Sermon for Sunday, June 8, 2008

LIFE IN ALL ITS FULLNESS: THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

By

Rev. Dr. Harvey C. Martz

Scripture: John 10:10b

^10b I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

If I asked you to tell one or two of your favorite stories about Jesus from the gospels, what stories would you name? These would not be stories that Jesus told (parables) but stories that the gospel writers tells us about Jesus.

Some might tell about the time that Jesus was teaching people and others were bringing their small children to Jesus for Jesus to bless them. Remember that one? And his disciples tried to shoo the children away from Jesus because he was too busy to put up with children but Jesus said, let the children be here for it is only when people become like children that they become part of the kingdom of God.

Others would tell about the time that some religious folks brought a woman to Jesus and said she had been breaking the commandment about adultery and they were already reaching to the ground to stone her to death. (This law is still followed in some authoritarian countries in the Middle East.) Of course, by Jewish law, the man should have been brought forward also but for some reason he was not. Remember this story? And Jesus bent to the ground to write something and then he said, alright, whoever here has not sinned can cast the first stone. And there was silence and then the sounds of stones being dropped from their hands and the men left, the oldest first.

What is your favorite story about Jesus-this might be a good lunch time conversation today with friends and family. Two stories that would be on my list would be stories that show the humanity and vulnerability of Jesus. One is at the beginning of his ministry when he had just been baptized by his cousin John and he leaves immediately to go to the desert for what Native Americans call a vision quest-a time of testing and discernment about what his mission was to be. He had some choices about turning stones into bread-being an economic messiah, about jumping from the 200 foot summit of the Temple and being rescued-being a miracle worker messiah, or ruling over many kingdoms-being a political messiah. He was fasting during this time and was weak and vulnerable, but he rejected all those false choices, so the tempter left him-for a while.

The second story that is one of my favorites is at the end of his ministry on the Thursday night before he is executed when he takes his friends with him to pray all night in Gethsemane and he is anguish and in prayer but he seems to be raising questions and even having second thoughts: “God, I would rather not do this if it is possible.”

I like both these stories because they show a very human Jesus, Jesus the man who was also proclaimed to be God’s messiah when God raised him from death. This humanity draws me to Jesus, helps me become more like Jesus, but it is this humanity that is almost missing from one of the four gospels, the Gospel of John.

John is really different from the synoptic gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. John was the latest Gospel written-some 70 years or so after Easter. For some scholars, the earlier gospels are more reliable because they were closer to Jesus actual earthly life and had not as much chance of acquiring additional stories and legends. John gives us a clear picture of Jesus the Risen Christ who is almost never vulnerable and not very human and is always in control. John leaves out some parts of the Jesus story that many of us would name as our favorite parts: In John there is no story of Jesus coming to his cousin to be baptized by John the Baptizer, there is no story of Jesus going to the desert for a vision quest, there is no story of a last supper Passover meal with his friends where he feels sad and discouraged that one of his close friends will betray him, and there is absolutely no account of Jesus praying all night in anguish in the Garden of Gethsemane.

In John’s Gospel Jesus is in control. He is the risen Lord who says that no one is taking his life from him but that instead he is laying it down-always in charge. In John it can even seem that Jesus is boasting-except what he says is true, I believe. He talks a great deal about himself, but what he says are things that most of us believe or want to believe. This is in the seven “I Am” statements. Do you remember any of those? “I am the bread of life-whoever comes to me will not be hungry any more. I am the light of the world-whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life. I am the resurrection and the life. I am the good shepherd who takes care of the sheep and even lays down his life for the sheep-and I have other sheep that are not of this fold and I must go and seek them out and bring them here. I am the vine and you are the branches and it is only when you stay connected with me that you will have life and sustenance. I am the door. I am the way, the truth and the life.”

Those are all unique to John-we do not read them in Matthew, Mark or Luke. There are some other stories that are special to us that we would not have unless we had this very distinctive gospel: one of them is the story at the beginning about the woman brought to Jesus for breaking the commandment about adultery. There are others that are special: one we will look at next week about when Jesus is at a party, a wedding in Cana and the host runs out of wine. His mother suggests that he help so he has the servants go to where the huge jars of water are for ritual washing and the servants find that the water has turned into the best kind of wine available. This is one of the six times that Jesus is pictured at a party or a feast having a good time. Jesus was not a glum, dour, Puritan party pooper.

The encounter with a Pharisee named Nicodemus is unique to this gospel when a very religious man comes to Jesus at night-why at night?-and asks for counsel, and Jesus tells him that to experience the best life possible he must be born anew or born from above. There is the story of Jesus bringing Lazarus back to life after being four days in the tomb, and in this story it is Martha, the sister of Lazarus who pronounces that Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ in John’s gospel. Who does that in the other Gospels? Jesus does gather with his friends in the upper room for the Passover meal, but instead of giving them a new way of celebrating, that meal which we call The Lord’s Supper, he does something entirely different and scandalous. What does he do? He takes off his outer garment, picks up a towel and washes their feet-the most lowly thing a servant could do because their feet were not only dirty but also had encountered what the animals had left as souvenirs on the dusty road. If we did not have this gospel, we would not have that important story.

At the end there is one other distinctive story: the risen Christ meets his friends on the beach after they have gone fishing, he prepares charcoaled fish for them and then tells Peter that Peter is to feed his sheep, take care of his lambs.

Is one of you favorite stories in that list? Is there a story in that list that especially appeals to you?

There would be some risks in relying only on John’s gospel. We miss most of the humanity of Jesus in favor of his divinity-they are both true and present in all of the four gospels. The second risk is the way that Jesus always seems to be in conflict with the Jewish leaders who are opposing him and later plotting to kill him. Some translations render that opposition as just coming from “the Jews” and others (The Good News Bible) talks about the opposition from “The Jewish leaders” which is more accurate. Like it or not, John’s Gospel has been the main source of misunderstandings that have led to 1900 years of anti Semitism from church leaders, a tragedy that Pope Paul II recognized and apologized for a few years ago. If we did not have John’s gospel, that anti Semitism might not have been so strong.

I look forward to reading this unique gospel with you over the next several weeks and being formed and transformed by the Christ we will meet in John’s gospel. One of the parts I like about John’s Jesus is the statement in chapter 10 that we heard. Jesus came so we could have abundant life-life in all its fullness, life as it was meant to be, the good life, the best life possible. Does anyone here want to live the fullest life possible? This gospel is right. We will not find abundant life by worshiping the idols that scholar Marcus Borg says that we try to worship-affluence, achievement, appearance-or even the little gods of narcissism and hunger for power that some saw being exhibited in the last few days of the presidential primaries. We will only find abundant life, life at its best, by following and imitating the one who is the Light of the World and the Bread of Life-Jesus who is the Messiah, the Christ. Amen.

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