remember – he was wrong!  And not only was he wrong, God had to initiate a divine intervention to convince Paul that he was wrong!  It’s one thing to be wrong; it’s wrong on an entirely different level when God has to step into your life to let you know you are wrong.  The good news is that Paul had the good sense to listen and to acknowledge his error when God did intervene, but Paul was not the only one who needed a divine intervention.  In fact, we recognize that God intervened in a dramatic way for all of humanity, and we call this the Incarnation.  God the Creator and Lord of the universe came to earth as a divine intervention, and yet many people still could not acknowledge the error of their ways!

We can look back in history and find way too many examples where people cannot acknowledge the error of their ways, and this, sadly, includes religious people.  In the Middle Ages the church persecuted people who would not accept the required orthodoxy.  Imagine; the church that had itself been the victim of persecution became the persecutor.  For generations, some in the church supported slavery, the subjugation of women, and we could go on, but the point is that God, at times, intervenes because it is necessary for him to offer a corrective to the mistaken ways of humanity.

God is writing a new story, and that story is often a corrective to the story written by humanity.  While mankind attempts to write the story to suit humanity’s purposes, God writes the story to suit his purposes.  While humanity writes the story of power and domination, God writes the story of peace.  While humanity writes the story of hatred and strife, God writes the story of love.  While humanity writes the story of riches and wealth and gain, God writes the story of giving and sacrifice.  Tracing the Biblical story we find time and again that God was writing a new story.  When Egypt enslaved the Hebrew people to build their buildings and become their servants, God writes them a new story.  God writes the story to say that people were never created to be enslaved by others and he frees the Hebrew people and fashions them into a people and into a people who would demonstrate to all of history what it meant to be people who would follow God.

Many of the Biblical characters are examples of God writing a new story.  Moses, rescued from the waters by Pharaoh’s daughter, was raised in privilege.  Discovering that he was one of the Hebrew people, enslaved by the Egyptians, he took the life of an Egyptian overlord who was beating one of the Hebrew slaves.  Fleeing Egypt, Moses believed his story was over, but he was the one chosen by God to lead the Hebrew people out of captivity in Egypt.  Moses could not imagine such an ending for his story, but God wrote him a new story.

David, the great king of Israel, enjoyed a lot of high points in his life, but he also endured some terrible lows.  His power and political achievements fostered in him a level of arrogance so terrible that when he wanted the wife of another man he took her and then ensured her husband would be killed to cover what he had done.  His family, because of his tragic example, became the textbook example of dysfunction that led to the tragic death of his beloved son Absalom.  And yet God wrote a new story in David’s life to the point that Scripture would say of David that he was a man after my (God’s) own heart (Acts 13:22). 

Peter was a fisherman, living his life, scratching out a living, when Jesus approached him on the shores of Galilee.  He was a willing, though flawed, follower.  He denied Jesus, was restored, but still struggled.  Paul had to confront Peter about Peter’s hesitancy to welcome Gentiles into the church.  But Peter was faithful, and gave his life for his faith.  God wrote a new story in his life.

And Saul, as we read today, while he was still breathing threats and murder against the members of the early church, found God on the road to Damascus and God wrote a new story in his life.

Others will seek to write your story.

Listen again to verses 26 – 28 –

26 When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple.

27 But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus.

28 So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord.

I guess it’s only natural that some people would be not only skeptical about any change in Paul; they would fear him as well.  They were aware that he was present when Stephen was stoned to death and that he was in agreement with that action.  Paul had his share of skeptics.  Paul had people who wanted to write his story for him.  Paul had people who would say to him and about him – you can’t trust that guy.  He hasn’t really changed.  Don’t put him in charge of anything.  How could God use someone who has done what Saul has done?

But, thankfully, Paul had some help in Barnabas.  Verse 27 says Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus.  I love Barnabas.  I love that Barnabas was not afraid to stand up for Paul.  Well, maybe he was a little afraid, but his commitment to the truth that God was writing a new story in Paul’s life allowed him to overcome that fear and stand up for Paul.  Remember, Barnabas is not a major character in the Bible.  Barnabas had to stand up for Paul to some heavyweights of the early church – the apostles.  That’s Peter, James, John, and the other nine.  Barnabas took hold of Paul and said, come on.  I’m taking you to the top and I’m going to vouch for you.  Barnabas was not, it’s important to note, his given name.  According to Acts 4:36 his given name was Joseph.  Barnabas was a name given by the apostles, and the name means Son of Encouragement.  Barnabas certainly lives up to that name in this passage, as his encouragement and his willing to vouch for Saul made a great deal of difference in the life and ministry of Saul.

I am grateful for those who fill the role of Barnabas in my life.  I am very blessed to have a number of people who are a Barnabas to me.  Maybe there is someone who needs you or I to be their Barnabas.  Maybe there is someone who needs you or I to vouch for them, to remind others that it is God who is writing the story of their life and not the skeptics, the doubters, and the critics that they face.  There are many people who need a Barnabas to step into their life.  There are many people who need someone to help them understand that God can, and will, write a new story for their life.

Let God’s story make you bold.

Verses 27 and 28 use two great action words – fearlessly and boldly.  27In Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus.  28 So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord.

There is something very freeing and invigorating when we are free from worry over what others think about us.  When we are free from worry over those who wand to box us in and define our lives for us.  When we are free from worry over those who want to write our story for us or tell us that we are bound by the story they want for our lives.

Someone is always seeking to write your story for you.  Someone is always seeking to define you.  Others will seek to write your story for you.  Paul did not allow the skepticism of others to write his story.  Who is going to complete your story?  Who has defined your story?  Never forget that it is God who is writing your story.  When fears and worries, challenges and failures, appear to be writing the story of your life, remember that God is the author and the finisher of your faith and your life. 

I have a friend who is a writer, and I am often fascinated to observe his writing process.  Over time, he writes and rewrites.  Sometimes he will change a large section of a story and sometimes he will change only a word or two.  The smaller changes are what fascinate me, but they are done with the same careful thought and determination as the large changes.  Sometimes, even after a story is published, he will make changes that will be applied to later revisions.  His work reminds me that the writing of a story is never truly complete, as the story is always being written.

God is writing a new story.  Always.  There is much handwringing about the state of the world today, and there are many reasons to bring us concern, but God is writing not only our stories, but also is writing the story for all of humanity, and that story will not be decided by the principalities and powers of this world, but by God.

God is writing a new story for you, and for me.  Allow that new story to make you fearless and bold!

March 11, 2018 What Faith Can See: Grace

This morning we continue the series of messages that will take us through the month of March and into Easter.  The title of the series is What Faith Can See.  In this series I am speaking about passages in the gospels that demonstrate how difficult it was for the disciples and others to understand the words and actions of Jesus, and how difficult it can be for us as well. 

Today we come to a well-known passage from the gospel of Luke.  In a recent article in the Cup, I wrote about this passage, and at the time thought it should be developed into a sermon.  If you read the Cup article, you can consider that an introduction to Sunday’s message.

Follow along with me as we read the passage.

Luke 18:18-27 –

18 A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

19 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone.

20 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’”

21 “All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said.

22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

23 When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy.

24 Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!

25 Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

26 Those who heard this asked, “Who then can be saved?”

27 Jesus replied, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”

First of all, how many of you have been troubled by this story, and its implications about money and wealth?  Have you wondered how much of your wealth and possessions to give away?  How many have wondered if this passage teaches that having money makes it impossible to gain salvation?  Or maybe you decided you don’t have to worry because you aren’t wealthy.  Considering the fact that the majority of the world’s population lives on less than $2 a day, we are the wealthy.  Generally speaking, we tend to have a more narrow vision about many issues, seeing them only in relation to our own nation, when we should be thinking on a global scale, certainly in relation to resources.  In recent years, we have heard much discussion about the “1%,” that is, those who populate the very top echelon of the economic scale.  You will most likely be surprised then to discover that, on a global scale, you might be a member of the 1%.  If your annual income is $50,000 a year, you are a member of the 1%.  If you earn $50,000 a year you are in the top .31% of wage earners in the world and rank 18,652,583 worldwide.  If you earn $75,000 a year you are in the top .11% and are ranked 6,645,709.  If you earn $100,000 a year you are in the top .08% and rank 5,067,405 (www.globalrichlist.com).

Secondly, you might have heard a well-known explanation about the meaning of the words of Jesus that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God (verse 25).  There is a well-known interpretation for that verse that is wrong.  Absolutely wrong.  I understand that sounds like a bold statement, but this passage is about one topic more than anything else, and we’ll get to that in a few minutes.  The common interpretation for that verse is this – there was a gate in the wall around the city of Jerusalem that was shaped like the eye of a needle.  A camel, or other beast of burden, that was fully loaded with goods could not pass through that gate until it had been relieved of its burden.  In a similar way, we must divest ourselves of our dependency on wealth and riches in order to gain entrance to the kingdom of God.  Have you heard this explanation? 

If you have, put it out of your mind.  Forget that interpretation.  For one thing, there is no evidence such a gate ever existed in the wall around Jerusalem. Even if there was such a gate, why would anyone go to the trouble of unloading their animal, sending it through the gate, carry their goods through the gate, and then loading them back on the animal when there were many other gates in the city that were very large and through which they could enter with no difficulty?  It’s an interpretation that, for practical reasons, doesn’t make any sense (and it also misses the point theologically).  And though Jesus had plenty to say about money, wealth, possessions – and their attendant dangers – that is not the primary meaning of this passage. 

Here is the meaning of this passage – in this passage Jesus is teaching about God’s grace, and the very important truth that God’s grace is freely given to us.  That’s it.  A very simple, concise, and important point that Jesus made.

Let’s back up to the beginning of the passage and walk through it.  First, I would say that the man who comes to Jesus is the kind of person any church would love to have walk through their doors.  He was a good person, he desired to be an even better person, and he had a lot of resources.  He comes to Jesus, very genuinely seeking, I believe, an answer to a very important question – he wants to know how he might gain eternal life.  Jesus answers his question by affirming the man’s knowledge of, and adherence to the commandments.  In reply, the man says he has kept those commandments since he was a boy.  The man has, obviously, been a good, righteous, and conscientious person.  He’s the kind of person who deserved praise for his good life, but Jesus tells the man he is lacking one thing.  Now, wouldn’t you think that is really good news?  Imagine, Jesus tells you that you are doing so well there is only one thing you are lacking in life.  That’s an excellent commentary on this man’s life – he’s only deficient in one area!  But what a big deficiency it is, because Jesus then drops a bomb on him when he says, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.  This was a man who was wealthy, and Jesus challenged him to give it all away!  Sell his real estate holdings, cash in his stocks and bonds, liquidate his retirement accounts, sell his coin collection, gather up all his loose change from under the cushions of his couch (and then sell the couch) – everything.  He is to make himself destitute.

Does this strike you as unfair?  It always seemed somewhat unfair to me, because it’s not something Jesus asked of other people.  Other wealthy people came to Jesus, but he didn’t ask them to sell all they had and give away the proceeds.  Because this was a good and sincere man, we sense some unfairness in what Jesus asks, so we invent qualities about the man to take the edge off the perceived unfairness.  We say things such as, well, he must have been very selfish and Jesus recognized this.  He must have worshipped his money more than he was worshipping God so Jesus wanted to remove that barrier from his life.  Jesus was testing him to see how much he really loved God.  If the test of loving God is selling all we have then I suspect we are all in danger of failing that test.

The deficiency in this man wasn’t his wealth or his attitude about it; his real deficiency was in his theology and we see that deficiency in the question he asks – what must I do to inherit eternal life?  The man’s emphasis was on do, as though it was necessary for him to earn his salvation, when the reality was, he didn’t have to do anything.  To ask what one must do is to imply there is something we must do to earn the gift of God’s grace, and we do not have to earn God’s grace; it is a free gift that God gives to us.

Jesus wasn’t being unfair to the man and he wasn’t targeting him because he was rich. Jesus seized on this moment as an opportunity to teach an important lesson, and Jesus is not just targeting this man with the lesson; he is really targeting his disciples and everyone else who was listening.  It’s a lesson of such critical importance that Jesus makes his point in a very dramatic way.  Jesus was simply laying out for the man what is required if one wants to try and earn their salvation. 

What Jesus was saying is this – if that is how you want to approach salvation, by what you do, then here is what it you have to do.  What have you done? Ok, you have kept all the commandments; that’s great, and is a good start, but if you want to go the route of working and earning your salvation, you’ve got to do better than that.  In fact, if you want to earn your salvation you must achieve perfection so let me lay it out for you.  You’re doing well, but you can do better, so sell all you have and give the proceeds to the poor.

Because we are Americans – who live in a culture that teaches us that we have to earn our way in life, that there is no free lunch, and everyone has to work for what they get in life – we might not be all that different from this man in the way that we think.  As much as we talk about God’s free gift of grace, I think it’s hard for us to escape the idea that we have to do something to earn and to deserve our salvation, in spite of the fact that Jesus is teaching in this story about the reality that God’s grace is freely given to us.  That God’s grace is a free gift is very difficult for us to truly comprehend, and as much as we talk about grace and as much as we speak of grace being a free gift, deep down we often believe we must do something to earn God’s grace.  Here is the truth, however – there is nothing we need to do in order to earn God’s grace.  Nothing.  In fact, there is nothing we can do to earn God’s grace, which is the point Jesus is making to everyone in and through this story.

Writing in Romans 4:4, Paul says that when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation.  In other words, if we trust in our own good works to earn us salvation, whatever good we do is only what we should have done in the first place.  When we try to earn salvation, the standard is perfection, and when the standard is perfection, it is impossible to ever get far enough ahead on any scale of righteousness in order to earn salvation.  And yet many people will continue to believe they must do some measure of good works in order to earn their salvation.  If you don’t believe you think that way, you probably exhibit it in at least one place – a funeral home.  In fact, I have coined a phrase for what is often expressed in funeral homes – funeral home theology.  I’m sure you have heard this – or perhaps, even said it – when you have paid a visit to a funeral home.  At some point, during visitation, someone will invariably say about Uncle Joe or Aunt Jane, I know where they are right now.  They are in heaven, and I know why they are in heaven – because they were such a good person.  As kind as that instinct is – and as important as it is to affirm the goodness of someone’s life – that is not at all accurate theology.  No one is granted the gift of eternity because of their goodness; this is a gift that comes because of God’s goodness and grace.

The reason Jesus tells the man he must sell all he owns is to drive home the point of free grace to his disciples.  When Jesus says it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God notice the reaction he receives – who then can be saved?  They had been told all their lives that if you are wealthy it is a sign of God’s blessing and if you are that blessed you have also been given the gift of salvation.  So to be told that a rich person couldn’t enter the kingdom of God was mind-blowing to them.  Wealth and salvation went together.  The statement of Jesus went against everything they had been taught.  If a rich person couldn’t be saved, who could?  Everyone listening to Jesus that day had the same thought – if this guy can’t make it to heaven what hope do any of the rest of us have  And that’s exactly what Jesus wanted them to think.  He wanted them to think of it as an impossibility; he wanted them to think there was nothing they could do.  His answer was what is impossible with men is possible with God.  Jesus is saying it is impossible for people to earn God’s grace and salvation.  How do you earn what’s freely offered?  Salvation lies solely in the hands of God; it is not up to us to earn it through any amount of good works.  Salvation is freely given.      

      

The truth about salvation is this – you don’t have to do anything.  Doing something implies that it is in our power to earn the gift of salvation.  Can I do enough good works?  Is there a threshold of righteousness that I can achieve by being nice to people?  Can I serve on enough church committees?  Can I attend enough church services?  Can I feed enough hungry people?  Can I give away enough money?  Can I help enough people across the street and be nice to enough kittens and puppies?  We often think of salvation as having some kind of a graded scale and at some point we are good enough that we cross that threshold and earn our entrance to God’s kingdom, but Jesus flatly rejects that kind of thinking in this passage.  The point he is making is not about selling everything you have; it’s about the truth that salvation is the free gift of God that is given to us without any need to earn it.

Have you ever known someone who has spent years trying to earn the love of another person?  Over the years of my ministry, as I have listened to many people tell their stories, and one of the most common themes I hear is the sense that they are not loved by someone who is very important to them.  It might be a child, perhaps, who doesn’t feel loved or accepted by a parent.  A husband or wife who doesn’t feel loved by their spouse.  A friend who does not feel loved by a friend.  It’s a sad thing to see, isn’t it?  A person feel unloved and they work and work and work, all in the hope they will be accepted and loved by that other person.

That is not how God works!  We don’t have to earn his love; it is already ours; he has already given his love to us.  God is not watching us and saying oh man, Dave was almost there.  He only needed one more good deed this week. He was doing great until he found Bill’s debit card and used it to buy a bunch of stuff at Guitar Center.  And he could have left a better tip at lunch the other day, and he could have responded nicer to the driver who cut him off at that intersection.  He was this close to earning my love and grace this week.

This passage teaches us something else as well.  This passage pokes a lot of holes in the belief that some people can look down upon others because they are so “good” and the others are so “bad.”  This passage reminds us we are all in the same condition, regardless of our moral achievements.  I may conduct my life on a higher moral plane than others, but it doesn’t mean anything in terms of salvation or in terms of God’s love.  Being a moral person may make us a good citizen and a more productive member of society but it doesn’t earn us salvation.  That’s not to say that being moral isn’t good; I think we ought to be moral people, but we must realize salvation does not come from our personal morality but from God’s grace.  The tendency among religious people is that too often the goal becomes about being better than someone else, which is erroneous.  Again, I am not saying we don’t have to worry about being moral people; I’m saying the point of morality is not to make us feel better than others.  This was the mistake of so many of the scribes, Pharisees and other religious leaders at the time of Jesus.  Their emphasis on morality led to an insufferable pride because they believed themselves to be so much better than everyone else, and because they believed they were so much better than everyone else, they believed God loved them more than everyone else.

It’s sad to think that our world conditions people to react with such suspicion about a free gift.  The grace of God is free.  We do not have to earn it and we do not have to be good enough in the eyes of anyone else to receive it.  May we receive that grace with gratitude and share it with others!

March 3, 2018 What Faith Can See: Beyond the Limits of Our Vision

Last August I attended the Men’s Health Fair at Jewish Hospital, as I do every year.  One of the stations I visit at the Health Fair provides eye exams.  After I read the eye chart I was surprised to learn that I have 20/20 vision, which means my eyesight has actually improved in the past few years.  After being told I had 20/20 vision I held up my reading glasses and asked, then why do I need these? 

In reality, our vision is affected by a number of factors.  For me, lighting is very important.  If I have the benefit of good lighting, I don’t need to put on my reading glasses.  Sometimes, however, such as when Tanya and I go out to eat at a nice restaurant, I have difficulty reading the menu.  In nicer eating establishments the lighting is often dim and the menus reflect what little light there is.  Our evening out together is not helped when I take out my phone, turn on the flashlight app, and hold it over the menu so that I can read it.  Perhaps that’s one of the reasons why we don’t often go out to eat at nice restaurants.  Just as my physical vision is affected by a number of factors, so is my spiritual vision.  I might, on some days, have great insight and understanding, while on other days I can be remarkably dense and lacking in perception.

This morning we begin a new series of messages that will take us through the month of March and into Easter.  The title of the series is What Faith Can See.  In this series I will speak about passages in the gospels that demonstrate how difficult it was for the disciples and others to understand the words and actions of Jesus.  At times, such as in the first portion of the passage we study today, the disciples could show a great level of insight and in the very next moment, not so much.

Lest we be too hard on the disciples, and the earliest followers of Jesus, we don’t always do that well ourselves when it comes to understanding what Jesus taught, and we have the benefit of 2,000 years of insight and understanding to help us.  All of us are limited in our understanding because we are conditioned by so many factors, such as our historical time period, by the society in which we live, by our beliefs, by our fears, and any number of other factors.  Despite the fact that we live in a time that is so much more technologically and scientifically advanced, it is not necessarily any easier for us to understand Jesus now than it was for the disciples.  As Jesus was constantly working to open the eyes of his disciples, he seeks to do the same for us as well. 

In our Scripture text for this morning we come to the well-known story of Jesus taking his disciples to the area of Caesarea Philippi, where he asked them, who do people say that I am?  After listening to their responses, Jesus then asked, but what about you?  Who do you say that I am?  Peter gave a response that showed a great deal of understanding, as he said, you are the Christ.  Peter was correct, but only a few moments later he demonstrated a complete lack of understanding about what it meant that Jesus was the Christ.  Jesus, after telling the disciples about his death, was taken aside by Peter, who began to rebuke him.  Though Peter had a great flash of insight to understand that Jesus was the Messiah, he did not understand what Messiahship meant.

Follow along with me as I read Mark 8:27-37 –

27 Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, “Who do people say I am?”

28 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.”

29 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.”

30 Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.

31 He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again.

32 He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.

33 But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.

35 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it.

36 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?

37 Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?

So how does our faith help us to see beyond the limits of our vision?  In this passage, there are two important ways –

1.  Jesus Wants to Define Who He Is.

One of the fascinating elements in this story is the abrupt change of course that Jesus makes.  Up to this point he is doing things that excited not only the disciples but many other people as well.  He performed many miracles of healing – those who were blind, those who were lame, those who were ill, and many more.  He fed the multitude with only a few loaves of bread and a few fish.  He poked at the religious and political leaders, and enthralled the crowds by doing so.  Up to this point Jesus did things that lived up to the hopes of who the messiah would be.  How could a person not get excited about the miracles, the great teaching, the challenging of so many in authority?  That’s great stuff, isn’t it?  No wonder Jesus had such large numbers of people following him.

And then it comes to this point, and everything changes.  After Peter recognized Jesus as the messiah, Jesus begins talking about the cross, and not just his cross, but the cross his followers would have to bear as well.  To Peter, it was crazy talk!  No wonder Peter was confused.  No wonder Peter took Jesus aside and rebuked him!  Imagine rebuking Jesus!  But Peter did.  In Peter’s mind, the kind of talk that Jesus offered simply wasn’t good marketing.  How do you draw a crowd with talk of crosses and death?

So what was Peter missing?  It was, I believe, this – as long as Jesus was doing the things that Peter liked, he was totally with Jesus.  As long as he was performing miracles, as long as he was healing people, as long as he was feeding the multitudes, and as long as he was poking at the authorities, Peter was all in with Jesus.  That was the kind of messiah he could get behind.  When Jesus began to speak about things that were not in Peter’s definition of who the messiah would be, however, Peter not only resisted, he moved to the opposite side!  That’s why Jesus said get behind me Satan.  It wasn’t just a simple misunderstanding on the part of Peter; he had moved over to the side of the opposition, because he tried to talk Jesus out of his mission.  It’s easy to criticize Peter, but what about us?  Whether anyone admits it or not, we also want to define Jesus, don’t we?  Don’t we also like the Jesus of miracles and healing, but hesitate when it comes to the Jesus who asks us to take up our cross? 

Three weeks from today, on Palm Sunday, we are presenting a play about this very idea.  Titled Jesus Was, Jesus Is, the play examines the way in which the Biblical characters saw Jesus in different ways and also their inability to agree on who he was (and by the way, I get to play the part of Paul in that play, and I need to say two things – first, I’m not an actor, and second, remember that some of the things I say are the words of the author of the play and their interpretation of Paul.  You’ll know what I mean when you see the play).

It’s easy to define Jesus as the messiah who will always keep trouble and difficulty at a distance, but that’s not the kind of messiah he is.  It’s easy to wish Jesus would always be the messiah that feeds that multitudes, that heals the blind and the infirmed, that raises the dead; but that’s not always the his way.  He’ll give us strength and walk with us, but he will not always spare us from illness and difficulty and suffering and loss.  We want Jesus to be a messiah who will give us an easy, cushy life, with a constant stream of abundance and prosperity, but that’s not the kind of messiah he is.  We certainly don’t like the idea of a messiah who not only takes up a cross and we really don’t like the idea of a messiah who asks us to take up a cross as well. 

Jesus is going to do the defining about who he is, not us.

2.  Jesus Wants to Define People.

Jesus was very intentional, I believe, about taking his disciples to Caesarea Philippi.  Caesarea Philippi was a center of many religions; it was a buffet of religious beliefs and cultural practices.  In Caesarea Philippi one would find many temples dedicated to the worship of the Greek and Roman gods and it also had a temple dedicated to the worship of the Roman emperor.  It was the kind of place that was very far outside the comfort zone of the disciples.  In that region, people believed differently.  They talked differently.   They looked different.  They dressed different.  They acted different.

By taking his disciples to this area Jesus was being very deliberate about exposing them to the wide range of differences in people.  Differences are tough, aren’t they?  We are frightened of differences.  We like to be with people who are like us; people who look like us, talk like us, and believe like us.  It’s often said that 11:00 a.m. on Sunday morning is the most segregated hour in America, and I guess there is some truth to this.  It’s not because we don’t like one another; we’re just more comfortable being with people who are like us.  As a congregation we have a little bit of diversity.  We’re probably more diverse than a lot of churches, but we could use some more.  To achieve this, we have to think and act consciously about diversity, because it doesn’t happen to us naturally.

Being with those who are similar to us has always been a characteristic about people, even God’s people.  In the early church, there was actually a large gathering to discuss the differences in people.  Acts chapter 15 tells us about the Council at Jerusalem, which I hope you will take some time to read this week.  The Council at Jerusalem was a gathering called by the leaders of the church to discuss what to do about all the Gentiles who were coming into the church.  They were from cities and towns that did not have Hebrew names.  They were people with different kinds of names.  They spoke in different languages.  They ate different foods.  They believed differently.  They thought differently.  Their cultures were different.  All of this made many of those in the church very uneasy, even some of the leaders.  Peter, for instance, had difficulty accepting the Gentiles.  Acts 10:9-48 tells about the vision Peter has about the animals and his being commanded to kill and eat of the animals.  The vision is an analogy to the Gentiles, and Peter’s resistance of them, and God telling Peter to accept them.  The verses after the vision tell the story of Peter’s coming to terms with accepting the Gentiles, but it was not an easy matter for him and it did not happen all at once.  Peter and Paul had a conflict over this issue, with Paul even writing in Galatians 2:11 that when Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong.  Paul noted that Peter would sometimes change his attitude depending upon whom he was with.  If Peter was with people who were Jewish, he was less open to the Gentiles; when he was with the Gentiles, he was more open to them (Galatians 2:12-14 – 12 For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. 13 The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.  14 When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, “You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?

The Council of Jerusalem was a very momentous gathering in the life of the early church, because the leaders of the church were considering whether or not they would require certain things of the people coming into the church.  Would they be required to abstain from certain foods?  Would they be required to follow certain religious days?  Would they be required to believe certain things?  Looking back at this gathering, it is hard to imagine that they would even consider imposing so many things upon people who were new to the church, but again, is it any different today?  Just as the early church struggled to adapt to people of different cultures and thus wanted those people to adopt the church’s culture, we sometimes do the same today.  If you haven’t noticed, every church has its own culture and often does not recognize that they expect conformity to that culture from people who come into the congregation. 

I believe that in taking his disciples to an area that was filled with such a diversity of people Jesus was making a very powerful point, and that was that we must not allow our differences to prevent us from welcoming and loving people.  Our differences often keep us apart, but we should never be afraid of those differences and we must not allow those differences to keep us from welcoming and loving people in the name of Jesus.  We love people because Jesus did.  Jesus loved without limits and without constraints.  Jesus had no qualifications attached to his love.  There was no list of regulations to which people had to conform.

Reading through the gospels we find that it is on this point – his love and acceptance of all people – that Jesus received the greatest amount of criticism.  The religious leaders did not appreciate Jesus’ open embrace of people.  He was criticized for associating with “sinners” and had no hesitation in gathering with and loving the outcasts (Luke 15:1-2).  He had no qualms about accepting and loving the woman taken in adultery (John 8:2-11), the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4:1-27), and Zacchaeus, the despised tax collector (Luke 19:1-10).  He did not shy away from those with leprosy, as would have been accepted at the time (Luke 17:11-14).  It is easy for us to feel uneasy about embracing and loving those who are different from us, and those whom society deems as unacceptable, but to walk in the way of Jesus means we must love as he did. 

Without realizing it, we often like or affirm people based on whether or not they affirm and agree with us.  Psychologists call this confirmation bias, and it is very much a part of our current cultural climate.  We turn to news outlets that affirm what we already think and believe.  We read books and articles that reflect our point of view.  We associate with those who look like us, talk like us, think like us, and believe like us.  How often do we consciously and deliberately put ourselves in places and situations where we are with people who are different?

This is what Jesus did when he took his disciples to Caesarea Philippi.  He took them somewhere out of their comfort zone.  He took them somewhere where people were different.  He took them somewhere that would make them uncomfortable.  And he did so to make the point that they were not to define people according to their differences, but in the way that Jesus defined them, and that was as people who were valued, accepted, and loved by him.

Years ago, when I was much younger, I had a job that placed me in a setting that I did not like.  It was different from much of my life experience, and some of the people that were my coworkers were very different from me.  In my first weeks on the job I hoped that I could find another place of employment, but gradually I came to understand that God had placed me there, and by placing me there I had an important lesson to learn.  I came to love the people that I worked with, and when I left there to return to seminary, I was sad to leave my coworkers, because I knew it was unlikely that I would ever see any of them again.  I have thought of my former coworkers many times over the years, and when I think of them I thank God for placing me in that job, a job that taught me a great deal about people.  I needed to learn how to love people who were different from me, and in the thirteen months that I worked there I learned a great deal about how to have that kind of love.

Faith can help us to see beyond the limits of our vision.  Faith can help us to see Jesus for who he really is and it can help us to see people in the way that Jesus sees them.  This is the kind of vision we need.  May we learn to see beyond the limits of our vision!