The Gospel According to Whom . . .? ~ Luke 2:8-18

In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. ⁹ Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: ¹¹ to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” ¹³ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!” ¹⁵ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” ¹⁶ So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. ¹⁷ When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; ¹⁸ and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. ~ Luke 2:8-18

“Good news of great joy for all people.” Our world seems in short supply, right? In fact, the holidays for many seem to be much more about stress, running around, getting into debt, more than anything we might call “good.” So our passage today struggles. Not because it isn’t true but because we’ve lost the ability to hear it, to find the world filled with angels and to discover that God is good. So to re-inhabit the story, the drama of it, I’d like to do something a bit different this morning. I am going to offer an imaginative perspective of three angels who are supposedly auditioning to be the arch-angel who will lead “the heavenly host” to the shepherds. In Galatians 1:8, Paul mentions that we should not listen to angels who preach another gospel. Apparently, angels, like humans, can misunderstand, misrepresent, simply miss God. So what follows is my own dramatization of how many of us get the gospel wrong – in ways that are all too familiar in our world, even in the church. So keep your Bible open to Luke 2:8-18 and listen critically. But first an apology for my acting – let grace and forgiveness abound, for this I am truly sorry, and second a disclaimer.  

DISCLAIMER: The events, characters and entities depicted in this sermon are mostly fictional. Any resemblance or similarity to any actual events, entities, or persons, whether living or dead, is only sort of coincidental - except when the Gospel of Luke is quoted, which it is a lot. Okay, so this is kind of fictional, but nonetheless seeks to unmask that which seeks to portray itself as true. So it’s not truly fictional but it seeks to be fictionally true. 

Angel One: Okay – let’s see tone, message, and audience. How would God want me to do this? What’s my motivation? Okay, get into character – be angelic, majestic, perfect.  Oh I’ve made a few changes to the script. I hope that’s okay? This story felt a bit too rated R for my taste. Here we go. Ha! Be afraid, be very afraid! – yes, you should be afraid. Do you know who God truly is? And God knows, God knows everything! Every breath you take and every move you make. Every bond you break, every step you take, He’s watching you. For unto you is born this day – the One who’s coming to clean house – the pure one, the Almighty Smiter (that’s my own addition), do you hear what I’m saying? Now, I am bringing you God’s message of good news for some people – okay, you, you, not you, maybe you, and definitely not you. A king is born in the city of David – a city which, I might add, God could easily wipe off the face of the earth. And  . . .  And . . . Line? Oh yeah, oh yeah, “sign.” The sign? The sign is big, huge, uncontestable – it’s uh, me, I mean us – the angels! We are the sign – perfect, moral angels – white teeth, fresh breath, righteous anger, ready to do battle with a sinful world! “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth – this miserable planet filled with no-good sinners – peace for those whom God loves like . .  .Wait, who are you guys? Uh, there’s a problem – this is not the right audience. Shepherds are you kidding me? Their dirty and I don’t just mean their hands and faces. Who’s the script writer? Luke? Come on! I heard there was another version with “wise men” and proper gifts like gold and frankincense. Where are the priests? SPOILER ALERT: Priests will love him. What? I can’t change that? Okay, fine. But wash your hands you filthy animals and no, I’m not talking to the sheep.

We’ve heard angels one’s message. That God is a morally strict God – itching for vengeance, focused on strict rule following, and seeking starched white, religious people. What’s insidious about this message is that religious people constantly talk about trusting in God and knowing God but are constantly the ones in the gospel story who miss God and misunderstand Jesus’ words and actions. The only priest in the birth story is Zacharias and we all remember what happens to him – he’s the one made mute. And while many of Christians may not be committing notable sins, their hearts are increasingly filled with pride, self-righteousness, insecurity, envy and spite – making the world a miserable place to live in. A gospel like that simply makes outcast out of people who don’t live up to your standards – and the outcasts ARE the audience of the gospel. I’m reminded of the scene from the novel A Prayer for Owen Meany, when the main character, Owen, who is very small due to birth defects is forced to play the baby Jesus though he’s almost a teenager. Embarrassed – he forbids his parents to come to the Christmas play only to discover during it that they are sitting on the front row. When he sees them, he stands up in the manger, points at them and says, “Who let you in here?” How many churches sound like that? Yet the good news is that the gospel is not a moral tale and God is not some heavenly Santa with a naughty and nice list. We all need a savior and aren’t saved because we are good. But let’s return to the story and the second, messed up angel.

Second angel: Okay, whoa that first angel needs decaf. I’ve also made a few changes to improve upon the script. Okay? Be all that you can be. Find success join Christianity! Hey no cowering, no cowering, it’s all good. Don’t worry be happy, right? What do you have to be afraid of, except Roman taxes? Am I right? Okay, fear those but for everything else, no problem. I’ve got good news for you – you can be a success, have it all, for unto you is born this day – in a city whose gdp is still very strong - is One I liked to call “the fixer, the Heavenly CEO, Success Guru for how to make friends and influence people. This will be a sign for you – no problems. No problems, no surprises, no mistakes, no headaches, no weepy phone calls in the middle of the night, no divorce or kids on drugs, or bad financial decisions, because, hey, we know why bad things happen, right? Poor planning, poor thinking, poor prayer and well, just being poor, if we’re honest. Remember what the Bible says, “God helps those who help themselves.” What? That’s not in the Bible? Well, it should be! The sign is that you will find the babe wrapped in . . . what? Lying in a what? Uh, what’s that sign of other than bad parenting? They had nine months to get the Bjorn crib. And can we do something about this audience? Why are we in Bethlehem anyway? I mean Rome is the real scene. Send me and the boys there and this baby will have proper care, I guarantee it.

Angel two’s message also resonates. It imagines that God is all about our hard work and the Gospel God’s assurance that, like Ben Franklin says, “Early to bed, early to rise, will make a man healthy, wealthy and wise.” Christianity then is about success and has no time for failure and little to say to those whose life doesn’t turn out like they plan. There’s no mystery and in the end no gift of grace. The gospel message becomes what we are able to simply do for ourselves and a source of shame for all of us who have failed. In the comedy Talladega nights – Will Ferrell displays this way of thinking for many Christians in an utterly ridiculous sort of way at a meal time prayer. His character – a famous race car driver – prays: Okay. Dear 8 pound, 6 ounce newborn infant Jesus, don’t even know a word yet, just a little infant and so cuddly, but still omnipotent, we just thank you for all the races I’ve won and the 21.2 million dollars – woo!– love that money, that I have accrued over this past season. Also, due to a binding endorsement contract that stipulates I mention Powerade at each grace, I just want to say that Powerade is delicious and it cools you off on a hot summer day. And we look forward to Powerade’s release of Mystic Mountain Blueberry. Thank you for all your power and your grace, dear baby God. Amen.

Now Angel Three – the one who gets it right: Don’t be afraid – oh, I know, I know, it’s hard to see why you shouldn’t be. Augustus is emperor – a military occupation of staggering proportions, the economic situation is dreadful, and no prophets have brought any word from God in a long time. But I am bringing good news of great joy. Right, great joy! Don’t you know that you were made for joy? That God created you because God thought you would enjoy it? And don’t worry because you can’t buy it, don’t have to manufacture it yourself, pretend to be happy, really do anything. God is doing it and doing it for everyone –good news of great joy for all people – rich and poor, young and old, women and men, the righteous, the not-so-righteous, the tattooed, the busy body, the slacker and even that irritating person who voted for the candidate that you did not. And this one who is born in the city of David – is savior, which means that there is something we ALL need saving from– is king, which means that we ALL need help ruling our own lives – is the Lord, which means that God is not distant or far removed from anyone. This will be a sign for you - you will find a child wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. Do you get it? That’s clever, amazing – that’s God. God with us – God in it, the thick of it, the bumps and bruises of it – every nook and cranny of our lives. God is not some abstract thought experiment to be believed or not believed  – God is a flesh and blood person. God is now someone you can see. God is now someone with whom you can share your life and receive his in return. I know I’m off script here but another writer will say, “in him the fullness of God dwelt.” We can look now and see who God truly is and what God really wants. So look at the baby in the stable and sing with us: “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace. And I love that this comes to shepherds. Shepherds remind us of the shepherd King David (2 Sam. 7:8), but also because shepherds belong on God’s guest list for the kingdom: the poor, the maimed, the blind, the lame – the prophecy of Isaiah 61is fulfilled even in his birth. His birth truly reveals who God is and what God has come to do.

“Lord, Lord, Didn’t we Hear this Last Week?”: Judgment in the Sermon on the Mount (the Sequel) ~ Matthew 7:21-2 (Sermon on the Mount series)

²¹“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. ²²On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?’ ²³Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.’ ²⁴“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. ²⁵The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock. ²⁶And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. ²⁷The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its fall!” ²⁸Now when Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were astounded at his teaching, ²⁹for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes. ~ Matthew 7:21-29

Okay, I know, I know, that I’m the movie guy – that annoying guy who always makes analogies, references, outright plagiarisms of films but I simply can’t help myself. This week, as I tackled this text I heard another voice: “No not Clint Eastwood but the Movie guy voice: “Last week at Montecito Covenant Church – Jesus gave us warnings to walk the narrow way, to watch out for wolves and to be mindful and discerning of good fruit. And this week, hold on to your hat, he’s doing it again.” So we continue in the same vein of listening to Jesus’ words and our three points from last week are worth repeating:

1.    Jesus said what we are reading today so we can trust that it is for our benefit.

2.    Jesus lived what he was saying – both the practices that he preached on as well as the warnings that he gave – he saw only few following him and was betrayed by wolves in sheep’s clothing.

3.    Finally, Jesus does the sermon on the mount. He is the one who judges fruit. He is the one who cuts down trees. He is the one who does for us what we shouldn’t do and accomplishes for us what we can’t do.

And here we are again . . .  So what else can we learn about with respect to Jesus & judgment, part II, the sequel?

          1.    First, there’s a warning: Don’t be a stranger. 

Jesus’ warning certainly would resonate with Evangelicals – he points to the issue of relationship. That we must both know and be known by Him. But HOW that happens should cause us a bit of discomfort because these people claim to know him – “Lord, lord!,” they exclaim and Jesus rebuffs them.

So the intimacy of relationship with Jesus is framed not by mere recognition (“Lord, Lord”), nor simply private devotion (just hearing the words or having a quiet time of Bible reading), nor large works of power (social or political activism) but by both hearing and doing the sermon on the mount. So we need to notice two things about Jesus’ understanding of intimacy.

            a.    Intimacy is personal but not private.

Intimacy with Jesus demands a personal investment and begins with myself not others. It’s not about changing the world first – it’s about hearing and acting in way that allows for ourselves to be changed by him.

It’s about personally blessing the poor and the poor in spirit, being humble, hungering and thirsting for righteousness and being persecuted on his account. It’s addressing my anger, avoiding my lust, taking my thoughts seriously, being faithful in my marriage, telling the truth, and being reconciled to my enemies. It’s giving and praying in secret for “us” and not merely “I.” It’s not worrying, not judging, not hoarding. In fact, my own person becomes a critical measure for carrying out the sermon because Jesus commands that I do unto others as I would have them do unto me.

 

The famous Catholic activist and agitator, Dorothy Day, toward the end of her life said it this way: “The older I get, the more I meet people, the more convinced I am that we must only work on ourselves, to grow in grace. The only thing we can do about people is to love them.” It often forces me to look inwardly so I can act outwardly. It's work that demands that I listen to Jesus, I do what he says, and that I ask and receive help from him (Matt. 6:9-13). It's a refusal to separate love from obedience and refusal to separate fighting evil from my own inward demons of hate, violence, greed, etc.

 

            b.    It’s active but not grandiose – it’s small. 

What strikes me about these tasks in the sermon on the mount is that they seem so small given the problems of our world. The false prophets problems are not that they are passive but seem to be that they imagine that what will change the world by doing big things for God that don’t require personal commitment. Note: none of their activities are mentioned by Jesus in the sermon on the mount.

So these false prophets are doing big stuff but it’s not the right stuff. And Jesus responds, “Who are you?” So the sermon on the mount also implies that following Jesus is often small work. Mother Theresa offers us a brilliant retelling of what I’m trying to say. She says, “We can do not great things, only small things with great love. It is not how much you do but how much love you put into doing it. Above our front door, we have hung a sign that says, “Today . . . small things with great love (or don’t open the door).”

How does this understanding of intimacy impact our identity? Well – imagine if I wanted to join the vegetarian society. And they said, “Okay great here is who we are, what we stand for, and what we do.” And I replied, “That’s great – I love what you do and I even bought a t-shirt and bumper sticker but I'm not so interested in your rigid rules of eating only vegetables every day. However, I can create multi-media advertisements for your group to get your message out.” Admittedly that might be helpful, I might know the lingo, talk a good game, but it wouldn’t make me one of them.

          2.    There’s an invitation: God’s real estate is for “everyone.”

First, despite Jesus’ warnings of only a “few” followers, false prophets, and bad trees – Jesus’ invitation is for “everyone” (vs. 24). The real estate option for a nice solid bit of property to build your house upon is available to anyone who wants to pay the price. You can afford it but are you willing to pay for it?

Second, the foundation isn’t revealed by the size or glamour of the house. Nothing is said about any differences between the two houses other than the foundation of rock or sand. Guess what a building inspector calls a small house on a bad foundation?  Condemned. Guess what a building inspector calls an enormous mansion with vaulted ceilings, a pool, and a four car garage on a bad foundation? Beautifully, condemned – and “How great will be there fall!,” Jesus says. Our houses, in other words, are similar to the sheep’s clothing that we talked about last week. They can be our camouflage that we try to use to inflate or hide who we really are.  We need to resist a world, a spirituality, which says, “Your reputation, your life, your destiny, is determined by the size of your house.” Friends, I also want to clearly state that it’s not about the color of your house either. Some of you – your candidate won the White House. Some of you – your candidate didn’t. Both of you better build on the right foundation. Both of you better “do to others as you would have them do to you.” Both of you better hear and do what he said to us. Both of you should remember that you are neither Republican or Democrat, red or blue, but a follower of Jesus. Worry about what you’re building on and everything else will fall into place. Our houses can look different. Our foundations will not. And some of us need to stop fussing over architectural plans and start building even if we don’t know exactly where everything goes.

Third, it’s also important to remember that the foundation doesn’t change the weather and bad weather is coming. Following Jesus in this life will not save you from the storms. Let me say that again, “Following Jesus will not save you from the storms.” So why do we imagine that storms reflect who people are. I remember a woman who said to me when I was leaving for California, “I don’t know why anyone would move there. They have horrible earthquakes and expect us tax payers to pay for their homes when they fall.” Of course, she failed to mention the ever-present floods and tornadoes that hit Texas on a regular basis. Storms don’t reflect our choices, they reveal them. Illus. Story of the flood in my friend’s community – who shared with whom, who opened to whom?

          3.    There’s a promise: You will be surprised and astounded (NOT afraid)

It should be telling that the response of the crowd does not actually resemble the response that many of us sort of feel about Jesus’ words. We might be afraid, or annoyed, they are “astounded.” Why? Jacob Neusner a famous Jewish scholar and rabbi clues us in. He wrote a book about Jesus called A Rabbi talks with Jesus, which explores how a faithful follower of Judaism would hear Jesus’ words on the sermon of the mount. Interestingly, Neusner says that the ethic of Jesus doesn’t bother him. He appreciates Jesus’ teachings and hears in Jesus, for the most part, an acceptable, though arguable, interpretation of Torah (the law or first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures).

What does concern Neusner, however, remains the astounding language that Jesus employs for speaking of this ethic. He writes, “Yes, I would have been astonished. Here is a Torah-teacher who says in his own name what the Torah says in God’s name . . . we now recognize that at issue is the figure of Jesus, not the teachings at all.” In a later interview, Neusner declared that Jesus’ attitude to Torah made him want to ask: “Who do you think you are? God?”

The focus of the parable about the two foundations, Jesus says, is about “my words.” In vss. 24 and 26 he focuses not on the Old Testament but “these my words” – with the emphasis in the Greek on “my” which is placed first. In fact, our whole passage can almost be summed up by Jesus’ “my.” Entering the kingdom of heaven is about doing the will of “my Father” (7:21). Those who are not obedient are told “go away from me” (7:23). And the will of the Father and one’s entrance into that kingdom directly relate to “my words.”

Gandhi, whom I deeply respect and who truly challenged Christian visions of the sermon on the mount by actually showing that the principles worked once said, “I have never been interested in a historical Jesus. I should not care if it was proved by someone that the man called Jesus never lived, and that what was narrated in the Gospels was a figment of the writer’s imagination. For the Sermon on the Mount would still be true for me.”

The problem with Gandhi’s remarks, of course, is that Jesus’ ethic, his position in the sermon on the mount, all stemmed from an understanding of who he was, which allows him to say these seemingly bombastic things – these warnings about the future in which he himself is the judge. These aren’t simply ethical teachings – they are connected to what theologians refer to as eschatology – the end that Jesus determines. 

In the end (signaled by the phrase “On that day” (vs. 22), the Christian message is that it is Jesus who decides and determines our destiny. And Jesus can claim that authority and power because of who he is. It reminds us of where we began – the who is as important as the what or the how.