Last week with the children I talked about how we are in the season of Lent, the six weeks leading up to Easter. Traditionally it's a time of deepening our faith, of drawing closer to God.I told them that it's a time for walking with Jesus. Hopefully we always do that, but Lent is a time for being more intentional about it.
We deepen our faith as individuals, through daily prayer or devotion, through giving something up, or taking something on. It's also something we do as a community of faith. That's why this year the theme of the sermons through Lent is getting to know Jesus, who is he? Each week we'll explore a different understanding, a different definition, of Jesus.
The definitions come from the United Church curriculum for affirmation of faith for adults. They're based on traditional and modern understanding of Jesus, different theologies and experiences. None are better than the others, none are right and others wrong. All are invitations to look at Jesus in new ways, to broaden and perhaps challenge our understanding of this figure who is at the center of our faith.
Last week we explored probably most traditional understanding of Jesus, Jesus as our Saviour. We talked about what it means to call him the son of God, to describe him as both human and divine, how he saves us from sin. We also talked about how there is more than one way of understanding how Jesus saves us. We'll be going into that more today.
Today's definition is - Jesus was a gentle, kind man, who loved all people, no matter who they were. He taught the world about the power of love and how to get along with one another and with God. When people tried to keep children from bothering him, he insisted they be allowed to come to him.
When I lead faith exploration groups, this is usually the most popular defintion. After all, who can argue with Jesus as love? That universal appeal is this defintion's strength and its weakness. You might be thinking, how can love be weak? Well, let's look at the definition more closely.
Jesus was a kind, gentle man. Hmm, was he always kind and gentle? I'm not so sure the sellers in the temple would agree with that, especially when he turned over their tables and knocked their money and produce all over. Probably the Pharisees wouldn't agree either, Jesus had some pretty harsh words for them. Come to think of it, Jesus had harsh words for Herod, for the priests, for Jewish leaders, even for own followers. That doesn't mean he wasn't kind and gentle, just that he wasn't always that way. He could be harsh, he could challenge people right to their core.
Then there's use of the word “man.” Unlike previous definitions which referred to Jesus as human and divine, this definition seems to be saying Jesus is human only. This isn't uncommon in the United Church. After all, back in 1997, our moderator/leader at the time, Bill Phipps, made headlines for saying that he wasn't sure Jesus was divine.
For some people, the idea of Jesus being God as well as human isn't something they can wrap their mind around, and that's okay. This is not a church that will tell you exactly what to believeFor some, Jesus is a teacher, a prophet and an example, but he's not God. What is important in the United Church is that people take Jesus seriously, that we look deeply at his life & teachings and try to live by them.
Which brings us to another definition of salvation, of how Jesus saves us according to this understanding of who he was. Last week we talked about that traditional understanding of Jesus saving us through sacrifice, giving his life to save us from our sin. This week's definition is an example of another theory of atonement as it's called, atonement meaning reconciling us to God, putting us into right relationship with God. Or as one person at Bible study said, atonement is “at-one-ment” with God.
This second definition of atonement is called salvation through moral example, theory that was created by Peter Abelard back in 11thcentury, not long after Anselm came up with the theory of salvation through sacrifice. It was in some ways a response to Anselm's theory. Abelard said, God didn't sacrifice Jesus, that would be cruel! Jesus died on the cross as the ultimate example of love, a lasting demonstration of the depth of divine love for humankind. I
t's such an inspiring example of love that it motivates us to imitate it, hence the name, salvation through moral example. We are called to live with the same kind of love as Jesus showed. If you are thinking, what does that have to do with salvation, well, theologian Paul Tillich's work can help see that more clearly.
Tillich saw all three theories of salvation as helping us face anxiety of different types. He said the theory of salvation through sacrifice, Jesus saving us from sin, was about helping us face the anxiety of guilt and condemnation, or judgment. Jesus as a moral example saves us from the anxiety of meaninglessness and despair. Just think about that for a minute. Doesn't that sum up so much of the anxiety in our world today? Meaninglessness and despair.
Jesus' example helps us to see beyond ourselves, helps us find meaning in world and in our lives. The important thing with this understanding, with the definition we are using today, is to not soft sell it. Just as Jesus wasn't always kind and gentle, so talking about his call to love isn't always warm and fuzzy. We see that in the readings for today. When Jesus told the disciples to let the children come to him, it would have been seen as offensive.
Children had no place, no importance in that society. To essentially contradict his disciples and put children first would have been quite radical. He could have easily offended the disciples. But Jesus didn't care.
When he gives the new commandment in the reading from John, it's clear by then to the disciples that when Jesus says to love one another as he has loved them, he isn't just talking about the people in that room, he is talking about all people. And when he says to love as he has loved, he means to love without regard for what others might say, without worry of offending the status quo.
That's why celebrating PIE day fits in so well with this definition of Jesus, it's all about love without borders, love weithout worry for what society might say, or as the definition says, love for everyone no matter what. That kind of love isn't just warm and fuzzy, it's love that is challenging to others and is therefore challenged in turn.
Up in Whitehorse in 2003 when our church said it was in favor of same sex marriage, I was driven out of ministerial, the monthly gathering of all the ministers in the city. The group decided that every member had to sign a document saying that they only believed in the traditional definition of marriage. Obviously I couldn't sign it, so I walked out of the meeting.
The local papers got ahold of the story, so I had to read articles where my colleagues accused my church of being evil and me of being misguided and unchristian. They said to me, doesn't your church have any absolutes? I replied, yes, we have the absolute of love everyone as Jesus loved us. I don't believe Jesus would have rejected gays and lesbians, therefore our church doesn't reject them either.
Theologian Marcus Borg speaks of Jesus being a teacher of a way or path, specifically a path of transformation. He says Jesus invites us to see the world differently, to live differently. That way or path is way of love, love for all people, love that takes risks to be put into action, love that is willing to challenge the norms of society.
Sometimes love can seem weak or powerless, especially in the face of hatred like we saw in New Zealand this week, where 50 Muslims were shot down at their mosques during worship.But in reality, love is only thing that can change that kind of hatred. Laws can hopefully stop it from causing harm, but only love can change it, transform it.
After people died in Charlottesville in US 1 ½ yrs ago, I read an interview with an ex-white supremacist. He had been involved in that life for 7 years, but he had come to see the world differently, but had left that life behind.
What changed him? It wasn't laws or demonstrations or articles by left wing, open minded writers. What changed him was working with Jewish boss, a lesbian supervisor, black and hispanic co-workers. All these people clearly had views on life which were the opposite of his, but they were kind to him when he was going through a hard time, they treated him with love, they treated him like he mattered.
He said his white supremacist views couldn't stand up to that kind of love. Had they argued with him or tried to convince him to change views, that would have just pushed him away. But loving him? Being kind to him? He had no defense against that.
Jesus as love can be airy fairy, warm and fuzzy, with no depth or can be life and world transforming, if we are brave enough to put it into action. It's up to us.
Just how far are we, are you, willing to follow Jesus' moral example, his love in action?