Who He Is
July 21, 2013
presented by the Reverend Jack Williams
I want
to thank the deacons of First Parish Federated Church for inviting me to share
in worship with you on this Sunday and the next two Sundays. It is an honor and also humbling to stand in
the pulpit where so many fine pastors have stood. My appreciation goes out to you, the
congregation and to Pastor Donna Muise for this opportunity.
What
would happen if you were at a social gathering, and since you are part of that
25 percent of Mainers who identify as practicing Christians, you are asked by a
skeptical or perhaps curious person, who is the person Jesus that you
worship? Who is Jesus? You are now on
the spot, and perhaps, like so many of us New Englanders, religion is not something we talk about. We
keep our beliefs to ourselves. We try not to offend anyone, so we keep away
from discussing our religious convictions.
But this person asked you. What are going to say. Who is Jesus?
For
these next three weeks I want to dig into three questions with you: Who is
Jesus? What difference it makes? And finally, Now what?
These
three questions are at the root of who we are as Christians and I think it is
important that we are versed in having an answer to them. Here they are again. Who is Jesus? What difference does it make?
Now what?
In the
familiar reading from Luke’s gospel, we hear if Jesus’ visit to the home of two
women, Mary and Martha. Why do you suppose Mary sat and listened to Jesus’
every word? Yet her sister Martha felt
it necessary to put on a good home cooked meal for him. Both were important things to do, but our
Lord says, Mary has chosen better and it will not be taken away from her. Did
Mary recognize something in the man from Galilee that Martha did not? What would you do if Jesus showed up at
supper time at your home? Is there a time when listening is the most important
thing to do? Maybe it says something about taking time to listen to God.
In
Matthew’s gospel, after Jesus’ disciples have been out for a few days of
spreading the news about Jesus and God’s Kingdom, the 12 disciples meet with
Jesus for a report of how things went.
The disciples have news from the towns they went to. They healed people
of all sorts of diseases in Jesus’ name.
The disciples shared their stories with Jesus and then Jesus asked them
a question. Who do the people say I am?
They told what the people were saying. Some say you are a prophet or Elijah
come back to life. Then Jesus asks them
the most important question of their lives, the most important question for us
as followers of Christ. “But who do you say
I am?” When Jesus asked his twelve disciples, “And how about you, who do you
say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of
the living God.” Jesus responded to him,
”God bless you Simon. You didn’t get that answer out of books or from teachers.
My Father in heaven, God himself, let you in on this secret of who I really
am.”
The
Gospel of John begins with these
familiar words, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and
the Word was God.” The Word, referring to Christ. John goes on to tell us that
the Word, that creative God became flesh and lived in the person of Jesus.
Back in
my days at seminary I had a wonderful professor named Russell Pregeant. Dr.
Pregeant is a New Testament scholar and a United Methodist pastor. While what he said in class should have been
obvious to me by that time in my studies, it was not. Dr. Pregeant said ,“The teaching and life of
Jesus shows us what God is like.” In other words, if you want to know what God
is like, study the life of Jesus.
Theologians,
who specialize in Christology, the
people who are the experts on who Jesus is, have written many books. And I have
quite a few of them on my library shelf.
I have read them and I must tell you, none of them can hold a candle to
what I learn from just reading the Bible.
This
morning, we read from a short letter to the Christian Church in Collosae. The letter is one of four letters of Paul
known as the prison letters. They are called “Prison Letters” because Paul
wrote them while he was a prisoner in Rome from the years 61-63 CE. Paul was a
prisoner in Rome, chained to a Roman soldier guard, but as a Roman citizen, was
allowed more respect than a common criminal who was not a roman citizen.
While a
prisoner in Rome, he probably wrote many letters, only 4 of which we have in
our Bible. They are Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and a very short letter
to Philemon.
Colossians
will be at the heart of our learning for this Sunday and the next two Sundays.
The church in Collosae was founded by a disciple of Paul’s named Epaphras.
Epaphras is mentioned in the letter as a skillful teacher, fellow servant, and
a faithful minister of Christ. The
letter is written to the church in Colosae both to encourage them and to teach
them. Of all the letters of Paul, it has, in my view, the best answers to: who
Jesus is, what difference it makes, and what now.
Allow me
to elaborate on chapter 1:15-18 of Colossians to help us more fully answer, “Who is Jesus?”
15-18 “We look at this Son and see the God who cannot be seen”. If we study the life and teachings of Jesus,
we can understand the nature and character of God. Just consider the story of
the prodigal son, or the woman caught in adultery. Time and time again, Jesus
shows us that God is a just and merciful God.
We look at this Son and see
God’s original purpose in everything created. For everything, absolutely
everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank
of angels—everything got started in him and finds its purpose in
him. He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all
together right up to this moment.
The book of Genesis
begins this way, “In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth… And Colossians tells us that Jesus was there
as part of the creative force that made the heavens and the earth.
The Gospel of John
begins in a similar way: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God. He
was in the beginning with God. All
things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into
being. What has come into being in
him was life, and the life was the light of all people…. And the Word became
flesh and lived among us.
And so, Jesus is the Word, which is God’s
creative agent. Jesus is this Word.
And when it comes to the
church, he organizes and holds it together, like a head does a body. In other words, Jesus is the head of the church
and the church is the body of Christ. So when someone says a particular pastor
is the head of the church, that is not true. Christ is the head of the church. A person may be a leader or teacher, but Jesus
is the head of the church.
At the
end of John’s Gospel we find a passage of scripture that is read every year, on
the Sunday after Easter. It is the familiar story commonly called the
confession of doubting Thomas. You remember the way it went. After Jesus’ crucifixion, the 11 disciples are hiding out in the upper room of a house near
Jerusalem. Jesus had appeared to them on Sunday night of the first Easter. But Thomas was not with them and could not
believe that Jesus had appeared. Thomas tells his fellow disciples, “unless I
see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the
nails, and my hand in his side, I will not believe.
So one
week later, the 11 disciples, including Thomas
are in the locked room of the house again. Jesus appears among them and
says to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and
put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.”
Thomas’
answer is his confession of who Jesus is, “My Lord and my God.” Jesus is our Lord and our God. And then Jesus
says encouraging words for us who were not eye witnesses way back then, ”Blessed
are those who have not seen, but have come to believe.”
Do you believe that
Jesus is God incarnate? Do you believe he is Emmanuel, God with us? Like Thomas, would you be willing to exclaim,
“My Lord and my God.” Do you believe he
is the head of the church? If you know
and believe these things, the blessed are you.
Next week we will
consider what difference Jesus makes in our lives. The “So What question.” And two Sundays from now, we will answer the
question, “So now what do we do?” In the mean time, remember who Jesus is, and
think about who you are in bearing his name as a Christian.
