Freeville/Homer Avenue UMC's - Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany of the Lord - 02/01/15 Sermon - “Jesus the Teacher” [The "Natures of Christ" series: Part 1 of 3]

Sunday 02/01/15 Freeville/Homer Ave UMC’s

Sermon Title: “Jesus the Teacher”

                        [The “Natures of Christ” series: Part 1 of 3]           

Old Testament Lesson: Deuteronomy 18:15-20

                                            

New Testament Scripture Lesson: 1 Corinthians 8:1-13

Gospel Lesson: Mark 1:21-28                   

          Friends, brothers and sisters, welcome once again on this the Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany. The Epiphany being that surprise that the wise men had so long ago, seeing that Bethlehem Star in the sky, and going to behold the baby Jesus.

          We will remain in this season after the Epiphany, until Sunday February 15^th, when we will have Transfiguration Sunday. Transfiguration Sunday, that day when Christ went up a mountain, and was physically transfigured or changed in front of some of his disciples. Then three days after this Transfiguration Sunday, we will begin the season of Lent, on Ash Wednesday, which is Wednesday February 18^th. In the season of Lent, we prepare our hearts and our minds for the crucifixion of Christ. Soon after the crucifixion though, we will have an empty tomb on Easter morning, for the grave could not hold the king.

          On this day though, I am beginning a three-week series on the natures, or the qualities, or the categories that we can place Christ into. This morning, I want to look at Christ’s nature as a teacher. While Christ was and is many things, like the savior, a healer, a leader, God in the flesh, and etc., Jesus was and is also a teacher. A great teacher at that.

          You see for so many in the world today, many have faith in Christ so that they obtain eternal life. That through our faith in Christ, we are re-born from the inside to the outside, and we are then written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. For when we accept the living Christ as our Lord and savior, we gain the free gift of eternal life.

          Yet for most of us, when we accept Christ and his free gift of eternal life, our earthly deaths are often years away. While some folks accept Christ on their death beds, many accept Christ and go on to live for years and years, after this.

          Given this, what should our lives look like after accepting Christ’s free gift of eternal salvation? Should we simply remain as we were before we accepted Christ, and do nothing different, knowing heaven is waiting for us? Or should we live differently? Should we live for God, and for others?

          In this way, in accepting Christ as our savior, and in accepting his free gift of salvation, we gain eternal life, but the process of living and becoming like Christ is called sanctification. Our salvation is a free gift from Christ, but after we receive the free gift of eternal life, Christ teaches us that we must pursue sanctification. To be sanctified, is to be like God, is to be pure, is to be holy, and is to be righteous.

          In this way then, if we believe in Christ for eternal life only, but do nothing good for others here on earth, what good is our time here on earth?

          The reality is, when we read all four of the gospels in the New Testament of our Bible, we see that Jesus taught us a tremendous amount about how to live and how treat others. I mean after Jesus got baptized in the Jordan River by his relative John the Baptist, he could have just gone right to Jerusalem to die on a cross for the sins of the world, but this is not what Christ did.

          Instead, Christ taught, healed, forgave, and transformed the world around him for three years, and was then crucified. During the three years of Christ’s public ministry, Christ taught us a radical new way of living, a radical new way of loving, and a radical new way of being. While Christ is the savior then, he also taught us many things.

          This morning I want to talk about just some of things that Christ taught as, a teacher, or in Hebrew, a “Rabbi.” So when people addressed Jesus as “Rabbi,” they were calling him teacher in Hebrew

          These teachings of Jesus Christ, which some of are repeated from the Old Testament of Bible, are things like the “Beatitudes.” In the Gospel of Matthew in his “Sermon on the Mount,” or the “Beatitudes,” Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:3, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Jesus tells us, “Blessed are those who mourn,” “Blessed are the meek,” Blessed are the merciful,” “Blessed are the peacemakers,” and etc. These teachings are timeless in the Christian faith.

          In Matthew 5:21-26, Jesus teaches us, that if we are angry with a brother or sister, we must be reconciled to them. That we must make peace and be loving to each other. Fighting and harming one another is not the way Christ taught us.

          This is the same Jesus who teaches us to love God and our neighbors as ourselves. This is the same Jesus who tells us to pray for our enemies, to take care of the poor, to take care of the weak, to cloth the naked, to regard and love all of the lesser-thans in the world. To love the outcaste and the rejected.

          This is the same Jesus who told us to love those whose persecute us, to not judge others. That when we judge others, we might see a speck of dirt in their eye, while we have a “log” in our own eye.

          One of my favorite teachings of Jesus Christ, is when he says in Matthew 25:35-36, “for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.”

          While I could go on and on for hours about the teachings of Jesus Christ, the reality is that Jesus Christ laid out a clear and a beautiful blue print for us, a way of life, shown through his life and his teachings.

          In accepting Christ as our savior, and in accepting the free gift of salvation, Christ then challenges us every day for the rest of our lives, to live out our faith. To live out our faith in the ways in which he taught us. This is how we become like God, this is how we become sanctified or purified into the full image of Jesus Christ. So living like Christ as a Christian then, should not be an option for a Christian, rather it is required of us every day.

          In our reading this morning from the Book of Deuteronomy, it says, in 18:15, “The LORD your God will raise up a prophet like me from your community.” The Old Testament has many prophets like Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Micah who called the Israelites to holiness. These prophets paved the way for Jesus Christ, who is among some many other things, a teacher, a “Rabbi.”

          In Deuteronomy 18:18-19 from this morning it says, “I’ll raise up a prophet for them from among their fellow Israelites—one just like you. I’ll put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him.” This morning Jesus speaks with power and authority, as he teaches.

          In the Apostle Paul’s first Epistle or letter to the Corinthians from this morning, Paul talks about eating meat that has been sacrificed to false idols. The Apostle Paul talks about in 1 Corinthians 8:1 how “Knowledge makes people arrogant, but love builds people up.” Paul talk about how our faith in Christ, must drive us to love, must drive us to faith.

          The Apostle Paul tells us that concerning Jesus Christ in 1 Corinthians 8:5, “All things exist through him, and we live through him.” Following God, believing in and following Christ, is the way to life eternal.

          In our gospel reading for this morning from Mark 1:21-28, Jesus and his twelve-disciples and other followers enter the Jewish Synagogue on Capernaum, on the Sabbath day. The gospel tells us in Mark 1:22 that after Jesus came in the temple and started teaching, that “The people were amazed by his teaching, for he was teaching them with authority, not like the legal experts.”

          As Jesus was doing this, suddenly a man who was possessed with an evil spirit screamed out as Jesus was teaching in Mark 1:24, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are. You are the holy one from God.”

          Then suddenly Jesus commanded the evil spirit to exit the afflicted and oppressed man, and it did.

          Then in Mark 1:27 it says, “Everyone was shaken and questioned among themselves, “What’s this? A new teaching with authority! He even commands unclean spirit and they obey him!” The gospel reading for this morning ends in Mark 1:28, with the news of Jesus and his teaching spreading “throughout the entire region of Galilee.”

So clearly then, Jesus when he was doing his three year earthly ministry, had great power and authority. He was clearly a great teacher, and the things he taught were radical, transformative, and more loving than anything that had ever been said before.

Yet, we know that sometimes that some churches fail to be like Jesus. We know that sometimes some pastors fail to be like Jesus, and we know that sometimes we ourselves fail to be like Jesus.

Imagine though, if we all really lived like Christ? Imagine if we took everyone one of his teachings, and imagine if we all lived them out powerfully and abundantly. Imagine what this town and this world would look like. For the gospel, the Good News of Jesus Christ is transformative, and powerful. I tears down walls, it breaks down barriers, and it mends broken hearts. I know, because I watch it happen all the time.

So when we fail to be like Christ, which all of us will at times, we must ask for forgiveness, dust ourselves off, and continue, because the world we live in is filled with oppression, injustice, and so much pain. Imagine how God can use us build His kingdom through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

As example of when the people have failed to be like Jesus Christ, I want to give you a quote from the famous Indian leader who liberated India from British, named Mahatma Gandhi. For when Gandhi was asked about Christianity he said, “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” He was speaking of the British Army.

I believe then, when we do our best to live like Christ, when the church does its best to like Christ, when all Christians do their best to live for Christ, that the world is better. That when we do this, the church grows, because people see Jesus in our love, our actions, and our behaviors. That faith grows, as we are following the risen Christ.

To bring this message to a close, I want to tell you quick story about loving and valuing others, as Jesus taught us to do. This story is called, “The Name of the Cleaner,” and this story was reported in “Heart At Work,” by Editor: Jack Canfield and Jacqueline Miller. Here is how it goes:

“During her second month of nursing school, the professor gave the students a quiz. The last question stumped most people in the class. It read “What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?”

“All the students had seen the cleaning woman several times. She was tall, dark-haired and in her 50s, but how would any of them know her name? Before class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward their grade.”

“Absolutely,” said the professor. “In your careers you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say hello”.

“The students never forgotten that lesson. They also learned her name was Dorothy.”
          My brothers and sisters, Jesus is alive and well, and he is in us, and amongst us. When we, when the church, when the world truly lives for Him, when we truly follow Him, then watch how things change. Watch how this church will grow, watch how lives will be changed, watch how people will encounter the risen Christ, and watch as the world we live in gets better, more loving, and more like Christ every day. Praise be to the Risen Christ. Amen.