the Jesus I never knew, why he came: Message

from my message on 9/16/12 from Luke 6:20-31

Grace.  I wanted to condense Jesus' message down to just one word, and I wanted that word to be "grace."  That's a good word....God's love for us.....unmerited....undeserved...nothing we can do to earn it.  Grace is a good word for us United Methodists.  We tend not to emphasize judgment so much as we do grace.  If you were to put Jesus's message to us in just one word, you couldn't do much better than grace.

Today, we are in the second week of 4 week sermon series on the Jesus I never knew.  Today it is about why he came and his message. 

Although grace is a good summary for Jesus' message, I couldn't stop there.  See, I read the commentaries.  I study.  I reflect.  Another good word for Jesus' message that came through that process and especially through this scripture we had read is "reversal."   Jesus blesses the most unlikely ones:  poor, empty, weeping, the hated.  Jesus says woe to the rich, full, laughing, well-liked.  Jesus turns things upside down.  It has been like that from the beginning of Luke's gospel, as we read the birth stories of Jesus and John the Baptist.  Jesus is coming to take the powerful and mighty down.  He is coming to raise the weak and vulnerable up.  Reversal is a good word for Jesus' message.

I found another good word that captures Jesus' message.  It is especially pointed at men.  I don't mean to exclude women in this word, but sometimes I need to make things clear for those of the male gender.  The word for Jesus' message is challenge.  The passage that we had read has plenty of challenge in it:  loving enemies, turning the other cheek, doing unto others, etc.  Men like a challenge.  I found the example in a book written by Ernest Shakleton in 1909, who recounted how he recruited men for his Anarctic exploration.  He put an ad in the London Times newspaper that said the following:  "Men wanted for hazardous darkness and constant danger.  Safe return doubtful.  Honor and recognition in case of success."  Hundreds of men applied!   We guys like something that challenges us, pushes the boundaries.  Certainly Jesus' message does this.

There were some one word summaries that didn't cut it.  Law is one of those.  Jesus is not trying to impose some new rules on us.  "Ought" and "should" and "must" don't work for Jesus' message.

Another one that does cut it is masochism.  Jesus is not trying to get us to enjoy pain and suffering.  Jesus' message is not about masochism.

Another one word summary that doesn't work is politics.  I got a little playful at this point.  I imagined Jesus gathering the 12 disciples together, his closest advisors, his cabinet if you will.  They were having a stategy session.  I can imagine them saying to Jesus, "You might want to tone down your message.  All of this woe to the rich, full, laughing, and well-liked is not going over that well.  It is not reaching our target demographic."

Jesus' message is not to be popular but to gain disciples.  We don't always like what Jesus has to say.  In fact we like Luke's version less than Matthew's version.  I know you were expecting those 9 Beattitudes from Matthew's Gospel, from the Sermon on the Mount in chapter 5.  But here Jesus is on the plain.  Jesus comes down to join us where we are.  He is down to earth. I know you were expecting to hear "Blessed are the poor in spirit, "  but here we have simply blessed are the poor.  Jesus practices real world values  according to Luke.  There is no spin.  Jesus does not practice politics.

I was trying to find just one word that captured Jesus' message.  It finally came to me Friday night, while Cathy and I were watching TV.  I  know that we are the only ones who do this, but we record a lot of the programs that we like, and then when we have time on Friday and Saturday, we go through them, cutting out the commercials.  It really doesn't matter what show it was, but the 2 main characters are in a hospital room.  They are both CIA operatives.  One of them, Annie, has been shot and is in a coma.  The other is Augie and he is holding her hand.  Augie says, "Annie....I need you now...and I never need anybody." 

That's the one word that gets at Jesus' message:  need....or needy.  When you are poor, empty, weeping, hated, you are needy.  The families that stayed with us this week through Interfaith Hospitality Network, who are homless, they get it.  When we are vulnerable, we need others, we need a savior.  We who are rich, full, laughing, well-liked.....it is hard for us to see that we need others and a savior.  The danger is in trusting in our competence, safety, wealth, and security. 

The passage from Luke has all of the pronouns and verb tenses in the plural.  "Y'all "  is found throughout.  We need one another.  We don't do this Christian walk alone.

Let's be honest, who can live this kingdom calling without a community of faith and a savior.  Can you love your enemies?  Can you turn the other cheek?  Can you bless those who curse you?  Can you give to everyone who begs?  Can you do unto others as you would have them do unto you?  I can't.  Not by myself.  I need a community of faith.  I need a savior. 

Need is a good one word summary for Jesus' message.  And that comes very close to the word grace.  That's the good news I have to share today.