Rev. Stephen E. Stults
St. Paul’s Anglican Church
March 21, 2021
Passion Sunday
John 8:55:
“Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him
not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying.”
What does it mean to “know” Jesus? This is a great question, and one that
should be asked in the season of Lent.
It is during this season that we prepare our hearts and minds for the
coming Easter joys. Is it not during
Lent that one should ask, “What does it mean to know Jesus?” Better yet, shouldn’t one ask, “Do I know
Jesus?”
Before we answer that question, let me relate a story. Some time ago, I was
having a conversation with several Christian ministers. I was introduced to the
group by a great friend and Christian brother, a Pentecostal bishop of the Apostolic
Orthodox Church. This particular bishop is working to meld the Pentecostal
aspects of Christian worship with the liturgical side of worship, which we do
here. He said to the group, “This is Fr.
Stephen Stults, a man who knows the Lord.”
At the time I confess I was flattered by the comment, but later, I was
troubled. Did I really know the Lord?
What did that mean?
Those of you who have attended our last three Lenten suppers have heard
something of this. We have discussed at length the difference between a
transactional or relational basis of living with God. Being
transactional means you attempt to make a deal with God. If He will do this,
you will do this. We illustrated the tragic examples of self-flagellation in
the Middle Ages, where people would shred their own flesh in exchange for a
hoped-for deliverance from the Black Death.
This is transactional. It is also
flawed because it assumes some element of self-salvation. It assumes that something you do will cause
the Almighty to act in your favor.
This is not to know God. It is
merely trying to use him by making a deal.
It also may assume that God delights in our misery, which, according to
Scripture, is contrary to God’s chief attribute, love. To our mind, the only
possible way God would treasure your suffering is if it brings about true or
greater repentance. Even in these cases, suffering usually springs from the
consequences of our sins. We sin, we
suffer, and hopefully we repent.
This parallels the so-called “sin cycle” of the Old Testament. Israel would sin grievously, often for an
extended period of time, God would bring forth judgement upon them, and they
would repent. This cycle is repeated
several times until the greatest judgement occurred in A.D. 70 with the
destruction of the Temple (and Jerusalem with it). Israel ceased to be a
nation, being under the yoke of various foreign powers until the
re-constitution of the Jewish State of Israel.
For a bit of history and fulfillment of
prophecy: On May 14, 1948, David Ben-Gurion, the head of the Jewish
Agency, proclaimed the establishment of the State of Israel. U.S. President
Harry S. Truman recognized the new nation on the same day.[1]
This process began in 1946, when Pres. Truman endorsed the relocation of
100,000 displaced persons to Palestine, then under British control. Throughout 1947, the United Nations Special Commission on Palestine
examined the Palestinian question and recommended the partition of Palestine
into a Jewish and an Arab state. On November 29, 1947 the United Nations
adopted Resolution 181 (also known as the Partition Resolution) that would
divide Great Britain’s former Palestinian mandate into Jewish and Arab states
in May 1948 when the British mandate was scheduled to end.[2]
The rest is history, as Israel grew and flourished again as a nation, despite
facing immediate war from the surrounding Arab states.
It has been noted that Pres. Truman was especially desirous to assist
Israel. Sincee he was a devout Southern
Baptist, did he feel that re-establishing the state of Israel would perhaps
usher in the Millennial era, culminating in the Second Coming of Christ? Could
this be an example of transactional thinking?
Knowing God involves something else.
It means that you have a relationship with Jesus. It means that
you appreciate his Divine Character and love Him for it. It means that you
trust in Him for salvation, and that you recognize that you are saved by grace
through faith, and not by your striving.
It also means that this relationship is maintained through constant
communication with God in the form of prayer: both formal and informal; as well
as worship and service in His Church. The
more we talk with God, the closer we become, and the more we love Him with all
our heart, soul, and mind.
Our relationship with God - Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit, should be dynamic, never static. Since God is all about life, so shall our
relationship be. The Prayer Book says, “…that, as we grow in age we may grow in
grace….”.
Today’s Gospel gives examples of transactional vs. relational thinking. Jesus
has just been accused of being a despised Samaritan by the Jews. To make the
insult worse, they accuse Him of being possessed as well! From the New American
Standard version, we read: (John 8:48): “The Jews answered and said to Him, "Do we not say rightly that You are
a Samaritan and have a demon?" Now,
they have accused Christ of not only being an enemy to the Jewish nation and to
their religion (a Samaritan), but also being demon-possessed![i]
Christ’s reply is meek and gentle.[ii] (John 8:49: “Jesus answered, I have not a devil; but
I honour my Father, and ye do dishonour me.” This is a reply that most of us
could not make. Our usual response to such a charge is to lash out with anger
or resentment.
We know from the O.T. sacrificial system, that
transactional relationships were the norm.
One would sin and one would present sacrifice for purposes of atonement.
There was a specific type of sacrifice called the “sin sacrifice.” The whole of
Jewish life was regulated by the Law, itself defined by transactions: one
follows the Law, one is blessed; one breaks the law, one suffers judgement. All in all, it was plainly stated: the pious
Jew followed the Law; the impious did not. Blessings and curses would follow
each path.
The Scribes and Pharisees were the guardians of the
Law. The knew it, they studied it, and
they interpreted it to the common Jew. They were, without a doubt, the masters
of the transactional practice of religion.
Their accusation of Christ shows this plainly.
Implicit in the words is a transactional cause-and-effect situation: “Say we
not well that thou art of Samaritan (inferior to the Jew with inferior
Samaritan Scriptures and practice), and thou hast a devil? (the natural curse
from living outside the Jewish Law).
This is how they related to God.
It was mechanistic and perhaps somewhat crass. As time progressed, many pious Jews thought
God owed them a blessing due to their flawless keeping of the Law! They
knew the Law, but they did know God.
Always, in all situations, Jesus was in constant
relationship with His Father.
Only once in Christ’s life could it be argued that
He was apart from His Father. That, of
course, was the dreadful isolation on the Cross. He took all the world’s sin
into Himself and as St. Paul says, became sin for us. Sin is separation from
God. This is what Jesus endured for us, so that sin will not separate us
forever from God. For a time, His relationship with the Father was suspended.
Now, here comes the difficult question: whom do we
honor? If we are like the majority of the human race, we seek to honor
ourselves. Our self esteem, our
well-being, our advancement, are key to our attitude and behavior. “Take care
of Number One”, as the old saying goes.
Realistically, this is how people survive, and it
may not be necessarily bad. It can lead
to great improvement in our own lives and those around us. After all, what does an entrepreneur do but
think of something that people want, then strive to deliver that good or
service? In so doing, he helps himself
and society.
The key is what is the source of this
inspiration? If it is human will,
sublimated in the Will of God, nothing but good can occur. All will benefit, a “win-win-win” will happen.
In the case of the parables’ Pharisees, there is
something else at work. Their approach
to Jesus is not born out of pure motives, but those of pride and fear. How dare this rude rabbi presume to teach the
people! How dare He heal the sick! Just
who does he think he is?
Exactly.
Rather than see Jesus as the long-expected Messiah, they react to
protect themselves and their position. They seek to honor themselves.
Understandably, it would be shocking to see and hear the things Jesus said and
did, especially if one was charged with keeping the religious life of
Israel. After all, it was their job to
teach the people from the Law of Moses. Their reaction is natural, yes, but it
lacked one thing: faith. Their own pride and need for prestige did not allow
them to see Christ as Messiah. All they saw was a presumptuous prophet saying
outrageous things.
Beloved, let us examine this in terms of our Lenten
journey. How much do we seek to honor
God, rather than ourselves? How much, or
how often, do we ask that His Will be done in our lives? Has our Lenten experience been positive in
this regard?
Most likely, we will not be hung on a cross, like
Christ. Most likely, we will not be
scourged and mocked like Him. Most
definitely, we will not be asked to take the World’s sin upon us. Yet, when we
give our will to God, all of us are fearful that God will ask something of us.
We are afraid that He will ask us to do something we do not want to do. We may
be afraid that bad things will happen, or that we will have to suffer for Christ.
Well, beloved in Christ, here’s the kicker: all of
us will suffer in this life, whether we are in God’s Will, or not. Jesus tells us that it rains on the just and
the unjust.[iii] Yet, there is a difference: the Christian
prays for God’s will and the grace to meet whatever challenges happen to
him. The ungodly, or natural man
suffers, and says “Why?” Whereas the Christian knows all things are
pre-ordained in some wonderful and mysterious way, the man who knows not God is
bewildered and bitter. Even in the Christian’s sufferings, there is a
blessedness that the pagan will never know.
When we honor God, we are honoring ourselves,
because we are in tune with what our Creator has willed for us. It is seldom
easy, but it is the right path for us. Through God’s grace, we will realize, in
time, that God’s Will is the only way to true peace and joy.
We cannot be more honored than that. AMEN
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