| April 7, 2002 | Bruce Miller | |
| Philippians 2:5-11 | Believing in Jesus Christ |
What are your beliefs in
a) Scripture
b) God
c) Jesus Christ
d) Holy Spirit?
How would you answer this question? I have thought about that question recently from two view points 1) while responding to an application and 2) while viewing the recent documentary about the World Trade Center and what would be my thoughts if I was above the 86th floor and could not get out. How would you answer this question?
So I said let's start with one at a time - What is my belief in Jesus Christ? (As for the other three, well you now know what three of my future sermons may cover!) For the past month I have been reviewing my life, reading a lot of different material searching for the answer. I would like to share with you the results of this research.
Some things I used to believe in, I don't have those same beliefs today. Some things I believe today, were or seemed unimportant then. That may sound like someone who cannot make up his mind, but to me it says I am growing. We all need to grow. We need to mature in our faith. My faith is alive. It is not yet complete. But it is not empty either. I have thoughts and I know what I believe, I want to share some of these thoughts with you. And in sharing these thoughts, I hope you will feel challenged to take a fresh look at what you believe too.
Faith is very personal. Being a Congregationalist you have to decide for yourself what you believe. One of the most over used words in America is the word CHRISTIAN. It is supposed to be a noun, but we use it as an adjective. People attach it to everything. There are Christian schools, Christian bookstores, Christian lawyers, Christian counselors, Christian radio and television stations. We sometimes even say we live in a Christian nation. But if everything is Christian, if everyone is a Christian then being a Christian doesn't mean very much. It doesn't say anything special about us. There is nothing distinctive about it. It is just the way we are.
That's why I want to take some time this morning to explore what it means to believe in Jesus Christ. What does it mean to bear the name of Christ? I do not claim to have all the theological answers. I still struggle with doubts. There are blind spots in my faith. But there are also solid places on which I stand. And one of the solid places for my faith is Jesus Christ. I believe in Jesus Christ, and that belief has made a difference in my life. Before we believe in Jesus we must first believe in a God who made heaven and earth(this is a sermon for another day). We have a Creator. God made us and called the whole world into being. But it is not enough just to believe in a creator God. Virtually every world religion believes in that kind of God or Prophet. The Greeks called him Zeus, the Romans -- Jupiter.
Since the beginning of time, people have believed in some kind of God who made the heavens and earth. You can believe in a creator God and be a Hindu or a Muslim. But we are not them. We are Christian. And that means we not only believe in God, we also believe in Jesus Christ. We believe in the Apostles' Creed when it says, "I believe in God the Father almighty, maker of Heaven and Earth, AND in Jesus Christ, his only son, our Lord." Some people say that faith in Jesus Christ is what gives us the right to call ourselves a Christian. But I ask, is it just faith that gives us the right, or faith and actions? You decide.
Now I will be the first to admit there is much that I do not know about Jesus. There are many things he said that I don't fully understand. He performed miracles that I cannot explain. He said things that challenge my mind. I also believe that you don't have to know everything about him before you accept him as your Lord and Savior.
Let me illustrate with a blinking statistic. An optician once calculated that the average blink of the human eye requires about a fifth of a second, and that twenty-five blinks a minute is about normal. If that's true, he figured that if you average fifty miles an hour on a five hour trip, you will drive about twenty miles with your eyes closed. Now the optician is absolutely correct, but his information is totally useless. It may be interesting, but it makes no difference in how you drive your car.
A lot of things you read about Jesus are just like those blinking statistics. Biblical scholars are still trying to decide if Jesus was born in 6 BC, 6 AD, or the year one. They wonder if he was ever married, or if he had long hair and a beard. Some researchers are still trying to figure out how Jesus was raised from the dead, or was born of a virgin, or walked on water. But they are not at the heart of what we should believe about Jesus. It should make little difference in your faith whether Jesus was born on December 25th or in the early spring. Faith does not depend on knowing everything there is to know about him. Actually there are only two things you need to know, and these two things are summed up in the dual name Jesus Christ.
These two names have become so closely associated that many people think Christ is Jesus' last name. It is actually a title. It is a theological affirmation. It may sound incredibly childish to say it, but one can sum up Christology in a single sentence. "I believe there once was a man named JESUS who is the CHRIST." To say that you believe he was named Jesus is to say that you believe he was human. He lived and breathed just as you and I live and breathe. He ate; he drank; he got tired; he got angry. He was a real person who lived in a real world. It is no small matter to say that Christianity is grounded in the historical Jesus. Some say that most world religions are born in myth. They start with stories of Gods fighting with one another, co-habitating and destroying one another.
Yet Christianity begins with what is happening here in this world. It is grounded in reality. That has never been easy for some believers to accept. As early as the second century, some Christians argued that Jesus was not a real person. They debated whether or not he left footprints in the sand when he walked. They could not believe that a pure and holy God could ever become human. And their belief became one of the first great heresies of the Christian church.
There is something very attractive about heresy. If we deny the humanity of Jesus, we relieve ourselves of the responsibility of having to be like him. "Of course Jesus loved his enemies," we can say. "But Jesus was God, and I am only human." Or we might say, "Of course Jesus prayed all the time, or did a lot of good things, or willingly died on a cross. But don't expect me to do any of that. I'm only human." But that's just the point. Jesus was human too. He faced the same temptations we face. He suffered the same pains we suffer. He died the same death we will one day die. Yet in his humanity, he never failed to do God's will. He showed us by his personal example how to live. To believe in Jesus is to follow him. We have to be like him. I don't mean we have to wear long robes, sandals, and a beard. (Even though some of us lived in a time period when robes, sandals, and a beard were very much a part of our life.) But I do mean we have to travel the way of the cross, live a life of service, and make the will of God the first priority in your life.
Most of us will never fully live a Christ-like life, and I will be the first to admit it, but as a Christian we can never be satisfied with anything less. But it is not enough to believe in a good man named Jesus. It is not enough to say he lived a great life. It is not enough to follow his example. To believe in Jesus is also to believe that he is the Christ, the Son of the living God. That means at least three things. First, Jesus is the Christ because he tells you what God is like. If we want to know what God is like, we only have to look at Jesus.
I believe in God, but sometimes it is difficult for me to understand God. I am like the mother who one day received the following letter from her son vacationing in Switzerland. He wrote, "Dear Mom. Yesterday the instructor took eight of us to the slopes to teach us to ski. I was not very good at it; so I broke a leg. Thank goodness it wasn't mine! Love Billy." That story doesn't have much point here except this. From Billy's letter, that mother only had a limited insight into what happened on the ski slopes of Switzerland. Likewise, we have only a limited insight into the nature of God. Yet the best understanding we have comes from Jesus. And it comes in such simple terms a child can understand. Jesus tells us God is our Father. God is like a shepherd who looks after sheep. God cares for the lilies of the field and the birds of the air, and God cares for us. As one bumper sticker put it, "God loves you whether you like it or not."
I have not always believed in a God like that. I have doubted God's love for me, "Just as I am." I have found it easier to believe in a God who created this incredible, massive world than to believe that same God personally cares about me. But the longer I live, and the more I trust God's love, the more I discover Jesus is right. We are all loved by a power that is far greater than any one of us. We are God's children. It is Jesus the Christ who shows us what God is like. And your acts of kindness, support, and love for one another show us what God is like.
But there is a second sense in which he is the Christ. He is also the source of our salvation. I cannot fully explain how he saves any more than I can explain love between a father and his daughters. But I can feel it, and I know it is there. We have all seen graffiti saying, JESUS SAVES, and also seen the sign saying Jesus Saves "At Suffolk County Savings Bank ." The first time I saw this I laughed, as I have aged and the more I think about it, the more I see a deeper truth. The kind of saving Jesus does for you and me is not unlike saving at a bank. When you put money in a bank, you interrupt it's steady flow through your fingers. You say, here is some money I am going to hold on to. In putting it in the bank you don't store it away. You invest it in new homes, industry, transportation, and human needs. You make that investment with the intention of getting a return on your money. You expect your investment to pay a dividend.
To say that we are saved by Jesus is also to say that he gets his hands on us. He lays claim to us and makes us his own. But he doesn't save us the way some people save money. He doesn't bury our talents in a back yard or under a mattress. Jesus takes our lives and invests them in other people. And he makes this investment with the intention of reaping a dividend for God's kingdom. In the process he also saves us from ourselves, from our fears, anxiety, loneliness, despair, and self-centeredness. In him, we discover life's meaning. It is the meaning that comes when we greedily stop trying to save everything for ourselves and allow Christ to save us.
But finally, Jesus is the Christ for you, because he lifts you beyond the realities of this world and shows you eternal realities. In Christ, you become a citizen of a new world and a new kingdom. We still live in the present, but when we believe in Jesus Christ we are already living in eternity. We are already citizens of the Kingdom of God. That's what the resurrection is all about. Christ died, but he also rose from the dead. He is alive today. I can't prove that scientifically, but I have experienced it personally. I have felt his hand in my hand while sitting in this church and while sitting in a hotel room in Pasco Wa., while standing in a chapel in Vail Co. , while standing on the beach in Rocky Point and have a rainbow reach up into the sky only 20 feet away from me. I have known his presence. And because he is with us, do you dare to believe his promise that we will always be with Him.
He is the Christ, the son of the living God. We need to be careful how we use this word Christian. We shouldn't smear it all over everything. It is not a marketing tool for business or politics. It is a noun not an adjective. To be a Christian is to be one of those peculiar people who take the example of Jesus seriously, to act accordingly, and who have experienced the saving power of Christ in their lives. There are many questions in my mind about Jesus. Some may never be answered. Yet there is also solid ground on which I stand. I believe Jesus still says, "Follow thou me." I believe there is still a Lord who offers us the gift of eternal salvation. I believe his name is Jesus. I believe he is the Christ. On that simple faith, I stake my life.
What do you believe? Reach for the hand of Jesus, let him walk with you in your life. Believe in Jesus Christ. We have the same Father. We are all loved by a power that is greater than any one of us.
LET US PRAY:
Ý
Jesus we pray to you this day to guide us, to be patient with us until we truly follow you, grant us your blessings, as we give thought to the question regarding our belief in you. We will need to turn to you for assistance as we search for answers. We do have questions about you and about ourselves. Guide us as our faith grows and matures. Our faith is alive yet it is not complete. We do not have all of the answers. Faith and actions are personal. I pray that each and everyone here may find you, and together will walk hand and hand with you now and forever more. Amen