[If it's Palm Sunday it must be time for the annual Unitarian sermon on Jesus.]
What Do We Know About Jesus?
April 5, 2009
Palm Sunday UU Society of Sacramento
Hymns:
“Wake Now My Senses,” “I’ve Got Peace Like a River,” “We’ll Build a Land.”
Story for the Children (among others): The Good Samaritan
Jesus was a teacher who lived 2,000 years ago. He told people that all God asked was to love God and to love your neighbor as yourself. One day someone said: “What do you mean by neighbor? [Ask children.] Like right next door, or the whole town, or only the people who are just like me?”
Jesus answered with a story. One day a man was walking on a road outside his town. Some robbers attacked him, beat him up, took his money, and threw him in a ditch. These were the days before paramedics and ambulances, or cars of any kind. So he just lay there in pain. Before long a man from his region was walking toward town. The man was important–a priest, religious leader–dressed in his best clothes. He heard the victim’s groans and saw him. He could tell they were from the same religion, but he was dressed up and in a hurry, so he walked to the other side of the road and passed on by.
Some time later another man came walking by. This man was a Levite, a special person in his religion, with many responsibilities. He heard the victim’s cries, and looked over at him. They were also from the same religion. But the Levite had lots to do, so he walked to the other side of the road and passed on by.
More time passed. A third man came walking by. This man wasn’t from the same place as the victim, he was a Samaritan, someone from Samaria, a distance away.
He was from a different ethnic group from the victim and a different religion. They were strangers to each other. He knew that people like the man in the ditch hated Samaritans and thought bad things about them. Why help this guy? It might not be safe! But the man was moaning so badly. So he picked him up, put the man on his own donkey, and brought him into town. He took him to an inn, and rented him a room. He cleaned him up and fed him. The Samaritan had to leave, but he said he’d come back in a few days. He told the innkeeper, “Here’s some money. If the man has need of anything before I return, please provide it for him.” And he left.
After Jesus told this story, he asked: Now which of those three people knew what a neighbor truly is? [Ask children.] Yes, I agree with you. It was the man who took the time to help out. Jesus said, “Okay, now try to live that way.” Thank you.
Reading: Naomi Shihab Nye: “I Feel Sorry for Jesus” (from Antioch Review Spring 1998, p. 206)
INTRO: In the Christian calendar this is the season of Lent, 40 days which begin with Ash Wednesday and end on Easter. The 40 days mark the time that Jesus of Nazareth spent in the desert wilderness, before his ministry began. Today’s reading is a poem by Naomi Shihab Nye, a Palestinian American who lives in Texas.
Sermon:
In the name of Jesus Christ, countless activists, artists, teachers, social service providers, volunteers and philanthropists have given of themselves to improve human lives and add beauty to our world. Also in his name, soldiers, kings and religious leaders have committed crimes against humanity. Who was the man whom so many have called Messiah, Son of God, Savior? Who is he to you?
In brief, Jesus of Nazareth was a traveling prophet, teacher and healer. He made radical statements about religion, politics, money and human relationships. Living in Palestine under Roman Rule, he had a brief ministry, and was executed by the authorities when he was 33. His disciples continued to feel his presence alongside them and they spread reports of the resurrection of his body.
How do we know this? We have nothing Jesus wrote down. The sayings of Jesus, the stories he told, and episodes from his life originally were passed down through word of mouth. Since few people had access to written materials, oral tradition was the way they learned things and passed them on. The people who wrote the New Testament Gospel books had never met Jesus. The earliest manuscripts of the Gospels that scholars have identified were written from 35 to 70 years after Jesus’ death.
Scholars have uncovered evidence of alternative Gospels, but these did not make it into the official, traditional version of the Holy Bible. About 130 years after Jesus’ death, St. Irenaeus said that the only true Gospels were the four books that bore the names of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. By the third century most Christian communities agreed on the books of the New Testament, including the Gospels.
I’ve just told you more than most people know. In a recent survey, a majority of Americans could not name one of the four Gospels. Even large numbers of believing Christians are Biblically illiterate. Author Stephen Prothero writes: “In one survey of high school students, most evangelicals did not recognize that ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit’ is from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.” Furthermore, some students thought that Sodom and Gomorrah of the Old Testament were husband and wife.
I confess that even though I was brought up a Protestant Christian I didn’t read much of the Bible until I was in theological school, when I had to read it very fast. Since then I’ve enjoyed going back to it.
Why should we care who Jesus was? For one thing, Christianity remains the dominant religious culture of this country. There’s no shortage of people, churches and mass media telling us what to think about Jesus.
If we don’t get to know the Bible for ourselves, we put ourselves and our children at the mercy of people who make it fit their own agendas. If we don’t answer for ourselves the question “Who is Jesus,” we leave him at the mercy of those who would use him as a weapon.
This religious tradition of ours is a product of heresies and controversies about the nature of Jesus of Nazareth. In the late 1700s, the first Unitarians in the United States argued that Jesus was fully human, and his life was proof of the dignity of human nature, and an example for us to follow. At the same time, the first Universalists were preaching that Jesus was the messenger of divine love; showing that God was a forgiving parent, not cruel tyrant. Our forbears in faith knew their Bible. Yet they had to defend themselves against charges that they were not Christian. Nowadays, I’d say, a majority of UUs would agree with this charge, even if we sing “Silent Night” by candle light or get up early next Sunday for an Easter Sunrise Service.
It is the faith of many believers that the Bible shows what Jesus said, word for word. Starting in the 1800s, however, scholars began studying the diverse influences on the books of the Bible, noting that they were written in different historical periods. Their studies of Gospel manuscripts revealed the similarities and contradictions among the four books, and the intended audience and sources of each.
Since 1985, a group called the Jesus Seminar has published books about the Bible and early Christianity. Seminar scholars make the case for taking a lot of words out of Jesus’ mouth that the Gospel scribes put in.
In the words of the Seminar’s Marcus Borg, the Gospels contain at least two voices. One is the pre-Easter Jesus; the second voice is the testimony of the post-Easter community, which felt his ongoing presence in their lives.
Sorting out the voices is helpful, but both voices deserve to be heard—Jesus the man and the Jesus in the hearts of those who lived barely a generation after him.
In the year 324, Roman Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity and made it the state religion. Thus he converted what had been a religion of the powerless into one aligned with power. The Jesus who had promised, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God,” became the icon of an empire. Over time the Jewish teacher became an excuse for genocidal Crusades, pogroms, and colonial ventures.
The Gospels emerged long before Constantine. They reflect the purpose of Jesus’ ministry before the powerful took on the mantle of his name. They reflect the impressions Jesus made on his followers, and their faith in him.
In the words of writer Marilynne Robinson, variations among the Gospel narratives are differences of art, not uncertainties of history. The stories capture the truth of Jesus in the way a painter captures the truth of another person in a portrait. In Robinson’s words, the writers of the Gospels try “to preserve a sense of Jesus’ presence . . . to achieve likeness rather than precision.”
And what is that likeness? How do the Gospel writers present him? Here are some snapshots of Jesus that matter to me. I note in advance that personal savior or Jewish Messiah is not one of them.
Jesus was a Jew, as were his 12 disciples. Yet the Gospel of John portrays “the Jews” as enemies of Jesus. This has troubled fair-minded Christians and has fueled anti-Semites. It’s important to note, however, that the writers of the Gospels all were Jewish Christians. The hostility in the book reflects the competing beliefs and practices among different early Christian communities, all of which were led by Jews. In addition, it shows the tensions between the growing movement of Christian Jews and non-Christian Jews.
Jesus was a healer. In many stories, he tells afflicted people that they are now healed, without doing anything to them. He says: “Your faith has restored you.” Sometimes, however, he does touch those who come near him. In one story, he mixes dirt with spit and rubs it on a blind man’s eyes. It takes two applications to bring back complete sight. I don’t know what to make of all this! But often after a healing, Jesus tells the person: “Go and sin no more.” Perhaps he is lifting their burdens of guilt, allowing them to walk once more, to move forward into life. After encountering him, they see anew, they live again.
Jesus was a religious rebel. In one episode, a crowd is pressing around him and he feels power go out of him. He turns and asks, who touched me? Nobody says anything for a while. Then a woman throws herself on the ground and confesses. She’s been hemorrhaging blood for years, and she thought some of Jesus’ healing energy would help. Just speaking to a woman to whom he is not related, in that culture, is not allowed. Even worse, to touch or be touched by a woman discharging blood is a violation of Jewish purity laws. Yet he does not condemn her; he confirms her faith and tells her she’s healed.
Jesus was a boundary-breaking social radical. The great mass of people were ruled by a small elite of Roman officials and their enforcers, including tax collectors and soldiers, whom the people despised and feared. In the Gospels, Jesus hangs out with them, goes to dinner, treats them with dignity. To befriend these employees of the state… would be a scandal to the others living under the Empire. But Jesus does more than accept these characters, he urges them to change their ways. To a Roman soldier, he says: stop extorting money from the people, no more intimidation and abuse! To the tax collector: stop cheating and stealing from people, apply your tax rates fairly!
Early in his ministry, Jesus is telling a parable to a crowd. His mother and brothers show up but can’t get through. Someone brings him a message, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.” He says no and points to his friends. “Here are my mother and brothers and sisters. My family is made up of those who hear what God wants, and do it.” Back then, family ties were a matter of survival. The family was the foundation of society. In spite of that Jesus says “Obedience is thicker than Blood.” He can be harsh.
Jesus’ followers include women to whom he was not related, a violation of their culture. He sits in the home of Martha and Mary. Martha is busy with housework, and she’s upset that her sister is deep in conversation with Jesus. Jesus says: Martha, you worry too much. You need to slow down. Your sister knows what’s important! This episode shows that religious matters should no longer be limited to men. If the Gospel writers wanted to downplay this gender-inclusiveness, they would have given all the good roles to men. Yet it is women who stay at the foot of Jesus’ cross till the bitter end. It is women who find his tomb empty on Easter morning. The 12 male disciples, in contrast, repeatedly lose faith in him, misunderstand him, and fall asleep on the job.
Jesus was a trickster; catching people off guard. His pronouncements turn the status quo upside down. He says, “The last shall be first, and the first shall be last!” The Sermon on the Mount is a series of aphorisms. These are short statements that need no explanation. You hear one and say, “Of course!” But the aphorisms of Jesus are the exact opposite of what people would expect: “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” What?! Under this Empire? Will we ever see the day? “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Wow! I sure hope he’s right!
Jesus was a leader. Early in the story, he collects 12 disciples to follow him, telling fishermen to drop their nets. He entreats sons and husbands to leave their homes, to join him in his traveling ministry.
Jesus was a servant. In the Gospel of John, during the Last Supper, the night before he is arrested, Jesus humbles himself by washing the feet of his disciples.
Jesus was a martyr. In the Palm Sunday story, he enters Jerusalem riding on a mule, as people wave palm branches and lay them on the road in front of him. They call out Hosannah, praising him as a king. Yet he knows his return to the city means death. Soon he is convicted and hung on a cross—state-sponsored torture.
Jesus was a prophet. In some passages he proclaims the end of the world. His followers know only a world of oppression–political, economic, social and religious. He promises God’s rescue of the righteous, and punishment of the oppressors. The lowly will be exalted and the proud and powerful will be brought low.
Jesus calls for repentance. The end is coming; God is coming. So, how should we live? What must we do–Stop drinking? No sex? Pray more? Nope! If you have two tunics, share your extra tunic with someone who doesn’t have any. Give away your extra food to people who need it. Love your neighbor as yourself, turn the other cheek, don’t cheat others, give all you have to the poor.
These snapshots are how I see Jesus. What do you see? Who is Jesus to you?
Recently I led a class on the Gospels at this church, and 18 people joined me. I asked them the question, “Who is Jesus to you?” and asked them to read their answers to the class. One wrote: “Jesus to me was a charismatic man of his time and place in the world who had [as his purpose] living and teaching a way of treating and accepting all human beings with love no matter who they were or how different they were from him. This … teaching … is still applicable today. A way of life I try to emulate.”
Another member said that as a religious leader Jesus was “confident, yet often self-questioning…. He was not clearly understood by his closest companions. He stood up to the leaders of his country and his ancestral faith.” This member said she saw Jesus through her long-ago Sunday school lessons, from seeing “Jesus Christ Superstar” on stage, and from taking another look at the Gospels together with us.
Through what lenses do you see Jesus?
I see him through the words of the Gospel writers but also the words of modern scholars, and my teachers and preachers. I see him through the lenses of my own privilege and bias. When I take him seriously, his ethical teachings prod my conscience and poke my complacency. His parables challenge my comfortable assumptions.
In one Gospel episode, someone asks Jesus who he is. He replies: “Who do people say I am?”–answering a question with a question. I can’t be certain I’ve got Jesus right. Many people, of course, would say I’ve got him all wrong. But I’ll keep looking, keep reading, keep talking with others. Although his name has been misused and his teachings violated for over 2,000 years, the core values of Jesus show through. His ministry was the risky work of healing, teaching, compassion,and forgiveness.
His own disciples didn’t get him right. No wonder that he continues to puzzle us when we read the Gospels!
To look at him can upset one’s certainty, or it ought to. Jesus seems to ask: Can you really be so sure of what you think about me? About God? About yourself? About human relationship?
He seems to invite everyone to let go of the easy answers, and keep asking questions.
So may we live, and so may it be.