| As we move today from
the first to the second article of the Apostles Creed, our theology shifts
from God to Jesus Christ and we ponder our Christology. “Who do you
say that I am?” Jesus asks Peter. “Who do you say that I am?” asks
Jesus of us this morning. JESUS CHRIST: Those two words tell the whole story! For me, the word Jesus names the human side of God’s Chosen One. Jesus, the Jew from Nazareth; Jesus, the object of historical scholarship; Jesus, the infant; Jesus the young boy who stays behind in the Temple; Jesus the storyteller, the healer, the prophet; Jesus the challenger of unjust systems; Jesus the law breaker and troublemaker for the Roman officials; Jesus – God’s Chosen One who showed us how to live as his disciples. Jesus was the name given to Mary and Joseph’s newborn. The English form of the name, Jesus, goes back to the Latin, Iesus, which transliterates the Greek; but the original Hebrew form was Joshua. The name means “Yahweh is salvation” or “Yahweh saves or will save” or “Deliverer.” To this human side of Jesus was appended the name Christ, which suggests the Divine nature of God’s Chosen One. In Aramaic the name Christ means Messiah or the Anointed One. It is a title applied to the king expected by the Jews. For me, Christ is my Savior, the object of my faith. I have spent many hours – even days and months – studying the Jesus of history, reading Bultmann and Tillich and other contemporary theologians whose scholarship contributes to the quest for the historical Jesus. But on a personal level, when I respond to Jesus inquiry “Who do you say that I am?” it is the Christ of faith that I profess. It is the Christ who is mystery; it is the Christ who performed miracles as his teaching tool; it is the Christ of the Resurrection, the One who appeared to his beloved friends in order to fulfill God’s intentions and remind us forevermore that Life and Love have the final say; it is the One who asks me daily, “Do you love me?” The Tuesday afternoon Covenant Group is reading a little book called Ashes to Easter, which is intended to be a daily devotional throughout Lent. In it, Jessica Powers shares a haunting poem which she titles The Master Beggar. Perhaps it is because I am still reliving recent memories of days in LaBorgona, where I was on the receiving end of extravagant, generous, sacrificial, loving hospitality at the home of Antonio and Idalia Gomez, that this poem spoke to the core of my being, but it expresses my struggle with the demands of my faith in Jesus Christ. Writes Powers, |
||
| |
Worse than the poorest
mendicant alive, the pencil man, the blind man with his breath of music shaming all who do not give, are You to me, Jesus of Nazareth. Must You take up Your post on every block of every street? Do I have no release? Is there no room of earth that I can lock to Your sad face, Your pitiful whisper “Please”? I seek the counters of time’s gleaming store but make no purchases, for You are there. How can I waste one coin while You implore with tear-soiled cheeks and dark blood-matted hair? And when I offer You in charity pennies minted by love, still, still You stand fixing Your sorrowful eyes on me. Must all my purse be emptied in Your hand? Jesus, my beggar, what would You have of me? Father and mother? the lover I long to know? The child I would have cherished tenderly? Even the blood that through my heart’s valves flow? I too would be a beggar. Long tormented, I dream to grant You all and stand apart with You on some bleak corner, tear-frequented, and trouble humankind for its heart. |
|
Jesus Christ. “Who do you say that I am?” In groups of two or three, share who Jesus Christ is to you. The next two lines in the Apostles Creed are further commentary on the human and divine natures of Jesus Christ. Conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary highlight the mysterious paradox of God’s son. In the words of Peter Berger, “On the one hand, Jesus Christ is defined as some sort of supernatural being. On the other hand, he is described as a human being born of a particular woman. Eternity and time collide.” (p. 69, Questions of Faith) Simply stated, this is the mystery of faith. That Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit suggests that Jesus was formed and created by God’s Spirit. Remember, the Holy Spirit is often described as God’s breath or ruah. So, Jesus was filled with this Spirit from the moment of conception to the moment of his departure from this earth. Joan Chittister makes the point that the Creed does not tell us how Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit. The Creed simply tells us that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit. We are simply being asked to believe that Jesus was born under the impulse of the Spirit of the Holy (pp.83-84, In Search of Belief). It has been said that Jesus Christ is God’s best “show and tell.” I believe that. And I also believe that if God poured forth God’s Spirit into Jesus, the very human creature, God also pours forth the Holy Spirit into each of our lives. There need not be any dualism between the flesh and the spirit. The flesh is not evil. It is the integration of the flesh and the spirit that makes life holy. Our bodies are truly God’s temples. Unlike Jesus, we are not “fully divine,” rather, we spend our entire lives growing and maturing into the likeness of Jesus who is “God’s guide to Godness” (Chittister, p. 86). In the words of John Wesley, we are going on to perfection. And this divine nature of Jesus is complimented by his human nature. Born of the Virgin Mary, this Chosen One is flesh of our flesh. His mother Mary provides the womb for God’s birthing. The virginity of Mary has never been a major concern for me. (Although this is one of the orthodox, traditional teachings that is considered critical to our more theologically conservative sisters and brothers in the United Methodist tradition. Believing in the literal virgin birth is one of their requirements for faithful believers.) My studies of this issue have revealed that the translation of the word “virgin” has always been in question. It has so many meanings. Besides, it puts the focus on sex, which then categorizes women as virgins or nonvirgins, which then sets standards for judging women. When was the last time we made male virginity the measure of a man’s character and spiritual value? (Chittister, p. 97) I prefer to believe in Mary as a strong, decisive, risk-taking woman. She was given a choice and she deliberated before answering the angel “I am the servant of God” (Luke 1:38). From that moment on, Mary partnered with God and shows us how God invites each of us to be birthers of life and love in this world. How do you understand Mary’s role? What words would you use to describe this woman? What is important to you about the mother of Jesus? Jesus Christ. When we come to the communion table, we come to celebrate the life and death and resurrection of this Holy One whose very nature is human and divine. We do not come so much to memorialize Christ’s sacrifice, but rather to remember and give thanks for the life of Love that he lived, a life that resulted in his death on a cross because of his intolerance for injustice. The bread is his life: the fruit of the vine, a reminder of the life giving blood that coursed through his human body as he taught us all how to love God and our neighbors as ourselves. “Who do you say that I am?” Jesus asks us. And each time we answer that question, we might have a new insight, a new perspective. May you be blessed with this question throughout your days. And may you continue to grow into the likeness of Jesus Christ with your every breath and your every action. Alleluia! Amen! |
||