MORALITY OR MYSTERY?

"The message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God."  1 Corinthians 1:18

In the book, Reaching for the Invisible God, Philip Yancey poses a question to Christians. The question is, "If a seeking person came to you and asked how your life as a Christian differs from a merely moral person, how would you answer?"

One said, "Because of God I haven't given up on my marriage!"  Another said, "I look for ways of helping the poor that I wouldn't ordinarily do."  Another spoke of "not feeling alone in the universe."

A hospice nurse talked about seeing faith-oriented people at the death-bed: "I see how families with faith in God deal with death. They mourn of course, but they also hug each other, pray, and sing hymns. There is less terror. For those without faith, death is final. Death ends everything, but Christians remind each other there also is a future."

How does your life as a Christian differ from a merely moral person?  Does anybody see anything in your life... in your eyes... in your touch.... in who you are and what you do that would lead them to believe that you have something in your life that is unique... and powerful... and irresistible -- a connection of some kind that makes a difference? When I look at Christians; at the church; at my own life, I sometimes wonder. This haunting quote of Pastor John Henry Jowett is a personal favorite: "We leave our places of worship, and often no deep and inexpressible wonder sits upon our faces. We can sing these lilting melodies, but when we go out into the streets… there is nothing about our faces to suggest that we have been looking at something stupendous and overwhelming. What is the explanation?  It is our impoverished conception of God."

Another writer said, "The best argument for Christianity is Christians: their joy, their certainty, their completeness. But the strongest argument against Christianity is also Christians - when they are somber and joyless; when they are self-righteous and judgmental; when they are narrow and repressive. Then Christianity dies a thousands deaths."

Peter 3:15 tells us to "always be ready to testify to the hope that lives within you." Are you ready to testify? Are you ready to give an answer?

For me the difference between myself and a merely moral person is not centered, first of all, in morals.  It is not focused in being a moral and upright person as defined by moral laws whatever they might be, because often, one cannot tell the difference outwardly between a Christian and a merely moral person on the basis of morality.   It is so easy to get smugly hung up in the morality thing. Let me explain. We hear a lot of talk nowadays about values and morals or the lament over the lack thereof. Much of the talk comes from Christians who are standing on their soap boxes pontificating.

A Christian is not necessarily a more moral person than others. I, Joseph Holub, Christian and pastor of Holy Love Lutheran Church am not more moral than others. And I do not say that to denigrate myself.  When I, Joseph Holub, Christian, measure my life by the moral standards the likes of which Moses gave us in the Ten Commandments, which Jesus expounded upon and expanded in the New Testament, particularly in the Sermon on the Mount, I, Joseph Holub, fail miserably as a moral person. No matter how hard I try to be a moral straight arrow, I don't take but a few steps down that road and I fall flat on my face. Read the Sermon on the Mount sometime in Matthew 5, 6 & 7 and see you how you measure up!

There are many people out there who are not Christian who are just as, if not more moral, relatively speaking, as myself.   If you are looking for a measuring stick, morality doesn’t cut it.

So what is the difference? Is there a difference?  I am ready to give my answer?   A Christian has something that nobody else has, and this something is a gift – not earned, deserved or acquired – it’s a gift from God.  Actually everybody has it, it's just that a Christian is a person who has awakened to the reality that they have it - and I say that with all humility. There are many days I wish I never would have awakened to it. The way I feel about this gift is the way I imagine Moses must have felt when he reached the very end of his days, after 40 years with those insufferable people in the wilderness. As he stood on the top of Mt Nebo his tired old eyes looked upon the fertile Jordan River Valley, the Promised Land that God had forbidden him to enter. He must have done a bit of reminiscing about the long forty years he had put in with those incorrigible people. And maybe better than anybody, he knew first hand that when God puts the finger on you, when you awaken to God's call, your troubles have only just begun. And yet there's not a doubt in the world that in the last analysis, Moses would not have had it any other way. That's how I imagine Moses felt. That's how I feel about this incredible gift that God has placed in my hands. God gives a gift that makes all the difference; a gift that some days I wish I never would have awakened to; a gift that, in the final analysis, I would never give back in a million years.

The gift is the cross. That's it! That's the gift! That's the difference. God in Jesus Christ gives a cross. But the cross makes all the difference.

The cross moves us away from morality and toward mystery - MORALITY to MYSTERY - the cross takes us to a place far beyond morality.

God gives us the cross of Jesus Christ and tells us to carry the cross everywhere we go in life. He tells us to take that cross to work; take that cross to school; take that cross home; take that cross to the playground; take that cross to the arena of competition; take that cross to your neighbors; take that cross to your enemies.

The cross moves us from morality to mystery. The cross tells us that a Christian is a person who lives within a paradox - and a paradox is a mystery!

The cross says we only begin to know and experience the mystery of kingdom of God when we give ourselves away; when we empty ourselves for others, when we risk for others - only then, the cross says, will we ever become full. That has nothing to do with morality, and everything to do with mystery.

The cross says that:

- when you look into the eyes of the dying and hold their hand, you will see face of Christ;

- when you place a cool towel on the forehead of the AIDS patient who's burning up with fever, it's also the forehead of Jesus Christ;

- when you sacrifice in your grocery budget to feed a hungry family, you are feeding the Lord who shares in their hunger;

- when you visit the prisoner for no other reason than just to listen and assure him he's not forgotten, that his life still has value, you are visiting Christ himself;

- when you hold tight to the widow shaking with grief standing before her husband's coffin - you are embracing the Lord Jesus;

- when you welcome someone that others have overlooked or scorned - you welcome Jesus Christ.

- you need not cave in to resentment and revenge, but continue to work for forgiveness and reconciliation.

The cross bids us to trust that somehow and some way God is present and is found in these kinds of desperate places and it moves us far beyond morality into mystery; the mystery of the kingdom of God!

Jesus challenges us to "take up our cross and follow." In today's gospel we hear Jesus declare, "Blessed are the poor..." "Blessed are those who hunger now..." That's pure paradox!  I was thinking, if material things really have the ability to deliver satisfaction to our deepest needs, then America should have at least a couple hundred million deliriously happy people.  I don’t see it, but rather I see people who have relative abundance - not satisfied, tormented, anxious, and fearful.  What Jesus is saying is that when you empty yourself of the stuff and clutter of your own self-absorbed agenda; when you stop depending on materialism and self-indulgence to satisfy your deepest needs, only then do you even have a chance of seeing and experiencing the mystery of the kingdom of God; only then can God fill you with God stuff; the stuff that really matters and satisfies. That has nothing to do with morality; that's mystery!

Jesus said, "Blessed are you when you mourn..." That's pure paradox!  Perhaps the only place where you can experience the hope of a reality beyond time is at the grave of a loved one. It's at our loved one's grave that we must come to terms with the reality that we are not as in control as we delude ourselves into thinking we are. We stand there helpless and powerless looking despair and futility in the eye. But it's also right there, looking into the black hole of death, that we just might consider seriously,  the strength of an eternal hope that God gives in the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That has nothing to do with morality; that's mystery!

Jesus said, "Blessed are you when you are hated and reviled for my sake..." That's pure paradox! Precious few of us know the privilege of suffering because we are followers of Jesus Christ. In fact we probably “chicken out” from anything that remotely resembles a risk for the sake of Jesus. But you see, it is only in risking for Christ that we are ever able to sort out and recognize where our real loyalties lie. A dynamic blessedness and aliveness is found in the decisive courage, the resolute obedience, the unshakable trust, the soundness of heart that is forged from a faith in a crucified Lord who risked and suffered for our sake and calls us to do the same. That has nothing to do with morality; that's mystery!

Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall inherit the earth.”  I have a friend, Dr Rod Schofield, who arrived in Palestine yesterday. Some of you know Dr Schofield.  He lives in the Front Range and he moderated our Journey Together Faithfully discussion last May.  You know why he’s there? He’s there for the next two months, working with 7 Lutheran Schools in the West Bank training and equipping the teachers and faculty of those 7 Lutheran Schools to teach peace-making skills to children and adolescents.  What he is doing has nothing to do with morality, but the mystery of doing the hard work Jesus Christ armed only with a cross. 

How does your life as a Christian differ from a merely moral person?  Are you ready to answer?

For me, the difference is not found in striving to be moral, as if I could be.  The difference is found participating in and getting caught up in this unfathomable mystery that leads me to see the face of Christ in people, places and experiences that mere morality does not require I even need go, and may even forbid me to go.  The biggest criticism that Jesus faced was that he went to people and to places that the moral people shunned and scorned.  You see, morality is ultimately all about me, and how righteous can delude myself into thinking I am!  But the cross of Jesus Christ takes the focus off of me, and puts the focus on God in Jesus Christ, who calls upon me to forsake myself, take up my cross, and follow Him. 

How does your life as a Christian differ from a merely moral person?  Are you ready to answer?