conjectural navel gazing; jesus in lint form

sermon: the jesus we know

Sermon: The Second Sunday After the Epiphany, Year A
January 20, 2008
Martin Luther King Sunday
Community Church of Wilmette

The Jesus We Know

Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world grant us your peace.

One of the prayer habits I have is to stop what I am doing, whatever that is, and praying those words.

Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world have mercy on me.

Sometimes I change the pronoun to the singular so I’m just praying for mercy for myself. You know, sometimes you just have a rough day and you need to know that God is as focused on you as upon anyone else.

Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world have mercy on me.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world grant me your peace.

Our story from John’s Gospel this morning presents a great many subjects to preach upon, but I would like us to focus on just one aspect of the story; the many names for Jesus. And here they are:

Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (v. 29)
Son of God (v. 34)
Rabbi (which translated means Teacher) (v. 38)
Messiah (which translated means Anointed) (vs. 41)

All these names for Jesus…

John is trying to get across exactly who he understands Jesus to be…
…Jesus is all of these things…
…And he’s made some interesting choices.

He equates Jesus with a sacrificial Lamb (the Passover Lamb perhaps) who is the mark of salvation and freedom from slavery. John actually gives us the Hebrew words “Rabbi” and “Messiah” instead of the Greek translations of the terms. Perhaps he was trying to identify Jesus in the words of Jesus’ own followers. John wanted us to know who they thought Jesus was as well.

So, I started to ask myself, “Who do I understand Jesus to be?” That’s when this prayer came to mind again.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world have mercy on us.

I use it all the time. It comes from a Eucharistic prayer…a holy refrain in praise of God’s presence in the ritual meal. But, do I really think that this is who Jesus is? This is John’s challenge to me. He’s naming God as he sees God in Jesus. What if I were to do the same? What would it sound like? How would I name Jesus?

Maybe it would sound like a prayer…like that prayer from the communion rite. Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world…

Jesus is the merciful Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world so that we might have peace. Now there’s a job description for you. That’s one heck of a name. And I thought my job description was challenging.

Mercy. Taking away sin. Granting peace.

Sometimes I wonder if Jesus ever longed to ask the first century equivalent of “do you want fries with that?” Something a little easier than Savior of the Universe.

Mercy. Taking away sin. Granting peace. This is how I understand Jesus.

His name is Mercy: It is a quality of God to have mercy. This is God’s promise to us. And I await mercy. This is the fruition of God’s judgment. Mercy. It is sweetness to me. Gentle. Compassionate. Mercy is a soft bed to lie in at the end of a hard day. Jesus brings such mercy. He brings healing. He brings compassion. He proclaims God’s presence in such a way that offers mercy to all.

One Who Takes Away Sin: Now this is where it gets interesting. This is where I wrestle with regrets. And, yes, I have regrets. Regrets come with any life, I think, those little places where we just miss the mark or say the things that we wish we had never said. They come. But they are as forgivable as anything else. It’s just that somehow I keep holding on to them. Regret is like that.

This is where I also wrestle with shame. Shame and sin are not necessarily the same thing. There are different ways to understand shame. You all know this…
“Ah. That’s a shame” is another way of saying that something is sad. But to shame someone, to point that finger and wag it around like a weapon. Well, that can be deadly. Shame and sin…not always the same thing.

Our sins are not those things that some odd morality may foist upon us, or some abusive word may try to level upon us. Systems of shaming are not the same thing as ways of understanding and showing us our sins. There’s always the possibility of forgiveness when we speak of sins. Systems of shaming, on the other hand, need us to be burdened. Always. Such systems purposefully keep us from forgiveness. That’s their goal. They want us burdened…in bondage to their own will and not free in the merciful will of God.

By meditating upon my sins and not some odd shame, by understanding that God takes away those sins, I actually begin to see the difference between real wrongs that I have committed and the false shame with which the world attempts to burden me. And I begin to understand forgiveness, which is the taking away of sin as an act of mercy. And that action brings about peace.

One who Grants Peace: The Lamb of God brings peace. This peace is personal and communal. This peace is faithful and political. This is the peace we mean when we say “peace in the middle east.” This is the peace that comes when I sing “Peaceful Easy Feeling” by the Eagles.

Through Jesus’ taking away my sins, I discover peace. By navigating the difference between true and false guilt, I find a road to peace. I see that God is merciful and desires us to live in peace. This is God’s continuing creative work among us. And, I believe, it is my job to undertake the journey to do the same kind of work in the world as Jesus has done in my life. Yes, brothers and sisters, this is another sermon on journey.

This is how I understand Jesus. All of what I just said is who I understand Jesus to be. Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Jesus grants peace. And, like the disciples in our story this morning, I must follow the Christ I Know: The Lamb of God.

As Christians, once we come to understand the identity of Christ, our relationship with Jesus of Nazareth, we can better understand our own journey. Martin Luther King serves as an example of this. How Dr. King understood Jesus, his ministry, his divinity, and the promises he made, was a cornerstone to the Civil Rights movement.

John’s Gospel gives us several ways to understand Jesus this morning. How do you think Martin Luther King understood Jesus? Who did he understand Jesus to be?

Martin Luther King undertook his journey of faith because he understood Jesus to be a peace maker, a gentle man of justice for all. Jesus’ vision of God’s will was something that guided Dr. King’s journey. Dr. King’s Jesus wants to liberate people from systems of shame…systems of oppression.

The African American population was shamed…3/5 a person…no room for forgiveness…subhuman…No room for grace, no room for mercy, no room in the front of the bus…This is what Martin Luther King was fighting against. It was this kind of system that he challenged. Throughout his ministry we heard the words again and again…justice, mercy, peace, love, people dwelling together in unity…This is the forgiveness of sin. The sin of racism, when forgiven leads to justice, mercy, peace, and love for all. Systems of shaming have no such end. They perpetuate themselves. Hatred breeds more hatred. Violence breeds more violence.

In his letter from Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King wrote, “’Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, pray for those that despitefully use you’… Jesus was an extremist for love, truth and goodness.” This is the core of Dr. King’s journey. This is the center of his faith. How he understood Jesus, the person he met in Jesus, defined his own call and hid sense of purpose in this world.

Jesus has a similar call upon each of us. Each of us are asked to grapple with who we encounter in Jesus; a teacher, the anointed, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, the Son of God, or all of the above…and then we are called to follow that Jesus.

Jesus says,

“I will meet you where your needs are greatest.
I will uphold you and heal you.
And you, in turn, will name me.
What will you name me?
Healer, friend, priest, advocate, guide…?
Name me and I will ask you to follow me,
as an offering of what I have given you to the whole world.”

Thanks be to God.

Posted by tripp at January 19, 2008 07:14 AM