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“Was Jesus’ Ministry Hijacked?” Sermon Delivered By Rev. Dick Stetler – February
4, 2018 Centenary United Methodist Church
Isaiah 40:21-31; Mark 1:29-39 This morning we are going to discuss something that complicated
Jesus' ministry during his three years of teaching and preaching.
Our lesson opens with Jesus, James and John going to the home of
Peter and Andrew. When they
arrived, Jesus found that Peter's mother-in-law had the flu. He helped
her to get out of bed. As
he was doing so, her fever broke, and she was able to serve a meal to
the men. Word spread that
Jesus had healed the woman, and before long, all the villagers came to
Peter's home bringing their sick with them.
Jesus began ministering to them by healing many of the sick.
Early the next
morning while it was still dark, Jesus left Peter's home and went into
the wilderness to be alone. He had to think through what had just
happened that past evening.
He felt called to teach and preach
the Good News that living in
the It did not take long for Jesus to realize that what people wanted more than his preaching was the touch of the master's hand. Jesus began to lose control over what he felt called to do. He became extremely popular as a healer rather than a teacher. There was a time
when Jesus was teaching and healing five thousand men plus their wives
and children. (Matthew
13:14f) People could not possibly hear his words but their eyes could
see someone who was lame that miraculously got up and began to walk. The
curiosity of people increased as word of Jesus' healing ability spread
like a wild fire. His skill as a healer almost
became a curse.
There were times when Jesus became completely overwhelmed by his
healing ministry to a point where family and friends thought he was
losing his mind. (Mark 3:20f) Jesus had to become frustrated because his
ability to heal was not why he entered into ministry. (Mark 1:38) Everyone that Jesus
healed experienced a temporary
fix for their bodies.
Inevitably they would become sick again as each made their way to
the finish line of their days
in their world. This is true for us today in spite of the skills of the
medical community. A high
percentage of people would prefer to have their health restored than to
be taught about an inner world that would always remain invisible to
their senses. Jesus
attracted very few people with a message that would heal their spirits
and give them the ability to live in
eternity
now. In
fact, his message was often so different from anything his listeners had
heard, that he once aroused the passions of people to the point where
they tried to throw Jesus off a cliff. (Luke 4:29) When Mary and Martha's brother, Lazarus, became gravely ill, they
sent for Jesus to come immediately.
Jesus was delayed in his coming.
When he arrived, both of the sisters at different times voiced
their intense disappointment when he did not come during a moment of
their greatest need. (John
11:21) Jesus wept when he heard the news. (John 11:35) Had his friends
placed his role as a healer above everything else that he had previously
meant to them? Try to imagine what recently happened to Shane Missler who lives
in Port Richey, While we can fantasize how wonderful it would be to have no more
financial worries, we cannot possibly understand how isolated he may
become as a result of needy people and
a universe of very worthy
charities that will come seeking
his healing touch by being recipients of some of his wealth. There are a lot of people who want to be rich and famous, but in
their achieving their goal, they quickly learn that surrendering their
privacy and their invisibility also has
hijacked their freedom.
They long for the days when they were able to come and go without
people wanting to take their picture with them.
It was wonderful that Jesus could heal others, but at what cost
to his ministry and his message?
After being healed, most people responded like the ten lepers
that went on with their lives.
While all of them were healed, only one returned to express his
appreciation to Jesus. (Luke 17:11f)
In spite of his
gratitude, the Scriptures are silent as to whether or not he drew nearer
to Jesus' message or even cared that living in
the The same could be
said about the woman that was healed who had hemorrhaged for twelve
years. Her healing was so memorable that it was mentioned in three of
the Gospels. She approached
Jesus secretly from behind him so she could touch the hem of his
garment. Jesus felt his energy-flow leave his body and he knew there had
been a healing. Instantly, her bleeding stopped. (Matthew 9:20f) All
that Jesus said to her was, "Your faith has made you well."
What does all this commentary about the influence of Jesus'
healing people mean for us today?
Has Jesus' message been
hijacked in our modern day? I want you to give this some serious
thought because of what is happening all around us. Increasingly, the Pope has ventured into commenting on social and
political conditions with which he disagrees.
Recently, our bishop wrote a letter to all the pastors in our
annual conference addressing
the alleged racist
comments made by President Trump regarding nations in Many of us may agree that this is their role in the world. What
makes their support for a particular point of view suspect is that Jesus
never once spoke out against Our Conference has built a university in When we look
at all the remarkable work being done by the Church, do we ever hear
anything about the mystical side of Jesus' teaching that had connected
him to the divine source of Creation?
Have all the
Christians who engage in mission work recognized that their inspiration
and motivation for doing so have resulted from their living in eternity
now? Each individual must
answer this question for themselves. Has Jesus' message to us mutated into improving the quality of
people's lives in our physical world and in the process has his message
lost traction in guiding us to improve the loving spirit by which we
live? Maybe a more accurate question needs to be asked, "What separates
the Church's mission from a sophisticated, well funded, and carefully
managed social agency?" Can
we point to sources where our spiritual development is being nourished,
where our emotions are being tamed and where our lives are no longer
being influenced by certain political points-of-view?
The Church in all its forms has performed exceedingly well in
enhancing the quality of the physical lives of people. Why is it that so
many of us still find loving others
a major log blocking our
vision? It is very difficult for us to imagine that once on seven
occasions the Church sponsored and sanctioned the Crusades that caused
Christians to march off in wars against the Muslims.
Who can imagine that once the Ku Klux Klan in the The
brainwashing of our material world continues to influence all of us.
In spite of our religious training, we have also
been trained
to take sides, to point fingers of blame, and to have our
consciousness purified by our
politics.
Who is training us to remain anchored to a level of consciousness that helps us to understand that most of what we stand for in this life has no meaning or relevance in the It is a sheer
miracle that any of Jesus' teachings about our spiritual nature have
survived. There is little question that we have his verbal message, but
have we incorporated those teachings to become the source of
our spiritual musculature and
the cornerstones by which we
live? Are we aware that
Jesus' politics was totally
about living in the Kingdom of
God? He taught how to
extend life’s energies in all the various forms of understanding, of
peace, of patience, of compassion, of kindness, of humility, and of
honest love remaining at the core of our continued emotional
development. All of these qualities and others in our constellation of
spiritual skills will be with us when we leave the physical world.
While alive in our world, these qualities heal and enhance our
humble desire to make the
In our numerous
endeavors, we forget that Jesus never had a permanent address where he
lived. He did not have an
expensive, well-respected attorney to represent him when he was falsely
accused. He died hanging on
a cross between two convicted felons in one of the most obscure parts of
the world. How did anything he taught survive? There were no
social media outlets like
Facebook or YouTube, no
mainstream media coverage, no in-depth interviews and no advocates
lobbying for him. Would his
mystical message ever be looked upon in the future as vital information
that has the power to neutralize all the causes that bitterly divide
people?
It is interesting that with
everything that stood against Jesus,
the light of his message
never went out. We must willfully decide against
allowing the cares and tensions of this world
from
hijacking
our true identities as
spirit-beings.
It is one thing to build marvelous
sandcastles like universities
and hospitals, but quite another to become a source that brings the
light of eternity to shine in our world.
During Lent, we will have time to consider which world is more
attractive to us, the one we experience or the one dominated by loving
attitudes that come from us. CONGREGATIONAL PRAYER Merciful and loving God, the more we become spiritually alive, the more
joy we are able to radiate to others.
As we learn about your will, we discover how easy it is to become
peaceful, kind, and generous of spirit. Yet there are times when we
become discouraged and frustrated because of change. There are moments
when it becomes easy to deny how unhappy we are when our world is not
the way we want it.
When
these moments come, help us to recognize that we have allowed the world
to control our attitudes. By trusting you for the outcome of all things,
we become the ones who influence our world.
Amen.
PASTORAL
PRAYER
Ever faithful
and loving God, when we pause to recognize how our lives are filled with
so many remarkable treasures, how easy it would be to express the light
that is within us if such skills were all that we possessed.
Yet we confess
that our treasure trove of gifts is surrounded by clouds from our
physical world that interrupt the clarity of our vision.
We cannot travel anywhere, listen to, or read the news without
experiencing words and images that disturb and preoccupy our minds.
There was a day when global information was not so readily available,
but our world has grown smaller because of the acceleration of change in
how news travels.
We become exposed to what produces fear and uncertainty when we
need to give equal time to reflecting our blessings as well as the
countless opportunities that surround us. Inspire us
during the coming days of Lent, to purify our thoughts and emotions.
We have the power to allow our treasure trove of hope,
generosity, peace, and joy to become more visible.
We have the ability to reflect what living in
your Kingdom looks like even
though countless other people do not understand what Jesus came to teach
us. Help us to
choose our emotional responses thoughtfully when faced with
circumstances that could easily create resentment.
Heal our ancient hurts.
Help us to stop holding on to the thoughts and emotions that do
not glow in the dark.
We pray these thoughts through the spirit of Jesus, who taught us
to say when we pray . . . . |