On being careful about which Jesus to follow
April 08, 2023
On this Easter weekend, I invite those of you who are Christian to think about something that Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church Michael Curry said recently at an ecumenical gathering:
“Look at the history of Christianity. We stray when Jesus — his teachings and his spirit — is not our way. Then we lose our way.”
I think he's right, but I also think we Christians need to decide which of the various Jesuses revealed in the four gospels of the New Testament most accurately represents his thinking, life, ministry and purpose. There are several versions of Jesus, just as there are several versions of each of us. And we would do well to be discerning about which model to adopt.
(The Jesus depicted in this illustration is not one you'll find in the Bible, though you will find a Jesus there who enjoys humor. You can read about that Jesus in Elton Trueblood's book, The Humor of Christ.)
Let me do something perhaps unexpected and recommend the fully human Jesus we find in the 15th chapter of the gospel of Matthew. Let me give you the story as it's recorded in the New King James version of the Bible, verses 21-28:
21 Then Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon.
22 And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed.”
23 But He answered her not a word. And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, “Send her away, for she cries out after us.”
24 But He answered and said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
25 Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, help me!”
26 But He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.”
27 And she said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.”
28 Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour.
Notice several things here: First, it's often said -- without evidence -- that the term "dogs" was one that Jews at the time used to belittle Gentiles. But I think the editors of the Common English Bible get it right in this note: "Jesus' words and the woman's reply should be taken at face value, as references to what actually happens when dogs are present at meals."
That said, the Jesus we find here seems focused not on appealing to everyone, to moving everyone to spiritual renewal and a healthy relationship with God. Rather, he says his ministry, at least for the moment, is for the people of Israel. Later in Matthew, we find that mission expanded to the Gentiles. But what we have is here a focused Jesus who is willing to learn -- and perhaps most astonishingly, given the patriarchal culture in which he lived, learn from a non-Jewish woman.
She challenged him and perhaps even taught him what he should be doing. I can relate to such a Jesus. He may well even then be what the church later declares him to be -- fully human and fully divine -- but it's his educable humanity that I find appealing here.
You may, if you want, choose a Jesus of righteous anger who turns over the money-changing tables in the temple. Or you may choose a Jesus who says his true family isn't made up of his mother and siblings but, rather, of everyone who does the will of God. Or you may choose a Jesus who, in astonishing pain and anguish, forgives people from the cross.
All these -- and many more -- Jesuses are in the New Testament. And Michael Curry is right that the church goes astray when it loses Jesus. It's just that we need to be careful which Jesus we choose to follow, if any. As for me, a Presbyterian Christian, one of the Jesuses I like most of all is the one willing to listen, learn and, in the end, respond compassionately.
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IS THE AGE OF A.I. SERMONS UPON US?
If you attend a worship service this weekend -- in any faith tradition -- pay attention to see if you can detect whether the sermon was written using an Artificial Intelligence device. Clearly, that's a thing now, as The Guardian piece to which I just linked you reports. That article adds this: "In addition to the generalized chatbots, which can provide conversational answers to theological questions or prompts using information scraped from the entire internet, more specialized religious chatbots have emerged. One of them, HadithGPT, gives advice rooted in Islamic texts." If I ever detect an AI-written sermon, my temptation will be to record it on my phone or digital recorder and then never listen to it.
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On National Day of Prayer this year, May 4, the Rev. Darron L. Edwards, pastor of United Believers Community Church, plans to lead prayers for Kansas City on the 29th floor of City Hall starting at 9 a.m. Here's a poster with details.
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