FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, ATLANTA, GEORGIA

Sermon by Dr. George Bryant Wirth

 

April 6, 2008

 

CHRIST AT THE CENTER: OUR FIRM FOUNDATION

WHAT JESUS DID, SAID AND MEANT

 

Scripture:  Matthew 22:34-40, Mark 12:28-34,

Luke 10:25-28; John 13:34-35; 1 John 4:18-21

 

INTRODUCTION

 

In 1896, Dr. Charles Sheldon, pastor of the Congregationalist Church in Topeka, Kansas, wrote a book entitled “In His Steps.”  It was and is a fictional account about a minister named Henry Maxwell and the congregation he served who were visited one Sunday morning by a shabby looking man who walked into the sanctuary after the sermon, stood in front of the congregation and said:

 

          “I lost my job ten months ago…  my wife died four months ago… and my little girl is staying with a…family until I can find work.  Somehow I get puzzled when I see so many Christians living in luxury and singing ‘Jesus, I my cross have taken, all to leave and follow Thee,’ and remember how my wife died in a tenement in New York City…

          Of course I don’t expect you people can prevent every one from dying of starvation, lack of proper nourishment and tenement air, but what does following Jesus mean?...

          It seems to me there’s an awful lot of trouble in the world that somehow wouldn’t exist if all the people who sing such songs went and lived them out.  I suppose I don’t understand.  But what would Jesus do?  Is that what you mean by following in His steps?”

 

(From “In His Steps” by Charles M. Sheldon (1896), published by Barbour and Company Inc., pages 8-9)

 

This book, “In His Steps,” goes on to describe how that preacher and the church members begin to ask that question over and over again: “What would Jesus do?”  And Sheldon tells the story about how all of them, including the man in dire straights, are transformed by the Lord’s healing power and grace.

 

I

 

One hundred years later during the 1990’s, that same question, “What Would Jesus Do?”  re-emerged in America and became the watchword for many Christians across this nation.  The abbreviated letters ‘WWJD” appeared on bracelets, t-shirts, pencils and coffee cups, and expanded rapidly into something of a cottage industry.

 

Over the past fifteen years or so, some folks have turned (and we might say twisted) the original meaning and used it for their own purposes, including the slogan “What Would Jesus Drive?” in their campaign to discourage others from buying sports utility vehicles because of pollution; “What Would Jesus Drink?” as an attempt to encourage people to refrain from alcoholic beverages (even though the Bible says that Jesus drank wine); and “WWJB” – “Who Would Jesus Bomb?” as a protest against the war in Iraq.

 

One other translation of WWJD is “Walk With Jesus Daily,” which seems to come closer to Charles Sheldon’s original meaning.  And I’m wondering this morning what we would do, right here at the corner of 16th and Peachtree, if a similar event happened during our worship service?  What would happen if a man or a woman walked into this sanctuary and asked us the question about following in Jesus’ footsteps – WWJD – “What Would Jesus Do?”

 

Well, as you may remember, there was an incident here several years ago.  A disheveled and disoriented young man came to our breakfast for homeless guests, then showed up in the narthex before the early service, saying that he had just flown in from London with “A word from the Lord.”  Craig Goodrich and I asked if he would tell us what that word was - just give us a hint.  But he said “No, I must tell the entire congregation and the rest of this nation.  I have a word from the Lord that something cataclysmic is about to happen.”

 

Having said that, he walked out onto Peachtree Street as Craig and I told the security guards to be on the watch for him if he came back.  And sure enough, right in the middle of the 11:15 service, there he was, heading down the center aisle saying out loud, “I  have a word from the Lord!  I have a word from the Lord!”

 

Several of you told me later that it looked like we had cooked this up for some kind of dramatic effect, but we didn’t.  So with an usher on one side, Lieutenant Oates on the other and Craig leading the way, they helped to escort this troubled young man back to the office for some coffee and conversation…and then he was gone, just as suddenly as he had arrived.  We never found out what the word from the Lord was, and we haven’t seen that man since, which is probably for the best.

 

And yet… I have wondered to this very day about what that man wanted to say, and what Jesus would have done.  I think it’s the right question for all of us as Christians to ask: “What Would Jesus Do?”  And that leads us into the heart of today’s sermon.

 

II

 

The truth is, we already know in so many ways how to answer the question.  Because in the gospels and throughout the rest of the New Testament, we have been told not only what Jesus did, but also what He said and what He meant.

 

In fact, that’s the theme of a book recently written by Dr. Garry Wills, Professor Emeritus at Northwestern University in Illinois.  The book is entitled “What Jesus Meant,” and in the forward, this is how Dr. Wills begins:

 

          “To read the gospels in the spirit with which they were written, it is not enough to ask what Jesus did or said.  We must (also) ask what Jesus meant by His…deeds and words.  He intended to reveal the Father to us, and to show that He is the only begotten son…

          (And what He announced and demonstrated to those first century people was that) God’s reign (kingdom) had begun…’The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel’ (Mark 1:15).

          On the one hand, Jesus tells us to ask in The Lord’s Prayer that ‘The kingdom will come’ (Matthew 6:10), and the full arrival will happen at the world’s completion.  Yet He also speaks of the kingdom as having already arrived when the Father’s love was revealed in Him – in Jesus…at first in His preaching and healing, and then in His death and resurrection.”  (From “What Jesus Meant” by Dr. Garry Wills, Viking Penguin, 2006, pages XVIII, 84-85)

 

Wills takes us still deeper with this question:

 

          “What are the tests for entry into the kingdom…?  They are very simple.  One will not be asked whether one voted, or was a good citizen…That is not enough…The (real) test is this:  Did you treat everyone, high and low, as if dealing with Jesus himself, with His own inclusive and gracious love, the revelation of the Father’s love…?  In the gospel of Jesus, love is the test…love is everything.” (Page 56)

 

And as the author points out, that love was extended to the lepers and the lame, the sick and the blind, the suffering and the crazed, the tax collectors and the poor, the outcasts and the unclean, the Jews and the Gentiles and the Samaritans. (Pages 19-39)

 

Wills concludes his last chapter, saying

 

“By becoming members of Christ’s mystical body (the church), we honor the Father and pass the key test for being a disciple – treating the poor, the thirsty, the hungry, the naked, (the prisoner and all the others) as if they were Jesus… which requires not only justice, but love… the self-emptying, (serving) love of Jesus, who said ‘A new commandment I give to you: that you love one another, as I have loved you…by this, everyone will know that you are My disciples’ (John 13:34-35).” (Pages 140-141)

 

Some members from this congregation went over to hear Garry Wills speak last month at the Decatur Presbyterian Church, and he re-enforced the centrality of God’s kingdom and Christ’s love as the core messages which our Lord has given to us – the very essence of what Jesus did, said and meant.

 

And because it is so simple and so down to earth, said Wills, we can often miss it – miss the whole point of what the gospel story is all about.

 

III

 

That’s what happened to some of those first century religious leaders, you know.  They were so certain about the rules of right behavior, that they missed the revelation of the Savior who had come among them.

 

All three of the synoptic gospels tell basically the same story.  In Matthew, a group of the Pharisees and the Sadducees were agitated by the way that Jesus seemed to ignore the Law of Moses, so one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question to test Him:  “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”

 

Jesus answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind.  This is the greatest and first commandment.  And the second is like it:  “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:34-40).

 

In the Gospel of Mark, one of the scribes asked the same question and Jesus gave the same answer again.  When the scribe replied, “You are right teacher…this is much more important than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices,” Jesus said to him, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God” (Mark 12:28-34).

 

Luke’s version is slightly different, with a lawyer asking Jesus the question “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”  And Jesus, in keeping with the rabbinical tradition, asked him a question in return: “What is written in the law?  What do you read there?”  The lawyer answered “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and strength and mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”  And Jesus said to him, “You have given the right answer.  Do this and you will live.”

 

Do you see?  Those leaders, in trying to test and to get the best of Jesus, acknowledged the answer but they missed the message.  Why?  Because they were determined to win the argument instead of listening to and looking at the truth which was right before their eyes.

 

And in the Gospel of John, after finishing the Last Supper in the Upper Room with His disciples on the night before He died, Jesus, wanting them to know what mattered the most to Him, said these words, which can still be heard echoing, echoing, echoing down through the centuries to us today: “I give you a new commandment: that you love one another.  Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35).

 

And to underscore that commandment, we read in the Letter of 1 John, chapter 4: “We love because He first loved us.  Those who say ‘I love God’ and hate their brothers and sisters, are liars…the commandment we have from Him is this: Those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also” (1 John 4:19-21).

 

So, if you want to know the heart and soul of the gospel; if you want to discover the truth that stands alongside all the other affirmations of our faith; if you want to find and believe in the core of what Jesus Christ our Lord did, and said, and meant, then this is it:  “Love God, love your neighbor, and love yourself.”  That is what He told those first century people was the greatest commandment of all and that is still His call and commandment to all of us today.  The question is: Do you believe that is true?

 

Dr. Karl Menninger believed it and I heard him say so in a lecture he gave in 1984 at Chautauqua Institution where he spent his summers.  He was a faithful Christian and a Presbyterian elder from Topeka, Kansas.  He actually spoke about this commandment, the greatest commandment of all, and as he concluded his talk to over 1000 people that afternoon, this is what he said:

 

Loving requires risk.

 

People are unreasonably illogical and self-centered.  Love them anyway.

 

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.  Do good anyway.

 

Honesty and openness make you vulnerable.  Be honest and open anyway.

 

People favor underdogs, but follow only top dogs.  Fight for underdogs anyway.

 

People really need your help, but may attack you or become dependent on you if you help them.  Help people anyway.

 

Give the world the best you have, and you’ll get kicked in the teeth.  Give the world the best you’ve got – ANYWAY!

 

CONCLUSION

 

You say, “Preacher – what about the theological controversy concerning divine election and predestination?”  And Jesus answers “Love God, love your neighbor, and love yourself.”  You say, “Well what about all of the divisive issues that are tearing the church apart?  And what about the diversity of world religions, and the question of who’s going to get in and who’s going to be left out of heaven?”  And Jesus answers “Love God, love your neighbor, and love yourself.”

 

Now don’t misunderstand me.  Those questions and controversial issues are important, and we need to address them with open hearts and open minds and the conviction of our faith as Christians.  But unless and until we focus our attention on what the Lord told us over and over and over again was the greatest commandment, we’re going to miss the message that is the most important of all: “Love the Lord your God, with all your heart and soul and mind and strength.  And love your neighbor as yourself.”

 

That is what the Christian gospel is all about my friends, and that is what Jesus did, that is what He said and that is what He meant.  And if He walked into this room today in person, I think He would say “Go, and do likewise.”

 

In the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen

 

 

 

 

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