"Jesus’ Greatest Challenge"

Sermon Delivered By Reverend Richard E. Stetler – August 5, 2012

Centenary United Methodist Church

Ephesians 4:1-7; John 6:24-35

 

    We have a fascinating scripture lesson this morning because Jesus is being described as finally turning the tables on the curiosity-seekers and on those who were anticipating another free potluck supper.  There was not going to be another feeding of a 5,000-plus crowd like the one we discussed last Sunday.  Jesus found himself some distance from his personal mission statement and he made up his mind to get back to his purpose for being in ministry.  

    What was that purpose? What was his personal mission statement?  Toward the end of his ministry, Jesus described his purpose.  “I was born and came into the world for this one purpose,” Jesus said, “to speak about the truth.  Whoever belongs to the truth listens to me.”  (John 18:37c)   

    This statement of purpose is very significant because Christians through the ages have assigned to Jesus a host of other purposes around which many of our beliefs and theology have developed.   His purpose, however, was to preach about a reality that was seldom mentioned in Hebrew theology.  The oral traditions of the Jews centered on God’s mighty acts on their behalf throughout their history.  Jesus’ purpose represented a major departure from much that the Jews had been provided by their ancestors.

    Jesus seldom preached on themes from his Hebrew heritage.  When he did mention them, he corrected their message.  For example, “You have heard it said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,’ but now I tell you, do not take revenge on someone who has committed a wrong against you.”  (Matthew 5:38f)   His message was not centered on what God had done or continued to do for them.  His message was focused on what his listeners could do for others once they decided to live in the Kingdom of God. 

    In earlier times, the closest any author came to Jesus’ idea of the Kingdom life was the prophet Jeremiah.  Jeremiah once wrote of God’s blueprint for humanity’s destiny.  God said,

    The new covenant that I will make with the people of Israel will be this:  I will put my law within them and write it on their hearts.  I will be their God, and they will be my people.  No one will have to teach a neighbor to know me because everyone will know me, from the least to the greatest.  (Jeremiah 31:33f)

    Try to imagine what it must have been like for Jesus to teach this very different message to his uneducated, illiterate followers.  Rather than helping the Jews continue to look to their past and celebrating and praising God for all that God had done, Jesus was now inviting his listeners to look within themselves to discover the source of their choices and attitudes.   

    So that we might better understand why Jesus’ greatest challenge was getting his listeners to believe his message, suppose Centenary had the ability to send one of our church members back in time to a period two thousand years ago?  The assignment is to teach people to boil their cistern water before they drank it.  His message is that living in their water supply are tiny organisms that no one can see.  He has to teach them that if these microbes continue to be taken into their bodies each time they drink, the people will remain sick for most of their lives.  Babies could die shortly after child birth.

    Further, he has to teach people techniques on cleaning their injuries because if their wounds became infected, they could die.  He has to teach them that there are invisible creatures called germs that can cause infections. He has to instruct them to pour wine on open wounds because these invisible creatures cannot live in the presence of alcohol.

    Suppose we sent another church member back to the same time period for the purpose of explaining the promise of electricity to people who use oil in clay lamps.  How many of us today can explain how electricity works?  We throw a switch and almost magically, we can run our appliances by what flows through wires. When the power fails, we call Belco, but what is electricity?

    Sharing today’s knowledge with people two thousands years ago would have evoked laughter. People would assume that our two church members had lost their minds.  We smile at these illustrations, but this is the truth Jesus felt compelled to share.  Every response, every appetite we develop and every definition we give to aspects of the material world come from a mysterious, invisible place within us.

    We have come a long way in our understanding in two thousand years. We now know how our attitudes and values affect the spirit by which we live. We now know how that spirit affects the health of our bodies and our relationships. We also know that the origin of the human spirit is invisible just like microbes, germs and electricity. 

    In our lesson today, Jesus used himself as an example of what such a life looks like.  Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. Those who come to me will never be hungry, those who believe the truth that I teach will never be thirsty.”  (John 6:35)  

    Living what Jesus taught was not simply another set of rules that people had to discipline themselves to follow.  All his teachings effortlessly flow from us when our loving energy travels in the same direction as God’s – flowing away from its source.   The difference between desire and discipline is like the difference between night and day.  Love never has to worry about getting something right.  Love does not require us to memorize responses.  Being compassionate toward others requires no rules.  Discipline is about learning rules and obeying them whether we want to or not.    

    Jesus taught that once we use the power and strength of our inner world, we will never hunger and thirst for the things of the world.  (Matthew 6:19f)  Our world, however, is filled with advertisers that teach a different gospel.  They are specialists at marketing products in very seductive ways.

    For example, they teach that we can be more on top of our game when we own certain symbols that communicate that we have achieved success.  They teach us that we need to make a fashion statement when we leave our homes.  They teach our young people that they will have more confidence when they own the latest hand-held computer loaded with countless applications while also holding in its memory thousands of their favorite tunes.  They are literally training people to rely on the props the material world offers to sustain their confidence, peace and happiness. 

    Once the Apostle Paul understood Jesus’ message he wrote, “Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind.”  (Romans 12:2)  We can live in both worlds successfully; one is timeless and the other is always changing.  Experiencing both worlds in this manner does not happen by accident but by choice.  We can thoroughly enjoy everything the material world has to offer without becoming a slave to it when we remain confidently anchored in the world no one can see.  (John 17:15f)

    This is what Jesus was trying to teach one of the renowned spiritual guides in Israel, a man who had also distinguished himself as a member of the Sanhedrin. He said to Nicodemus that living in the Kingdom of God produces such a dramatic shift from living in the material world that it is like being born again.  (John 3:7)   All our wants and needs and all our life’s priorities change.  Suddenly our lives become more about giving than getting, more about loving than being loved – themes that are both mentioned in the well-known prayer of St. Francis of Assisi.

    What are the implications for human beings once they discover and tap into this inner world?  I cannot say enough about this!  The implications are enormous! 

    For example, once there was a young man that was born in Port Huron, Michigan.  After being tested, his I.Q. was 81.  (The average IQ for most people is between 100 – 114.)  He had a withdrawn personality and after three months of school, the teaching staff determined that he was incapable of learning. They sent him home.  He had scarlet fever, respiratory infections and was going deaf.  He was stubborn, aloof and displayed few emotions. While playing with fire one day, he burned his father’s barn to the ground.  His only redeeming quality was that he enjoyed working with his hands. He hoped one day to become a railroad mechanic.  What becomes of people like this?    

    Before we get to that, let us consider the plight of a young girl who grew up with an alcoholic father.  She was sickly, bedridden and frequently hospitalized.  She was diagnosed as having erratic and unpredictable behavior.  Often people found her in the corner of her bedroom biting her nails.  Frequently she was overwhelmed by anxiety attacks.  She was physically unattractive and forced to wear a back brace because of a spinal defect.  She had no goals in life. Her attention span was short.  Few people could teach her anything because she constantly drew attention to herself by engaging in very controlling behaviors.

    Suppose these two people only understood who they were by the labels that other people assigned to them? Worse yet, suppose both of them had considered the substance of their lives, and decided to commit suicide?   Had any of those themes prevailed, the names and accomplishments of Thomas Edison and Eleanor Roosevelt would have remained unknown to us.

    Both of them and numerous others have discovered that there is more to people than can be measured, analyzed or evaluated.  There is a spirit within each of us that remains invisible and it often remains dormant for those who take all their cues for who they are from the material world.  What cannot be measured in us is the depth and breadth of the potential of our imaginations, our intuition and our visionary qualities.

    When Jesus said, “I am the bread of life,” he was inviting his listeners to follow him by approaching life’s circumstances in the material world from being anchored in a world no one can see. Convincing people of this truth was Jesus’ greatest challenge. Those of us who find and live in the world Jesus pointed to with his life and teachings will have the potential to influence the world in ways we could never imagine.

    Centenary United Methodist Church may be small in numbers, but in God’s province, we are powerful enough to change the attitude and direction of the lives of other people.  They in turn will change others and the ripple effect continues to distant souls we will never meet.  God is always at work behind the scenes.  This process is how we got here.

    Our joy is that we are playing a role in a major drama, all the while believing we were just an average person with very few highly polished skills.  Even the future was hidden to Jesus.  The secret to managing his greatest challenge was this:  Jesus did the best he could with what he understood and left the details up to God.