From the Pastor |
Mr. Whitson taught sixth-grade science. On the first day of class, he gave the students a lecture about an interesting creature called the cattywampus, a nocturnal animal that was wiped out during the Ice Age. He passed around a skull as he talked. The students all took notes and later had a quiz.
When he returned the papers, the students were SHOCKED to see a big red X through each answer. Everyone in the class had failed. There had to be some mistake! What happened? “It is very simple,” Mr. Whitson explained. “I made up all the stuff about the cattywampus. There has never been any such animal. The information in your notes was, therefore, incorrect. Do you expect credit for incorrect answers?” Needless to say, the class was pretty upset by this… “You should have figured it out,” Mr. Whitson said. “After all, at the very moment I was passing around the cat skull, I told you that no trace of the animal remained?” He had described its amazing night vision, the color of its fur and any number of other facts he couldn't have known. He had even given the animal a ridiculous name, and they still hadn't been suspicious. They all failed because not one student had questioned anything about it… Mr. Whitson taught his class a valuable lesson. Ask questions? Don’t assume that simply because someone else says something is true that it is. Ask questions… learn the answers for yourself. There were so many times that Jesus made his listeners think and reflect and come up with their own answers to their questions. In fact, quite often he would answer a question posed to him by asking a question in return… (Don’t you hate when people do that?) Today’s Gospel reading is one such occasion… prior to one of the most popular parables of the New Testament, the Parable of the Good Samaritan, we find an intriguing Q&A session between Jesus and an expert on religious law. The lawyer begins the conversation by asking “Teacher… what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Instead of simply answering, Jesus responds with questions of his own. “What is written in the law? What do you read there?” Jesus is not wanting to know what the man has “read”… but what he understands… what he knows is the truth in the scriptures? The lawyer offers his interpretation by quoting the Law of Moses from Deuteronomy and Leviticus. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus replies “You have given the right answer;[now] do this, and you will live.” Easy Peasy! Jesus does not create some new rule… he did not change the path that was set forth in the Hebrew Scriptures. For as the scriptures said… the perfect love of God and of our neighbor leads to the perfection of righteousness. The answer is right there in the sacred scriptures. The Laws found in the Old Testament do indeed give people the rules by which they must live their lives, in order to obtain salvation in the sight of God… but honestly, can anyone really perform to the standard the Law requires… I mean, after this exchange, Jesus goes on to show exactly what the law “requires” with the Parable of the Good Samaritan. The Law requires loving God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength… and loving our neighbors as ourselves … ALL of our neighbors… EVERY. SINGLE. ONE… even those we disagree with; even those who are our enemies… Who here can say they are successful in that each and every day? NOBODY? WOW we might be some trouble here. Thankfully, although Jesus came to teach us the true meaning of the God’s Laws… to demonstrate them and put them into the proper practice, he also came to share God’s great love… and now through Christ we have scriptures that assure us of salvation through faith… we have the New Testament. Through the Gospel, we find the truth of God’s Grace. God calls us to repent of our failures in loving God and our neighbors. He calls us to trust that God will forgive us when we fail to live the Law of Love. “What is written in the law? What do you read there?” Jesus asked the “lawyer”, and, he asks that same question of each one of us, too. “What is written in the Bible? What do you read there?” The fact that Jesus asks these questions tells us a great deal. First, there is the understanding that we can find the true answer to the question of what must be done to inherit eternal life in the Bible. We find that although we are called to live the law of love… salvation comes through faith by the grace of God. Second, we study scripture to find direction in our lives. The Bible is the inspired Word of God. It is God’s Instruction Book to humankind. It answers every important question in life. It explains how to live—and reveals the road to salvation. And third, much like the lesson taught by Mr. Whitson, every person is responsible for reading and learning the answer for him/herself. Studying the scriptures is important because prepares us for and is a prerequisite to receiving our own personal revelation of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit won’t bring us understanding if we are not looking for the answers. The Bible, both the Old and New Testaments, is the revelation of God given for us. It is the rule we have for life. It is the standard for behavior. It is the only authority. When the Bible speaks, it is the voice of God. This is why it is very important for every Christian to learn what the Bible says. Not simply to repeat what they have been told, or accept another’s word as truth. Unfortunately, reading the Bible is challenging to say the least. Understanding the context, the intricate cultural meanings and historical anomalies is daunting enough, and easily misunderstood and twisted. This problem has been seen throughout history… scripture has been used over and over again to rationalize and support horrible atrocities. The Bible has been quoted to support wars, genocide and slavery. Charles Manson used scripture to support his actions. Most recently, it was quoted by a member of our own UMC to support the separation of families at our southern border. A person can usually find a verse within scripture that can be used to support just about ANY idea or want. The thing we need to remember is that when Bible verses are taken out of context and become contrary to both the Gospel message and the Law of Moses which state “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself” then something is wrong. Even Peter knew this to be true when he wrote: “There are some things in [Paul’s letters] that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.” (2 Peter 3:16b) Every Christian needs to study God’s Holy Word for themselves. Not simply a few select verses… but the entire Book. We need to look at both the Old and New Testaments and how they fit together to reveal God’s Law AND God’s Grace because the two go hand in hand. Do not simply read the Bible… investigate it… reflect upon it… discover how it fits in around God’s “Law of Love” that makes up the greatest of all commandments. To be sure, the objective one true message of all our scriptures is consistently clear, both about the demands of the law and the gracious gift of the Gospel... The question is, do we simply read the Bible? Or, are we learning what scripture truly says so that we might understand and obey God’s word fully? Do you know and understand what the “Good Book” says… or do you simply trust what you’ve been told? The question is not, can we “correctly understand the Word of God?” The question is, will we do the hard work necessary so we can present ourselves to God as those who have learned and reflected… those who have been tried and tested, unashamed, because we have done our best to handle God’s Word well, striving both to understand it and live it out? Those ready to look at the Lord and answer the question: “What is written in [scripture]? What do you read there?” NOTE: Mr. Whitson Story by David Owen - Adapted from Reader's Digest April 1991
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Questions… Did you ever notice how many questions we either ask or are asked each day? Asking questions is a natural part of communication, but also one of the most important tools teachers have at their disposal. Questions are a crucial method that teachers use to engage students, encourage participation and increase understanding.
Asking good questions makes students hungry to find the answers. To make a point, to challenge the mind, to stir the will, to touch the soul; nothing works like a question. Jesus knew this and used this teaching tool quite often…in fact, Jesus asked hundreds of questions in the gospels. Some questions were rhetorical, some straight forward, some thought provoking… many were challenging, but all his questions were meant to teach. Whether in a public gathering, a confrontation with his enemies, or a private conversation with his closest friends, Jesus consistently used questions to produce change and growth. Instead of simply stating the facts… or giving a lecture, Jesus often asked questions to get people thinking… to draw something out from them. We are going to spend time in the coming weeks looking at some of the questions Jesus asked and try to discover what they mean for us today. In today’s gospel reading, Jesus actually asks TWO questions. The first was “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” See, Jesus, like any good teacher, decided to begin this conversation with a “warm-up” question… a general question. “What do the other people say?” Now, we need to take note that Jesus wasn’t asking what people thought about him, but rather about what the people in this region expected the “Son of Man” to be. The answers to this question say a lot about the hopes and expectations of these people. That John the Baptist tops the list indicates just how expectant they were. Others seemed to expect a prophet to return, either from heaven (like Elijah) or from the grave (Jeremiah or another of the Major Prophets). So Jesus had his answer to the first question… The people were placing their hope in an extraordinary, divine intervention. Then, and only then, did Jesus ask the question about himself… And Jesus made the question personal… “But who do you say that I am?” Peter’s response is “You are the Messiah, [the Christ] the Son of the living God.” In other words, you, Jesus, are the promised deliverer. You are what those folks were looking for in the “Son of Man.” It is this confession of faith that has become the backbone, the rock of faith for Christians… the foundation of our very lives. It tells who and what we believe in… which leads to the principles we live by. Jesus IS the Messiah… the Christ… Our Lord and Savior! In this world you will hear many different ideas and opinions of who Jesus is. But, that doesn't matter. Every person that lives on this earth must decide for themselves who Jesus is to them. Just as he asked the disciples so long ago… Jesus wants to know who you say He is! So… Who do you say Jesus is? A good man? A great teacher? A Prophet? One of many ways to heaven? Or is He your Lord and Savior… the way, the truth, and the life? Those of us who come to church… who read the Bible… who have faith… know the answer to that very personal question… Jesus is the Christ… Our Lord and Savior! That’s great… BUT what does it mean? I don’t know about you, but I think that, more often than not, I’m with the crowds. You know, the people who say Jesus is a good man or a prophet. Oh, that’s not what I confess, of course. When it comes time to answer the question in public, I’m quick to join myself to Peter’s insight, claiming it as my own. And each time to I do, I swear I mean it. But if actions speak louder than words – and you and I both know they do – then I have to admit that most of my actions probable fall short of confessing that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the Living God. Rather, they testify that he is a good man, a great man, even, an example to follow, someone to be inspired by, kind of like the prophets of old. And here’s the thing: I suspect that I am not alone in sensing the disconnect between my public confession and my everyday actions. I think most people realize that there is often a gap between the words they say on Sunday and the lives they lead the rest of the week. It is certainly not intentional. In fact, I suspect that most of us would prefer the words we say on Sunday not just to align with the rest of our lives but to actually matter day in and day out. So today… I ask you Jesus’ question: Who do you say he is? Not just in church, but who do you say Jesus is with your lives; that is, with your relationships, your bank account, your time, your energy, and all the rest. Who do you really say Jesus is? I want us to consider for a moment or two what we actually mean when we say, with Peter, that Jesus is the Messiah, Son of the Living God. Or that Jesus is Lord… You see, I think it’s very difficult to align our daily lives to a confession when we don’t really understand what that confession means. What does it mean the Jesus is the Messiah? The Son of the Living God? Our Lord and Savior? It can be really hard to put it into words that we can understand. And so we come up with titles and formulations, trying to get at the mystery of what God has done in and through Jesus, and that’s understandable. But all too often I fear that those fancy words only keep the wild and unpredictable God of love and grace at arms distance from us, and Jesus remains inspiring and exemplary, but ultimately rather tame and eminently safe, kind of like the prophets of old seem to us. So, let’s try to put who Jesus, the Messiah, is in plain and simple words. Personally, I think Jesus is God’s way of revealing to us how much God loves all people. God is this omnipotent, awesome wonder that human beings could not relate to… It is hard to connect with a God so big. So God bridged the gap… God chose to become one of us… to live like one of us, in order to reveal just how God feels about us. Jesus revealed God’s heart, a heart that aches with all who suffer depression and think seriously about ending their lives… a heart that is upset and angry when a child is murdered… a heart that is torn up in grief at the violence that rips apart communities, a heart that loves us like only an adoring parent can and a heart that not only wants the best for us but is always eager to welcome us home in grace, forgiveness, and love. But it’s more than that, too. Jesus also came to show us what’s possible… how we should live: Rather than give into the threat of disease, Jesus healed. Rather than avoid those who were different or unwanted or “unclean”, Jesus showed compassion. Rather than let people starve because there’s not enough to go around, Jesus fed the hungry. Jesus refused to be satisfied or limited by the status quo and invites us to do the same, because if Jesus’ life and death show us how much God loves us, Jesus’ resurrection shows us that that love is more powerful than hate and fear and even death. Jesus shows us, in short, that God’s love wins. When I think about it this way, I have an easier time imagining what it means for me to confess Jesus as Messiah and Lord. Because I think it means that I try to live filled with and sharing God’s love, aware of the brokenness of the world but even more aware of God’s grace and the power of the resurrection. It means, I think, that I look at all of my life – my time, my relationships, my hopes, dreams, finances, and all the rest – through the lens of both the power and possibilities created by seeing God’s heart laid bare in Jesus. Because the thing is, I don’t think Jesus asks us this question so we can confess who we believe he is for his sake, but for ours… that we might be caught up in the power of his love and life. The confessions we offer about Jesus in church and in our daily lives aren’t simply words of praise to God but they are words and actions of power that help root us in the love and possibility that Jesus offers. My challenge to you this week is to really think about Jesus’ question… “But who do you say I am?” Try come up with even a sentence or two that describes what it is you really believe about Jesus and then let that confession shape your life more fully this week. |
Yeon Shin
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