In Search of the Real Jesus

 In Search of the Real Jesus

Isaiah 60:1-3; Matthew 2:1-2 

A meditation delivered electronically by Rev. Dr. Randy K. Hammer, Jan. 3, 2021

Today, being Epiphany Sunday, that liturgical season that officially begins on Wednesday (January 6), the readings from Isaiah and Matthew are the traditional readings for the day.  The Isaiah passage speaks of the coming of light into a dark world through the One sent by God to be a blessing to the whole world.  He speaks of nations being drawn to the light, and kings coming to acknowledge the dawn of his brightness. 

Matthew drew from Isaiah’s imagery to tell his story of the “newborn king.”  So we read in Matthew’s story of the Wise Men, or magi, who went in search of this newborn king.  “Where is he who has been born King of the Jews?” the Wise Men ask.  For we have come to find him.

I was reminded of a common Bible Belt question, especially among conservative churches who feel it is their responsibility to convert the whole world, “Have you found the Lord?” Perhaps you have heard the old story about the evangelizing preacher who called on the country boy and asked him, “Have you found the Lord?”  To which the country boy responded, “Well, I didn’t know he was lost.”

Well, perhaps Jesus has been lost.  Perhaps Jesus does need to be found again.  Christian writer Jim Wallis contends that he does.

Our adult Sunday school class, which Suzanne leads via Zoom on Sunday mornings, for the past few months has been studying one of Jim Wallis’s books.  Such prompted me to order Wallis’s latest book titled, Christ in Crisis?  Reclaiming Jesus in a Time of Fear, Hate, and Violence.  In the first chapter, Wallis contends, “We have lost Jesus . . .” (p. 11).

Now, a disclaimer: I’ve just started reading the book.  So, this meditation may be part one, or just be an appetizer, and part two, or a bigger portion, may come sometime in the future.  But from what I’ve read so far, a major theme of Wallis’s book is that the real Jesus of the gospels has been lost. 

As Wallis contends, the true message of Jesus has been hijacked by certain political groups, the prosperity gospel movement, some patriotic and nationalistic groups, and so on (pp. vii-viii).

Jesus has been disregarded, disarmed, and domesticated so that the popular Jesus of today “may not even resemble the Jesus of the New Testament” (p. ix).

The name of Jesus has been misused, either explicitly or implicitly, to promote fear, hate, and violence. 

Events of the past few years, and this is a direct quote, “have revealed how disconnected many American Christians have become from Jesus” (p. 11).  Wallis goes on to say, “Jesus needs to be reclaimed, as he has been silenced, stolen, and even hijacked for political purposes” (p. 18).

The Wise Men, as Matthew tells the story, followed a star to find the “newborn king” they were searching for.”  The “star in the east” was their polar star to show them the way.  And so, in his quest to find and reclaim the “lost Jesus,” Wallis goes back to the scriptures as his polar star to address questions that are posed directly or questions that are evoked by the teachings of Jesus.  By revisiting the pointed questions of the Bible that Jesus addressed, we get a picture of the real Jesus, the Jesus that has been lost to modern culture.  Two such questions he considers are “Who is my neighbor?” and “What is truth?”

What it boils down to, I think, is there is a vast divide between the Jesus many people say they believe in or the Jesus they conscript to further their agenda, versus the Jesus of the scriptures and the way of life the real Jesus calls for.  In other words, the Jesus many people proclaim with their lips is not the Jesus of the gospels that calls for a radically-changed way of life that shows itself in love for neighbor, social justice, and racial equality.

Well, as I said in the beginning, I have just begun reading Christ in Crisis? Reclaiming Jesus, so what I’ve shared with you today is just a sampler of sorts; maybe enough of a sampler that at least some will have an interest in reading the book for themselves.  But again, the point is this: the Jesus that many people say they believe in or the Jesus many people use to promote their own agenda may not match the Jesus of the gospels that reveals himself in a radical life of love for neighbor, justice for all, and racial equality.

Which reminds me of another story about a conversation between a Hindu leader (which may or may not have been Mahatma Gandhi; there is not a consensus on that) and a Christian missionary.  The Hindu leader, when he spoke, often quoted words of Jesus from the Sermon on the Mount.  So the Christian missionary asked, “Since you obviously respect Jesus and often quote him, why do you not become his follower.  To which the Hindu leader replied, “I like your Christ, but I don’t like your Christians.  Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” 

Could not that statement be truthfully uttered a thousand times today by people who admire Christ and his teachings but who do not like the way those who call themselves Christians live, or do not live his teachings?

The Wise Men or magi journeyed to find Jesus; so the story goes.  Perhaps we need to commence a journey of our own to find Jesus as well – the real Jesus that has been lost to modern culture and personal agendas.  Amen.