Who are you Following?

Ordination of Elders

Matthew 4:12-22                                                              

26 January 2014

Elizabeth M. Deibert                                                         

Who are you following?   In Jesus’ day, following meant going somewhere.  But we don’t have to physically follow, like the Jesus’s followers did.   You can stay right where you are and follow someone.   But your thoughts, your actions, your life may be changed by following. 

Simon and Andrew, James and John are two sets of brothers, fishermen, who decided to follow Jesus.   The story of the call of the fishermen is in all three Synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, although Luke’s version includes the miraculous catch of fish with Jesus, after they had fished all night and caught nothing.   In every case, the four fishermen, drop everything, including their valuable nets, and they followed Jesus for three years, and then after his death, they continued his ministry, which is still going on today.   They change their priorities; they re-oriented their lives toward catching people with good news, as did Mary Magdalene, Priscilla and Aquilla, Susanna and Simon Peter.   Because of their decision to follow, we’ve had the chance to follow too.  Hear the Gospel:

Matthew 4:12-22

¹² Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. ¹³ He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, ¹⁴ so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: ¹⁵ “Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali, on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—¹⁶ the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned.” ¹⁷ From that time Jesus began to proclaim, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”¹⁸ As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. ¹⁹ And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.” ²⁰ Immediately they left their nets and followed him. ²¹ As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. ²² Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.

(New Revised Standard Version)

They left their nets.  They left their boat.  They left their father.   In those days, one could not follow without dropping everything.   In those days, they could not just read the Bible to know about Jesus.  The New Testament was not written.   In those days, followers of Jesus could not keep up with his ministry on television.   They could not log into his website to see where he was going.   They could not be his Facebook friend or follow him on Twitter or Instagram or Vine.  They had to drop their fishing nets and go with him, in person.   Even to this day, much as we are thankful for all the forms of communication we have, there is nothing that replaces face-to-face, in person time with God’s people in church.  There is nothing that replaces an authentic personal relationship with Christ.

Danish theologian and philosopher Soren Kierkegaard said the typical Christian is

caught up in “admiring Christ instead of following Christ.”   The question before us is whether we want to simply be Christ admirers or whether we are bold enough to be Christ followers. No doubt, if we are courageous, we will discover unexpected blessings when we let Jesus into our boats, when we listen to him, and when we follow him.

Some of you have been listening for years for Jesus’ direction.   Others of you are just starting to listen.   Your commitment to be here is a sign that you are making choices to follow.   Sometimes there’s a pivot point, or a crucial moment of repentance when you really turn in Jesus’ direction.  Some of us can remember moments in adolescence or earlier adulthood when, we made the commitment to follow Jesus.   Some of us are still working at such choices, warming up to them.

Usually those moments are reinforced by our own telling of the story, just as I’m sure these fishermen told people about the day Jesus met them by the shore of the Sea of Galilee.  While an initial decision is significant, we should not forget that every day we have choices to make about following Jesus.  The “What Would Jesus Do?” question is all the more significant, long after the popularity of WWJD bracelets has faded.  Transformation is a process, a journey, not a one-time decision.”  ― David Kinnaman, unChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity... and Why It Matters

You made a decision this morning to follow Jesus, to drop the nets of your responsibilities at home, to sacrifice some leisure time to be an active part of the body of Christ today, to worship God, to receive the sacrament, to pray, to respond to God’s grace in the company of friends.    Many of you will make the choice to stay for our ordination service and congregational meeting.   By choosing a deeper involvement over and over again, you are choosing to let the Christian community here, the body of Christ shape your life.    

Your commitment to be here affects the commitment of others.  Can others depend on your presence here?   Fifty years ago, the regular Sunday decision was easier.  There were no competing activities.   But now there are multiple choices, asking us to follow them, commit to them, instead of Jesus and the family of faith that helps us know the love of Christ.   Bob Dylan once said this:  Jesus tapped me on the shoulder and said, Bob, why are you resisting me? I said, I'm not resisting you!  He said, You gonna follow me? I said, I've never thought about that before!   He said, When you're not following me, you're resisting me.

How easy it seemed for the fishermen to make that initial decision.  The presence of Christ must have been truly compelling.  They acted so quickly, but I wonder if they had second thoughts.  Did they ever say, “Gosh, I should get back to dad and the fishing business.  How am I going to feed my family, pay my bills?   Or following Jesus too tiring.  There are too many needy people around.   I just need some time to relax. ”   Did they ever think that following Jesus was too much of a sacrifice?  The rich, young ruler did.  

Jesus challenged him to give up his many possessions because of the grip they had on his life, and he went away depressed because it was a big sacrifice.   One time, someone wanted to delay following so he could bury his father, but Jesus was unwilling to wait.   There was an urgency about the mission of Christ.   He reminded his followers that those who want to save their lives will lose them, and that those who lose their life for his sake, will save them.

We say here at Peace that our Mission is to make God known by growing as disciples of Jesus Christ, building a community of peace and caring for the needs of others, but let’s just talk about the first part – growing.  The decision to grow as a disciple “always involves a choice between risk and comfort. This means that to be a follower of Jesus you must renounce comfort as the ultimate value of your life.” --John Ortberg

So let’s talk about what following Jesus means.    Following Jesus means you’re watching to see where he’s going.    Following Jesus means putting your Christian faith as your number one priority.   It means giving up some interests that distract or pull you away from being a loyal follower.   Jesus said we must deny ourselves, be willing to sacrifice, to follow him.   It means listening to his voice in prayer and scripture, and being meaningfully involved in the church.    It means giving sacrificially and gladly to God and to others our time, talent, and treasure.   At Peace we encourage you to worship plus two other commitments – a prayer group, a Bible study, a lively learning class, a ministry team, a music group, a youth group.

Following the call of Jesus does not mean that you all need to be in the professional ministry or that every one of you is call to be an elder in the church.   No following Jesus It means that you choose to do things that bless people, in whatever field you are called to serve.   I’ve told you before the story of Smitty, the guy who cleans tables at Fuddruckers in Asheville with such joy and enthusiasm that you want to talk to him, and you remember his name when you haven’t seen him in years.  I haven’t told you about my jr high science teacher, for whom I wrote six term papers per year – good practice for who now writes regularly.   He had us dissecting sharks and bullfrogs and cats – more dissection than I did in high school or college biology together.  

This was a poor rural school, but he was a zealous Christian who knew how to work hard for grant money.  He gave us the gift of a great education.  

Following the call of Jesus means showing the love of Christ in whatever you are doing, and doing the job so well that people wonder what inspires you.  You work with such grace and peace, joy and patience, generosity and faithfulness that people want to follow you.   You lure them with the abundance of God’s love which spills over in your life, and then you point to Christ.  You find a gentle way, as we discussed last week, to share with them your story, your church, your relationship with Christ.

We should all being doing whatever we do with such energy, intelligence, imagination, and love, that people are curious about what inspires us.   Jesus says to the fishermen, “I will make you fish for people.”   Your primary vocation as a Christian is to fulfill the Great Commandment – loving God and loving people – no matter what you do.   It is also to fulfill the Great Commission – fishing for people.  Jesus calls us to turn our vocation into something that demonstrates the amazing grace of God.   In his book The Cost of Discipleship, Lutheran theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer described the difference between “cheap grace” and “costly grace.” Cheap grace, he said, is grace without a commitment and response from the believer. It is grace without servanthood.  Costly grace, said Bonhoeffer, moves us to respond to the call of Jesus.   To follow Jesus means we have to stop following so many others.   Leave some unnecessary things behind, set aside idols, move away from following people who distract you from your faith, walk forward in Christ’s direction, keeping your eyes focused on the One who is calling your name.

To follow Jesus means to take up his dream and work for it.”
― Scot McKnight, One.Life: Jesus Calls, We Follow

Agnus Dei: Come and See

2^nd Sunday after Epiphany
John 1:29-46                                                                       

19 January 2014

Elizabeth M. Deibert                                                        

Do you know why many churches are declining instead of growing?   Because of the e-word.   Yes, evangelism.   The very word scares us, makes us uncomfortable.   We had an Evangelism Team at Peace, but so few people had the nerve to join the team, we had to re-name it Outreach – sad but true. 

People are often nervous about evangelism because they have been on the receiving end of some type of coercive or insensitive evangelist.   The overbearing co-worker who wants to know if you are saved or the visitor at your front door who wants to hand you a tract and enter your house to explain how you have to say all the right things and join the right community of faith.  People are nervous about evangelism because something so personally significant can be challenging to discuss.   People are nervous because they know that while they’ve had a meaningful encounter with God, they know that they cannot make that happen for someone else, nor can they answer all a skeptic’s doubts.   So most of us just avoid evangelism.   We know we have good news, but we are not going to share it or we are not sure how to share it with gentle integrity and respect.

The Baptism narrative from the Gospel of John might help us with our nervousness about evangelism.  This baptism story is completely different from the synoptics, Matthew, Mark, and Luke.   In this one, John the Baptist is looking back on what happened.   He reflects on the Baptism of Jesus and shares his thoughts with those around him.   They start following.  Jesus invites them to come and see where he is staying.  One of those was Andrew.  He reflects and shares with his brother Peter, who says yes to the invitation.   Then Jesus calls Philip and Philip shares with Nathaniel, who is not sure anything good can come from Nazareth.   Philip doesn’t argue with him.   He simply invites: Come and see.

And now I invite you into the narrative to come and see.   Come and see, the Agnus Dei.                          (David Lose, Dear Working Preacher, 2014.)

John 1:29-46

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰ This is the one about whom I said, 'He who comes after me is really greater than me because he existed before me. ³¹ Even I didn't recognize him, but I came baptizing with water so that he might be made known to Israel." ³² John testified, "I saw the Spirit coming down from heaven like a dove, and it rested on him. ³³ Even I didn't recognize him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'The one on whom you see the Spirit coming down and resting is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. ³⁴ I have seen and testified that this one is God's Son." ³⁵ The next day John was standing again with two of his disciples. ³⁶ When he saw Jesus walking along he said, "Look! The Lamb of God!" ³⁷ The two disciples heard what he said, and they followed Jesus. ³⁸ When Jesus turned and saw them following, he asked, "What are you looking for?" They said, "Rabbi (which is translated Teacher), where are you staying?" ³⁹ He replied, "Come and see."  So they went and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o'clock in the afternoon. ⁴⁰ One of the two disciples who heard what John said and followed Jesus was Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter. ⁴¹ He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, "We have found the Messiah" (which is translated Christ). ⁴² He led him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, "You are Simon, son of John. You will be called Cephas" (which is translated Peter). ⁴³ The next day Jesus wanted to go into Galilee, and he found Philip. Jesus said to him, "Follow me." ⁴⁴ Philip was from Bethsaida, the hometown of Andrew and Peter. ⁴⁵ Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law and the Prophets: Jesus, Joseph's son, from Nazareth." ⁴⁶ Nathanael responded, "Can anything from Nazareth be good?" Philip said, "Come and see."   (Common English Bible)

At first it might seem strange that John says, “I didn’t even recognize him.”  How could he not recognize his own cousin, Jesus?   It is likely that John is saying that he did not fully appreciate who his cousin really was.   I did not know he was the Lamb of God, the Agnus Dei, that Latin translation of the Greek. 

Imagine John’s surprise as he pulled his cousin up out of the water and heard the voice from heaven.  This is my son, the beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”  By now John has given this transforming experience some thought.  And here is his conclusion: Jesus, his cousin, the Son of God, is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.  He has understood that while Jesus is his younger cousin by a few months, Jesus existed long before he did.   John is not trying to recruit people to his group, but simply sharing what he has come to appreciate about Jesus.   He tells the story of his experience.   He makes proclamations about the significance of that story and acknowledges the greatness of Jesus, whom he says is God’s son.

So let’s think about what we learn about evangelism from this story.  Say what you’ve seen.  Tell what you’ve heard.   Share what you know.   Point away from yourself to Christ.   Just tell your story in a way that points to Christ, not you.   Naturally, not artificially.   You’ve probably heard someone do it unnaturally.   You know the kind of person who inserts the name of Jesus into every other sentence or who speaks of God as if he or she has God in the back pocket to pull out whenever needed for a sense of importance or authority.

I wonder what would happen if I asked you to tell the person beside you why you are at Peace, what you like about coming to worship here.   Could you do it?  Can you say in a simple sentence what draws you here?  Could you say whether you experience the presence of God most at the table, in the sermon, in the prayers, in the music, in the friendships?   Could you share why you keep coming?  I know this is an unusual thing to do in a sermon, to talk to each other, but I’m willing to do unusual things if it helps you to grow.   So please think now for a moment about your experience of the Spirit of Christ here.  Think about why you come to Peace.   I mean you have to have a pretty good reason for coming to this church – it’s not the architecture.  It’s not because the preacher is entertaining, not because five thousand other people are here.   What is it that draws you?  If this is your first or second visit, you can just say that, but if you’ve been coming for a while, tell the person beside you why you are at Peace.

To be like John and Jesus, to be like Andrew and Philip, all you have to do is reflect on your experience genuinely, share it, and invite people saying “come and see.”  It’s really not that difficult when you think about it this way.   You tell people about other things that you appreciate and care about.

So why not the church of Jesus Christ?  Don’t let evangelism be defined by those who do it poorly.   Reclaim evangelism by doing it well, doing it gently, authentically, with honest invitation and enthusiasm, rather than coercion and manipulation.   You are just one person telling other people where they can enjoy life, build trusted friendships, find meaningful experiences.

After all, you are sharing the best and most liberating news you can give someone who doesn’t know it – that Jesus, the Lamb of God, takes away the sin of the world.  Anything that separates us from God, anything that disappoints God,  anything that willfully dehumanizes another person is sin.  Christ bridges the chasms we create between one another and God.  Christ heals the brokenness that makes it difficult to forgive one another.  Christ restores to health that which is sick.

I feel certain that Jesus as the Lamb of God was much easier for 1^st century people, especially 1^st century Jews to understand.   They had this practice of sacrificing what was best, the best lamb, in order to make up for their failings, to show God how sorry they were, how much they wanted to sacrifice to restore the relationship.

Into that context comes God in human flesh, determined to make things right in our relationship.  Sin has consequences.   We can see that.   It is not difficult to see how sin damages relationships.  So God comes and makes the ultimate sacrifice – God’s own self in the person of Jesus Christ.  God says, “I want this relationship restored so much I will sacrifice my very own life, my freedom in order to restore yours.” Christ leads us by example into the life-giving value of sacrificial love.   How else would we be drawn to do anything other than preserve and protect ourselves at all cost to others?

Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi… Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.   

One of the most profound ironies of this narrative and of all the stories in the Gospels where Jesus is calling people to be his disciples is this:   He says, “Come and see.”  He says, “Follow me.”   We think we have to see first, believe first.   Then we’ll go, then we’ll join in.   No, in the Gospel stories, they always follow first, then they begin to be amazed and believe, and they invite someone else.

Martin Luther King once said, “Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase.”  He also said, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”  We cannot be silent about Christ’s sacrificial love.  Nor can we silent about the dehumanization of people whom Christ loves.  King said, “Every {person} must decide whether he or she will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.”   Christ showed us perfect altruism – selflessness for the benefit of others.  Evangelism and social justice are two sides of the same coin of sacrificial love.

When poet Charlotte Elliott (1789-1871) was 46 years old, an elderly man approached her at a dinner party and asked if she was a Christian. She considered him rude and unkind, and that his question was inappropriate. After the man walked away, Charlotte could not get his question out of her mind so she went to find the man to talk to him again.  That night she came to a new appreciation of Jesus as Lord and Savior. Soon thereafter she wrote Just As I Am as a testimony to her newfound faith, and as a tribute to the man who had told her that she could come to Christ, 'just as she was'.   This hymn, written in 1835, did not become popular until the mid-twentieth century, when it became the invitational hymn at many Billy Graham crusades.  Kids, if you’ve never heard of the Baptist minister Billy Graham, he’s a ninety-something year old man who lives in Montreat who was great at telling the story of Jesus in such a way that the many people who filled auditoriums and football stadiums to hear him in the 1960’s, 70’s and 80’s, could often appreciate for the first time or in a new way, how much they were loved by God – just as they were, and how they were called to respond to that love. 

We will not have an altar call, but I will challenge to you think about how Christ, the Lamb of God, loves you – just as you are.  He lived and died and was raised to restore all of your brokenness to wholeness, to invite you to a life of making others whole by sharing your God stories, telling the good news of Christ’s love, and living by the power and fruit of the Holy Spirit.   The Spirit is working in you to remind you of the transcendent value of your humanity, to refresh you in the fountain of baptismal life, to assure you that you belong to Christ, the Lamb of God, who says “Come and see.”

"Watered Up"

Baptism of the Lord
Matthew 3:13-17
12 January 2014

Elizabeth M. Deibert                                                         

                                                              

Most of you have heard me say that I like plants – indoor and outdoor.   I like watching things grow – plants, churches, people.   Before I go away on a trip, one of my last tasks, which I sometime take more seriously than packing, is getting my plants all watered up, so they will be ready for life while I am away.  Speaking of water, I have never seen so much water as I saw on that Christmas cruise to Cozumel.   It is a pretty awesome experience to see nothing but water all around.   It was a very real reminder of the fact that a full 70% of the earth is covered by water.

One of the joys of being on the cruise was having relaxed time with the kids – no church and no time in the kitchen – activities which I enjoy, but which sometimes distract me from the people in my home.   But what I have noticed lately, as the children have starting turning adult is that they notice your unhealthy habits.   Catherine, in her own kind way, is now reminding me fairly often that I do not drink enough water.   You have seen, as we moved to two services, that I was not drinking enough water to avoid a dry cough.   Yes, water is about 60% of the body, and we need to drink 8 glasses of water every day, and I don’t.   It’s not that I am drinking lots of sodas, but my beverages of choice are coffee in the morning and tea in the afternoon and evening, wine or beer at night – just little to wind down.   But not nearly enough water.

But as of this week, as I worked on this sermon, I have decided to get myself watered up, and here is how I intend to change my attitude about water.   Instead of thinking of it as a chore, I will start thinking of water as God’s grace and peace and love, flowing into my body, washing away all sin and impurities.   I will begin to remind myself each time I drink water than I am a child of God, and this watering up moment is an opportunity to remember my identity, to be filled anew with God’s abundance.   

I may have mentioned before that after living in a house for three years with no shower (this was in Cambridge, England) I returned to the USA with a deeper appreciate of the wonderful experience of a warm shower.   I decided on Baptism of the Lord Sunday about ten years ago to turn shower time into a time of reflection of God’s goodness, to intentionally consider the joy of knowing that in Jesus Christ, my sin is carried away like the dirt under my nails slips down the drain.   I have continued over the years to think about the warmth of God’s love as I stand in the shower.   I actively let my fears go when I stand in the shower, reminding myself that God’s love will wash them away too.    Sometimes my showers are too long, but I still commend the practice to you.

We could have conversations about the powerful image of the ocean waves washing upon the shore and how that relates to baptism, but what we really need to do now is read the story of Jesus’ baptism.   We need to think of how Jesus used water to wash his disciples feet in a dry and dusty land.   We need to think about how water was and still is brought in containers from lakes and rivers to people’s homes to be carefully used and conserved.   And we need to think about the joy of washing in a river, being fully immersed in a time when bathing was rare – not a daily type of activity.   Lastly, we need to consider, why Jesus was baptized by his cousin John.   John was inviting repentance, and Jesus had nothing of which to repent.   2 Corinthians 5:21 says “He who knew no sin became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God through him.”  To relate it to last week’s sermon on the transcendent value of our humanity– Jesus was baptized to facilitate that divine-human connection – that we might become little Christs.   Hear the story of the Baptism of Jesus from the Gospel of Matthew,

Matthew 3:13-17

Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. ¹⁴ John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” ¹⁵ But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. ¹⁶ And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. ¹⁷ And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved with whom I am well pleased.”

      (New Revised Standard Version)

Did you hear how John did not want to do it.   “No way, Jesus.   I’ve heard and seen how perfect you are, man.   Don’t come to me.   I should be baptized by you.”   But Jesus insists – for our sake, for our righteousness.   And John consents.

And as Jesus comes up out of the water, the heavens were open, the Spirit of God descended like a dove and landed on him, and a voice from heaven, presumably God said, “This is my Son, the Beloved with whom I am well pleased.”   In all three synoptic Gospels, the story is consistent.  Luke adds that Jesus was praying when the heavens opened and a voice came.   Mark says the heavens were torn apart, not just opened.   In all three Gospels, it says that he Jesus saw the heavens open, and then it is hard to tell whether just he heard the voice or he and John heard the voice or everyone at the river heard the voice.   Matthew leads us toward thinking the voice was speaking to everyone at the river, because the language is third person – This is my son, the beloved, with whom I am well pleased”  while Mark and Luke are second person language – “You are my son, with You I am well pleased.”
The essence of the message is clear – God is pleased with his Son Jesus.   Jesus got baptized to connect his perfect humanity to ours, not to ask for forgiveness and be cleansed of his own sin.  He had a broken and contrite heart because of his oneness with us.    So through him, we gain wholeness of heart.  With us, just as with Jesus, God is well-pleased – not because we are perfect, but because Christ’s perfected nature is given to us as a gift.   That’s the meaning of grace.    That’s what it means to be baptized – to be watered with that grace, to be marked as a daughter or son with whom God is well-pleased.  

To be called by those wonderful baptismal waters, by that abundant gift of grace, to do everything in your power to make God well-pleased with the help of Christ’s Spirit working in you.   

What came after baptism for Jesus?   A big struggle with temptation – just as our entire lives are a big struggle with temptation.   Christ was able to win the battle against temptation in just 40 days.  We have a life-long battle with it.   Right and left, we are tempted to live, not according our identity as God’s children, but according to other, less accurate, less true, less meaningful identities.   We belong to God and by the power of Christ at work in us we can little by little defend ourselves against the temptation to be less than we really are.

So our challenge is to resist the temptation by being fully watered up.   Not watered down.   There are too many watered down expressions of Christianity in today’s world.   That’s what causes great damage to the church – watered down Christians.   Watered down Christians are named Christian but they are so weak in faith and service, nobody would ever know they are Christian.  They are just as mean-spirited and impatient, and stingy as anyone else.

Watered up means you’re daily filling your mind and heart and soul with Christ’s love and truth and mercy and peace and justice.   Watered up means you’re growing, not wilting.   Watered up means you’re getting a cup of cold water to drink when your life is parched by spending time with people who know something of the love of God to share it.   Watered up means you regularly remind yourself that God’s grace is washing over you and over others like a fountain, like an ocean wave, like your shower stream, such that it is futile to live with on-going regrets, with deep bitterness, with heavy guilt.   You are forgiven.  You are called.   You are a new creation.   So be it.   Be that new creation in Christ. 

Flourish in your body, your mind, your spirit by living according to your baptismal identity.   Read the scriptures, pray the prayers, feast on the Sacraments, serve one another, embrace the outsider.  

Stay watered up, stay hydrated in Christ’s love so that you can be like Christ in every way by the power of the Holy Spirit working in you with you through you --  every day to be a blessing.   Don’t be a watered down blessing.  Be a watered up blessing.

The Transcendent Value of Your Humanity

Epiphany of the Lord
John 1.1-18
5 January 2014
Richard I. Deibert
For Irvin E. Deibert, Jr (1927-2013)
Memory Eternal!

“Illumine our hearts, O Master Who loves humanity, with the pure light of Your divine knowledge.  Open the eyes of our mind to the understanding of Your gospel teachings.  Implant also in us the fear of Your blessed commandments, that trampling down all carnal desires, we may enter upon a spiritual manner of living, both thinking and doing such things as are well-pleasing to You.  For You are the illumination of our souls and bodies, O Christ our God, and unto You we ascribe glory, together with Your Father, Who is from everlasting, and Your all-holy, good, and life-creating Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages.  Amen.”[1]

H

ow valuable is your humanity?  That’s the question I hear in today’s Scripture.  How valuable is your humanity?  Have you ever paused to consider what your humanity is worth?

Some of you are wondering exactly what I mean by “valuable.”  Am I speaking about monetary worth, work-place productivity, important people in your life, or the philosophical meaning of your existence?  And “valuable” to whom?  Your own self?  Your family?  Friends?  God?

How valuable is your humanity?

Some of you are wondering exactly what I mean by “humanity.”  Do I mean your unique human body — the physical and mental parts that make you you?[2]  Do I mean the human life you have lived thus far — all the experiences you have had, the stuff you own, the relationships that have formed you?[3]  Or, do I mean the human self or person you have become — your particular character, your one-and-only personality, the unique narrative of your life?

How valuable is your humanity?

Is your humanity worth developing, educating, protecting ... saving?  If you are trapped, enslaved, morally corrupted, sick, suffering, dying, how much should we care about you and how hard should we try to rescue you?

How valuable is your humanity?

This is the central question facing western civilization.  This question forms the ethical center of the Christian Church; it beats the heart of our mission as Peace Presbyterian.  And it is the most important question facing you on this Epiphany Sunday, at the beginning of the new year, 2014 years after the Incarnation of the Word of God in human flesh, our Lord Jesus Christ.  How much is your humanity worth?

Hear the Word of the Lord in John’s opening words of witness to Jesus Christ:[4]

¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  ² He was in the beginning with God.  ³ All things came into being through Him, and without Him not one thing came into being.  What has come into being ⁴ in Him was life, and the life was the light of all people.  ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

⁶ There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.  ⁷ He came as a witness to testify to the Light, so that all might believe through him.  ⁸ He himself was not the Light, but he came to testify to the Light.  ⁹ The true Light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.

¹⁰ He was in the world, and the world came into being through Him; yet the world did not know Him.  ¹¹ He came to what was His own, and His own people did not accept Him.  ¹² But to all who received Him, who believed in His name, He gave power to become children of God, ¹³ who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.

¹⁴ And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen His glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.  ¹⁵ (John testified to Him and cried out, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because He was before me.’”)  ¹⁶ From His fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.

¹⁷ The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.  ¹⁸ No one has ever seen God.  It is God-the-Only-Begotten, Who is in the bosom of the Father, Who has made God fully known.

                                                            The Word of God.

                                                            Thanks be to God.

 So, how valuable is your humanity?

This question of human worth is in the mind of St John as he sets the stage of his Gospel with these famous opening words of creation, “In the beginning ... was the Word.”  Note that John carefully repeats the familiar opening words of Genesis, the first book of Holy Scripture.  John is signaling that the whole creation is beginning again.  It is a breathtaking use of Scripture to signal a breathtaking moment in time.  Everything that was brought into being “in the beginning,” is being brought into being again.  The “birth” of creation first happened when the Spirit of God “swept over” the “formless void and darkness.”[5]  Now, “when the fullness of time had come,” the re-birth of creation is happening because God has sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem us, to adopt us as sons and daughters with the Spirit singing in our hearts, “Abba!  Father!”[6]

So the birth of Jesus Christ signals the rebirth of creation.  It is, paradoxically, an even more significant moment than the “Big-Bang” moment of original creation.  This is why chronological time is actually measured from the moment of Christ’s birth.  Every time you date a check, you are tacitly acknowledging that the Word of the Father, “Light from Light,” Light of Life — Jesus Christ — is shining triumphantly in the darkness that seeks to destroy it.

Every time you write the date, you are affirming the immeasurable value of your humanity.  Have you ever thought about this?  Not just the immanent value here and now within the time and space of this earthly existence, but the transcendent value of your humanity, eternally — before your birth and after your death — in the endless time and space of Paradise, in the company of saints and angels, cherubim and seraphim, Martyrs and Apostles, Mary the Theotokos, and the Holy Trinity!

So hear this, now, loudly and clearly: Your humanity is worth the Incarnation of the Son of God.  This is what John is singing at the beginning of his Gospel: You — you — are worth the Word becoming flesh.

John is singing that every single existing thing has been brought into being through a divine Son Who is in the bosom of His divine Father.  He is singing that this divine Son is the Light of Life animating all of creation and enlightening all human beings.  He is singing that this divine Son, this Light of Life, this invisible, eternal fountain of grace and truth and glory, has willingly become a human person with a human body — “like us in all respects, apart from sin”[7] — and has willingly lived among us in a human family.  And even though we fail to recognize the very One Who brings us into being and sustains every breath of our existence, John is singing that the darkness of our rejection does not have the last word!  Amazingly, we the unrighteous are still offered the freedom to receive Him and to be born again as the son or daughter of God the Father.  The Word-Become-Flesh is the supreme act of respect — no, I dare to say that it is the supreme act of reverence by God — for our humanity.

One theologian puts it like this: “By acknowledging the God-man [Jesus Christ], we indirectly acknowledge the Christlikeness of [human beings], the divine descent of [human beings], the divine elevation of [human beings] ...”[8]

The great Saint Athanasius (c. 293-373), tirelessly defended the Incarnation of the God-man Jesus Christ against heretical distortion at the turn of the 4^th century.  He cries out time and again, “What was God to do?”

“Death and corruption were gaining ever firmer hold on [the human race, which was] in [the] process of destruction.  [Human beings], who [were] created in God’s image and in [their] possession of reason reflected the very Word Himself, [were] disappearing, and the work of God was being undone ... [From the law of death], there was no escape ... It was ... monstrous that beings which once had shared the nature of the Word should perish and turn back again into non-existence through corruption ... It was supremely unfitting that the work of God in [humanity] should disappear ... What then was God, being Good, to do?  Was He to let corruption and death have their way with them?[9]

“What was God to do in face of this dehumanising of [humanity]? ... Was He to keep silence before so great a wrong and let [human beings] go on being thus deceived and kept in ignorance of Himself?  If so, what was the use of having made them in His own Image originally? ... What was the use of their ever having had the knowledge of God?”[10]

St. Athanasius explains that throughout the history of creation, God had already taken three significant actions to reveal Himself and His will to humanity.  First, God has created the inarguable harmony of the natural world, “by which the Maker might be known.”  Second, God has called forth holy people, saints and prophets, through whom humanity could “learn to know God ... and “to recognise the worship of idols as the negation of ... truth.”  And thirdly, God has gifted the human race with the law, as “a sacred school of the knowledge of God,” by which to “lead a good life.” 

Three great gifts: holy works of creation, holy people, and holy law.  “So great, indeed, [was] the goodness and the love of God.  Yet [humanity] ... did not lift up their heads towards the truth.  So burdened were they with their wickedness that they seemed rather to be brute beasts than reasonable [human beings], reflecting the very Likeness of the Word.”[11]

What was God to do?

How valuable is your humanity?

Are you worth rescuing?

Sts Athanasius answers his question, with St John’s song in mind:  “What else could He possibly do, being God, but renew His Image in [humanity], so that through it [men, women, and children] might once more come to know Him? ... The Word of God came in His own Person, because it was He alone, the Image of the Father Who could recreate [humanity] made after the Image.  In order to effect this re-creation, however, He had first to do away with death and corruption.  Therefore He assumed a human body, in order that in it death might once for all be destroyed, and that [human beings] might be renewed according to the Image.”[12]

So, “as [a human being the Word of God] dwells, taking to Himself a body like the rest; and through His actions done in that body, as it were on [our] own level, He teaches [us] who would not learn by other means to know Himself, the Word of God, and through Him, the Father.”[13]

How valuable is your humanity?

“In the beginning was the Word ... and the Word became flesh and lived among us ... and we have seen His glory, full of grace and truth.”

How valuable is your humanity?

“From His fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.  God-the-Only-Begotten, Who is in the bosom of the Father, has made God fully known.”

How valuable is your humanity?

“To all who receive Him, who believe in His name, He will give power to become children of God, born not of human blood or desire or will, but born of God.”

How valuable is your humanity?

Listen to the song of the Church!

In the first century, the Apostle Peter tells us in the New Testament that the gift of Jesus our Lord is the divine power for us

 

“To become partakers of the divine nature.”[14]

 Saint Irenaeus in the second century explains:

“It was for this end that the Word of God was made [a human being], and He who was the Son of God became the Son of Man, that [human beings], having been taken into the Word, and receiving the adoption, might become the [son or daughter] of God.”[15]

 St Athanasius in the third century states the value of your humanity most radically.  Get ready, for this will startle you:

“The very Word of God ... was made a human being that we might be made God.”[16]

 Athanasius explains:

“The Word was made flesh in order to offer up this body for all, and that we, partaking of His Spirit, might be deified.”[17]

 In the 13^th century, Saint Thomas Aquinas reiterates God’s radical love for humanity:

“The only-begotten Son of God, wanting to make us sharers in His divinity, assumed our nature, so that He, made a human being, might make human beings gods.”[18]

 And, continuing the Church’s litany into the 19^th century is none other than C.S. Lewis (1898-1968):

“The Church exists for nothing else but to draw [human beings] into Christ, to make them little Christs.  If the Church is not doing this, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, event the Bible itself, are simply a waste of time.  God became [Human] for no other purpose.”[19]

How valuable is your humanity?

People of God, what a wonderful life this is.  But it is short.  And everything in this life is transient — passing away — except your humanity.  By the grace and goodness of God, your essential humanity has been given the gift of immortality.  You will live forever.

How valuable is your humanity?

Exactly one liturgical year ago today, the body of my beloved father, Irvin, died.  During this challenging year, I have been continuously reflecting on my father’s gifts.  Perhaps his greatest is a deep appreciation for the iconic power of our humanity to communicate the eternal.  While he demanded great respect for this earth — all people, all natural things, and all good writing — Dad would remind us that this sacred earth is not truly our home; this earth and all that is in it receives its sacredness from another, larger, higher, holier world, where our infinitely valuable humanity finally belongs.

People of God, “The Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen His glory, full of grace and truth.”

“No eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the human heart conceived, what God has prepared for those who love” the God and Father of Jesus Christ our Lord, through Whom and with Whom be to the Father Himself, with the Son Himself, in the Holy Spirit, honor and might and glory unto ages of ages.  Amen.”[20]

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1]. This prayer for illumination comes from St John Chrysostom (c. 347-407) and is prayed silently by an Orthodox priest prior to the reading of the Gospel lesson during the Divine Liturgy every Sunday.

 

[2]. Elementally, the human body (65% oxygen, 18% carbon, 10% hydrogen, 3% nitrogen, 1.6% calcium, 1.2% phosphorous, and small amounts of 54 other elements) is worth between $4.50 and $160.  But in terms of body parts, the emerging “Red Market” lends your body as much as $45 million.  See Scott Carney’s piece, “Inside the Business of Selling Human Body Parts” in Wired Magazine, February 19, 2011.  Also, see his website: http://www.scottcarney.com/category/red-market/ .

 

[3]. Statistically speaking, a single human life has been given the following values: $50,000 per year of quality life (international health insurance actuarial figure); $129,000 per year (kidney dialysis study); $6.9 million total (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — based on what people are willing to pay to avoid certain risks); $7.9 million (U.S. Food and Drug Administration — figure used in configuring cigarette warning labels); $6 millions (U.S. Transportation Department — figure used in evaluating lives saved by stronger automobile roofs); $7 million (Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Vol. 27: 2003 — worldwide median value for prime aged workers); this paper, “The Value of a Statistical Life: A Critical Review of Market Estimates throughout the World,” by W. Kip Viscusi and Joseph E. Aldy, can be downloaded from The National Bureau of Economic Research: http://www.nber.org/papers/w9487 .  See Binyamin Appelbaum’s New York Times February 16, 2011 article, “As U.S. Agencies Put More Value on a Life, Businesses Fret” at http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/17/business/economy/17regulation.html?_r .

 

[4]. This translation has been slightly adapted from the New Revised Standard Version.

 

[5]. Genesis 1.1-3

 

               [6]. Galatians 4.4-6.

 

[7]. This phrase is taken from the Definition of Christ’s Person at the Fourth Ecumenical Council, the Council of Chalcedon in 451.  This understanding of Christology — the dual nature of Christ’s single Person — is considered doctrinally canonical for historic Christianity.

 

[8]. Archmandrite Justin Popović, The Supreme Value and Infallible Criterion, B#80A, Vol. 4, pp. 114, 116, 138, as quoted by Johanna Manley in The Bible and the Holy Fathers for Orthodox: Daily Scripture Readings and Commentary for Orthodox Christians (Crestwood, New York: Monastery Books, 1984/1999), 13-14.  Popović continues, “The struggle for the God-man [Jesus Christ] is the struggle for [human beings.  We [Christians] are] not humanists, but people of divine-human faith and life ... struggling for true [humanity].”

 

[9]. St Athanasius, De Incarnatione Verbi Dei (On the Incarnation of the Word of God), chapter 2, paragraph 6.  The New Edition in 2003 by St Vladimir’s Seminary Press is introduced by C.S. Lewis and has added as an appendix a rich and valuable letter from Athanasius: “The Letter of St. Athanasius to Marcellinus on the Interpretation of the Psalms.”

 

[10]. De Incarnatione, chapter 3, paragraph 13.

 

               [11]. De Incarnatione, chapter 3, paragraph 12.

 

[12]. De Incarnatione, chapter 3, paragraph 13.

 

               [13]. De Incarnatione, chapter 3, paragraph 14.

 

               [14]. 2 Peter 1.4

 

[15]. St. Irenaeus, Against Heresies, book 3, chapter 19, paragraph 1), as translated in Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 1: The Apostolic Fathers, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, edited by Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, Revised by A. Cleveland Coxe (Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., 2004), 448-49.  Irenaeus continues: “For by no other means could we have attained to incorruptibility and immortality, unless we had been united to incorruptibility and immortality.  But how could we be joined to incorruptibility and immortality, unless, first, incorruptibility and immortality had become that which we also are?”

 

               [16]. St. Athanasius, De Incarnatione Verbi Dei, paragraph 54, section 3.  Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Volume 4: Athanasius: Select Works and Letters, Second Series, edited by Philip Schaff and Henry Wace (Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., 2004), 65.  The Greek verb used by Athanasius is qeopoihqwmen (theopoiethomen).

 

               [17]. St. Athanasius, Defence of the Nicene Definition, chapter 3, paragraph 14.  Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Volume 4: Athanasius: Select Works and Letters, Second Series, edited by Philip Schaff and Henry Wace (Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., 2004), 158.

 

               [18]. St. Thomas Aquinas, Opuscula 57, 1-4, as quoted in section 460 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, with Modifications from the Editio Typica (New York: Doubleday, 1995/1997), 128-29.  This quote from Aquinas occurs in the Catechism’s explication of article 2 of the Apostles’ Creed, “And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.”

 

               [19]. C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (Harper Collins, 1952/2001), 199.

 

[20]. St Athanasius concludes On the Incarnation with this benediction (chapter 9, paragraph 57), drawing from the Apostle Paul’s reassuring words in 1 Corinthians 2.9.