"When Religions Lose Their
Way” Sermon Delivered By Rev. Dick Stetler – August
17, 2014 Centenary United
Psalm 133; Matthew 15:10-20
This morning, I would like us to transport ourselves back to the
time when Jesus was teaching.
Let us pretend that we are among his crowd of listeners.
Our Hebrew faith and traditions come from our Patriarchs --
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
We were trained to be obedient to the Laws of Moses.
As we listen to Jesus teach, we become intrigued.
His message is different.
We hear him routinely setting aside many of our laws as though
they no longer mattered.
While this new teacher is intriguing, we know very little about Jesus
other than that he was a carpenter from A number of people would listen and shrug, communicating, “So
what?” Others might become
quite disturbed that their orthodoxy and dogma were being undermined by
someone who was not recognized as having the authority to do so by the
Pharisees, Priests or Teachers of the Law.
Regardless of what Jesus was teaching, most of his listeners
would stay and become quite engaged for one reason.
The moment people began to witness the blind receiving their
sight and the lame beginning to walk again, each would instantly
recognize that Jesus had an ability that none of them had ever seen.
They would assume that he had a gift from God.
The larger that Jesus’ audiences grew, the more people learned
about him. He could read
and write. He was well-schooled
in what the ancient Prophets had written.
He knew many of the shortcomings of his ancestral faith. He would
say, “You have been taught to hate your enemies and now I tell you to
love your enemies.” He was never intimidated when he was challenged by
Pharisees and Teachers of the Law.
Just prior to what was read for us in our lesson today, such a
group of religious leaders came to Jesus and said,
“Why is it that your disciples
disobey the teaching handed down by our ancestors?
They don’t wash their hands in the proper way before they eat.”
This prompted Jesus to respond by quoting the words of God that
were written by the Prophet Isaiah: These people claim
to worship me, but their words mean nothing and their hearts are
somewhere else. Their
religion is nothing more than human rules and traditions which they have
simply memorized. What is
worse is that they claim that these laws have come from me.
(Matthew 15:8 from Isaiah 29:13) Jesus called those that were listening to this exchange to come
closer. He said, “It is not
what goes into your mouth that makes you unclean but rather what comes
out of you.” After Jesus
finished and the gathering had disbursed, his disciples came to him and
said, “Do you realize how your words hurt the feelings of the
Pharisees?” Jesus
responded, “Don’t worry about them. They are blind leaders trying to
offer guidance to the blind.
When one blind person leads another blind person, they both fall
into the ditch.” (Matthew
15:14) Peter was frustrated by Jesus’ words so he asked him to explain
what he meant. Jesus
provided a new meaning to the law.
He said, “What makes a person attractive to others is the spirit
that they use to communicate.
Their attitudes and behavior come from their compassionate
heart.” Peter immediately
understood. This
carpenter was teaching a new
message that would later become the heart and soul of Christianity.
Rather than to remain obedient to ancient Laws that belonged to
another day and another people, Jesus taught his followers to make love
visible in everything they did.
What Jesus taught stands in stark contrast to what many religions
and Christian denominations teach today.
We cannot imagine the followers of the Prophet Muhammad raping or
selling women, killing families and forcing people to either abandon
their current religion or face death.
Members of the group Isil
have more in common with Attila
the Hun than anything remotely associated with Islam or the Prophet
Muhammad. If Muhammad returned and confronted them about their atrocities,
most certainly they would try to kill him as an imposter.
They would not have the ability to recognize the very Prophet
they claim to revere and serve. Surfacing
in this newer group of people are attitudes that display a ruthless
disregard for others that they have labeled as
Infidels. If there is one thing
that we have learned in our own faith journey, it is that religions lose
their way from time to time. Through
the centuries humanity has slowly fashioned God in its own image,
replete with human emotions, flawed logic and an inability to stay with
the decision once it was made. (Exodus
32:14) For example, the Jews were taught eons ago that God made a
promise to give to Abraham’s descendants a land
flowing with milk and honey.
It did not matter that other people had settled in that land and
were living in peace and traded with one another.
The Hebrews invaded the The way Christianity has been practiced through the centuries has
taught us that there is very little difference between killings in the
name of God in those days from what is taking place in For example, Charlemagne
Christianized thousands of people by threatening to behead anyone
who would not submit to Christ. His men beheaded 4,000 Saxons that
refused to accept Christ as their savior.
Pope Leo III was so pleased with him that he crowned him Emperor
of the There was the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre where fanatical
Roman Catholics slaughtered twenty thousand
Presbyterian French Huguenots
in the streets of We can hardly imagine the time when John Stephenson, the first
Methodist missionary to Every religion has its
seasons of infancy, adolescence and maturity.
Those seasons could
also be reference points for our own spiritual growth.
Jesus was way ahead of
his time when he introduced to humanity that when the spirit of people
exudes loving values and ethics,
they are living from the same creative spirit that God displays. One of my favorite
stories is about a young man who was on a college football team but he
never played. He worked very hard during the practices but he had
very little athletic ability. He had been the brunt of countless
practical jokes from his teammates, but he had developed the ability to
laugh at himself. One day Jimmy was sick and missed practice. The coach had
been observing how his players were treating Jimmy so he decided to use
the young man’s rare absence as an opportunity to explain to the other
players why this athletic misfit
had made the final cut and became a part of the team.
This is what the coach said:
I want you boys to
listen to what I have to say about Jimmy who is sick today.
Jimmy doesn’t know a thing about football. He can’t
remember plays. He can’t hurt anyone. He doesn’t want to
block. He can’t hold on to the football. This afternoon, I
want to tell you what Jimmy means to this team and why I have great
respect for this young man’s abilities.
Jimmy was born with
a disease that prevents him from doing what comes naturally to most of
you. In spite of these handicaps, I want you to know why I find him
such an essential part of this team.
His enthusiasm,
drive and desire to win are qualities that some of you have lost along
the way. I want you to watch Jimmy.
I want you to listen to him. When a better opponent is beating
us, Jimmy’s spirit just might inspire you to overcome your own doubts
and insecurities. He loves you guys. He believes in you and he is
frustrated as to why we are not winning more games. More than
anything else in his life, he wanted to wear your uniform and be a part
of what you do. I gave him that opportunity.
The guys did watch Jimmy after this briefing from the coach.
By watching and listening to him, each player was uniquely transformed
and they began playing as a team. They did not lose another game
for the rest of that season. The sports reporters for the newspapers, radio and television
said that the team had finally found its soul. Jimmy
mysteriously led the Orangemen of Syracuse University to victory after
victory from the sidelines where he infused his teammates with
enthusiasm and a renewed belief in themselves. Jesus has had the same
impact on us that Jimmy had on his team.
Jesus taught people how to win at life and how to do so without
any need to hurt or threaten anyone that practiced their faith
differently or lived with different values.
He
basically told his followers that the consequences of any faith become
the best teacher.
He said, “Don’t worry
about the Pharisees and Teachers of the Law. They are blind leaders
trying to offer guidance to the blind.
When one blind person leads another blind person, they both fall
into the ditch.” All religions lose their way from time to time
including our own. When people’s spirits are exuding loving energy patterns carried on the waves of their words, their body language and their attitudes, individuals like Jimmy can lead the way to victory for their entire team. With Jesus as our guide, what comes out of us will eventually lead the way to a healed world. |