Sermon for March 15th

A professor of mine in seminary told me a story about when he was in college working. I don’t remember exactly where he worked, but I think it was in a restaurant kitchen somewhere. He said that he worked alongside many different people, but among them were three Muslim men. One day, one of the men took him aside and said, “You are a Christian correct?” My professor answered, “Yes, yes. I am a Christian.” The man speaking to him nodded and shot a glance over to his friends to make sure they were listening, then he continued, “And, being a Christian, is it correct to say that you worship Jesus—you believe he is God?” “Yes. I believe Jesus Christ is God,” this professor answered. The man questioning continued once again, “So, when Jesus died on the cross, you believe that God . . . died?” My professor thought for a moment before answering but then responded, “Yes.” The man he was talking to doubled over and fell down on the ground . . . laughing. He found this statement to be the most hilarious thing he had ever heard.

Foolishness. The apostle Paul calls the message of the cross foolishness. People I know would probably just call it “stupid”. And you would either be labeled stupid as well or, at least, misguided, ignorant or brainwashed if they discovered that you believed in such a thing.

I have had many discussions with people about the history of religions. I have done some reading on the subject as well. Often, as it is pointed out to me, different religions throughout the ages have stolen or, shall we say “borrowed” stories or concepts from each other. Sometimes the similarities are profound. For instance, in Babylonian mythology, there is a flood that wipes out all humankind, except for those in a big boat . . . very reminiscent of the story about Noah and the ark that we read about in Genesis. Questions abound about where various moral codes came from. For instance, around the time when much of the Old Testament was first written, a lot of different cultures had some kind of understanding of sin. Who came up with it first? Who borrowed what from whom? And does any of this make sin any less true?

Some older cultures, in their search for ways to get the crops to grow, would sacrifice their King in order to make it rain or to satisfy various fertility gods. The thing was, the King himself was often worshipped as a god so, sometimes the King’s son who was sacrificed instead. In other words, the Son of a god was sacrificed. The god Odin, from Norse mythology, once sacrificed himself to himself by hanging himself on a tree. Galatians 3:13 says, “Christ redeemed us from the cruse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.” The problem is often presented to me this way, “How can you still believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that his crucifixion means anything really when so many stories talk about the same thing throughout the history of religion?”

Foolishness. Even the apostle Paul calls the message of the cross foolishness. The popular author and atheist Richard Dawkins calls those who believe that Jesus is God, “deluded.” And, as he puts it so clearly in his book, “The God Delusion,” parents who teach their children such things should be charged with child abuse.

Most people will accept that some guy named Jesus did die on a cross in the early first century because there are historical records that say as much. However, since he died, he couldn’t have been God and, since he’s not God, he can’t be raised from the dead. But even if you accept that it happened, many pagans, for instance, will argue that this is nothing new. Chiseled in stone 2000 years before Jesus, there are stories about the Egyptian god Osiris dying and being resurrected as well. Maybe Jesus is just a new version of an old god. Jesus’ death and resurrection are thought to be two sides of the same coin—two sides of a very stupid
and unbelievable coin to be more specific.

At the end of Matthew’s gospel, after Jesus had died on the cross, the religious leaders are said to have gone in front of Pontius Pilate saying this, “Sir, we remember what that imposter (speaking of Jesus) said while he was still alive.” ‘After three days I will rise again.’ Therefore, command the tomb to be made secure until the third day; otherwise his disciples may go and steal him away, and tell the people, ‘He has been raised from the dead,’ and the last deception would be worse than the first.” Many a biblical reader has questioned how they might continue to believe that Jesus died and was raised from the dead when this gospel so blatantly points out that the disciples MIGHT have just made the whole thing up?

When I was a child I had a parakeet named “Chippy.” I also had a cat named Benjamin who I liked to invite into the house to look at Chippy’s cage. I thought that I was helping them to be good friends until one day Benjamin found his way into the house and up into my room where he knew Chippy resided. Coming home from school one day, I frantically followed the trail of little white and green feathers which brought me to a very alarmed and terrorized Chippy (and a very excited and hungry little Benjamin). Chippy survived that afternoon but died that night from his wounds.

My dad, mom and I held a brief ceremony for my dearly departed feathered friend, laid him in a little white box and, since it was winter, set him in the garage. My dad told me he would bury the box later. Who knows how long it was until I found that box with NO CHIPPY INSIDE! I would find out that my dad just tossed him into the trees a little while later! I thought Chippy had been buried in that box! But his body was missing. I had been bamboozled! I felt betrayed! Many people wonder if the same thing is happening to them in the story of Jesus’ resurrection.

Foolishness. The apostle Paul calls the message of the cross foolishness. Deceptive is what the religious authorities called it according to the gospel of Matthew. And the questions continue today as well. Wasn’t it just a few years ago when scientists argued that they had disproven the resurrection by finding a bone box with the name Jeshua (otherwise known as Jesus) alongside ones with the names “Joseph” and “Mary”? While this discovery was eventually shown to be false, the fear of trickery is still very much alive. You might not be stupid or deluded because you believe that Jesus, that God himself, died, but many people fear that they just might be the victims of a very cruel religious trick.

There seem to be no end to plots explaining away the miracle of Jesus’ death and resurrection by focusing on the sins of the church, namely, the Roman Catholic church throughout history. Dan Brown’s “The DaVinci Code” argues that Jesus wasn’t God at all, the church just covered up his marriage to the prostitute Mary Magdalene so that we would all THINK he was God! Many an author has pointed out that the church, throughout history, has been filled with politics and scheming and, so the argument goes, those who believed that Jesus was God gained power over those who didn’t and forced their opinion on everyone since then. In other words, the only reason it’s so hard to believe that Jesus, God himself, died and was raised from the dead is because some politician in church robes forced us to BELIEVE God really died on the cross instead of telling us the truth, which would make a lot more sense.

If you still believe that Jesus truly was God and died on that cross. Well, that is foolishness. Even the apostle Paul calls the message of the cross foolishness. Others call it stupid. Deceiving. Delusion. Doctrine created by a corrupt church. Or simply, “nothing new.”

So here’s the part of the sermon where I’m supposed to bowl you over with my wit and wisdom proving to you all beyond a doubt how yes Jesus is God, yes he died, yes he has been resurrected. You don’t have to worry about it anymore. It’s not stupid to believe it. It’s not foolish to have faith. You aren’t being deceived. You aren’t being deluded by a power hungry church. But, that’s not what the text says. That’s not what the Bible says.

Here are a few lines from what Paul says in his letter to the Corinthians, “The message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom. God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe. We proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles. For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.

Jesus, God himself, was born, suffered, died, was buried and was raised from the dead. I know it’s stupid and foolish to say such a thing. It might be trick, it might be borrowed, we might be deluded and maybe we’ve just been indoctrinated. But there’s an important part that I haven’t said yet. The truth is, this statement isn’t a fact that can be proved or disproven. It can’t be a trick, or a delusion or simply a doctrine because there is much more to it than that. It’s a confession; it’s a promise: Jesus, God himself, was born, suffered, died, was buried and was raised from the dead FOR YOU, for your salvation—to be your Lord and Savior. This doesn’t mean that you should leave your mind, your reason, your intelligence and your skepticism at the door, but it does mean that, perhaps, Jesus’ promise is not meant to satisfy your need for proof, or your need for a god, but your need for a Savior. The message is about the power of God.

There are many arguments used to support the message of the cross through historical documents, theological arguments and scientific reasoning, but, finally, Jesus is not after being proved according to the wisdom of this world. He is out to give you faith. Faith that despite the fact—the FACT!—that you will die, a scientific necessity, God’s promise is that you will live with forever with Jesus. I know, it would be foolish to believe it. But God is out to give you faith anyway. Faith that despite the fact that you will hurt yourself and others, another axiom of life, God’s promise is that you will be saved. Not based on your list of good deeds, as in the case of good ol’ Osiris that I mentioned before, but because Jesus Christ forgives you. Salvation is not based on your power, but on the power of God.

I know that itt sounds very stupid and foolish, for God to forgive you. But while you know all the facts, and they are all against you, God says believe in the foolishness of my death and my resurrection, the foolishness of my forgiveness, and I will be foolish enough to save you from all the facts of this world, from sin, death and the devil himself. Not through proofs, but through power, the power of God.

What will you do when you are face to face with the arguments and doubts that the world throws at you?. While it might seem very weak in our eyes, God’s power is made perfect in our weakness. Is Jesus truly divine? Did God die on a cross? The way so many cultures have written about? Even without perfect scientific evidence? Even when confessed by such a sinful church? The best answer is the foolish one. Yes, Jesus, God himself, was born, suffered, died, and was raised from the dead . . . for me, because I need a Savior. And do you know something even more foolish than that? Jesus loves you so much that he died on the cross for you too. Because you need a Savior too. Amen.