My Plastic Jesus, Sunday, 9/14/14, Matthew 10: Someone once told me, Jesus is not your plastic pal. You can t carry him around in your pocket

Transcription

1 My Plastic Jesus, Sunday, 9/14/14, Matthew 10: Someone once told me, Jesus is not your plastic pal. You can t carry him around in your pocket until you re ready to play with him, then put him away when your bored or something better comes along. I ve repeated that so often that on a recent last birthday I received this: My very own plastic Jesus. This Jesus action figure comes with poseable arms, so I can make Jesus bless me, or I can make him condemn the Pharisees. He has wheels beneath his feet for realistic gliding action, so I can pretend to recreate the miracle of Jesus gliding across the stormy waters to meet the disciples in the boat. His package even includes those most reassuring words from the gospel of John, I did not come to judge the world, but to save it. You couldn t ask for anything more in a personal, pocket-sized savior. He s nonthreatening, he does what I tell him to do and no more, he s portable, and he s entertainingwell, at least for a while! Despite all that, I ve decided to keep my plastic Jesus tucked away in his original plastic package. You see, the label on his package warns me that Jesus is a choking hazard. Specifically, Jesus has small parts that are not suitable for children under 3! As silly as my plastic Jesus action figure is, he represents a real challenge we all face in our journey of being transformed into the likeness of Jesus. We all, in our own way, tend to keep Jesus safely packed away in plastic. Whenever we fail to honestly read and respond to the whole of Jesus in the whole of the bible - whenever we reject a Jesus who makes us uncomfortable in favor of one we can control- we worship an idol, trading our real Lord and Savior for a plastic figure that has no more power to save than a can of spam. 2 You probably don t have a plastic Jesus bobble-head riding on the dash board of your car, but even if you do, I doubt that it s the symbols we adorn our car with that trouble Jesus most. Our real problem is that underneath it all, most of us are holding on to limited and distorted images of Jesus. Take this image, for example, which dresses the newborn Jesus in the clothing of Santa Claus. Believe it or not, this image was actually sponsored by a group of Canadian churches for a Christmas evangelism campaign. The caption reads, Go on, ask him for something this Christmas. Sure, it s cute and memorable, but do we really want to identify Jesus with jolly old Saint Nick, who mysteriously covers the globe once a year for the sole purpose of doling out gifts to good little girls and boys? 1

2 3 Each of us creates a plastic Jesus in our own particular image, but here are a few of the more common forms that we find ourselves needing to guard against. Together, they paint a Plastic Jesus as a polite, passive, pleasant, placating, and protecting pal. As we look at each of these in turn, examine your own heart to see if you re carrying around a plastic Jesus that needs to be melted and remolded in the refiner s fire! 4 Polite Jesus dominates so much of the artwork depicting Jesus. Polite Jesus is always well groomed with a stainless white robe. He s so clean that if he wasn t the Son of God, we d think he hadn t eaten or traveled anywhere for days. Polite Jesus is always calm and serene, perhaps because his mind is so full of heavenly things. Polite Jesus always knocks before entering and is careful to never offend others. Polite Jesus never speaks in a raised voice, which may explain why we re so fond of whispering in church. Of course, like most images of Jesus, there is a glimmer of truth in Polite Jesus. Jesus WAS supernaturally serene, because he carried within him the image and Spirit of God, just as all baptized believers now do. Perhaps it was Polite Jesus who honored his mother s request to help the bride groom save face by turning water into wine at the wedding in Canaan. (CLICK) But there s another side to Jesus that belies Polite Jesus, and that s Prophetic Jesus. It s prophetic Jesus that we see in Matthew 10, warning us: Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law a man s enemies will be the members of his own household. Prophetic Jesus is downright impolite, challenging our assumptions about ourselves and the social realities around us. It s Prophetic Jesus who John describes in his Revelation as having eyes like blazing fire; feet like bronze glowing in a furnace, and [a] voice like the sound of rushing waters. Prophetic Jesus can fills us with awe, fear, and confusion, so we usually avoid meeting him, seeking out Polite Jesus instead. 2

3 5 Another comfortable image of Jesus is Passive Jesus. Passive Jesus is a docile little lamb- cute, curious, and harmless, like the tame animals at a petting zoo. Passive Jesus is appealing because he s not a threat to anybody, he s easy to love and talk about, and because we can let him take our place when it comes time for a blood sacrifice. John the Baptist reminds us that Jesus did in fact die for us, when he called Jesus the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. But the sacrifice of Jesus was anything but passive. (CLICK) The antidote to Passive Jesus is Powerful Jesus. Powerful Jesus knew exactly who he was, who s he was, and why the father had sent him. He was so powerful that he was able to lay his own life down for us. Powerful Jesus is like the lion, Aslan, from The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. In the original book by C.S. Lewis, the children have this conversation with Mr. & Mrs. Beaver about Aslan: "Aslan?" said Mr. Beaver. "Why, don't you know? He's the King. He's the Lord of the whole wood It is he, not you, that will save Mr. Tumnus." "Is is he a man?" asked Lucy. "Aslan a man!" Mr. Beaver said sternly. "Certainly not. I tell you he is the King of the wood and the son of the great Emperor-Beyond-the-Sea. Don't you know who is the King of Beasts? Aslan is a lion." "Ooh!" said Susan, "Is he quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion." "That you will, dearie, and no mistake," said Mrs. Beaver; "if there's anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they're either braver than most or else just silly." Then he isn t safe? said Lucy. Safe? said Mr. Beaver. Don t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? Course he isn t safe. But he s good. He s the king, I tell you. 3

4 6 Perhaps you re more familiar with Pleasant Jesus. Pleasant Jesus invites us for a stroll through the garden, full of promises of prosperity and health with no personal cost or risk to ourselves. Being with Pleasant Jesus is refreshing. A quick run through our favorite bible promises in the morning, like John 3:16, gives us the quick fix we need to have a great day. Whosoever believes in him shall have eternal life. Allright, we re in! (CLICK) Unfortunately, if we allow any of the surrounding bible passages to intrude into our awareness, the promise making Pleasant Jesus is quickly displaced by Perilous Jesus. This same Jesus who promises eternal life to all who believe in him, we also find telling the apostle Peter in John 21 that he will die a martyr for his faith. It s Perilous Jesus who warns US, and not just the rich young ruler, that It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. Perilous Jesus reminds us that being a disciple of Jesus requires great risk and the ultimate personal sacrifice, for it s only as we lay down our lives for the sake of Jesus that we find our lives. 7 If pleasant Jesus isn t your issue, then how about Placating Jesus. It s so easy to view Jesus as a Genie in a lamp, ready to spring forth in response to our every prayer. In a way, placating Jesus is similar to an invisible vending machine that requires the deposit of the coins of prayer and penance before dispensing its goods. Placating Jesus tends to appear whenever we emphasize that Jesus taught us to Ask and it will be given to you without also remembering that Jesus taught us that we are to pray to our Father, Thy will be done. (CLICK) The antidote to Placating Jesus is Passionate Jesus, as we find him praying in the Garden of Gethsemane: Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me; yet not my will, but yours be done. Passionate Jesus reminds us of the true purpose of prayer- Obedient, humble, and honest submission of our complete selves before God the Father. 4

5 8 Protecting Jesus is the Jesus of many Sunday School Lessons and children s books. In the famous scene from the gospel depicted in this slide, we remember that Jesus bravely walked across the waves and comforted the disciples in the wind-tossed boat. We tend to miss, however, that his purpose was not to comfort them but to shock them into a greater faith. (CLICK) It s not Protecting Jesus, but Provocative Jesus, who arrives at the boat and calls Peter to join him out on the stormy waters. It s Provocative Jesus who chases the money changers and the merchants out of the temple and redefines the meaning of Sabbath laws. It s Provocative Jesus who saves his harshest condemnation for the religious leaders of the day, overturning most expectations of what the Messiah will do and say. 9 Finally, we come to the most insidious Plastic Jesus of all, Pal Jesus. Pal Jesus is our best friend, a product of our desperate need to find lasting and authentic friendships in an increasingly fragmented and superficial world. With Pal Jesus, we know we re on equal footing- just friend to friend. If we mess up, we know our Pal Jesus won t mind. He ll forgive us without our need to even ask. In fact, Pal Jesus is so understanding and is such a great listener, that we never have to stop talking and listen to him. And Pal Jesus is happy to go along with whatever our plans happen to be. He s the perfect plastic friend. (CLICK) But once again, the words of the bible intrude on our self-indulgent fantasy, and in comes Prince Jesus: Prince of Peace, King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, fully human and fully God. As our sovereign Lord, Prince Jesus insists we surrender all to the will of his Father. While he understands us and loves us completely, as our King he sets the boundaries of our friendship by requiring nothing less than our complete loyalty. 10 Jesus knew how to be Polite, but he was fully God s Prophet, and seemed more concerned with turning hearts toward God than with following the established rules. Jesus submitted to death on a cross, but this was a majestic display of his true Power, not a sign of weakness or passivity. There s no denying that it can be Pleasant to rest in the peace of Jesus, in that Sweet Hour of Prayer, but the journey of discipleship that Jesus leads us on is more often filled with worldly and spiritual Peril. 5

6 Jesus delights in interceding before the Father when we go to him in prayer, but the Passion of Jesus insists that we pray for God s will before our own will. Jesus can and often does shield us from trouble, but more often his invitation to discipleship is one that Provokes sacrificial change in us and the world around us, often through suffering. And Jesus is our friend, but the friendship is not one of equals. The friendship of Prince Jesus is the gracious, undeserved gift from a God who is bigger and better than we may ever understand. It s not a friendship that should be treated as casually as we usually do. The bible, the inspired Word of God, is a book of many voices, and so we see Jesus portrayed from many different perspectives. But all the voices of the Gospels agree on this: Jesus is not our plastic Pal. We can t carry him around in our pockets until we re ready to play with him, then put him away when we re bored or something better comes along. Jesus is our savior, worthy of our worship, worthy of our reverence, and worthy of our time and attention. Buffalo United Methodist Church serving people for Jesus Christ so that we all may know joy! th Street NW Buffalo, MN Bill Reinhart, Pastor pastorbill@buffaloumc.com 6