Stephen Palmer
Second Presbyterian Church
Sermons: January 27, 2008

"Recalled To Life"

DURING THE LATE 1940'S and the early 1950's, when I was a child, America's source of public entertainment switched from radio to television. Even though my memory may be distorted, there was something magical about those Good Old Days – before TV – when listening – really listening – encouraged an active imagination. I like radio, books on tape, music and the audio part of movies for the way sound stimulates the emotions with the help of imagination. That’s why I like sermons, particularly other people’s sermons. Sound creates potent pictures in our minds. Strange as it may seem there is something wonderful about the rich imaginary world created by amazing sounds, tones and dialects. Even the sound of silence is evocative. With radio, audio images can be deep, powerful and personal. And the particular image created in my mind from a verbal picture can be wholly different from the similar verbal image created in your mind by the same phrase. Take for example, the image of the sun going down in the Western sky. For me, the sun could be as a tiny ball of gold dropping toward the open plains; for you, a blurry beach ball of orange falling behind purple mountains; for the person nearest you, an irregular blob of fading yellow mist drifting into a river in the woods. TV changed that. Visual images became specific, concrete. The variety encouraged by imagination, wonder, and mystery was no longer needed to be exercised or even encouraged. The power --and indeed, the short-coming-- of TV is that it puts the same exact picture in my mind as it puts in your mind at the same time. Wonder and the mystery are no longer needed as much. Life becomes more certain, specific and exact. Life becomes more about facts, and less about fancy. All of us are older in more ways than one.

ONE OF MY HEROES who successfully crossed over from radio to television was The Lone Ranger. You know him. He was that tall handsome dude who rode a white horse and had a white hat and black mask. Two silver six-guns. He ran around the Southwest with a Native American sidekick named Tonto doing amazingly good things for folks in need of a savior. He loved to shout "Hi-Ho-Silver," as the orchestra hiding behind the cactus and the sagebrush belted out the William Tell Overture. One of the things that nearly everyone remembers from those days was the goofy endings on each show --either on radio or pre-color TV. The scene was always the same. The Lone Ranger and Tonto had pulled off a major miracle or two in the preceding 29 minutes. Now they were riding out of town, or into the proverbial sunset. Then someone --either a pretty young woman or a slightly dazed old man --would ask with a straight face: "Who was that masked man?"

　I USED TO THINK THAT WAS THE DUMBEST QUESTION in the world. When you are not yet 10, you see the world literally. You see it specifically. If someone asks "Who is that masked man?" you say "it's the Lone Ranger, you dummy. Have you been hiding under a rock? Everybody knows he is the Lone Ranger."

NOW, SEVERAL DECADES LATER, I understand that question is really two questions. The writers of the show wanted us to think about the man behind the mask. Who was he? What motivated him to be a do-gooder; what kept him going; did I --or do you-- want to be like him? Do we want to travel around doing good in secret or publicly? What kind of masks do we wear? A business suit, casual wear, or a clergy collar? How does the world see us ...and our values, our goals, our drives? ..... Indeed, who is that man of mystery who is so familiar to us?

Our text today tells us that after hearing of John the Baptist’s arrest, Jesus "withdrew." Did he go to Galilee to consider his future ministry of preaching, teaching and sacrifice – even at the expense of his own life? Do we wonder if he struggled with his life as we do. After all, THIS WAS A CRITICAL MOMENT IN HIS LIFE. John the Baptist had been arrested – and soon would be beheaded. Following God’s will can get you killed.

This morning I brought a picture of Jesus from my study to share with you. It shows a pensive Jesus in the carpentry shop considering his ministry. He is not smiling at the camera; he is looking inward for God’s will. This picture comforts me to think Jesus wrestled with the purpose in his life as we do. To his right, the lumber on hand suggests the makings for a comfortable bed, a sleeping couch, or a cross for crucifixion.

While we can only guess what Jesus thought at various times during his life, Biblical scholars point out that the Greek verb translated here in the NRSV as "withdrew" is highly significant. One commentary^[1] says "This Greek verb is used only twice in the other Gospels. Matthew uses it 10 times; almost exclusively for the response of Jesus to threat. This withdrawal is not cowardice, self-preservation, or strategy, but represents Jesus’ alternative vision of kingship, which is non-violent and non-retaliatory. Let me repeat that since it is critical to an understanding who Jesus is, from Matthew’s point of view. This withdrawal is not cowardice, self-preservation, or strategy, but represents Jesus’ alternative vision of kingship, which is non-violent and non-retaliatory.

While Matthew views Jesus as the messianic king and Son of God by Matthew, he also pictures Jesus as the "Son of Man who has nowhere to lay his head." Jesus is a displaced person in this world where power seems to have the upper hand. For Jesus, love is stronger than power, even in a power-driven world; and love is even stronger than death.

Matthew 4:17 tells us what Jesus did for God and for us out of love. He reports:
       From that time Jesus began to proclaim, "Repent,
       for the kingdom of heaven has come near." or "is at hand."

　Jesus began to preach the good news of salvation and service.

IN THE 16^TH CHAPTER OF MATTHEW, we come face to face with one of the enduring questions of the Christian faith. Who is Jesus?^[2] Who is this man, so familiar and yet so masked by centuries of legend, stories, miracles and church dogmatics? Sometimes we think we've got the answer. Other times, we think we have gone beyond this question. But as the world and the circumstances of our individual and communal lives change, we need to ask it again. Who is Jesus for us now? Who is Jesus today? Who is this man, masked by the mystery of time and God's intention for humanity? Who is Jesus for Second Presbyterian Church in January 2008 – as we look back on our past, and ahead with the coming of a new senior pastor? As Jack Haga pointed out so well last week, it is more about us than a new leader. The church is all of us, not just any one of us.

SUPPOSE JESUS ADDRESSED THAT QUESTION TO US. "Who do people say that I am?" How would we, within the community of faith, respond?

What would we say? I wonder if anyone would write that Jesus was a flawless administrator of a difficult, diverse growing church. I wonder if Jesus would be celebrated as one who maintained the status quo in disruptive times. I wonder if anyone would suggest that Jesus proclaimed dignity, order and church regulations ahead of relationships. I wonder if anyone would praise Jesus as an enabler, or comment that Jesus was an effective delegator of tasks.

In 16:15 Matthew’s Jesus asks: "But who do you say that I am?" Even if we agreed with Peter's "correct" answer -- You, Jesus, are the Messiah, I wonder how we would unpack that concept of "messiah" to square with our "real" world now.

JAMES FORBES, Senior Pastor at Riverside Church in New York, says "....Jesus is my friend. I think Jesus was a very together person." Lutheran church historian, Martin Marty, adds "...the human Jesus is the exalted Lord." Rabbi Harold Kushner says of Jesus, "...He becomes first the instrument through which my God --the God of the Hebrew Bible--becomes the universal God..." And Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu, of Capetown, South Africa, notes "...Jesus is for real ...he does not give up on anyone...least of all on me."

MY OWN OPINION for a couple of decades is that Jesus is "the bread of heaven." That's the way Jesus defines himself in the sixth chapter of John. He is the bread of heaven in a sacrificial sense, of giving himself for us, for you and for me. And he is the one who calls upon us to be the bread of heaven for the world, giving of ourselves for others in remembrance of him.

IN THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS, I have been thinking about a new, non-Biblical description of Jesus. He is the one who calls us all back to life again and again and again. Even amid all the conflicts, struggles and uneasiness the Christian community worldwide and the ups and downs Second Presbyterian Church has experienced over the years, we are a community and a church which has been "recalled to life" forever.

The genesis of this idea began when I "read" Charles Dickens’s classic "A Tale of Two Cities." My wife and several of my friends will tell you I cheated when I said I "read" "A Tale of Two Cities." It was on Books On Tape, rented from the Lexington Public Library – and I thank God for the ability to share such gifts. It is not an easy book to understand, but it is rich in benefits. I even bought the "CliffsNotes," for the book. Mind you I was in my 60's when I was doing this, long out of high school or college, reading for fun and using CliffsNotes for the first time in my life for they way they were intended. Still I felt a little guilty – but not guilty enough to stop using them.

"RECALLED TO LIFE" IS THE TITLE OF THE FIRST SECTION of the book, which covers the first six chapters. While it is a continuing theme throughout the whole book, it is first used in reference of Dr. Mannette, who had been "buried alive" in prison for 18 years. When he is released from jail and his sanity and humanity are slowly restored by love and kindness of family and friends, he is "recalled to life."

AS I MOVE TOWARD THE END of my sixth decade of life, it seems clear to me that all of us are again and again "recalled to life" by the compassionate love and mercy of God and those who do his will. This morning, as we look back on the history of this church and look forward to its exciting future, it seems clear that we are being "Recalled To Life" once more by God.

HERE IS the point. How we live out our lives as followers of Jesus answers the question far more eloquently than anything that can be said in speech. The way we behave as members and officers of the church-- in day to day practice with each other and in the wider community in which we live -- defines who we think Jesus is far more clearly than the words on paper, or in sermons or in our prayers. This reality is all the more shocking and profound when we realize what power Jesus gives us. Once again, Jesus turns our values upside down. He asks us, his human disciples, to define him. This is important folks! The Son of God, the Second person of the Trinity, asks us mortal men and women to define him to the wider world. And so we do, knowingly or unknowingly.

WHO WE BELIEVE JESUS to be is in a very real sense who he is, for us. Supposedly we model our lives, our relationships, our interactions on how we think he would have us respond. Either that, or we are not true to our calling to follow him. Jesus asks each of us one the most personal questions we will ever be asked when he simply says: "But who do you say that I am? And the startling fact is, we live out the answer to that question in every moment and in every action we take.

THANKS BE TO GOD, who gives us the answer and a savior. We are those who are "Recalled to Life" by the love of God in Jesus Christ.

In the name of Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.