The New Testament: an Introduction," 2nd edition

by Norman Perrin and Dennis C. Duling

We are now in a position to make a general statement about the life of Jesus. Jesus was born about 4 B.C. to Joseph, a carpenter of Galilee, and his wife, Mary. He had brothers, one of whom (James) became prominent in the Palestinian church, and sisters (Mark 6:3). He grew up and was educated in the environment of the rural village life of Galilee, and his native tongue was the language of Palestine, Aramaic. He was baptized by John the Baptist, and the beginning of his ministry was in some way linked with that of the Baptist. In his own ministry Jesus was above all the one who proclaimed the Kingdom of God and who challenged his hearers to respond to the reality he was proclaiming. The authority and effectiveness of Jesus as proclaimer of the Kingdom of God was reinforced by an apparently deserved reputation as an exorcist. In a world that believed in gods, in powers of good and evil, and in demons, he was able, in the name of God and his Kingdom, to help those who believed themselves to be possessed by demons. Thus, he moved from village to village, from town to town, preaching the Kingdom, exorcizing demons, healing the sick, and offering hope to the poor. The general portrait of Jesus here is that of a spirit-filled ("charismatic") prophet, preacher, exorcist, and healer, often unconcerned about, or willing to break with, the legal-ritual traditions of purity, which so concerned most of his fellow Jews.

A fundamental concern of Jesus was to bring together into a unified group those who responded to his proclamation of the Kingdom of God irrespective of their sex, previous background or history. A central feature of the life of this group was eating together, sharing a common meal that celebrated their unity in the new relationship with God, which they enjoyed on the basis of their response to Jesus’ proclamation of the Kingdom. In this concern for the unity of the group of those who responded to the proclamation, Jesus challenged the tendency of the Jewish community of his day to fragment itself and in the name of God to reject certain of its own members. This aroused a deep-rooted opposition to him, which reached a climax during a Passover celebration in Jerusalem when he was arrested, tried by the Jewish authorities on a charge of blasphemy and by the Romans on a charge of sedition, and crucified. During his lifetime he had chosen from among his followers a small group of disciples who had exhibited in their work in his name something of his power and authority. Thus arose a "Jesus movement," spearheaded by a band of itinerant radicals who, like Jesus, moved about the villages and towns of Palestine, preaching and healing in his name.

That, or something very like it, is all we can know; it is enough.

"A Christian Code for Unitarian Universalists"

So there’s an old story that begins . . . "Once upon a time" there was a teacher, about 30 years old¾ hardly well seasoned, but inspiring - who wandered about the countryside, because that’s how teachers often reached people in his day, and helping people heal from various afflictions. He had already fed over nine thousand people on very short notice¾ with a lot of help from his friends¾ and helped a blind man see and a paralyzed man walk, and walked on water (He knew where the rocks were.), and broken a few religious laws, and chosen several people to be in his core group, and generally roused the folks in the area.

He gathered his students (also known as disciples) and moved on to another set of villages. During the walk (That’s how people got places), he asked his students who the locals thought he was. ("Who do men say that I am?") They told him that the word was that he was John the Baptist or Elijah or one of the other prophets. And then he asked them, who knew him best and had been traveling with him for more than two years, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter, one of the twelve, said, "You are the Christ." In Greek terms, this essentially meant that he was an anointed spiritual teacher. Then Jesus did an interesting thing. "He charged them to tell no one about him." (Mark 8: 30) This made who he was a "Messianic secret."

Right after this incident, he began to prepare them for the Passion Week: his rejection by the leaders of his religion and his death. He said that the Kingdom of God would come before some of his students had died. There is a lot of argument about what he meant and whether he was an accurate prophet. Then again, there is generally a lot of argument about what the great teachers actually meant and how well they predicted what would happen in our world – or any other world.

We Unitarian Universalists have a long history of arguing about this man Jesus. He is at the heart of our beginnings as a faith movement. In the third century after Jesus lived, our progenitors (especially Origen) argued that Jesus represented a loving God who brought salvation to everyone, refuting those who felt that only some people are worthy of salvation. That refutation of the concept of "the elect" became the Universalist heresy (Heretics are, literally from the Greek, "those who choose."). In the fourth century when the Roman Emperor demanded that the Christian Church get organized if he was going to convert and the Kingdom of God did not seem as immanent as Jesus predicted, we argued that Jesus was a created being, however divine - a truly human being, and not the "One God." That is the Unitarian heresy. In fact we argued that he was a man truly worthy of our attention and consideration, until the 20th century when many of us, for various reasons, gave up on Jesus. Maybe we ought to enter the discussion again, rather than leaving Jesus in "the tender hands of the fundamentalists." (O. Dwight Brown)

It is clear that leaving Jesus to those who hold a narrow view of him abdicates our origins and our place in religious debate. Some of our most committed humanists are beginning to see that we need to bring our UU perspectives back into the arena of public discussion and reclaim our vision of Jesus. We need to examine how Jesus has become a projection screen, how his activism and healing speak to us today, and how his mystical experience offers us a vision for our own lives. While we can’t call our selves "Jesuits, (It’s already taken!)" we could, at the very least, reclaim our place as "Jesusists." Over the centuries, we have developed a strong understanding of Jesus that should not be lost to contemporary conversation.

Let me begin by asserting that Jesus, like God, has gotten a bum rap because we human beings tend to project onto these characters, the best and the worst of our own perspectives on life. Jesus is a huge projection screen. We make of him what we will. If we feel hateful or angry, Jesus is sure to be seen as hateful or angry. If we feel loving, the same applies.

Given that scholarly material offers little information about his actual life that does not come from his followers, we lack confirmation for much people insist is true about Jesus. The reading from Norman Perrin and Dennis C. Duling actually expands beyond confirmable information into articles of faith, but it holds closer to possibility and probability than most traditional teachings. Albert Schweitzer tried to study Jesus as an historical figure and gave up because of his scholarly integrity and the dearth of material from outside the traditions of Chrisianity.

I believe that much of the projection on Jesus comes from a human need for justification. We need to know that we are OK, loved, acceptable to our god(s) and our fellow humans. If we are "saved" by Jesus’ death on the cross, we are justified in our whole lives. Yet, we have only one fragmentary affirmation outside the Christian literature in which Yeshua ben Joseph is put to death by the Romans and laid to rest in a tomb borrowed from Joseph of Arimethea. Still, from a traditional prespective, if we can assert that Jesus was at least the son of God and maybe God him/her self, then we are pretty important stuff in this world by virtue of being saved by his death.

Unitarian minister Theodore Parker refuted this notion in the 19th century, asserting that justification comes from the truth of what one says, not from her or his credentials in relation with God. This is the permanent value of Jesus teachings, not whether he was God’s son, in Parker’s perspective. Of course, this was such heresy that Parker was anathema in Boston, unable to get colleagues to follow the courtesy of exchanging pulpits with him. On the other hand, he often preached to over 3,000 people on Sunday mornings at the Boston Music Hall (John Chadwick White, Theodore Parker: Preacher and Reformer, Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1900, p.210.), so his words and ideas affected many. (Abraham Lincoln’s law partner, William Herndon, carried copies of Parker’s sermons to Lincoln, which is how Lincoln first learned the phrase, "of the people, by the people, and for the people" from Parker’s writings.) Traditionally, though, the notion of justification through faith in Jesus as the son of God is essential to traditional Christianity. Jesus holds our projected hurts and hopes in so many ways.

In contrast, Unitarian Universalists see Jesus as a healer and activist. In fact, one of the key points that caused so much consternation among the religious leaders of Jesus’ time is that he was effective as a healer. His "miracles" do show up in confirming texts from other sources than just the Christian material. Not only did Jesus have powerful impact upon the lives of people, so that he was identified as a healer, but he healed without regard to race, class, gender, or profession, including tax collectors. He did expect people to change their lives, to turn them around and stop doing the things that led them into illness. "Repent and sin no more." Nowadays, we don’t make such big demands for healing. Maybe we need to rethink that as well.

Jesus did not just heal. He cleaned out the Temple of those who were more interested in commerce than in spiritual growth. Now, I tremble to note this while you are trying to run a capitol campaign, because I know some people mistake driving money changers out of the Temple with avoiding responsibility for maintaining a healthy community through intentional and celebrative giving to ensure that this spiritual community can provide worthy space for your community. But I know you won’t make that mistake – will you? We UUs give until it feels GOOD!

Not only did Jesus clear the Temple of commerce, Jesus asked people to put their bodies on the line to help others. He fed the hungry – in a big way. I suspect you folks also support a food bank. Jesus called upon the leaders of the Temple to care for the widow and the orphan, as we do through the Minister’s Discretionary Fund - which can always use more support. Jesus demanded that we return to more just practices in general, and to stop obeying the letter of the law at the cost of the spirit of love. How does this inform the need for universal health care, better services for our elders and children? Just asking . . . Jesus taught these basic and important values which are still very much needed in our world today. And some believe Jesus was a Prince of Peace. How has that idea come to such disuse in our world where Jesus’ followers justify war, even pre-emptive war. Infuriating! We must reclaim Jesus’ better ideas – and our better selves.

Finally, Jesus offered a vision of relationship with one’s Source, one’s God, an intimate, deep, and mystical relationship. A mystic is one who experiences the ultimate directly, Unitarian Unviersalists assert that our first source is "Direct experience of that transcending mystery and wonder, affirmed in all cultures, which moves us to a renewal of the spirit and an openness to the forces that create an uphold life." I can’t think of a better description of Jesus’ message than that! Jesus did not use the conflated honorifics for God of his day. He called God by the Aramaic equivalent of "Daddy." His Source, his God, was intimate, immediate, not far off and unheard. This was a God within/beyond, available through attentive prayer, and as demanding as s/he was comforting. Are you ready for such a relationship with the ineffable, the ultimate. Jesus calls us to just that. Heavy stuff. Maybe that is why people shy away from Jesus. He’s too demanding!

Which brings us to the depth of understanding of what reclaiming Jesus might do to and for us. We are called to be "heirs and joint heirs" with Jesus: to heal the sick, to care for those in prison, to help the widow and orphan, to open to our inner knowing in a way that would truly transform our lives for a greater cause. Each of us would find that calling uniquely directed to our best natures and given skills and talents. It would be personal and political. How does Jesus – or your own best nature – call to you. Are you ready to say "yes" to life abundant? Are you willing to bring your values to bear on a world that seems focused in a totally different way? This is not cheap grace, for sure.

Any commitment to a truly connected – spiritual – life will take us down unknown paths and into difficult places, but it will also afford ecstasy and celebration of a rich and wondrous kind. I watch many of you live this way quietly and fully. I am inspired. I am grateful for Jesus’ – and your model.

Robert Funk, recently deceased founder of the Jesus Seminar, once stated that Jesus had only two points to his message: trust the process and celebrate. In that spirit I offer these closing words from Lucille Clifton:

The green of Jesus

is breaking the ground

and the sweet

smell of delicious Jesus

is opening the house and

the dance of Jesus music

has hold of the air and

the world is turning

in the body of Jesus and

the future is possible.

May each of you find your way of relating to Jesus, developing your own "Jesus Code," and of answering the question, "Who do you say that I am?" that is just as celebrative and juicy and uplifting – with respect, responsibility, and relish for the process.

So Be it. Blessed be!

"The Christian Code for Unitarian Universalists"

July 23, 2006

10:00 a.m.

Welcome

Announcements

Prelude

Chalice Lighting

Opening Words

Opening Song

#12 "O Life that Maketh All Things New"

Sharing of Joys, Sorrows, and Milestones

Offering and Offertory

Reading

from The New Testament: an Introduction" 2nd edition

by Norman Perrin and Dennis C. Duling

Sermon:

"The Christian Code for UUs"

Meditation

Sung Response:

#263 "When Jesus Looked from Olivet"

Spoken Response

Closing Song

#276 "O Young and Fearless Prophet"

Closing Words

Postlude