Stumbling Over Jesus Matthew 11__2-10 Advent3
Sun, Dec 16, 2007 Third Sunday in Advent
Now when John in prison heard of the works of Christ, he sent word by his disciples, and said to Him, "Are You the Expected One, or shall we look for someone else?" And Jesus answered and said to them, "Go and report to John what you hear and see: the BLIND RECEIVE SIGHT and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the POOR HAVE THE GOSPEL PREACHED TO THEM. And blessed is he who keeps from stumbling over Me."
And as these were going away, Jesus began to speak to the multitudes about John, "What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? But what did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ palaces. But why did you go out? To see a prophet? Yes, I say to you, and one who is more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written, ’BEHOLD, I SEND MY MESSENGER BEFORE YOUR FACE, WHO WILL PREPARE YOUR WAY BEFORE YOU.’
Stumbling Over Jesus
My Brothers and Sisters in Christ:
Blessed is he who keeps from stumbling over Me. That is what Jesus said.
Who is Jesus? That was what John sent his disciples to ask. "Are You the Expected One, or shall we look for someone else?"
Jesus might have answered with a question. "Who are you expecting?", and second, "Do I match the promises about the One expected to come?"
The answer Jesus gave John answered the second question. Jesus was very clearly the One promised. The first question is the less certain one, "Who are you looking for?"
So our question this morning is, who are you looking for? Our theme is, Stumbling over Jesus.
Most of the world throughout history has been stumbling over Jesus. They just cannot deal with the reality, they insist on something else - or someone else. At the time of Jesus, they were looking for a great leader who would be both a religious leader and a political leader, someone to take Israel back to the top and put all of their enemies under their feet once and for all. They were looking for a Messiah who would not offend their sensibilities, who would make their lives measurably better by the comfort standard, who would give them a reason to hold their heads up in pride again, and who would be personally pious according to their dreams of the perfectly pious man - the model pharisee, so to speak.
Jesus just didn’t fit the bill for many of them. He wasn’t ambitious in the political way. He wasn’t their kind of religious either. He kept doing things they did not expect and did not honor all of the traditions the Pharisees held dear.
Some of the things He said were likely to irritate the Romans, or at least the Jewish leaders of the time liked to think so. Worst of all, He just wasn’t pious enough. He was a good guy, but attended parties frequented by the wrong sort.
He was politically incorrect, any way you looked at him. The Saduccees who ruled the temple and attempted to enforce the Pax Romana thought him subversive and were the object of his wrath when he drove the moneychangers mand concessionaires out of the temple.
The Pharisees didn’t like him because he wasn’t pious enough and didn’t follow their traditions in all things.
The Essenes would not have liked him either because he didn’t insist on their extremes of fasting, and living apart from the rest of the community.
There was no national liberation in this man! He went around talking about humility, not pride, and forgiveness more that obedience. It wasn’t that He didn’t fulfill the prophecies. He did, in His own way. He was the wrong kind of guy, from the wrong sort of family and the wrong town, and He didn’t even try to stir up an army. The various factions, the political parties were so busy looking for the kind of Messiah that they wanted that they overlooked - stumbled over - the Messiah God sent.
Of course, there were those others who did not even want to see a Messiah. He would just get things stirred up and cause a lot of trouble. They liked things the way they were: manageable, politically manipulable, and with themselves sitting in the catbird seat. Jesus was just going to make waves and upset the status quo. He might fit the prophecies, but if He actually came to power, He would prove them wrong - and rightfully take their place, and they could not afford to allow that to happen. So, they stumbled over Jesus, too. He was too much, or He was too little, or He was the wrong sort of Messiah, or He was there at the wrong time. Except for those poor deluded souls and those sinners that followed Him, everyone seemed to be stumbling over Jesus.
Now, why did I take all that time taking about all that history? Because people are still tripping over Jesus. Only it is not the Jews. They have learned to walk around Jesus.
There are more Christians now than at any time in history, yet many in our land stumble over Jesus. They enjoy the benefits of many centuries of Christian influence in our laws, educations, culture and customary behavior. Twentyfirst century Americans have the same problems as the Jews had in the first century. They want a different Jesus, another Savior. They want Him to do something else, something flashier, or something more fun, or something more impressive. Or, they want Him to validate them, show the world that they are right and their thoughts are actually true - or better yet, just leave well enough alone, and go away and bother someone else.
The world wants a twenty-first century Jesus who doesn’t point out their foibles and flaws, and who baptizes their opinions and agenda, and allows them to stand up proud no matter what.
They have no time and no zeal for this first-century Jesus, with His humility - and homophobia - and the backwards notion that God will punish sin - and His preference for those who don’t appeal to us.
In America it is easy to find religion. It is easy to find giant churches filled with well-dressed people who stand up proud listening to Preachers selling the prosperity gospel, telling the flock to bring blessings down by following the Biblical principle that God is just waiting to bless; you name it, you claim it, reach out for it and just tell God what you want Him to do. Being a Christian is as easy as shopping at the mall, or pointing and clicking on EBAY.
In time the souls that follow such preaching will stumble over the Cross that confronts us all on the road home. The Gospel singers of a century ago knew Christ a bit better. They sang, "The way of the cross leads home." The cross is a sign-post on our journey to our Father’s house.
Though numerically there are more Christians in our land than ever before and more churches. Fully half of our population really don’t expect God to do anything, and they want Him to give them the same freedom. Don’t ask, don’t tell. I don’t ask God for anything more than the good life I am enjoying, and God doesn’t tell me what to do or not to do. Don’t talk about tithing. Ten percent of what they made in the fifties was nothing much. Ten percent of what I make today is serious money - and I have bills. And I have needs. And I have dreams and ambitions! I should humble myself, and live simply? Put God’s will first and my own desires second? I don’t think so. That isn’t cool. It isn’t American. Such people think we can have God the way we like Him. And so they don’t stumble over Jesus, they don’t see him at all.
They won’t trip on the cross, but it will fall on them
When Jesus was talking about what the people went out into the wilderness to see, when they went out after John the Baptist, He wasn’t really talking about John. He was talking about them.
The question about the reed shaken by the wind was about the desire for novelty - or oddity - or entertainment in their religion. Is that what church is about? Do you go to church for the entertainment, or for the nostalgia, or for a good talk and some happy singing? You will notice that there was no answer in the text. It appears Jesus did not wait for an answer. Surely, no one would own up to going to church for the fun of it, or for the novelty of it. No one would admit this in a serious discussion. It is as though Jesus asks the question merely to dismiss that motivation.
He asks if they went out to see the fine apparel, the soft clothing. The idea was ridiculous on its face. John wore coarse clothing - the standard uniform of the prophet. You don’t go to church for the elegance of it, or the opulence of it. You go to the opera or the theater for that. People dress up to go out for an evening on the town. We aren’t large enough as a congregation to make conspicuous attire worthwhile here anyhow. Jesus dismisses that rationale for going out too.
Then Jesus gets down to it. He says, Did you go out to see a prophet? And He answers Himself with a resounding "Yes". Why would people go out to see a prophet? To hear the Word of God. There was really no other reason. Prophets weren’t that entertaining and they weren’t that pretty. They were not easy to listen to, with all that prophetic bombast. They were good for just one thing - the Word of God.
Wwhat is it that should draw you to worship each week? The Word of God, not just the word read from the Book or interpretations of the Book from the Pulpit, but to hear and be in thePresence of the Eternal Word, the Last Word from Heaven, our Lord Jesus. This is the place to hear and experience His presence. He promised, "I will come to you, I will be with you in all ways, all roads. I will be with you. That is really the only worthwhile reason for gathering, to create again the Body of Christ.
And blessed is he who keeps from stumbling over Me. Jesus is not about your dreams and ambitions. He is about your sins, and your salvation. He is humble - and that is where you have to be to find Him. You need to be honest about who you are, and confess your sins. You and I are not okay. We sin daily. We have screwy values and we try to pretend that we are decent people. We stumble over the dirt poor Savior who endured the unthinkable because we put ourselves and our ideas first and everyone else last.
We stumble over the savior, inventing pious sayings to bless and make acceptable to us the status quo.
We take and we lie and we covet and we lust. And we pretend it is all good. But He died for what we have done and said and thought that was sin. We are not minded to humble ourselves, or suffer any degradation or need just because of Him and so we stumble.
The Son of God for our sakes Jesus gave up heaven, for our sake He became poor. King Jesus did not wear Caesar’s Laurel Wreathes, He wore a crown of thorns. He lived without the perks of privilege. He died when He did not have to, so that you and I might live.
Our faith is not for the world wise, those who seek power and prestige. It is not for the ruthless or the brutal. It comes with Jesus - humble Jesus - first-century Jesus - who tells us to love one another, and us to humble ourselves. Following Jesus may comes with a price.
Jesus calls, "If any man would come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me." Being a Christian is following Jesus wherever He leads.
Blessed is he who keeps from stumbling over Me. That is what Jesus said.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
(Let the people say Amen)
Charles Scott
http://www.goodshepherdindy.org
crscott@email.com
