St. Paul’s United Church Sunday, June 5, 2011
What is a Christian? Rev. David Mundy
Ephesians 1:15-23 Luke 24:44-53
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Christian writer and former pastor Anthony Robinson tells a story from his first congregation decades ago in the Cascade Mountains of Oregon. He was serving in a small town which ran a contest to find the “best Christian” in the community. Times have changed, haven’t they? Can you imagine the hurdles to having that sort of contest today?
It turned out that the person voted the best Christian, Mr. Miller, was actually the only Jew in town. The winner was a nice, friendly guy who never had a bad word to say about anyone and was always ready to help out in the community. He may have been surprised to be considered a Christian, and it also points out how “Christian” had come to be defined by qualities as “nice” and “friendly” and community minded rather than a professed allegiance to Christ or related faith practices.
I have run into similar circumstances through the years, often at the time of funerals, or at least certain funerals. These are the ones where the person hasn’t darkened the door of a church in decades or in any way claimed to be a follower of Christ. But a family member will tell me, sometimes a little defiantly, that mom or dad was a “good Christian” and is already in heaven playing the ukelele in the divine orchestra. Needless to say, I have no desire to get into a debate with the family member about what it means to be a Christian during their time of grief. And last time I checked God hadn’t sent me an email giving me the job of deciding who is or isn’t a Christian.
It is a little odd just the same, don’t you think? We wouldn’t think of saying that the considerate person who cut his elderly neighbour’s lawn and who was a stalwart in the Rotary Club was a good Buddhist just because he or she was a decent human being. We understand that adherents of other religions believe certain things that are distinctive to their faiths and their perception of a god, or gods, or no god at all.
So when did “Christian” become a generic term for a good and moral person? Is that really being Christian?
A couple of weeks ago I spoke to you about how we respond to people of other religions with a respect and generosity of spirit which reflects the diverse and pluralistic society of which we are part. At the same time I suggested that in order to do this we need to be secure and knowledgeable in our own Christian faith.
This morning is an opportunity to ask ourselves just what it means to be Christian. This is actually what is called Ascension Sunday, the day the Christian church has traditionally celebrated Jesus’ departure from this earth after the resurrection. The gospels tell us that Jesus appeared to his followers a number of times in the weeks after Easter but eventually left them, including on the evening of the day his empty tomb was discovered.
I have to confess that I have never really liked this Sunday because the impression given only in Luke is that Jesus leaves them as though he is on an escalator at the airport, waving goodbye to his family. There are many paintings of the ascension which give this impression. The thirteenth century Ascension by Giotto depicts Jesus heading up into the clouds. The twentieth century Indonesian painter Bagong Kussudardja gives us a much more mystical, lyrical image. Then we can go from the sublime to the happily ridiculous version by Christian cartoonist Cuyler Black of someone who suffers from Ascension Deficit Disorder. For most of us the notion of a heaven up there somewhere doesn’t fit well these days. What do we do with this story?
But along with this heavenly component there is a very
down-to-earth aspect to this passage. Jesus offers something of an “exit
interview” as he tells those followers who he has been and who he will continue
to be for them. And what does Jesus say: “the Messiah (Christ) is to suffer
and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that
repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name . . . you
are witnesses of these things.”
Within these few phrases Jesus reminds them that the
crucifixion wasn’t just a tragic and unfair execution. It had cosmic meaning,
and through his suffering love and his resurrection they received new and
eternal life.
What is a Christian? Wouldn’t it help if we were fairly sure of this in our own minds? We could say, tongue in cheek, that being a Christian means eating together a lot and talking a lot. Do you ever notice the hum of chatter before worship on Sundays?
We know that being a Christian has a little more depth than this. During our bible study last week I asked this question “What is a Christian?” and one of the answers was that Christians are people who follow the teachings of Jesus. That is a reasonable and worthwhile answer because Jesus taught many things that are worth hearing and incorporating into our lives.
When Jesus taught what we call the Golden Rule, “do unto others as you would have them do to you,” he invites us into a respect for others we would hope from them.
When Jesus told parables such as the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son he was teaching us about exceptional compassion and radical forgiveness.
When he taught them what we call the Lord’s Prayer he was encouraging them to be in prayerful and practical communion with the God who shapes our way of being.
When we listen to the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount we are instructed in a way of life which turns many of our conventions upside down. Turn the other cheek, go the second mile, love your enemies. Let your yes be yes, and your no be no. Do not store up treasures for yourself, and do not worry about your life. Let your light shine before others.
Wow! Can you imagine what our world would become if Christians truly embraced these teachings? But of course you don’t have to be a Christian to be convinced that these words are worthwhile and true. We’re told that Mohandas Gandhi, the great twentieth century activist in the Indian subcontinent read the Sermon on the Mount regularly and admired Jesus greatly. He wasn’t a Christian though, even though it could be argued that he followed those teachings more practically than the majority of Christians.
Which brings us back to what we mean when we say “Christian.” It is more than our heads, our intellects, agreeing to certain teachings and principles, as important as they may be. It is even more than our earnest actions to make the world a better place.
Becoming Christians is also a matter of our hearts, our souls or spirits, accepting that God has sought us out in Jesus the Christ, and that through his limitless grace we can be set free from sin and regret to live with freedom and the joy which those first Christians experienced.
Some of you may have heard that this summer the Stratford Festival will stage the sixties rock musical Jesus Christ Superstar by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Superstar and Godspell were both upbeat and very earnest “takes” on Jesus in a very different time. Back then the songs of these musicals were on the radio and people walked around singing them without apology. Yes, our culture has changed, yet here it is again, and if you recall it is Judas who asks the important questions:
Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ
Who are you? What have you sacrificed?
Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ
Who are you? What have you sacrificed?
Jesus Christ
Superstar
Do you think you're what they say you are?
Jesus Christ
Superstar
Do you think you're what they say you are?
Was that a mistake or
Did you know your messy death
Would be a record breaker?
Our gospel reading this morning tells us that Jesus’ death was no mistake, even though it was unfair and not what Jesus wanted for himself. Actually, it is Jesus who tells us that it was not a mistake, that he is the Risen Christ. And for that reason the sacramental meal we will share today is not just a sad farewell. It is a new beginning.
So, if it is important to ask “what is a Christian?” then it is even more important to ask and answer the question “am I a Christian?” In some churches there is a strong emphasis and even an uncomfortable pressure to make a “decision for Christ,” to state one’s faith in a particular way – maybe to declare that one is “born again.” We don’t do that in the United Church, yet it is important and even essential to be able to affirm out Christian faith, and to be the witnesses to Jesus, crucified and risen.
We can hope that the words “am I a Christian?” with a question mark at the end can be rearranged as an affirmation “I am a Christian!” And the best Christian in town is not the nicest person, or the most helpful person, even though those are wonderful attributes. It is anyone who realizes that Christ’s gift of grace and new life is meant for them. There is nothing generic about being a Christian, and I hope that every one of us leaves here today convinced that we are the recipients of this gift of grace.
When we celebrate our sacraments, we usually affirm and reaffirm our faith through one of our statements of faith. Let’s join together with our New Creed and its call to follow the teachings of Jesus and to proclaim Christ as crucified and risen, our judge and our hope.
We are not alone,
we live in God's world.
We believe in God:
who has created
and is creating,
who has come in
Jesus,
the Word made
flesh,
to reconcile
and make new,
who works in us
and others
by the Spirit.
We trust in God.
We are called to be the Church:
to celebrate God's
presence,
to live with
respect in Creation,
to love
and serve others,
to seek justice
and resist evil,
to proclaim Jesus,
crucified and risen,
our judge and
our hope.
In life, in death, in life beyond
death,
God is with us.
We are not alone.
Thanks be to God.