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First Presbyterian Church, Bridgeton, NJ
Richard E. Sindall, Pastor
Sermon for January 27, 2008
Lessons: Isaiah 58:1-10 and Matthew 4:1-11,18-19,23
What Kind of Christ?
I suspect many people think Christ is Jesus’ last name. In fact, his name was Joshua, probably pronounced Yeshua in his own language, Aramaic. We call him Jesus from the Greek translation of Joshua. Christ is a title, Greek for Messiah. The apostle Paul calls him Messiah Joshua or Christ Jesus. So, Christ is not his surname; he is the Christ, the one sent by God to change the nature and destiny of life by restoring the world to God.
We call him Jesus Christ as though the title Messiah defined him, telling us who he is and why God sent him to us. I think we are viewing the situation backwards. The title did not define Jesus; rather, he defined what it meant to be the Christ of God.
There is nothing unusual in what I am saying. I chair the committee of West Jersey Presbytery that is seeking our next executive presbyter. We have written, not only a position description to say what we want the EP to do, but a person description to say how we want her or him to be with us. What kind of person do we seek? What kind of relations do we hope the executive will have with our churches, ministers, and members? How will this person represent us to the public? What kind of countenance will she or he present as the face of West Jersey Presbytery? For the truth is that from the day we call someone to be the executive presbyter, that person will begin redefining the title. EP will come to mean to us what she or he makes it mean. We hope and pray that what it means will come from God and not from the executive’s own ego. Nonetheless, it will wear that person’s face and bear the stamp of her or his personality.
At his baptism, Jesus is affirmed by God as the beloved Son. Talk about titles! No wonder he has temptations. How will he conduct himself as God’s Son in the world? What kind of Messiah or Christ will he be? How will he relate to God and then to other people as God’s chief representative, God’s face, in the world? The answer is not obvious, and the way Jesus chooses to be the Christ is not at all clearly the wisest and best. From the outset, he seems to make poor choices, to start off on the wrong foot. He appears to lack a clear vision of his destiny and purpose and so fails to develop a shrewd plan and an effective program for implementing that plan. For example, if he has been sent to change the world, why does he start by calling fishermen to follow him? Wouldn’t he have been shrewder to find a good public relations person, a planner, and a fund-raiser? What proven track record of success do those four fishermen have to show? Fishing makes a pretty slim résumé.
You’re hungry, Jesus, very hungry. Uh, why are you hungry, Jesus? Are you or are you not the Son of God? Tell those stones to become loaves of bread. Surely, God will make it work for you. What’s the point of being God’s Son if you have to wait for food like everybody else? Are you special or not?
Jesus rejects privilege. If he is indeed special, he will learn from God what special means. He is human, and the human does not live by bread alone but by the word of God. He will not be the Christ of privilege.
Ah, so you look to God, do you? Really? How much do you trust God? Show it. Do something beyond the ordinary to show everybody that you and your faith are beyond the ordinary. Jump for the top of the Temple. God will catch you, right? Then all Jerusalem will marvel and believe in you. Your name will be known throughout the land.
No, Jesus will not jump from the pinnacle of the Temple or do any other publicity stunt. He rejects fame and prestige, and here again he thinks in terms of God rather than in terms of outcomes. He will not put God to the test, taking the lead and expecting God to come through for him. Rather, he will honor God and follow the Spirit’s lead. He will not be the Christ of prestige.
So, Jesus, you say “No” to privilege and “No” to name-recognition and the admiration of all. And just how are you going to make a difference in the world? If you’re not special and nobody even knows who you are, what is your plan? What do you think runs this world, Jesus? Love? Sure, that’s why Rome rules the world, Son of God: because the Romans are so kind and loving to everybody. The answer is power, Son of God – power. And I can give it to you, because that’s what I am, don’t you know? Bow to power, and it will be yours. And whose should dominion be, if not yours? Who should rule the world, Caesar or the Christ of God? Bow to power, Son of God, and the world will be yours!
With an angry, Get away from me! – “Away with you” – Jesus dismisses the way of power and glory. He will not be that kind of Messiah, the Christ of power and dominion.
What kind of Christ will he be, then? What’s left? He has rejected privilege, something we all wish we had. Who wants to be just another face in the faceless crowd, another name on the long list of those whose names open no doors for them, another unknown standing in line? We love privilege. Jesus has also rejected prestige, another thing we love and long for. Be recognized, be admired, have people boast of knowing you or of merely having met you or seen you across the room in a restaurant. Most bewildering of all, Jesus rejected power. Why? Did he not come for the greater good of humanity? Did God not send him to take charge and order life God’s way, the right way, rewarding the obedient and punishing the rebellious and headstrong? Rules. The world needs rules and a strong man to enforce them. How else can God make people be good and do what is right? Make them conform! Expel the rule-breakers, and crush all resistance. Then you can reward the loyal and be gentle with the obedient. Mercy should be for those who deserve it, right?
Jesus says, No. Mercy is for those who are lost and stained, people who need healing. God created human beings to be free and freely responsive to God’s love. Jesus did not come to force people to do anything. He will not dominate or control. He will not take up power over others’ lives for some imaginary “greater good” that would only prove to be tyranny in the name of God. No, the Son of God or “Son of Man” as he will call himself – the human – has not come to be served but to serve others and give himself to ransom many from their many forms of captivity.
We are his disciples, his church. The disciple, the student, is not above the teacher. We are not asking this morning what kind of Christ Jesus chose to be just so we can indulge in little Bible study about the far-distant past. Jesus has chosen the course for life and ministry, and he calls us to follow him in that way. Instead of privilege, he chose humble trust in God and equality, mutuality, with the people – and not just the right people, but the sick and disabled, the confused and sinful, the lost and broken. Instead of prestige, he chose service without name recognition. When he had healed someone, he often said, “Don’t tell anybody,” and he teaches us to keep our deeds of kindness to ourselves. Instead of power, Jesus chose compassion. He entered into people’s distress, and he included himself in their shame by letting himself be associated with it in the scorn of the better people. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our afflictions.
We have our Annual Meeting after this service: reports, elections, a budget, an audit, hopes to share, friendship and mutual support, and a vision for the church’s life and ministry to reaffirm. What kind of people and what kind of church should we be because Jesus chose to become the kind of Christ he was and is? The answers are not self-evident, and I will not pretend to be able to spell them out here, at the end of a sermon. What is clear to me is that Jesus rejected the glories of privilege, prestige, and power in favor of humble trust, service, and compassion, because those seemingly weak forces change people in God’s way. As we say, “the devil is in the details,” and so we will have the temptations and the chances to be faithful every day, but let it be the kind of Christ Jesus was and is that determines and guides the kind of church we continue to become. For still he calls to us, “Follow me.” And in case you fear you don’t qualify, you don’t need to be privileged, prestigious, or influential; you need only to be willing to learn how to fish differently, for people. Amen.