We have begun our journey into an understanding of what it means to be disciple of Christ. We’ve talked about the issue that sometimes we tend make becoming a disciple too hard, and too often when we here the word disciple, we tend to cringe and hide. It’s not that we don’t want to serve God, we may think…“man, I don’t know if I can do all the ‘stuff’ that goes with being a disciple.”
During the last two Sundays, we learned we can make a difference. We explored the reality that being a disciple really is not that hard. All God is asking of us is to carry the light of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ into the darkness of the world. We learned, much to our relief that God is not asking us to save the world… in fact, we learned there’s nothing WE can do to save the world. God asks of us, what He expects of us, what our responsibility is as a Real Christian is to serve God by living what we claim to believe and let our lives be the beacon of hope to the hopeless.
We recalled what happens when we turn on a light outside on a summer evening, how the insects are drawn to the light. Not by anything we have done, other than to turn on the light... to bring light into the darkness. And so too it is with each of us when we take the light of Christ into the darkness of the world in which we live. If we truly live the life we claim as Christians, that is, “Authentic Christians,” the light of the Love of Jesus will drawn the lost to Him. We are invited to participate with God, witness Him at work, know Him better and grow closer to Him.
We who say yes, yes I believe in you, my Lord. We believe you are the Son of God, we believe the You are the living Word of God, both when you walked the earth in the flesh, and now, as you are the Living Word written in this Bible. You live within us through the love of the Holy Spirit. There is within us a blazing, burning ultra bright light of hope, grace, compassion and love that begs to shine through us.
(MOVE)
As “authentic” Christians, we stand for and serve Jesus Christ, building up our treasures in heaven. Surely, this is a good thing. However, having that peace and hope, we must be careful not to appear to others as someone who has a special secret; as someone who projects a demeanor of being “holier than thou.”
God invites us to share His gift. “Gift,” that is the key isn’t it. The “real”, the “authentic” Christian realizes He or she has done nothing to deserve this gift. In truth, we can nothing do to earn the gift. Jesus Christ purchased this gift for us, there, on the Cross... Yes, He purchased this gift for each single one of us in this building today. And here is the Good News, He offers this gift to all, and He invites us to be a part of His plan to share the Gift with the world. He asks, will you take the gift I’ve given you, this light of hope and share it with the world? Take this light, let the lost be drawn and let Me bring them into the family of God.
(MOVE)
At some point in our Christian walk, I think many, if not most of us have encountered some folks who have developed a sort of messiah complex. They believe it is their job is to save the world. That is not our job. Only One Person can save the world and He did.
John Ortberg, in his book The Life You’ve Always Wanted, presents this point in an amusing way, by discussing three mental patients, each of whom had a clinical case of the Messiah complex. Here is his account:
Leon, Joseph and Clyde all suffered from a messiah complex. It was not just a touch of narcissism or a dash of grandiosity. They were three chronic psychiatric patients at a hospital in Ypsilanti, Michigan, all diagnosed with psychotic delusional disorder, grandiose type. Each one maintained he was the reincarnation of Jesus Christ. Each one believed he was the central figure around whom the world revolved: the three little messiahs.
Psychologist Milton Rokeach wrote The Three Christ’s of Ypsilanti about his attempts to help these men come to grips with the truth about themselves and learn to be just Leon, Joseph and Clyde.
Rokeach spent two years working with the men, but change came hard. It was as if they were not sure they could bear to live if they weren’t who they thought they were. They could be very rational in other aspects of life but, as Rokeach put it, they would hold onto messianic delusions "even though they are grotesque, ego-defensive distortions of reality."
With little to lose, Rokeach decided to try an experiment. He put the three men into one small group. For two years, the three delusional messiahs were assigned adjacent beds, ate every meal together, worked together at the same job, and met daily for group discussions. Rokeach wanted to see if rubbing up against other would-be messiahs might diminish their delusion -- a kind of messianic 12-step recovery group.
The experiment led to some interesting conversations. One of the men would claim, "I’m the messiah, the Son of God. I am on a mission. I was sent here to save the earth."
"How do you know?" Rokeach would ask… "God told me."
And one of the other patients would counter, "I never told you any such thing."
If we Aim for the Three Messiahs and we’ll all end up playing the Three Stooges -- Larry, Moe, and Curly -- arguing over our place in the Trinity. ...
The irony is the very delusion to which they clung so tenaciously is what cut them off from life. To stop being the messiah sounded terrifying. But it would have been their salvation, if they could only have tried. If Leon and Joseph and Clyde could have stopped competing to see who gets to be the messiah, they could have become Leon and Joseph and Clyde ....
Every once in a while, one of the men would get a glimmer of reality. Leon eventually decided he wasn’t actually married to the Virgin Mary after all -- she was his sister-in-law. What little progress they made resulted from their togetherness. But that change was only a glimmer, and the light of reality never shone very bright or lasted very long. It truly is a sad story, but also contains an appropriate lesson.
Those who maintain the illusion they are the messiah, or, that it is their responsibility and only they can save the world, shut out any evidence to the contrary and distort the world we live in, the world of reality. If you want to be your own god, you have to settle for living in a tiny universe where there is room for only one person. It becomes all about you. For those who are lost and whom God has called… the question becomes, will they be able to see the light of Christ’s love there? The focus must change.
(MOVE)
Unfortunately, some clergy tend to have the same sense of their calling. We, clergy, sometime find ourselves believing our words, our efforts, our actions cause people to come to Christ. We have the only light in the dark and only our light will draw the people into relationship with Jesus. Moreover, sometimes, some clergy allow the congregations to believe this lie as well. Foolishness! Once again, the focus is inward… It’s all about me.
There is also the sad reality some clergy allow themselves to become the center of attention in the church instead of Jesus. The power of the pulpit carries with it a great deal of authority, but a much greater responsibility. Too often clergy is lured into the trap of becoming idolized; some wrongly thrive on the adoration of the congregation. They allow, even, perhaps inadvertently, encourage the congregates to become dependant on the Pastor to direct and lead their lives instead of relying on Jesus Christ. The pastor enjoyed a close relationship with the congregation, ignoring Jesus crying out “where is your relationship with Me?”
The Bible is clear. While God gives each of us certain gifts and talents, and even roles, we are all “priests” and Jesus calls all to be His light bearers.
Listen to the words of Peter as found in 1Peter 2: 1-12
So you see, we are all called to be priests: Priests within the community of believers, the Body of Christ in which each member is a priest for the rest and feeds the rest. And, being fed by one another, strengthened to carry “His wonderful light” into the world of darkness.
(MOVE)
Now, let’s look again at today’s scripture. In Chapter 23, of Matthew, Matthew records Jesus sermon to the “religious” leaders of the day. And Jesus pulls no punches. The leaders were a bunch of hypocrites, and Jesus laid on the what is called the sermon of the seven woes… and you don’t want to be “woe’d” by Jesus.
Hypocrite. Hummm. Have we ever heard that word before used toward church goers? You bet. Hypocrite… = “Cultural Christian”…
You see, if we are all priests, all ministers of the Word of God, then Jesus is warning us as well. We can take His words as a warning, or encouragement to live our lives as authentic Christians:12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
(MOVE)
We can hold that light up as high as we can, as a humble servant of Christ, humble because of the absolute knowledge of the Saving Grace of God.
The world, our culture measures success in material wealth, earthly power and human recognition... The priests and leaders of the church in Christ’s time bought that culture’s measure of success. They had wealth and power, but no light to hold up to the people, and Jesus rebuked them.
(MOVE)
For Jesus to work in our lives so we can make a difference, we must be humble. We must change our focus from earthy success to spiritual significance. When “Cultural Christians” think about their success on earth and how they can make a difference, they tend to look at how much money they have accumulated, the amount of recognition they have received, and the power and status they have earned. While there’s nothing necessarily wrong with any of those things, a problem begins when we start to see ourselves as those things.
Look at the example of Jesus humility. All He ever said, all He ever did was to bring Glory to His Father. He was humble because of His love for His Father. Jesus exemplified humble power. Changing our focus. It’s not about us. People with humility, “Authentic Christians” included, don’t deny their power; they just recognize that is passes through them, not from them.
