"The Scandal of Particularity" Fifth Sunday in Lent Judica April 6, 2014 John 8:46-59
How do you convince someone that Christianity is the only true religion? Our society values toleration. Open-mindedness is the order of the day. Making a categorical statement that Christianity is the only religion that is true puts you in the category of being judgmental, unloving, and perhaps unenlightened. You are a Christian. You believe you are saved. How do you convince someone that this is the truth and that unless they too believe they will not be saved? As if to make it even more scandalous, not only will they not be saved, they will be damned eternally. It's one thing to tell people about Jesus and how belief in Him saves them. But what do you do when they challenge you to explain how God created the universe in six days when they point to scientific evidence that evolution is how things came to be? How do you answer people when they ask you to show them where the Bible explicitly teaches the Trinity, the doctrine that God is one God but in three persons? How do you do that when the word 'trinity' is not even found in the Bible? How do you respond to someone who has experienced such loss or tragedy that they can't come to terms with the good and gracious God you are telling them about? As Christians, we've all had times where we felt like we just didn't know what to say to those who had questions or those who challenged us to show them why what we're trying to convince them of is true. And then it can get personal. If you're a Christian and God has made an impact in your life and you have a new life in Him and He wants you to live according to His will, why do you still sin? Why do you treat people the way the way unbelievers do? How do you convince someone Jesus Christ is the one to believe in when you have wronged someone or harmed them? How often as Christians have we wondered what difference it really does make being a Christian when we still do those things we know we're not supposed to do and so often fail to do those things we're supposed to? It's humbling, but we Christians sometimes don't make very good spokesmen for Christ. Too often instead of being witnesses for Him we seem to be bright neon signs that Christianity is not the way to go. So often the way we act toward others, it's no wonder some people think Christianity is a crock. And imagine how many people would come to see the truth of Christianity if we actually lived the way God has called us to live? There's one thing for us to do. It is to do what the people in the Gospel reading did not do. They saw Jesus as if it was if they were talking with you or me. They saw Him as a man, just as they were. Granted, you and I don't go around trying to convince people that we are God. But, really, is there a difference? When you tell others that Jesus is God and the only Savior and all you get is rejection, it's for the same reason that they would reject you if you had tried to convince them that you are God. That you are God is preposterous. Why? Because you are a human being, a created being--not the Creator. Furthermore, you are a sinner. You do not do only what is good and right. So it's plain that you are not God. But there was Jesus. Jesus was a human being, just like you and I are. Just like those people He was talking with. And that was the issue they had. You are a man, just like us. You can't be God because God is the Creator, not the creature. They rejected the man Jesus and ended up rejecting God. This is the Scandal of Particularity. A scandal is an offense. If we tried to convince others we were God and attempted to impose on them things due to our being God, they would rightly be offended. That would be a scandal. Everything you know about God is wrong, because I am God. Narrowing it down to yourself would make it a scandal that is particular. That's what Jesus was doing. A man, a human being just like them, was claiming to be God. That is the scandal of particularity. It's no wonder so many people don't believe. How can a human being be God? How can you prove that the Bible is what it says it is, the Word of God? Why is it that God became a man, anyway? We can become disheartened that so many people do not believe. As much as we fail in convincing people that Jesus is God and Savior, it's striking that Jesus Himself was rejected by so many. God Himself stood in the flesh before people and they rejected Him. He committed no sin. He spoke and acted only in ways that were for the good of others. And yet He was rejected. The solution is not to put the message of the Gospel in terms that will appeal to people. The solution is to continue to do what Jesus did. He continued to give of Himself, God in the flesh calling people to repentance and giving mercy to those buckling under their sin and guilt. This is what He had to offer and it's what we have to offer. That people reject it doesn't show that evangelism isn't working. It actually shows that it is! If people rejected Christ, surely they will reject us when we bring them the message of Christ. All the ways people today try to destroy Christianity, the attempts to drown it out, the myriad ways to ridicule it, all these are nothing more than attempts made by the people in the Gospel reading two thousand years ago. There's nothing different when today atheists say that we believe in fairy tales and myths. There's nothing new when we people say that we are judgmental and unloving and arrogant. It's more of the same when people challenge us or ignore us or even simply say, If your Christianity is good for you then more power to you; I'll keep my own beliefs, thanks. The scandal of particularity is just that, it is a scandal and it is particular. It is the truth of the universe all centered in the person of Jesus Christ and nothing else. It is, as Jesus says in the Gospel reading, "If anyone keeps My word, he will never see death." That is, eternal life. And it is also, If anyone does not keep my word, he will see eternal death. There is no way to soften this or make it sound more appealing. It applies to you and to me and to every single person. When Jesus said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am," He was claiming that He is God. For a person to do that, well, it's preposterous, isn't it? "So," the Gospel reading says, "they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple." It's more than a bit ironic that we saw last Sunday that the people tried to take Him by force but He escaped so that they couldn't and here today we see the people trying to stone Him but He escaped so that they couldn't. Jesus would be no earthly king for thousands who were miraculously fed and He would be no poor sap whose claim to be God resulted in begin beaten to death by stones. And that is because of the scandal of particularity. There is one thing Jesus knew He had to do. There is one thing He desired above all else. There is one thing that He would not be deterred from, by fanatics wanting more miracles or by fanatics wanting to destroy Him. He was God and He would accomplish what He had come to do. He would in fact be beaten. He would indeed by challenged to accomplish more miracles as He suffered for the sin of the world: "If You are who you say You are, then prove it and come down from the cross." And ultimately He would die that sad death on the cross. The people in our Gospel reading finally got what they had wanted. He would suffer on the cross in order to be who He claimed to be, God and the Savior. The scandal of particularity is that there is nothing else in all of history that does you any good when you die. If you keep His word you will never taste death. You can scoff at Jesus being God, at Christianity being the only true religion, at God being just and merciful in the face of suffering and tragedy, at Jesus being your Savior, but the fact remains--and this is the scandal of particularity--that Jesus accomplished there on the cross salvation for the world. It is a fact and it is most certainly offensive to the world and to our sinful nature. It is a fact and it is most certainly so particular that there is nothing else you can point to for any hope of never tasting death. It is that suffering, that dying, that sacrifice of Christ on the cross. And nothing else. Before Abraham was, I am. He was, He is, He will always be. He is the one who became flesh so that your flesh will not taste eternal death. He is the one who suffered in your place so that you will not taste death and so that you will live forever. You will fail at times for words when talking with others. You may fail at times searching for comfort in your own struggles. But know this: God became a man and took all of your sins on Himself. When you die you will not taste death. You will live eternally. It is a scandal, because you don't deserve it. It is rather all by grace, all by His eternal love for you, the mercy of God for you in the one person, Jesus Christ. To scandalize your sinful flesh He crucified it. He drowned it in your Baptism. He raised you up to new life which is eternal life. To come to you often for more and more forgiveness, and strength you need in the face of your sinful nature struggling with the scandal of it all, He gives you His body born of Mary and given on the cross and He gives you His blood shed on the cross. It is very particular. It is right here at this altar. For you. Amen. SDG -- Pastor Paul L. Willweber Prince of Peace Lutheran Church [LCMS] 6801 Easton Ct., San Diego, California 92120 619.583.1436 princeofpeacesd.net three-taverns.net It is the spirit and genius of Lutheranism to be liberal in everything except where the marks of the Church are concerned. [Henry Hamann, On Being a Christian] _______________________________________________ Sermons mailing list Sermons@cat41.org http://cat41.org/mailman/listinfo/sermons
