Who is this Man? The Least of These

It was John Lennon who said, “Jesus was all right, but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It's them twisting it that ruins it for me.”  And from what I hear when I talk to people and read what people have to say about Jesus that seems to be the common opinion.  Jesus was all right but Christians not so much.  People, even unchurched people have this view of Jesus who was super compassionate and loving, never judging and always forgiving.  And they like that about Jesus, and they don’t feel that they see that in those who call themselves by his name, by his church.  As a matter of fact the church as often seen as just the opposite of Jesus.  The church is often seen as uncaring and unloving, judgemental and unforgiving. 

And too often when Christians hear people make disparaging remarks about the church they find themselves nodding and apologizing.  In fact I’ve been guilty of that myself, of talking about how the church is made up of imperfect people and quoting people like Ghandi who supposedly said “If Christians would really live according to the teachings of Christ, as found in the Bible, all of India would be Christian today.” 

I remember reading and agreeing with the statement “The church is like Noah’s Ark, if it wasn’t for the judgment on the outside you would never be able to stand the smell on the inside.”  And I have had to repent of that attitude.  It is a disservice to both the church and to Christ. Over and over again the bible refers to the church as the bride of Christ and it must grieve him when people say “I love you but I can’t stand your wife.” 

Last week I mentioned that the life of Jesus shaped the world as we know it today.   I would clarify and elaborate on that by saying I truly believe that the life of Jesus has a shaped the world for the better.  That the best parts of the world as we know it today are a direct result of Jesus.  And that has happened not because a man named Jesus lived and died 2000 years ago.  Last week as we began this series we looked at what we as a church believe about Jesus.  And that in our statement of faith it says that our beliefs are in line with historic Christianity.  And then we looked at what that meant in our beliefs about Jesus.  That he is the Son of God, that he was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin, that his death on the cross was in atonement for our sins and that on the third day he rose from the dead.  This we believe.  

But those aren’t the things that have  shaped the world for the better.  You see, Jesus’ greatest contribution to the world wasn’t that he was the son of God, who was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin.  The greatest thing that Jesus did wasn’t dying on a cross or being raised from the dead.  And it wasn’t how he lived; it wasn’t because he was loving and kind and compassionate. Because if all that Jesus left for the world was Jesus, he would simply be a foot note in history, if that. 

But Jesus didn’t just leave his teaching, Jesus didn’t just leave his example, the most important thing that Jesus left was his church.  You see Jesus’ greatest contribution to the world was his Church. 

Last week we looked into Matthew 16 where Jesus asked the apostles who they believed he was, and after Peter had replied and said “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God”  Jesus responded and said  Matthew 16:18 Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.”

The bedrock of the church, the foundation of the church was to be that acknowledgment that Jesus is the Son of God, that Jesus is the Messiah.  And on that foundation a bunch of people who had nothing going for them, other than the one they followed, changed the world. 

Without Christ there would be no Christ Followers, there would be no church.  And for some people that wouldn’t be much of an issue because they haven’t seen the church as a positive influence. 

It was Friedrich Nietzsche who said “I call Christianity the one great curse, the one great intrinsic depravity, the one great instinct for revenge for which no expedient is sufficiently poisonous, secret, subterranean, petty -- I call it the one immortal blemish of mankind.”   

But then again this was the same Nietzsche who was cared for as an orphan by his Christian Grand Parents, who was educated in a university that was started by the church, who was treated in a hospital founded by the church, who died in 1900 the Year of our Lord and was buried in a Christian graveyard.

Without Christ there would be no Christ Followers because they were the gift that Jesus gave to the world, he told the world Luke 6:47 I will show you what it’s like when someone comes to me, listens to my teaching, and then follows it.

The impact that Jesus made, he made though those who followed him.  If there had been no Jesus there would have been no Jesus followers to make a difference in the world.  But what was the difference He made through them?

This morning I want to take you back to the scripture that was read for us. Jesus is teaching the crowds about the day of judgement.  And as part of that teaching he talks about people being divided into two groups.  We aren’t always comfortable with that thought but this is Jesus’ story so we will let him tell it his way  Matthew 25:34-36 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’

Now if you know the story, the righteous ones say “But when did we do that for you? We don’t remember ever feeding you or giving you a drink, or visiting you in prison.”  And the response comes back in Matthew 25:40 “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’

And I would suggest that it has been the church’s response to “The least of these” that has changed the world.

Jesus Shaped How We Think of the Poor  Even the church’s harshest critics seem to think the Salvation Army is doing a good job.  For the past couple of years I have volunteered for their Christmas kettle campaign and I stand in the mall, wearing a Santa hat, ringing a bell and collect money for the less fortunate for Christmas.  And that is only a small part of what they do, they feed the poor, provide shelter for the homeless, show up whenever there is an emergency or natural disaster.  But why is that?  The Salvation Army didn’t just magically appear out of nowhere.  In 1865 a Jesus Follower named William Booth thought the words of Jesus were important when he told people to take care of the poor.  And the Salvation Army has continued to do that for almost 150 years.

At Christmas time we collected enough money to partner with World Hope to drill a well in a village in Sierra Leone, why?  Because almost twenty years ago a Wesleyan Pastor by the name of Joanne Lyon took the words of Jesus serious when he said Matthew 25:35 For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home.   And when his followers said “When did this happen?”  Jesus told them Matthew 25:40 “. . . I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters; you were doing it to me!”

 I’m not saying that compassion is limited to Jesus and his followers but when disasters happen it is the World Hopes and World Visions, and Samaritan Purses and the Compassion Internationals that are there firstest with the mostest.  Why?  Because two thousand years ago Jesus was born and told his followers to care for the poor and the unfortunate.

Which is why in 1863 when an international organization was founded in Geneva Switzerland to care for those in need the symbol they chose was a Red Cross.   It’s why the organization that was started to provide a safe refuge for young men from the streets of London in 1844 was called the YMCA.   Young Men’s Christian Association. 

And because Jesus welcomed the little children it was the church that established the first orphanages, and because it was Jesus who had compassion on the lepers it was the church that ministered to those who were considered unclean and undesirable by the rest of the world. 

While the rest of the world shunned those with leprosy there were Christ followers who remembered that Jesus touched them and healed them so in his name they embraced those who were untouchable to the rest of the world. 

Which leads us to the next point. 

Jesus Shaped How We Think of the Sick How many people here were born at the Grace Maternity Hospital here in Halifax.  Do you know why there is a Grace Maternity Hospital?  Because in 1906 some followers of Jesus decided that there should be a hospital in Halifax where “Fallen women” could have their babies safely and with dignity.  Because they remembered how Jesus treated “fallen women”.  And those Jesus followers did the job so well that when the city of Halifax decided to start a dedicated maternity institution they asked the Jesus Followers to start it and the Salvation Army called it the Grace Maternity Hospital. 

And if you were born in Halifax, and weren’t born at the Grace then there is a pretty good chance you were born at the old Halifax Infirmary which was started by the Sisters of Charity in 1886. 

In the second and third centuries two plagues hit the known world and historical reports tell us that up to 1/3 of large cities were dying.   That the population was so overwhelmed that the dead were simply thrown into the streets, and eventually not just the dead but the dying where thrown into the street. 

Rodney Stark's book, the Rise of Christianity; How the Obscure, Marginal Jesus Movement Became the Dominant Religious Force in the Western World in a Few Centuries" argues that one of the main reasons for the success of Early Christianity was the Christian emphasis on caring for the sick. During the late Roman period there were a number of devastating plagues.  It was during this time that Christianity saw some of their most prolific growth.

Why?  Stark contends that Christian communities would have had better survival rates during these plagues because of the healthcare they provided for one another.  And not just for each other, Christians also cared for the sick in non-Christian communities, which Stark says, would increase the likelihood of their conversion, especially in times of death and uncertainty.

Dionysius a Bishop of the early church wrote this “Most of our brother Christians showed unbounded love and loyalty, never sparing themselves and thinking only of one another. Heedless of danger they took charge of the sick, attending to their every need and ministering to them in Christ, and with them departed life serenely happy; for they were infected by others with the disease.”  Why would they do that?  Because they remembered the stories of Jesus who would touch those who were considered untouchable.

It is why the first hospitals were started by Jesus Followers in Monasteries and even today have names like Saint Jude’s and St. Joseph’s and St. Elsewhere.  Because for two thousand years those who have taken the name of Christ read the stories in the Gospels where Jesus saw the sick and had compassion on them, saw the lepers and touched them, even when others wouldn’t and they remembered how Jesus healed people. 

When the disciples of John came to Jesus to ask if he was the messiah Jesus told them in Luke 7:22 Then he told John’s disciples, “Go back to John and tell him what you have seen and heard—the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor.”   And the followers of Jesus still do it today.  When I travel through Africa the majority of hospitals and clinics have been built by Christian churches.  Not all of them but most of them.  And those that were started by other groups were started because of the example set by the Christian Church and it’s always been that way.

Remember how the early Christ followers ministered during the Plagues in Rome?  Here is an excerpt from the Stark’s book “The Rise of Christianity” “Thus, a century later, the emperor Julian launched a campaign to institute pagan charities in an effort to match the Christians.  Julian complained in a letter to the high priest of Galatia in 362 that the pagans needed to equal the virtues of Christians, for recent Christian growth was caused by their “moral character, even if pretended,” and by their benevolence toward strangers and care for the graves of the dead.”

And because a Jesus Follower by the name of Tommy Douglas remembered how concerned Jesus was with the ill he thought it was important for all Canadians to have access to medical care. 

But it wasn’t just for the poor and the sick that Jesus makes a difference. 

Jesus Shaped How We Think of Slaves.  Slavery is one of those issues that people often bring up when they are criticizing the church.  Which really goes to prove their ignorance of history?  The church did not start the slave trade but it was instrumental in stopping it. 

In North America when we think about Slavery we think of a two hundred year period in US history, we think of the Southern States, plantations and cotton fields.  But slavery has always existed and exists today.  However Christianity is the one religion that went out of its way to bring an end to slavery in the Western world. 

The Church that was built on the name of Jesus was the most influential institution in the abolitionist   movement in the US. 

When you read the history of those who sought to end slavery, people like John Brown, who fought and died in the battle against slavery, Harriet Beecher Stowe who wrote “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” a novel that has often been credited with energizing the anti-slavery emotions of the US prior to the civil war and Abraham Lincoln who was willing to lead his country into war to end Slavery, the one thing they have in common was their Christian upbringing. 

Men like John Newton who made his living from the slave trade met Jesus and became a voice crying out for the end to slavery.  This was the same Newton who would go on to write “Amazing Grace”.  It was the same John Newton who met with a young politician by the name of William Wilberforce who after becoming a follower of Jesus was thinking of leaving politics.  Instead Newton convinced him to stay in Parliament and devote his career to the abolition of the slave trade in the British Empire.   And Wilberforce fought the good fight and finally in 1807 the slave traded was banned and in 1833 Parliament outlawed slavery.

John Wesley called Slavery the greatest evil of his day and the Wesleyan church was born out of the anti-slavery movement of the early 1800’s through the efforts of men like Orange Scott and Adam Crook, who was described as: a man who loved God and hated slavery. 

It was Jesus followers who were at the forefront of bringing about the end to slavery.  And why?  There was no personal gain to be had; in fact they often were at risk for their views and their preaching.  There was no financial incentive and yet they embraced the truth of “for God so loved the world”. 

2000 years ago slavery was a part of life, and had been for thousands of years before and so the teaching of the early church was revolutionary when Paul wrote in Galatians 3:28 There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.  And the thoughts of Colossians 4:1 were a brand new teaching, Colossians 4:1Masters, be just and fair to your slaves. Remember that you also have a Master—in heaven.  

But don’t think that slavery is simply a historical battle that has been won.  It is estimated that there are 27 million slaves in the world today.  And Jesus followers are still in the forefront of that battle to end slavery. 

Jesus Shaped How We Think of Children There have been abuses, there is no doubt about that bad people did bad things to children in some church run orphanages.  But the reason those bad things happened in church run orphanages is that if it hadn’t been for the church there wouldn’t have been orphanages. And you may be thinking “That might have been a good thing”.  But if you did away with orphanages you wouldn’t be doing away with orphans. 

The church provided orphanages as a way to save the lives of children who had been deserted by their parents or left parentless because of illness or accident.  The church did it because society wasn’t doing it.  And the church knew the importance of loving and caring for children because that was the way of Jesus.

If you Google “Jesus and children” You will see paintings and pictures of Jesus with the children, you will find lists of scriptures where Jesus spoke about children and interacted with children.  If you Google Mohammed and children you get very different results. 

And because Jesus said things like Matthew 19:14 But Jesus said, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children.”, the first orphanages were started by the church in the first century by Jesus followers, and the first orphanage in the US was started by a Roman Catholic order of sisters, the first Orphanages in Halifax were the Protestant Orphanage and Saint Joseph’s Orphanage. 

Were they perfect, nope?  And I’m sure through the years there were bad people who worked there, but the reality is when society was ignoring children in need the church of Jesus was doing something to help them. 

So how do we change the world?  The same way you eat an elephant, one piece at a time.  You see Jesus didn’t call us to change the world.  In Matthew 25 he didn’t tell his followers to build hospitals and orphanages and start international relief agencies.  What he said was when you see someone hungry, feed them, when you see someone who is thirsty give them a drink, when you see someone without clothes help them out and when you see someone who is sick, give them care.  And that’s not too difficult, is it?

And it was because of Jesus’ words and his actions that Jesus followers have built hospitals and orphanages and started international relief agencies. 

So this week take a look around and see how you can touch the life of someone in need.  And who knows, you might meet Jesus at the same time. 

Who is this Man? The Basics

Who is this Man? 

Matthew 16:13-20

If you were to ask the average person “Who is Jesus?”  I am sure that you would get a bunch of different answers.  Some would say that he was the Son of God; other’s might say that he was a prophet or a religious leader.  Some might even say that he was nobody, that he never existed.  If you watch the television show “Bones” you will sometimes hear the main character refer to the “Jesus Myth”  and for some that is all Jesus is or was, a myth. 

I would suspect that a large segment of the population don’t have an opinion, Jesus for them is a non-entity.  That doesn’t mean that they think he doesn’t exist, it simply means that they don’t think about him at all.  They don’t have an opinion because to them Jesus is not relevant to their lives.  And I would suspect that there might even be those here today who share that opinion, or non-opinion would be more accurate. 

You are here in church because it’s easier than not being in church, your parent or your spouse wants you to be here so you are here.  And you listen to the worship team sing, and you listen to some God talk from Denn and then you go home, your obligation has been fulfilled for the time being. 

I was in that category, before I became a Christ follower, I wasn’t antagonistic about Christ, I simply didn’t think about him, ever. 

And it wasn’t that I was ignorant, I had the opportunities to know him, I went to Daily Vacation Bible School when I was a kid and my family was vacationing on Grand Manan.  I went to a Baptist Sunday School, sometimes.  The Baptist church was the church we didn’t go to when we didn’t go to church.  When I got older I learned to change the channel when the TV Preachers came on and to find another radio station when Back to the Bible interrupted my music.

It was only when I was personally challenged to have an opinion that it became clear that it was important for me to have an opinion.   Not just an opinion of who others thought Jesus was but who I thought Jesus was. 

If we go back to the scripture that was read for us this morning we discover that Jesus is challenging the twelve to have an opinion about him.  Matthew 16:13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”

And the apostles had several answers for him, Matthew 16:14 “Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.”

And those seemed to be fairly reasonable answers, but they were the wrong answers.  It’s the same today, when we hear people say “He was a good man”  or “he was a prophet and a great teacher”.  They seem reasonable, but they are wrong.  He is so much more than that. 

And sometimes we find those who want to recreate Jesus in their own image.  Which is why Pulitzer prize winner Chris Hedges whose books take a stand against war and capital punishment would write “Jesus was a pacifist.”   And why Mikhail Gorbachev would say “Jesus was the first socialist, the first to seek a better life for mankind.”  And why Elton John  stated “I think Jesus was a compassionate, super-intelligent gay man who understood human problems.”

But just because everyone has an opinion doesn’t mean they are right.

So, who is this man?  Not for Elton John, not for Chris Hedges, or Mikhail Gorbachev.  Not for your neighbour, or your pastor, or your spouse or your parents.  Who is he for you, today?    Because that is the question.  When the apostles got through telling Jesus what others were saying about him he challenges them by saying Matthew 16:15 Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?”   And today, March 19^th 2013 he is still asking that question:  But who do you say I am?

Over the next several weeks we are looking at the question “Who is this man?”  Who is Jesus?  And how has he impacted the world? And ultimately and more important: how has he impacted your world? 

Last summer our theme was “What Jesus said about himself” And for two months we examined the words of Jesus in the book of John when he said over and over again “I am. . .”  I am the way, I am the truth, I am the Life, I am the light of the world, I am the good shepherd.  But what Jesus said about himself is as irrelevant as what others said about him if it doesn’t change and impact our lives.

The world  as we know it has been shaped by Christianity.  If there had been no Christmas, if there had been no Easter the world that exists today would be a radically different place. 

The reality is that it didn’t matter whether I acknowledged Jesus or not, he has shaped the world we live in. 

The majority of the world in some form or another takes the time to acknowledge his birth and an equal number of people take the time to recognize his death and resurrection.  Now, they may not recognize it by being in church but it is recognized in the sense that the day is different than other days.  Most people don’t go to work on Christmas Day, Good Friday and Easter Sunday.  It is a time to gather with family and to have a celebratory meal, to give gifts and speak about good will and wish each other a Merry Christmas, and a Happy Easter.  And they recognize that there is something different about that name.

If you take your bulletin and look at the front on the very top it says May 19, 2013.  We take that for granted.  That is the date.  More correctly it would say AD 2013, but what does the AD mean?  It is short for the Latin phrase Anno Domini  which translated into English is: In the year of our Lord. 

For most of human history time was measured by those who were in power at the time.  In the book of Luke we are told that Jesus ministry began when he was baptized by the John the Baptist and the Holy Spirit descended on him and the Father said “This is my son with whom I am well pleased.  But when was that?  Luke spells it out for us.    Luke 3:1-2 It was now the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius, the Roman emperor. Pontius Pilate was governor over Judea; Herod Antipas was ruler over Galilee . . .

Imagine setting time that way today, It was the fifth year of the reign of Harper, the Canadian Emperor, Darrell Dexter was governor over Nova Scotia and Mike Savage was ruler over Halifax.  It is so much easier to say it was 2013. 

The bible tells us that the birth of Jesus was originally dated by the fact that most of the known world was ruled by Caesar Augustus and today we know that Augustus died in 14.  14 What?  14 the Year of our Lord.  When Jesus was crucified it was under the authority of Caesar Tiberius.  Tiberius died in 37, the year of our Lord.   History has been divided into two sections those things that happened before Jesus was born and those things that happened after Jesus was born. 

And so the greatest men and women in history, for good or for evil are defined by two dates, when they were born and when they died, and those dates are referenced to the birth of a baby in a stable in a little village in a small occupied country over 20 centuries ago.  And so Napoleon Bonaparte lived from 1769-1821 in the year of our Lord.  And Mahatma Gandhi lived from 1869 to 1948 in the year of our Lord.  And if you were to visit the grave of the great Atheist Friedrich Nietzsche  on his tombstone you would see his life summed up by the dates 1844-1900,  in the year of our Lord. 

Muhammad, the founder of Islam lived from 570 to 632 in the year of our Lord.  There have been attempts through the years to secularize this by referring to it as CE or the Common Era, but common to what?  To the birth of Jesus.

If there was no Jesus there would be no 2013 and because our calendar was developed by a Jesus follower by the name of Gregory not only would today not be in the year 2013 it wouldn’t be May 19^th. 

But it’s not just time that is defined by Jesus.

When you hear somebody say “turn the other cheek” they are quoting Jesus, when they speak of someone being a prodigal son, they are quoting Jesus.  Most people know the “Golden Rule”  but do they know that it came from Jesus?  Phrases such as “The blind leading the blind” and “Cast the first stone”, “turn the other cheek”, “go the extra mile” and giving someone the shirt off your back.  All come from Jesus.    

So, let’s go back to the our scripture.  Jesus has asked the Apostles “Who do people say that I am?”  and they give him a variety of answers.  And if I asked you today “Who do people say Jesus is?”  You could give me a variety of answers.  Some good, some bad, some indifferent. 

And it’s easy for us to parrot what others think about Jesus, whether it is the good or the bad.    To say “Well the bible says”  or “Denn, or Cornerstone says” 

But Jesus deemed those answers as irrelevant when he then looked at the Apostles and said “That’s all well and good but what really matters is this:  Who do you say I am?” 

Matthew 16:16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”   Now if Jesus was just a good man, or a prophet or a moral teacher this would have been the opportunity for him to have clarified his position.  To tell Peter and the rest of the gang, “Nope, not at all, I’m just a prophet pointing to God.”  “I am simply a Rabbi, directing you to the truth.” 

Instead Jesus replies by saying Matthew 16:17-18 Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being. Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.”

You understand the significance here right?  Jesus is claiming to be God.  Of all the major religious leaders in the world, Moses, Buddha, Confucius and Mohammed.  Only Jesus claimed to be God.  It was C.S. Lewis who first put forth the proposition that based on Jesus claiming he was God we can accept his claims in only one of three ways.

1)      He knew he wasn’t God but said he was, which would make him a Liar.

2)      He thought he was God, but wasn’t, which would make him a lunatic

3)      He said he was God and he was. Which should make him Lord.

And Jesus said this was to be the bedrock of the church, the acknowledgment that He is the Christ, the Son of the Living God.  And once a church starts to waver and compromise on that, they might call themselves a church, others might call them a church but the foundation has begun to crumble. 

If you were to visit our website you would discover our statement of faith which opens with this statement:  Cornerstone is part of the Wesleyan Church, an evangelical, Protestant denomination, and our beliefs are consistent with historic Christianity. The following are some doctrinal statements that directly influence the way we live our lives and the way we operate our ministries at Cornerstone. We believe these to be the basic truths about God and our relationship with Him. We're open to change and compromise on a variety of issues... these aren't them.

And then the first thing on the list, the foundation for everything else is:

1) We believe in one God, who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit (The Trinity), and the Saviour of all people who put their faith in Him alone for eternal life.

We believe the words of Jesus in John 14:6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.  Not a way, a truth and a life,  not one way, one truth, one life.   But the way, the truth and the life.  And that goes back to our statement of faith,  “Our beliefs are consistent with historic Christianity.”  And those beliefs are summed up in the Apostles Creed.

The Apostle’s Creed

I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
the Creator of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:

Who was conceived of the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.

He descended to the dead.
The third day He arose again from the dead.

He ascended into heaven
and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty,
whence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Church Universal
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and life everlasting.
Amen.

We believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son our Lord.    

Peter called Jesus the Son of God, Nathaniel called Jesus the Son of God,  the Angel Gabriel called Jesus the Son of  God, the rest of the Apostles called Jesus the Son of God, the Devil called Jesus the Son of God, Jesus called himself the Son of God and on the day that he was baptised by John we read these words. Matthew 3:16-17 After his baptism, as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.”   Even God acknowledged Jesus as his son. 

That is the Jesus who we believe in and worship at Cornerstone.  We don’t worship a good man, or a prophet or a great moral teacher.  We worship Jesus, the Son of God. 

But more than that, We believe that Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary

The virgin birth is not just a myth and not just a doctrine you may or may not believe in.  It is the central part of who Jesus is.  If Jesus was simply the son of Mary and Joseph, regardless of how righteous and morally good they might have been that would have made Jesus nothing more than a man with really good parents. 

The virgin birth plays an important part in both accounts of the Christmas story, you remember the story Matthew 1:18 This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Luke tells us the same story in Luke 1:26-27 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David.

And if there was one person who should know Mary’s sexual history it was Mary and she seems pretty sure that she won’t qualify when Angel tells her she is going to be a mom.  Listen to what Mary says Luke 1:34 Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.”

And people object to the virgin birth saying that it is impossible.  Of course it’s impossible that’s the mystery and the wonder of the birth of Christ. 

We are talking God coming to earth.  How should he come?  The same way that you and me and Genghis Khan and Adolph Hitler were conceived and born? The prophet Isaiah said that God would chose a sign, and he did, he stepped outside the boundary of natural laws that say that in the act of conception a male and a female would each contribute a cell which would become a new person. 

Instead God did what had never happened before and has not happened since and that is he produced a child with only one cell.  You read in the papers about same sex parents, don’t believe it, it can’t happen.  It takes ingredients from a boy and a girl to make a baby.

If you can believe that Jesus is the Son of  God then you should be able to believe that Jesus was born of a Virgin. 

But it’s not just how he was born that was important,  We believe that Jesus suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.

This is the doctrine of atonement.  The reality that Jesus died for our sins.  Now we may never be able to fully understand all the ins and outs of why Jesus had to die for us, but the Old Testament was very explicit that there was a price that had to be paid for the sinful behaviour of each one of us.  And we are told in Romans 4:25 He (Jesus) was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised to life to make us right with God.

And then we are told in Romans 5:17 For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.  The gift of Christ’s salvation if for everyone, but like every gift it has to be received.  You might decide that it didn’t look good for Denn to be driving around in an 8 year old Smart Car so you decided that you wanted me to have a new car, still a convertible and still made by Mercedes but different, you know what I mean?  And so you bought me a new car and you told me that you had bought it for me, and that I could have it, no strings attached.  It would be a gift.  But that gift would only become a reality when claimed it.  If I never accepted it, left it parked in your driveway, even though it was a gift it would not benefit me. 

The gift of grace is available for everyone, but you have to claim it. 

But Jesus simply dying for us would have been a nice gesture and that would have been it.  But Jesus didn’t simply die for us.    And that is why We Believe That On The Third Day Jesus Arose From The Dead.   This is another one of those “But that’s impossible” things. 

And I will be the first to admit, it is impossible.  But then again if it wasn’t impossible it wouldn’t mean a whole lot would it.  Within the scope of things Christians have never denied this point, as a matter of fact it is the foundation of our faith. 

Our faith acknowledges that a person cannot come back from the dead, but our faith doesn’t believe that Jesus was just a person; instead we believe that he was God.  And if God put the rules of nature into force then God can step outside the rules of nature.  We see that time and time again throughout the bible, they are called miracles and you either believe in the supernatural or you don’t.  We believe that his birth, the virgin birth was miraculous and we believe that his resurrection was miraculous.

And we believe it not just because one person said it happened but because the bible records numerous people who witnessed it.  The first were the ladies who are mentioned as being the first to the tomb, and then we read that Christ appeared to the 11 remaining apostles and then other disciples.  Paul spells it out for us in 1 Corinthians 15:4-7 He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve. After that, he was seen by more than 500 of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he was seen by James and later by all the apostles.

 And there are people who want to believe in a Jesus who wasn’t born of a virgin, and a Jesus who didn’t die on a cross and a Jesus who wasn’t raised from the dead.  But if we are going to believe in Jesus and worship Jesus and trust our eternity to Jesus we need to understand that he comes as a package.  Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:17 And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins. 

It was the philosopher C.S. Lewis who wrote, “Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important.”

Over the next three weeks we will be looking at how Jesus shaped the world that we live in today, but the more important question is: How has he shaped you?

Mother's Days for Elizabeth

It is a familiar story and one that fits with Mother’s Day.  A woman who wasn’t supposed to be a mother becomes a mother.   It is one of the most familiar stories in the Bible but a story that is over shadowed by another story and gets lost.  We are all familiar with the first couple of Chapters of Luke, it is the Christmas story. 

But the Christmas story didn’t start when the Angel appeared to Mary, no the story began half a year earlier and 100 kms away. 

Before the angel appeared to Mary and Joseph he had already appeared in Jerusalem to a man named Zechariah to announce the birth of a boy who would be named John and who would be a cousin to Jesus.

And the story of John, or more important the story of Elizabeth is a story that should resonate with most of the women who are here today. 

So let’s begin our journey  where our Journey should begin, at the beginning.  Historically we are at the end of four hundred years of silence in the Story of Israel.  The last recorded words from one of God’s prophets had been written in the book of Malachi and the people of Israel have been waiting to be delivered from the various occupiers of their country.  

So let’s start with a little background about Elizabeth. 

We know who she was, because it is recorded in Luke’s Gospel, Luke 1:5 In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron.  

So she was a descendent of Aaron, who was Moses’ brother.  And it was from Aaron that the Jewish priesthood was descended. 

And then we read in Luke 1:6 Zechariah and Elizabeth were righteous in God’s eyes, careful to obey all of the Lord’s commandments and regulations.   Not only was Elizabeth from a religious family, but she herself was righteous and was careful to obey all of the Lord’s commandments and regulations.  She was good people. 

Interestingly enough the Elizabeth who is mentioned here is actually a relative of Mary, Jesus mother.  Earlier I called John a cousin because I didn’t know what else to call him.  And that’s what he would have been called in those extended families, when you can’t think of anything else to call someone who is kin you call them your cousin.  You know if they aren’t your brother or sister, niece or nephew then they have to be your cousin.

When Gabriel appeared to Mary at beginning of the Christmas story he reveals this to her,  Luke 1:36 What’s more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age!

In the King James Version it calls Elizabeth Mary’s cousin but the word in the original Greek was much broader than that and simply meant someone who was related to you, somehow.  And she may have been her cousin, we just don’t know.  What we do know is that Elizabeth was a descendant of Aaron and we are told that Mary was a descendant of David’s so whatever relationship was on their Mother’s side of the family tree. 

However I think if you had of talked to Elizabeth she wouldn’t have defined herself by her family background or her behaviour, instead in her private moments I think she would have defined herself with the next statement in this scripture which says, Luke 1:7 They had no children because Elizabeth was unable to conceive, and they were both very old.   

Now we really don’t know how old she was.  Obviously She was old enough for it to be mentioned, but perhaps because it was in relation to her child bearing years it was just relative.  After all in that day and culture when women were married and began their families when they were in the teens, if you had been married for twenty years and hadn’t had a child it might be assumed that the baby wagon had passed you by. 

When we were in Truro we had two ladies who had children the same time that our daughter Deborah was born, and in 1987 we thought they were old, they were in their mid-thirties, which twenty five years ago seemed old to be having babies.  So we don’t know how old Elizabeth was. 

But we do know that she experienced the heart ache of not having a child while all of her peers were.

Elizabeth Knew the Heartache of Being Childless  Now understand, not everyone wants kids.  Sometimes we meet couples who are childless and we jump to the conclusion that they are unable to have children.   But that isn’t always the case, and as a boss of mine used to tell me: The only thing you get from jumping to conclusions are sore feet.  Some couples choose to not have children for a variety of different reasons, and that is fine, that is there decision, it doesn’t make them less as people and when a woman chooses not to have children, that doesn’t make her less of a woman.  And I understand that, some people choose not to own a cat, that I don’t understand.   But I digress. 

But that was not the case with Zechariah and Elizabeth.  We are told that they were unable to have children because Elizabeth was unable to conceive, as we progress in the story we discover that this had been a heartache for them.  And it was a matter of prayer, they had not only done their part in trying to make a baby they had asked God to do his part, to no avail. 

For people who are trying to start a family and it’s not working there is an incredible amount of stress and frustration and eventually heartache.  Often time’s children have been part of the dream and the plan since the first doll was held.  For many couples and even more women it has always been assumed that children would be part of the equation, and then they aren’t. 

Add to that the cultural demand, even today, on having children, most couples have been there the endless questions about when it’s going to happen, throw perspective grandparents into the mix and the pressure is immense.  And to Zechariah and Elizabeth there was the responsibility to have a son who would carry on the priestly lineage of their families.

But it wasn’t working, and Elizabeth was taking the blame.  Remember the scripture said that she was unable to conceive.  But seriously, they wouldn’t have known that, what they knew was that “They were unable to conceive”  but it ended up in her lap and the they became She. 

I would suspect in that time and culture if a man married three different women and none of them had children everybody would say that he was unlucky to have married three barren women, but really?

If there had of been a Mother’s Day 2000 years ago it would have been Elizabeth’s least favorite day, it would have been a reminder of what she wasn’t.  And I’m sure that there are those who worship at Cornerstone who have either skipped the service today or wish they had of skipped the service today for the same reason as Elizabeth, it is a reminder of what they aren’t but wished they were.

And there is nothing I can say today that will ease your hurt or make you feel any better about today.    But let me pray for you. 

It seemed that just when Zechariah and Elizabeth had grown used to the fact that they would grow old together without children God interrupts their plans. 

Luke 1:11-13 While Zechariah was in the sanctuary, an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the incense altar. Zechariah was shaken and overwhelmed with fear when he saw him. But the angel said, “Don’t be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayer. Your wife, Elizabeth, will give you a son, and you are to name him John.

By this time in history there were more priests than there were jobs for priests, so they took turns working in the temple, good work if you can find it.  And Zechariah’s turn came up and he was chosen to enter into the temple and offer the sacrifices and while he was in there the strangest thing happened. 

He’s doing the things he supposed to be doing, preparing the sacrifice, getting it ready to be offered, preparing his prayers and the scriptures he will read as part of the ceremony and God interrupts him, with an Angel.  I don’t know what angels look like but they always start off their introductions with the words “Don’t be afraid”. 

And Zechariah was a little spooked; actually he was a lot spooked.  After all he was supposed to be alone in the altar area, there were no windows just lit by flickering torches, maybe he’s whistling as he worked.  And all of a sudden he’s no longer alone.  I don’t think he was spooked because there was an angel there, I think he was spooked because there was anyone there.

And if we read through the conversation the Angel, who identifies himself as Gabriel tells Zechariah that his and Elizabeth’s prayers will be answered and that they will be parents and that their son will do great things for God. 

And after the angel drops this bombshell, I mean good news on Zechariah he gets this response; “What?”  Actually that was a rough translation his actually words were Luke 1:18 Zechariah said to the angel, “How can I be sure this will happen? I’m an old man now, and my wife is also well along in years.”

My wife is well along in years, that charitable, love how it is put in the King James Version  Luke 1:18 And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.   Guys here’s a Mother’s Day hint, I don’t think that “well stricken in years” is the most appropriate way to describe your wife’s age.

You got to love this, for years Zechariah and Elizabeth had prayed for a son, They had been praying so long it had become route and I don’t think they really expected it would be answered and had never stopped to consider what would happen if it was answered, there would be diapers to buy, a house to be baby proofed and they’d have to get a baby seat for the camel.

Presumably they knew what caused babies and presumably they had been trying that particular technique without success so the assumption would have to be that there would have to be something miraculous about this.

And to be fair, it may not have been disbelief as much as curiosity that caused his reaction, he knew the other way wasn’t working so what was going to change?

If you don’t know the rest of the story it would appear that Gabriel was a little sensitive about not being believed because he responds by saying in  Luke 1:19-20 Then the angel said, “I am Gabriel! I stand in the very presence of God. It was he who sent me to bring you this good news! But now, since you didn’t believe what I said, you will be silent and unable to speak until the child is born. For my words will certainly be fulfilled at the proper time.”

Boy, do you know where I’d be if folks still lost their voices when they didn’t believe the promises of God?  Yeah, preaching to a very quiet church.

And the story continues. 

Luke 1:14-17 You will have great joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the eyes of the Lord. He must never touch wine or other alcoholic drinks. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even before his birth.

Without commentary don’t you find it interesting how those thoughts are joined? 1) Great in the eyes of the Lord 2) filled with the Holy Spirit 3) must never touch wine or other alcoholic drinks, just saying.

Luke 1:57 When it was time for Elizabeth’s baby to be born, she gave birth to a son.

Elizabeth Knew the Joy of Being a Mother  At her age I’m sure that she felt the exhaustion of being a mother and at times the frustration of being a mother but that’s not where we are going today.   And if Elizabeth was like most parents she probably dreamed dreams of what her child would do and what he would be when he grew up. 

Probably because of his divine announcement John’s mother probably pictured him of doing great things for God, maybe someday being the high priest. 

If you were to ask Elizabeth to predict the future of her son it would probably of had to do with the priesthood.  It was John’s lineage, his father was a priest and his mother was the daughter of a priest.  And I’m pretty sure that in Zechariah’s mind that if his son was going to have an impact for God it would be through the religious establishment that the family was familiar with.  After all why wouldn’t it be?  My father was a sea captain as was his father and his father, and there was a natural assumption that I would be as well.  The entire Denn getting seasick on wet grass didn’t seem to factor in at all. 

The bible doesn’t tell us anything about John’s childhood, but if he was like most children he was loved and doted on.  I’m sure that Elizabeth showed him off at every chance, and probably wasn’t the least bit sensitive when she was around women who were childless. 

But when John had grown up we read that he went into the wilderness and when the time was right he appears preaching repentance, baptising people and telling them that the messiah was soon going to appear.  Both Matthew and Mark give us the same description of John.  Mark tells us in Mark 1:6 His clothes were woven from coarse camel hair, and he wore a leather belt around his waist. For food he ate locusts and wild honey.

And I’m sure that regardless of the fact that Elizabeth probably didn’t understand what John was doing, nobody in their family had ever done anything like that before, that she was one hundred percent behind him.  She probably bragged to her neighbors about John and all the people that he baptized. 

We know nothing about John’s childhood and how his parents raised him and loved him, what we do know is that Elizabeth and Zechariah were chosen by God to raise John, and God doesn’t do anything without a reason.  So we need to assume that it was because of the way that his parents raised him that John was who he was.  Remember that earlier in the story that John’s parents were described as Luke 1:6 Zechariah and Elizabeth were righteous in God’s eyes, careful to obey all of the Lord’s commandments and regulations.  Our children will follow God or not follow God, that will be a decision that they need to make.  However we have a responsibility to lay the foundation that they will need to follow God. 

As we read the accounts of John’s preaching it is evident that the foundation of his faith was well laid.  It was Abraham Lincoln who said “All that I am or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.”  We can only assume that John the Baptist would have said the same thing. 

If there had of been a Mother’s Day 2000 years ago it would have been one of Elizabeth’s favorite days. 

For those of you who are raising children, and it doesn’t matter if they are one or a hundred and one Mother’s never stop raising their children, I would like to pray for you today. 

But ultimately it would have been the thing that would have brought Elizabeth her greatest joy, that her son was serving God, that would cause her greatest pain.

Maybe you know the story of John and maybe you don’t either way let me bring you up to speed. You will recall that John had been preaching repentance throughout the country and part of that was confronting people about their behaviour.  After all unless a person feels a sense of wrong over their behaviour they won’t feel compelled to repent.  One of the people that John called out was King Herod, this wasn’t the same King Herod from the Christmas story, instead it was his son, the King Herod from the Easter story. 

Apparently Herod’s younger brother, Phillip, had married a woman by the name of Herodias and somehow she ended up married to Herod.  The assumption is that she left the younger brother for the older brother.  And John began to publically take issue with the morality of the entire situation.  I’m not sure that it bothered Herod that much, he was probably used to people criticizing him, after all he wasn’t the most lovable tyrant.  But it was getting to Herodias and we are told that Herod had John imprisoned as a favour to Herodias.  Here was John who had spent so much of his adult life in the wide open spaces of the wilderness now confined to a prison cell.  Must have been tough but it would get tougher.  

But listen to this little snippet in Mark 6:19-20 So Herodias bore a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But without Herod’s approval she was powerless, for Herod respected John; and knowing that he was a good and holy man, he protected him.

Now maybe you know how the story ends for John, you hear people talk about how immoral our society is, how far we’ve fallen but this account reveals what life was like 2000 years ago in the society that John and Jesus were called to confront.

Herod throws this big party for everybody who was anybody and part of the festivities was a dance performed by his step- daughter.  When the dance was over Herod applauded and told her “that was awesome, I will give you anything you desire, right up to half my Kingdom.”  Not sure how the Romans would have felt about that, but I would suspect that Herod had been in the bubbly. 

So the girl went over to her mother and had a little girl talk and she came back and we pick up the story in Matthew 14:8 At her mother’s urging, the girl said, “I want the head of John the Baptist on a tray!”

Now that seems a little extreme, and I’m sure that everyone knew that it was the booze talking but we read in   Matthew 14:9-10 Then the king regretted what he had said; but because of the vow he had made in front of his guests, he issued the necessary orders.   So John was beheaded in the prison.

Elizabeth Knew the Pain of Losing a Child  and I understand that this is speculation, that because John was born in Elizabeth’s old age that she had probably already passed away when John was killed.  But we don’t know that.  We don’t know how old “Old” was in the case of Elizabeth.  So for the sake of the sermon let’s assume that she was still alive.  I can think of no greatest tragedy for a parent than to lose a child, regardless of the age of that child.  Parent’s aren’t supposed to bury their children, children are to bury their parents.  But from the beginning of time this type of tragedy has happened.  Perhaps you will remember that one of the first stories in the Bible tells of how one of Adam and Eve’s sons killed his brother. 

There is a pain that will never go away and a hole that can never be filled.  I don’t know every story at Cornerstone but I do know that are mothers at Cornerstone who have lost children who were in their twenties and thirties and forties. And there may very well be those here who lost children who never grew to adulthood.   And I know that there are mothers in our church family who lost children before they were born, and that loss is just as real and just as heartbreaking.

The second funeral that I ever performed was for a little girl who never breathed air and never looked into the eyes of the two people who loved her more than they could ever say. 

If we believe what we say we believe about when life begins then they are children and their mothers are mothers and when we invite the mother’s to come forward at the end of the service to receive their treats they have the same right to be here as any other mother. 

And there are those here today who have lost a child who is still alive, because of strains in relationships and circumstances that can never be explained there are sometimes chasms between parents and children that can never be bridged and the heartache is always there for lost children and grandchildren.  

If there had of been a Mother’s Day 2000 years ago it would have been a painful day for Elizabeth, a reminder of all that she lost. 

  

And I wish that I could speak words of healing into your lives and tell you that someday you wouldn’t grieve for the child that you have lost.  But I can’t, but please let me pray for you.

Today we celebrate mothers not because mothers are better people or better women than those who have never been mothers but because each of us owes something to our mothers, even if it is only life.