"Jesus’ Near Death Experience"


Sermon Delivered By Reverend Richard E. Stetler – February 3, 2013

Centenary United Methodist Church\

Acts 7:54-60; Luke 4:22-30

 

    Last week, we talked about the inability of people to see an accurate reflection of themselves when preachers hold a verbal mirror in front of them.  This morning’s message is part two of that sermon.  How does anyone inspire others to take seriously the spirit by which they live and their relationship with God?      

    Connecting with people on this level has never been an easy task.   Believers assume they are growing spiritually every year.  We are also aware that there are billions of people that may not have spiritual awareness anywhere in their consciousness.  The demands of the world have people marching to another drum beat – the accumulation of wealth, power, competition and public recognition.  Considering the spirit by which they live may not be among their priorities or even recognized as being one of their responsibilities.     

    As we consider this morning’s Scripture, we are going to examine what happened when Jesus began to add fault-finding to his message.  Last week we learned that the congregation was most appreciative of his eloquence. After Jesus finished his reading from Isaiah and discussing the prophet’s words, worshippers in the synagogue were left with warm and fuzzy feelings about him.

    However, this same congregation in a matter of seconds abandoned such feelings and replaced them with out-of-control hostility.  The change occurred when Jesus began to cite observations about the quality of their lives. Their anger became so violent that they rose from their seats, seized Jesus, dragged him out of the synagogue and tried to throw him off a cliff.  Jesus freed himself and narrowly escaped being badly injured or killed.   

    Since this episode took place quite early in his ministry, Jesus may have learned a lesson that set the tone for the rest of his brief career.  What was that lesson?  Jesus learned that it is far better to be a shepherd that leads people toward a deeper spiritual awareness than to try to evoke the same response by sounding like the judge and jury of their attitudes and lifestyles. 

    Apparently, Jesus felt the need to tell the people of his congregation that they were missing the mark with their lives and attitudes. In essence Jesus said, “Isn’t it odd that during the days of Elijah, when the famine was so severe throughout all of Israel, God sent the prophet only to a Samaritan widow?”

    He followed that comment by saying, “It is also interesting that during the time of Elisha, when leprosy was everywhere in Israel, God sent the prophet to heal Naaman, the commander of the Syrian army?”  The implication of Jesus’ words struck a nerve.  They became so resentful that they attacked him.  People do not like being confronted by speculation about their possible short-comings.

    According to a Hebrew historian, Jesus was accurate in his analysis.  Josephus wrote, "The word of God had not been heard in Israel for over 400 years prior to the arrival of John the Baptizer."  Drifting for 400 years had caused the Hebrews to lose touch with their relationship with God.  The quality of their faith was being expressed through their obedience to the ancient laws and rituals of their ancestors. 

    After escaping a near death experience, Jesus began to polish his skills on how to shepherd people.  He began teaching forgiveness as a permanent attitude toward others.  He taught, “First take the log from your own eye before you attempt to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye.” (Luke 6:42b)

    Jesus also began to teach by storytelling.  He included his lessons within stories like the Good Samaritan, a father’s love for his prodigal son and what happens when perfectly healthy seeds are sown on different qualities of soil.  Jesus gave his listeners a goal to reach by teaching them how to live in the Kingdom of God.

    Today, most mental health professionals understand that to be successful in helping people, a counselor cannot solve the problems of clients by telling them what their lack of good judgment, poor attitudes and behavior are communicating to others.  This lack of understanding is why numerous marriages become combative as each accuses the other of being the problem in their relationship.   

    Communication is a skill of spirit.  Everyone needs to polish this skill every day from the time they learn to talk to the end of their life.  We do not do that.  We develop language skills, i.e., learning to use words, but that is not communication.  When husbands and wives express their honest feelings to each other, they frequently produce the same angry responses that Jesus experienced from his congregation.

    Success comes when clients are led to gain insight and thus develop a deeper understanding of their problem areas.  This skill helps them to create far greater results in all their relationships.  Remarkable communicators are welcomed with open arms into every profession and relationship. 

    What Jesus learned from this tragic reaction from his congregation was to teach others how to lead people.  Jesus did not send judges and juries into the world to make disciples; he sent shepherds.  The world can be cruel and impersonal.  So many aspects of living can easily hurt people whose life-skills may be fragile or non-existent.  Our task is to realize that we have come from another world – the Kingdom of God.  It is our task to shepherd others to join us.

    One afternoon while I was visiting a parishioner in the hospital, a nurse entered the room and came to Jenny’s bed.  After she was introduced to me, the nurse gave her undivided attention to Jenny.  I watched, listened and learned a great deal about another form of God’s presence.

    This nurse had a marvelous bedside manner.  She possessed a good deal of knowledge about Jenny’s life story.  She made Jenny laugh several times.  A smile never left the nurse’s face.   During the conversation, she rested her hand on Jenny’s arm. Clearly there was an energy exchange going on between the two. As the minutes passed, Jenny became more energized and animated.  After a brief five or six minutes, this nurse brought closure to their conversation and left to attend to other patients. 

    Jenny said, “What a nurse!  I can hardly wait for the 4:00 p.m. shift change just so I can see her.  She just glows, and when she leaves my room, I’m glowing, too.”  There was no question in my mind that she was making disciples through her compassionate energy pattern.  That nurse’s spirit had shown up and was fully engaged during the visit.

    We cannot lead people without their cooperation.  We cannot persuade people to choose attitudes and life styles that might prove more helpful without also their willingness to let go of what is not working for them. What we can do is live among people with a spirit that leads others to experience an alternative that will enhance their journeys. 

    A woman named, Shirley Chavis, was my secretary in another church.  Every week she engaged in countless tasks without letting anything fall through the cracks. She was an amazing woman. 

    One week she had the church newsletter, the bulletin and countless minutes of meetings to transcribe during a period when computers had not yet become the indispensible tools for office management that they are today. The crown jewel to the chaos came when she learned that the church copier was malfunctioning.  In those days, copiers were gigantic and extremely complicated machines that always required a mechanic when they stopped working.

    During this avalanche of stressful issues, a long time friend of Shirley’s entered the office in tears.  She was having a personal crisis and needed Shirley’s wisdom and her listening skills. Shirley invited her to sit down and the two conversed for a considerable time. That friend was never made aware of yet to be completed tasks that Shirley had set aside.

    When we become engaged in listening and are involved with someone’s life issues, we become an intimate part of their world.  Shirley was a woman who was never too busy for people.  She also had the skill of realizing that the person in front of her, whoever it was, was the most important issue of a shepherd’s life.     

    By becoming shepherds people understand their role very clearly.  Not everyone wants to pay attention to a spiritual teacher.   Not everyone wants to live a better life even though they claim that such a life is their fondest wish.  Not everyone wants to change the direction in which their choices have taken them.   This is why Jesus said, “Understanding how to integrate the physical and spiritual aspects of life is difficult to achieve.  Only a few people ever succeed in doing it.” (Matthew 7:14)

    Jesus learned from his experiences that he could not force anyone to do anything.  However, he was successful in leading others to find a path that generated the results that most people want.  How come?  Most of us are visual learners.  What Jesus learned was once described in a 20th century poem:

I would rather see a sermon than hear one any day.  I would rather one walk with me than merely tell me the way.   The eye is a better student and more willing than the ear; fine counsel can be confusing, but example is always clear.  I can soon learn how to do it, if I only see it done; I can watch your life in action, while serious or having fun.  The greatest of all my friends are the ones who live their creeds; for to see the good in action, is what everybody needs.

    Countless loving people in our world might silently think to themselves, “What do I have to offer?  I’m just a plain, ordinary person.” What happens, however, when plain, ordinary people become shepherds?  That question can only be answered by our Creator who employs the services of such people.

    If all of you represented a gathering of the world’s most renowned historians, would any of you know what world-shaping events occurred in 1809?  Not many of you would because 1809 was just a plain, ordinary year. There were no earth-shaking events during that year.  What became significant to world history were those that were born that year.  

    William Gladstone was born, the brilliant Prime Minister of England.  Alfred Lord Tennyson was born in Sumersby Rectory, one of the world's leading poets. Felix Mendelssohn was born in Hamburg, Germany, one of the world's remarkable composers. Charles Darwin was born, the author of On the Origin of Species.  Oliver Wendell Holmes came into our world, one of the Justices on the Supreme Court of the United States.  Abraham Lincoln was born in a log cabin somewhere in the wilds of KentuckyFinally, 1809 was the year that Centenary’s earliest members came together to give birth to a new congregation.  That was 204 years ago.

    God takes what is ordinary and fashions the world with it.  This is why we do not have to worry about who is saved and who is lost.  That is God’s call, not ours.   This is also why we can easily let go of what we feel is so important.  Our faith has revealed to us that a day will come when we have to let go of everything as we embrace a world where nothing exists but spirit.

    History is fascinating. Think about this question: “How did a humble carpenter influence the world we know today simply by showing up every day for three years and sowing his seeds of truth to people who could not read or write?”  Because all of us know that answer, we can only imagine what God can do with us