Jesus Said, ‘Try This’…


Sermon Delivered By Rev. Dick Stetler – November 22, 2015

Centenary United Methodist Church

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.