Folks, I just want to invite you into the Way. It is a movement that began 2000 years ago in backcountry Israel with an unknown leader who was ultimately tried and convicted of blasphemy against his own religion, and further was tried and convicted, tortured, and finally executed for leading a group of rebels against the Roman Empire. Welcome into the fellowship of the Way.
In a time when church membership across this great country of ours is decreasing as it never has before; in a time when the fear of church death rises exponentially every day; in a time when most Mennonites aren’t white and don’t have long white beards, but are black folks scattered across the continent of Africa; in a time when Civil War rages in Darfur along with certain unmentionable atrocities particularly to children; in a time when child prostitution in Southeast Asia has reached its apex; in a time when polar ice melt could mean the disappearance of Washington D.C. and the Floridian Peninsula, Jesus calls us into the Way.
But, folks, be careful. Jesus calls us into the Way, so be careful. So often we talk about the Jesus movement as if it were akin to the Rotary Club, or the Kinsmen, or the Kiwanis Club, or the Flat Earth Society...but Jesus invites us into something different; something a bit more unconventional; something a bit more bizarre. Jesus calls us into the Way.
Now, you might have heard the call of Jesus and thought that you made a decision for yourself – perhaps you might think to yourself, “Well I’ve found Jesus and now I’m saved!” Well, I’m sorry; I think you might just have that wrong, because the Bible talks about how Jesus operates, and I think that it’s the other way around – I think Jesus is looking for us – I think Jesus is looking for you.
There was once a gardener who lived in a really beautiful red brick house and she had 100 potted geraniums. During the winter she would pull up the pots from the garden and take them inside and water and nurse them all winter. When it warmed up outside she would have her husband help her carry them all outside. Well, one day as they were taking the geraniums outside she realized that there were only 99 – one was missing. This woman searched and searched and searched until she found that missing potted geranium plant.
There was a woman who looked into the wallet she kept in her purse and realized that she’d lost a dime. So she lit a lamp, and moved most of the big furniture in the house, swept every part of the building until she found that dime. When she found it she called up her neighbours and friends and exulted, “REJOICE WITH ME; I HAVE FOUND MY LOST DIME!”
Folks, you’ll realize that these stories aren’t stories about us – they don’t make sense to us. Why would you move all the furniture in the house just to save a dime? No, these are stories about God. These stories are about how God saves; God searches and searches and searches until he finds. As the Bible says, “There is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one lost person who is found!”
I think that this is John’s message too. The very same message that got him arrested and imprisoned by Herod. Now John was, according to the Bible, of the priestly class within Jewish society. But he also lived a strange, strange life. They say that he wore a camel-hair cloak with a waist belt made of leather and he dined on locusts and honey. According to the Bible the Israelites often wondered whether John was the Messiah they had been waiting for, but John told them all:
I baptize you with water. But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie...
John was just preparing the way for a Messiah, and that got him into loads of trouble. John had a big mouth and wasn’t afraid to say anything to anybody. John didn’t like to discriminate, so his message was shared with anybody intrigued by his preaching and his baptizing.
He would holler at the people who gathered to hear him at the river:
You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit worthy of repentance.
And the people would come back asking, “How do we do that?”
To which John would respond:
The man with two coats should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same.
And the tax collectors came wondering as well, “What should we do?” they would ask:
Don’t collect any more than you are required to. And soldiers, don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely – be content with your pay.
These were the answers for the alleged, “brood of vipers” that were fleeing from “the wrath to come.” But, as I said before, John didn’t like to discriminate. After he was done with the common people he turned his eyes on the ruling elite. John had told Herod that his relations with Herodias – his brother Philip’s wife – was adultery, and Herod, let me tell you, didn’t like it much. So that got John arrested by Herod. We come into the story with John already in jail.
This very same message of repentance led Jesus to say this when he was preparing his disciples to be sent out to spread the Gospel to the surrounding towns and villages:
Brother will hand over brother to death; a father will hand over his child. Children will rebel against their parents and kill them. Everyone will hate you because you are committed to me. But the person who patiently endures to the end will be saved.
This is what happens when you believe Christ’s good news. The whole system of selfish desires and “I’m gonna get what’s mine” breaks down people’s comfortable and sedate lives. Go out into the world, try spreading that good news – see what the world makes of it.
The one thing I have against Jesus in his sending out the twelve is his command that says:
Don't take a traveling bag for the trip, a change of clothes, sandals, or a walking stick. After all, the worker deserves to have his needs met.
Emphasis on “don’t take a change of clothes!” I’m sorry Jesus, but I strongly disagree with you here. Do you happen to know what these folks are gonna smell like when they get back from their journey? Won’t their billets start complaining about the stench of unwashed bodies? Let me guess, the Holy Spirit will bathe them some miraculous way? You’ve got me a bit sceptical here Jesus. All the other stuff is great, but please, let them bring two or three sets of clothes – and hopefully their billets have a washing machine.
Jesus also seems to treat his disciples the way Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff treats his MPs – you gotta follow the party line – the only message you can share as you go out is this, “The Kingdom of Heaven is near!” Other than that, you gotta prove that it is near by healing, curing, and exorcising demons out of people. And on top of that folks – in Israel health care will be free – this isn’t the USA – the people here will enjoy good news for no fee.
Well, I will hand it to Jesus, he’s out to change the world. And when we’re ready to face the world, honestly believing that God is up to something that could change everything we head back to our most ancient of Christian hymns:
God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in [Christ], and through [Christ] to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
The cross is where our eyes remain. We have a King whose good news opposed the good news of Caesar Augustus who had signs posted all over his empire that said this:
Augustus has been sent to us as Saviour...the birthday of the god Augustus has been for the whole world the beginning of the gospel.”
Our King goes about declaring, “The Kingdom of God has come near!” And further, he invites his closest circle of friends to go out into the surrounding villages to give them that message. The very same message, that when further explained, leads folks like John the Baptizer to the dungeon and to execution. The very same message that would lead Jesus’ apostles to passionate destinies – destinies shaped by suffering.
Being Black History Month I’ll share with you the story of one of my heroes who suffered for the Gospel. A Gospel that opposes that of Caesar Augustus and says this:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.
Harriet Tubman is one such person who believed Christ’s Gospel in this way. Tubman lived during the 19th century and has always been, along with Terry Fox, one of my heroes. She escaped from slavery in Maryland in September of 1849 and made the journey along the Underground Railroad. She was assisted along this informal route by free blacks, abolitionists, and Christian activists – mostly Quakers. They say that Tubman’s journey began in Caroline County, Maryland, along the banks of the Choptank River travelling northeast, through Delaware and across the Mason-Dixon Line that meant freedom from the South and, more importantly, freedom from slavery. This journey that she took was only 150 km, but the journey was all on foot, and mostly done at night – which means the trip could’ve taken from as little as 5 days to as many as 3 weeks.
Reflecting on the journey years later Tubman wrote:
When I found I had crossed that [Mason-Dixon] line, I looked at my hands to see if I was the same person. There was such a glory over everything; the sun came like gold through the trees, and over the fields, and I felt like I was in Heaven.
As God used John the Baptist to prepare the world for the life-giving and liberating Jesus Christ, Harriet Tubman was setting the stage for the coming of Martin Luther King, Jr. by preparing black people for freedom. Tubman’s claim to fame is that she brought almost 100 slaves to freedom along the Underground Railroad, by travelling that same route 13 times – which means she put down around slightly less than 4000 km on those aching feet of hers.
One of my favourite stories about Tubman is this one.
Harriet Tubman used to carry a revolver, and it seems that she wasn’t afraid to use that revolver. You wouldn’t want to cross Harriet Tubman. In fact, she was so focused on bringing people to freedom that she was committed to this ideal, “with Harriet Tubman there is no turning back!” Well, it just happens that during one of Tubman’s expeditions morale sank to below the knees and one man insisted that he was gonna go back to the plantation they’d come from. Harriet wasn’t too amused by this man’s declaration so she stormed over to where he was, pulled out the revolver, and pressed it against his face. But Tubman wasn’t an impolite woman at all; but she was very persuasive. All she had to do was to say to this man:
You seem to have two choices here sir. You go on or die.
When the group arrived in Canada a few days later, the man was still with them.
But salvation can also have a different face. Salvation can also look like a party. Let me tell you about that.
Dr. Tony Campolo went to Honolulu for a speaking engagement. He got there and because of the time difference he woke up at 3 in the morning and ended up at a greasy spoon. There were no booths to sit in, just stools at the counter. He sat down, didn’t touch the menu; it was one of those plastic menus with grease piled up on it. He knew that if he touched the thing something extra-terrestrial would crawl out. This fat guy with a grease-stained apron, unshaved, cigar hanging out of his mouth comes out and bellows, “WHADDAYA WANT?” So the pastor says, “just a cup of coffee and a donut.” He poured the coffee and then he did this – wiping along the chest – and he picked up the donut. Ugh!!!
The pastor is sitting there, munching on his dirty donut, and all of a sudden, entering the little dive were 10 or 11 prostitutes. It was a small place, he tried to disappear. The one next to him was a little boisterous. She said to her friend, “Tomorrow’s my birthday; I’m gonna be 39.” Her friend looks at her and says, “Well whaddaya want me to do about it? Do you want me to sing Happy Birthday? Do you want a cake? Maybe a party?”
The first woman says, “Look, I don’t want anything. I’m just telling you it’s my birthday. Why do you have to hurt my feelings?” Then she gets up and says, “I’ve never had a birthday party in my whole life. I don’t expect to have one now.”
That did it.
The pastor waited till they left and then he called Harry over – you know, that ol’ fat guy. And he said to Harry, “Do they come in here every night?”
“Yes!”
“The one right next to me?”
“Her name’s Agnes!”
He said, “It’s her birthday tomorrow night! Why don’t we decorate this place and have a party for her tomorrow when she shows up?”
Harry grabbed the pastor’s hand and squeezed and said, “that’s just beautiful, beautiful!!!”
Harry called back to his wife, “Get out here, this man wants to throw a birthday party for Agnes.”
She comes out and says, “Oh mister, that’s brilliant. Nobody ever does anything for Agnes and she’s one of the good people in this town. I know what she does to make money, but she’s a good person.”
He said, “Can I decorate the place?”
“To your heart’s content!”
“Well then,” the pastor said, “I’m gonna bring a big birthday cake.”
Harry says, “No, the cake’s my thing!”
“Oh geez!”
The pastor comes in the next morning at 2:30 and strings the decorations he bought at the local K-Mart across the windows and hanging from the ceiling. He threw up a big sign that said, “Happy Birthday AGNES!” and he had the place spruced.
By 3:15 things were ready and every single prostitute in Honolulu was squeezed into that tiny diner. It was wall-to-wall prostitutes; and a Philadelphian pastor.
3:30 in the morning Agnes comes in with her friends. Everybody was set and ready, when she walked in everyone cried out, “HAPPY BIRTHDAY AGNES!” and everybody was cheering like mad.
Never had Agnes ever been so stunned in her life. Her knees buckled, they steadied her. She was helped to a stool and the crowd began singing, “Happy Birthday” to Agnes.
When they brought out the cake with the candles that was it; she lost it and started to cry. Harry just stood there with the cake; with all the candles. He said, “knock it off Agnes and blow out the candles...come on Agnes, knock it off.” She tried, but she couldn’t do it, so he blew out the candles. He gave her the knife and said, “Cut the cake...come on now Agnes, now cut the cake, cut the cake.”
Agnes turned to the pastor and said, “Mister, I really don’t want to cut the cake. Is it OK if I don’t cut the cake?”
He said, “Well it’s your cake. You can do with it what you want.”
She said, “I want to take it home; I want to show it to my mother. Is that OK?”
He said, “Sure!” She got up.
He asked, “Do you have to do it now?”
She said, “I live two doors down. Let me take the cake to her and I promise I’ll bring it right back. I promise.” She picked up the cake like it was the Holy Grail and she pushed her way through the crowd and out the door. As the door swung shut behind Agnes it was dead silent. Everybody was standing there awkwardly – just absolutely stunned.
The pastor didn’t know what to say so he asked, “Whaddaya say we pray?”
A pastor at 3:30 in the morning in a diner filled with hookers...” Whaddaya say we pray?”
He prayed that God would deliver Agnes from what filthy men had done to her. She had probably been preyed upon at a young age, destroying her self-image sometime in her early teenage years. And the way our broken society works is we blame her for what she’s become when we really oughta be blaming him. He prayed that God would make her new. Our God loves to make things new. That’s why our God comes to us in Jesus Christ to spread good news. It doesn’t matter where you’ve been or what you’ve done; we’re Christians folks – we believe that God can make you new.
When the prayer was done Harry leaned across the counter and said, “What kind of church do you preach in?”
I preach at a church that throws birthday parties for whores at 3:30 in the morning!
Harry replied, “No ya don’t; no ya don’t.” He said, “I would join a church like that!”
You see, folks, the stories about John the Baptist being beheaded and Jesus sending out his disciples to the surrounding villages, and further warning them about the trouble his Gospel will face is really about the broken Church that Jesus is building. The broken Church that began as a club for whores and today seems to be 2/3rds country club. Amen.
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