Introduction

As I mentioned last week, our Ministry Team has adopted a statement of Christian beliefs written by Brian McLaren. The purpose of this statement is not so much to dictate what we as a congregation believe specifically, but to indicate the types of beliefs we hold generally. Its publication becomes a way for us to invite others to explore with us what Jesus means to us.

Today we will reflect on the meaning of the second of the four sections of this creed. Whereas the first section introduced the apologetic nature of the creed by directing us to reflect on the importance of Jesus' miracles as a foundation for our beliefs, the second section highlights the importance of what, how, and to whom Jesus taught.

The Jesus Creed

We have confidence in Jesus,

Who healed the sick, the blind, and the paralyzed.

And even raised the dead.

He cast out evil powers and

Confronted corrupt leaders.

He cleansed the temple.

He favoured the poor.

He turned water into wine,

Walked on water, calmed storms.

He died for the sins of the world,

Rose from the dead, and ascended to the Father,

Sent the Holy Spirit.

We have confidence in Jesus,

Who taught in word and example,

Sign and wonder.

He preached parables of the kingdom of God

On hillsides, from boats, in the temple, in homes,

At banquets and parties, along the road, on beaches, in towns,

By day and by night.

He taught the way of love for God and neighbour,

For stranger and enemy, for outcast and alien.

We have confidence in Jesus,

Who called disciples, led them,

Gave them new names and new purpose

And sent them out to preach good news.

He washed their feet as a servant.

He walked with them, ate with them,

Called them friends,

Rebuked them, encouraged them,

Promised to leave and then return,

And promised to be with them always.

He taught them to pray.

He rose early to pray, stole away to desolate places,

Fasted and faced agonizing temptations,

Wept in a garden,

And prayed, "Not my will but your will be done".

He rejoiced, he sang, he feasted, he wept.

We have confidence in Jesus,

So we follow him, learn his ways,

Seek to obey his teaching and live by his example.

We walk with him, walk in him, abide in him,

As a branch in a vine.

We have not seen him, but we love him.

His words are to us words of life eternal,

And to know him is to know the true and living God.

We do not see him now, but we have confidence in Jesus.

Amen.

The Way of the World

Before we reflect on the specific meaning of the second section of this creed, we would do well to identify the general beliefs and values of the world in which we live. Read along with me as I read Romans 1:16-32.

Read the passage aloud from Bible at hand.

In this passage, the apostle Paul is reminding us that the good news of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection "is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith" (:16). It turns our that humankind needs to be saved from the natural consequences of our rejection of God's sovereignty, as our creator, and his life-giving commandments. In other words, we want to 'go our own way', when God has shown us the 'right way' for us to live in this world.

The one who believes that God is real (cf. 10:9) will live their lives as if God is real and that his commandments are correct — that is what it means to be "righteous" and to "live by faith" (1:17).

The one who ignores the fact of God's existence and God's rightful claim on his life, ignores "what can be known about God [...] because God has shown it to them" (:19) — a point which God does not take lightly. The choice is acknowledge and love God is completely ours, and the benefits of making the right choice are far better than the dangers of making the wrong choice!

Recognising that the choice is ours, we must also recognise that, although God will do everything reasonable to woo us to himself (cf. John 3:16), God will not veto our choice. In fact, despite the great pain that it causes him to witness the foolish suffering that we bring upon ourselves, God allows us to suffer the natural consequences of our choice (Rom 1:22-23).

Because our minds and hearts are not turned towards God, we are too easily distracted towards doing shameful things that we know just ought not to be done. Such things are described as: 1) "the lusts of [our] hearts to impurity" (:24-25); 2) "degrading passions" (:26-27); and, 3) "a debased mind and to things that should not be done" (:28-32) — such behaviours are ultimately not sources of a rich and satisfying life, which is found only through faith in Jesus (John 10:10).

Even though God's "eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has made" (Rom 1:20), God sent Jesus, and then the Holy Spirit, to teach us how to acknowledge God and to live as if we love him. His miracles demonstrate that he is God-in-the-flesh, but he still had to specifically teach us what our creator expects of us and how to avoid the consequences of our follishness.

The Meaning of the Creed

The Jesus Creed of Brian MacLaren is split naturally into four sections by the phrase "We have confidence in Jesus". Let us now look at the two paragraphs of the second section of this creed that we have adopted for our use.

Paragraph 1

We have confidence in Jesus,

Who taught in word and example,

Sign and wonder.

He preached parables of the kingdom of God

On hillsides, from boats, in the temple, in homes,

At banquets and parties, along the road, on beaches, in towns,

By day and by night.

The first thing that we should notice is that we can have confidence in Jesus because he taught not only in word, but by example. There have been lots of great teachers throughout history — perhaps you have even encountered a few in your own academic career — but a teacher who actually lives out the implications of that which they teach is rarer to find.

The reason is that for most teachers they are teaching common subjects of only passing significance. Jesus, on the other hand, was teaching others out of an overflow in his own relationship with God, a relationship which led him to experience a rich and satisfying life that he just had to share the secrets of with anyone and everyone.

This rich and satisfying life that he experienced was demonstrated by the signs and wonders that he was able to perform. What he taught was not merely an intellectual pursuit, but knowledge which enabled in himself and others glimpses of the supernatural reality of our universe.

Jesus taught about the kingdom of God, which is another of saying that he taught about God's sovereignty, as our creator, and his life-giving commandments. To follow those commandments is to be ruled by our creator and to follow rules that supercede those of our human governments because they precede those governments.

Jesus did not remain aloof in an ivory tower, but travelled the highways and byways of an insignificant region of what we today call the Middle East. He taught wherever he went and spoke with whomever he met, so important was it that he share his knowledge of the kingdom of God.

Paragraph 2

The second paragraph of this section speaks specifically of the commandments of God:

He taught the way of love for God and neighbour,

For stranger and enemy, for outcast and alien.

Whereas everything that needs to be known about God can be discoverd by studying Jesus' nature, life, and teaching, everything that needs to be understood about what God expects of us is contained in the sentence of this paragraph.

First, God expects us to love him! That is only a natural response to the fact that he loved us first (Romans 5:8; cf. 1 John 4:19).

Second, God expects us to love our neighbours! That also is only a natural response to the fact that God's love for us is so overwhelming that it overflows us into the lives of others who God also loves. When we love God, we obey God and follow his example: he loves our neighbours, so we love our neighbours (Luke 10:25-35; cf. 1 John 5:2-3).

Finally, God shows no partiality in loving us; thus, his love and our love is directed at everyone! Our natural tendency seems to direct our love towards the neighbour from whom we will derive the most benefit. But, since God loves us even though we did not deserve it, we too must share our love, and the good news of his love, with absolutely everyone we can!

Conclusion

Isaiah 53:6 reminds us that, "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all." God created us with the ability and opportunity to choose to reject him. Perhaps he was naïve in allowing this in us, but I think rather that he wanted us to choose the way of life for ourselves (Deuteronomy 30:19).

Perhaps it is the case that the glory of his creation is demonstrated when his creation realises its potential and enjoys all for which it was created?

Instead, like sheep, men and women too often try to 'make a go of it' on their own, not realising that they couldn't possibly know how to live right without being in a right relationship with the one who gave them life!

So what is the end of that sad tale? Our creator did not leave us to the consequences of our sin, but instead suffered the consequences himself by sending Jesus to bear our self-inflicted judgement. How great is our God?!

Even though God's nature is self-evident, he sent his Son to teach whomever, wherever, all that you and I need to know. Will you learn from him?