“I AM: The Jesus We Think We Know”
Part 1 - Impressions
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Video Clip - “Lost [Season 1]: Walkabout” [ch.6; 00:39:10 – 00:41-34]
Slide 1
In this scene from the TV show “Lost”, the character John Locke is attempting to undertake a walkabout.
• “Walkabout” is a term referring to the belief that Australian Aborigines embark upon a rite of passage for a boy entering into the next stage of his life as a young man
• where he goes out and walks the trails of his ancestors and relives their journeys and accomplishments.
• For John Locke, his walkabout was of a spiritual nature, a journey of self-discovery and identity. He was attempting to work out and find an answer for the great question “Who Am I?”
Slide 2
We see in this scene Locke’s frustration and anger as he is categorized and classified by the tour guide as unable to participate in the walkabout due to his physical condition.
• The guide knows nothing more about John Locke than what he sees in front of him
• but he makes his determination of who Locke is and what he is or isn’t capable of based on that first impression
• his impression is of a man in a wheelchair, unable to walk, and for that reason, unable to participate in a journey of this magnitude.
Locke replies to this casual dismissal with, “You don’t know who you’re dealing with – don’t you tell me what I can or can’t do!” And he continues to repeat that as the tour bus pulls away.
In the next part of the clip, though, we see a new John Locke.
• This Locke has crashed on a mysterious island
• his legs are completely healed.
• In one moment, Locke realizes that he has the opportunity not only to live as he had previously, with full control of his limbs
• he also has the opportunity to let people see him in a new way
• to allow them to see new sides of John Locke
• to make that first impression a different one.
Slide 3
The Power of Impression
Our society is governed by the power of impression. Psychology Today (Online – May 14, 2004) reported a study where untrained subjects were shown 20-30 second clips of applicants greeting interviewers, and were then asked to rate the applicants on attributes such as self-assuredness and likeability. Surprisingly, their assessments were very close to those of trained interviewers who spent at least 20 minutes with each applicant.
We rely greatly on our impressions
• We create our friendships and relationships on them.
• Careers can be made or stalled depending on how a boss or manager views our work and ability.
• Politicians and government officials are often selected not by what they actually believe and represent, but what people think they believe and represent. They have an entire staff dedicated to making sure that what they say and do leaves a positive impression on the voter.
Slide 4
Impressions play out in other parts of our lives: what we buy is greatly influenced by our first impression of a product. How many of you make purchasing decisions based on commercials? The goal of advertising is to create in us an impression of what the product is and what it has to offer and how much we need it right now.
I spent time earlier in the week with Alie, helping her buy a new bass guitar. We probably looked at every bass in two different stores, comparing them, playing them, listening to them, and going back and forth over which one sounded better, which one looked nicer, and of course, the biggest deciding factor of all: which one had the best price.
Slide 5
Impressions influence our spiritual lives.
• Our views of God, of spirituality, and of the church have all been impacted by our upbringing and our life-experiences.
• People who come from homes with abusive or neglectful fathers often have a hard time relating to and knowing God in a personal way.
• People who come from broken homes or dysfunctional families can find the concept of a church family difficult to accept and participate in.
• Those who have been raised in strict, traditional environments tend to have a harder time expressing their faith freely;
• many who have spent most of their time in “free-er” settings don’t understand the rules and disciplines of the conservative group;
• those raised with no “church background” often think both groups have issues.
Slide 6
Spirituality and Jesus
We live in a society today that craves spirituality, but does not have an interest in religion.
We live in a day when more people desire to be and are connected with others, but are hesitant to build relationships and develop intimacy with those they know.
We live in a time when people are seeking spiritual things, spiritual answers, and yet have no concept of or relationship with their Creator.
One of the main reasons for these problems lies in the impression that people have concerning Christianity and Jesus Christ.
• There are many misconceptions about Jesus; there are a lot of wrong ideas.
• There are half-truths, and watered-down characterizations about Jesus.
The truth is most people don’t know who Jesus was, what he said, or what he did.
• They have little pieces of information gathered through their experiences and education that they use to form their image of Jesus.
• Some of those pieces may be accurate, others are not, but the end result is the same – we are left with an incomplete picture of who Jesus is; and that can lead us to the wrong impression.
• Or, maybe we find an attribute of Jesus that conflicts with our way of thinking – so we change it, or discard it, or ignore it.
Slide 7
The New York Times writer Thomas Freidman, said the following: “It is urgent that the different religions ‘reinterpret’ their traditions to embrace modernity and pluralism and to create space for secularism and alternate faiths.”
What is being said essentially is that we need to recreate our understanding of Jesus, and if we come across something that flies in the face of today’s “acceptable” practices, what needs to change is – Jesus.
David DeWitt once said:
“So let me ask you the question: what happens to our beliefs if Jesus is removed? What would our lives be like without a Jesus who is the way, the truth and the life?
• Without Jesus there is no more purpose for the Bible
• Without Jesus there is no more forgiveness
• Without Jesus there is no more hope of salvation
• Without Jesus there is no restoration of our relationship with God
• Without Jesus there can be no heaven, which means Hell is our destiny
• Without Jesus we no longer have a genuine faith
• When Jesus is changed or removed we no longer have a basis for the core of most sacred and cherished principles
Dare I say it without Jesus we have nothing? All of this begs a question that we desperately need to answer in light of all these attempts to steal the identity of Jesus: who is Jesus? What makes Him so special? What makes Him so different?”
Slide 8
This morning we are beginning a new series called “I AM.” We are going to spend the next few weeks looking at Jesus, focusing on what he said about himself, so that we can have a better understanding of who Jesus is in order to experience him more in our lives.
Today we are going to look at a view of Jesus that many held in his day, and still do today, and how he responded to them.
Nicodemus – Jesus the Good Teacher
Some of the first impressions that people have of Jesus is this one:
• he was a great teacher of history
• an enlightened guide of philosophy
• a profound moralist of society
Many of the other major religions of the world acknowledge Jesus’ role in philosophy and history as one of humanity’s great teachers. They are willing to say, “We absolutely have great respect for the Teacher-Jesus. His sayings are wise and worthy.”
And part of this is true. Jesus was indeed an incredible teacher. Crowds hung on his words and would travel for miles and miles, coming from all parts of the region to hear what he had to say about the relationship between God and man. Tens of thousands of people crowded around him during his ministry, following him from place to place in order to hear the Good News – that God’s Kingdom was coming soon.
But to just call him a great teacher or inspired speaker falls short of who he really is and claimed to be – and this is where people begin to have problems with Jesus. This is the place where other religions say, “we’ll accept that, but he couldn’t possibly be this.”
Because Jesus claimed to be more than a teacher. He claimed to be more than a motivational speaker. He claimed to be God’s Son, able to bring all of humanity into salvation and into a new way to live.
Slide 9
In John chapter 3, Nicodemus the religious leader, the Pharisee, comes to Jesus.
There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee. After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. “Rabbi,” he said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.” Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” “What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?” Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’
Nicodemus is seeking Jesus:
• Because he believes that Jesus is a great teacher from God
• He is expecting Jesus to give him some more rules to follow in order to make God happy – in addition to the 500+ he was already adhering to.
• He is probably even hoping that Jesus is going to tell him what a wonderful job he is doing following the rules
And so Nicodemus is shocked and amazed by what Jesus has to say
• I’m not just a Good Teacher
• I’m God here on earth, I’ve come to save the world
• And your incredible amount of rules doesn’t cut it
• What I’m doing has nothing to do with rules at all – it has to do with your heart, your spirit, and your life being committed to following me
Jesus did not deny that He was a teacher
• he explained that he came to teach a new way to live, a new way to find and follow faith and a new way to experience God.
• That His teaching did not just tack another rule onto the current system, it turned the current system upside down and overhauled it
• The final result would not be “I lived well and kept as many rules as I could” it would be “I lived for God’s Kingdom and chose to follow the ways of Jesus Christ, Son of God.”
Slide 10
John 1:10-18 explains it like this:
He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God. So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son. John testified about him when he shouted to the crowds, “This is the one I was talking about when I said, ‘Someone is coming after me who is far greater than I am, for he existed long before me.’” From his abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses, but God’s unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God, is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us.
Right away Jesus is making a statement – I’m not looking for people who just want to associate with my name by fulfilling a few requirements;
• I want people who are willing to give their lives up for radical change
• who are more interested in the things of heaven and of God than on anything on this earth
• who want God to be revealed to them, and want to be known as his children, part of his family
• are hungry for transformation and realize that this life-change can only come through knowing me, walking with me, experiencing me.
Jesus sees all that is going on in Nicodemus – his curiosity, his desire to please God through his works, and his desire to be part of what God is doing. But he also sees Nicodemus lack of understanding and inability to recognize who Jesus is, his fear of what others think as he seeks Jesus out at night so no one will see, and his uncertainty to leave behind the his way of doing things and embrace this new life and relationship with Jesus.
Confronting Jesus
Slide 11
What are your impressions of Jesus?
Why is it so important for us to recognize Jesus as more than a good teacher. Why do we have to recognize and accept Him for who He claims to be – God’ Son? Because without that next level, without a divine Jesus, Christianity becomes just another religion based on the teachings of a good man. Jesus’ teachings revolutionized the world. But not because they were the words of a wise man. If that were the case, the Bible becomes another philosophy book that can be filed in the self-help section, or another history book, or another work of fiction and myth.
On the other hand, if we believe Jesus is who he says he is, then we must be prepared to accept what he says and apply it to our lives – because this is not an optional “self-help” teaching or random wise sayings that we can try to find meaning in – it is God speaking to us, teaching us how to live and inviting us to experience a new kind of life. Knowing about Jesus is one thing. Acknowledging who he is and basing your life on those attributes is something completely different.
When we see Jesus in this way, it can be hard. It requires us to change our thinking. It requires us to change our lifestyle. It requires us, at times, to change the way we approach and practice our faith.
[Communion]
“Impressions” © 2007 Travis Jarrett
