“Jesus
Said, ‘Try This’…” Sermon Delivered By
Rev. Dick Stetler – November 22, 2015 Centenary United II
Samuel 23:1-7, John 18:33-38a The Gospel of John is the only place in the New Testament where we find this unique questioning of Jesus by Pontius Pilate. We have a record of this conversation because John was Jesus' cousin. One family member was permitted by law to be with an accused person during legal proceedings. This explains why we have eye-witness accounts during Jesus' mock trial and the crucifixion. Pilate wanted to know if Jesus looked at himself as a king.
Jesus told Pilate that the realm of his importance was not of
this world. Further, he
said, "I came into this world for one purpose and that purpose
was to speak about the truth."
Pilate learned from this exchange that Jesus meant no harm to
anyone and was prepared to tell those waiting outside the same thing. You may wonder why we are talking about this episode now rather
than during Holy Week. The
answer is that this is Christ The
King, Sunday in the church
year, a Sunday that announces to Christians the reason we celebrate
Advent and Christmas. We
are declaring Jesus to be our authority, our moral compass and our road
map on how to live. This morning, we are going to explore Pilate's final question to
Jesus. He asked Jesus,
"What is truth?"
There is no record of Jesus' response. Most of us seldom think
about the substance of truth.
What is it? Last week, we talked about learning
the rules for living
successfully every day of our lives. Doing
so is like following a road map to get to a destination.
The map is
a sure thing one hundred
percent of the time. It is
our blueprint for building a life. It
would be very easy to have substituted the word
truth for the word
rule.
However, they are not the same.
Some years ago, I worked very closely with a Rabbi in our
community and a well-respected lay-person in an Islamic congregation.
The three of us planned a number of events to bring our faith
traditions together on various occasions.
In an effort to test a theory, I compiled a moderate listing of
Jesus' teachings. This list
was shared discretely with Jews and Muslims during a number of joint
gatherings. I asked people
if the list contained any teaching that was objectionable.
The ones who read them indicated
that not only did they believe
the truth revealed in them but they said that identical teachings
could be found in both of their faith-traditions. When they learned that
all the teachings came from Jesus, they said, "Our differences do not
come from what Jesus taught; we part ways over what others have said
about him." It would not surprise us if we learned that much that we believe
about Jesus has come from a variety of oral traditions that have little
to do with what Jesus actually taught. There
have been more books written about Jesus than any other historic
personality. To sense how different Christians perceive Jesus and his mission,
all we need to do is attend different churches of various denominations.
Lois and I were guests in a church that was amazingly different
from our experience. People were standing up waving their hands with
their eyes shut while speaking in tongues.
They were exhibiting behavior that appeared to be a form of
spiritual ecstasy. Some were
lying on the floor. We have attended funerals where, for most of the service, pastors
spent the majority of their time preaching to people they presumed have
lost their way in life rather than celebrating the life of the deceased.
When the Pope was here, television viewers had the opportunity to
experience the pageantry, rituals and traditions associated with the
Roman Catholic Mass.
Everything was choreographed from the waving of the incense
container to the ringing of small bells.
Each of these are important symbols that have meaning for those
who worship in this manner. Through the ages, the
truth that Jesus communicated can become clouded amidst a wide range
of traditions, beliefs and mission statements that may have little in
common with the actual teachings of the humble carpenter from Nazareth. One of the interesting properties of
truth is that it does not
matter what people believe or how they think and respond to it;
truth cannot be changed by
anything.
If our human nature has been
hard-wired by our Creator to
communicate loving energy patterns from our bodies, think of the number
of people who find themselves living unfulfilling lives.
What Jesus preached in many
different ways was how to remove one's self-importance and put in its
place how one loves his or her neighbors and enemies. When Jesus was with Zacchaeus, he likely said:
How many
possessions do you need to feel safe, secure and happy?
You have more possessions than I have ever seen in my life and
yet you still find yourself collecting more things.
Try this:
Be more compassionate.
Try lifting some of the tax burdens of your neighbors and watch
happiness flood your mind and spirit. (Luke 19:8) When Jesus and his disciples were denied entrance into a village,
James and John wanted to call down fire from heaven to destroy them.
Jesus responded: Try this:
Please leave the Samaritans alone. They are a work in progress just as
you are. Remember, I taught you
to love those even if they live by different values, beliefs and
traditions. (Luke 9:55) When John found a stranger
who was doing wonderful things for others in Jesus' name, he stopped him
from doing so. Jesus said: Try this:
Anyone who is loving, in spite of the label someone has given
him, is part of our team. Consider everyone a brother or a sister who
cares enough for a thirsty person to give him or her a drink of water.
(Mark 9:39f) A prostitute was washing Jesus' feet with her tears and drying
them with her hair. Upon
seeing this, a well-respected Pharisee said, "If Jesus was truly a
prophet, he would know the kind of woman this is who is touching him."
Jesus said: Try this,
Simon: Her loving thoughts
and actions have been a blessing to me since I came into your courtyard;
therefore her sins are forgiven. (Luke 736f) Jesus was teaching truth
to his listeners, but what is
truth?
Truth describes the process
of creating on a level that has no boundaries.
Agnes Bojaxhiu was born into a wealthy family and desired to
help the poor. That decision gave her a new name,
Mother Teresa of Calcutta.
The United Methodist Church wanted to raise the educational level
of Africans and so Africa University was founded.
Truth has no
boundaries. An endless number of orchards can come from a single seed. Truth
describes what
takes place when the life-energy of people is flowing away from them
because they care about what happens to other people.
Truth
is the same for everyone even though the sages through the ages have
called it by different names.
Truth removes barriers
when researchers are seeking the cure for cancer, or discovering cleaner
and cheaper ways of producing energy, or teaching people how to live
longer by adjusting their lifestyles. Truth removed barriers
when Jesus taught people how to use a different attitude, a different
goal, or a different response that will produce a new and more
satisfying result.
Truth describes the energy
flow that unravels perceived barriers. Much of the news
occupying the headlines recently has been concerned about terrorism and
the sophistication of people whose mission appears to be designed to
hurt others or to disrupt and destroy anything that has to do with
truth as we have defined it
this morning. If we look at the accomplishment of the terrorists, they do not
include the building of factories that will employ people, or building
hospitals to care for their medical needs or establishing bakeries to
create bread, or opening grocery stores that are highly networked with
food suppliers from all over the world. They cannot create these social
resources because industries such as these are built on cooperation
between diverse people who are free to do business with one another in
market-driven societies. The recruiting methods of terrorists appeal to those who believe
that our world has somehow forsaken them. The resentment and frustration
among such disillusioned people come from blaming other societies for
corrupting the world. This logic
persuades new recruits to join a cause that intends to
correct
the wrongs in the world by
punishing the people responsible for their pain. The main barrier to the terrorist is that the environment of the
world cannot and will not change what it is for anyone.
The Truth taught by
every globally respected spiritual teacher has been that people have
to change their beliefs and attitudes toward the world before
they can become creative and productive while living in it. It should be obvious that
the perception of Mohammad by the terrorist groups has failed
them. Terrorist need to
hear the spirit of Mohammad's words as he might say them today: Try this:
Transform your thoughts from hate and vengeance to
thoughts of gratitude and appreciation so that you can regain control
over the direction of your lives.
You already live in a paradise created by Allah but you cannot
recognize it. When you come
to Allah upon your deaths, you will come to another paradise and still
not recognize it. You cannot heal the world's people by forcing anyone
to conform to your values and beliefs. Salvation is always a matter of
personal choice. Remember, Allah can open a rosebud without any force.
You have power today
because of your weapons.
Who would you be without them?
Your mission is one of death and destruction.
Allah has created the world and all its people from a
spirit of love. When we follow what Jesus invites us to try, we become transformed from saying, "This is what I do not like!" to saying, "This is how I intend to serve." The shift is from Me to We and Us. Many people still need to hear Jesus' words, "Try this . . . instead of what you are doing and your results will change." Like with all things that offer guidance to us, acting on Jesus' words is a matter of choice. |