Reading from Liberating the Gospels: Reading the Bible with Jewish Eyes by Bishop John Spong, p.332-334

         These are the words of Bishop John Shelby Spong.

         "Jesus is … for me the conduit through which the love of God was loosed into human history. Jesus lived the love of God. This love was and is … embracing love, inclusive love. It is a love that overflows every human boundary. That is why Jesus was portrayed by the Gospel writers as stepping across the racial divide to heal the Samaritan; or as stepping across the cultural divide to engage the woman at the well in conversation; or as stepping over the cultic purification laws to embrace the lepers; or as moving past that intensely human divide that enabled him to forgive his executioners . . . ."

Sermon

         Today, I will begin by telling you what I believe about Jesus of Nazareth and the Easter story. I hope you will remember that the words that follow are my own opinion that I offer to you for your consideration. But you are encouraged to decide what your own truth looks like, even though it may differ from mine. One of our great Unitarian heroes, Francis David, who died for his faith said, "We do not have to think alike to love alike." Let us all remember this. And none of has to die for it!

         Have you ever wondered why we call Jesus' journey to his death a passion? Apparently, the Latin word passio meant "suffering" in the second century. By the thirteenth century, it came to mean any strong emotion. But the old, original meaning of passio attached itself to the last hours of Jesus.

         Until three weeks ago, I was going to do a sermon in response to Mel Gibson's movie "The Passion of the Christ" in hopes that I could persuade some of you to go with me. But, the more I heard and read about how the entire movie focuses on the death, not even the resurrection, which would provide some hope. I decided not to see it and certainly not to further enrich Mel Gibson! How many of you have seen it? (Dear Reader, only two people raised their hands!)

         I decided not to go because quite frankly, I am tired of all the violence in our society! I do know that if I believed that Jesus suffered and died for the sins for all humankind and then rose from the dead, I might guarantee myself a place in heaven. Fellow clergy tell me, "Come work for the Lord. The work is hard, the hours are long and the pay is low. But the retirement benefits are out of this world!" But it is all too far fetched for what I know and feel about the world. I believe the story is simply the marvelous invention of a creative imagination of a person or persons who had thorough knowledge of Jewish scripture.

         What I do know also is that if I turn on the evening news or surf the dozens of channels on cable TV, I will witness far more violent images than peaceful ones. Man's inhumanity to man is an old, old story. Why do we have to keep playing the same human drama over and over in all its terrible variations? In the movie, "The Passion of the Christ," I understand that one scene where Jesus is beaten goes on for ten full minutes! There is also a scene where the Devil walks amongst the Temple priests. Jewish scholars say that it is unlikely that Jesus would have been arrested or condemned during the festival of Passover. Mel Gibson's film is simply an example of gratuitous violence that invites anti-Semitism. It is also a literal interpretation of scripture to which many, if not most, liberal religionists can not relate.

         You might be wondering what Unitarian Universalists believe about the nature of Jesus. There are many beliefs amongst us. However, no matter what the specific belief, most of us believe that who Jesus was is revealed in many of his wise and radical teachings. Most of us think Jesus was a man who was a wise and courageous teacher. Others think he was a divinely inspired person who was more enlightened than most. And some UUs are Christians who believe that Jesus was an incarnation of the divine come to influence humankind to create a more just world. And I believe a mixture of those. There are other variations also.

         As many of you know, Henry Huttleston Rogers was Unitarian. He built this church as a memorial to his mother. It was completed in 1904. At that time, most Unitarians were Christian who also looked to philosophy, science, and literature for inspiration and these buildings show this to be true. To these early twentieth century Unitarians Jesus was The Christ, or the Messiah. When we have our rededication service, we'll incorporate some of the original dedication service on October 3rd, which will show the belief of 1904, that of the 1950 rededication of this building, and our modern-day belief.

         Liberal scholars say that the major teachings of Jesus are the two Great Commandments: love to God and love to neighbor and the teachings of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus expanded the meaning of "neighbor" to means all of humanity, not just your fellow religionists. Let us look briefly at some of the Sermon on the Mount teachings. We don't know exactly which mountain Jesus was on-perhaps Mt. Sinai, like Moses-but that is unimportant. In our Sermon on the Mount window, Jesus is standing magestically. Actually, that is an artistic device since in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus is sitting down, as a revered teacher would and as Moses did. He had spent the day up the mountain praying, as Moses did, and he came down to talk to the disciples.

         The Gospel writer, Matthew, wanted us to look at Jesus and see a second Moses with a new revelation. The mountain is a theological construct. If you look at the back window for a moment, you see the disciples around Jesus. Actually, only four disciples had been chosen at this time so the disciples represent the church, or us, the onlookers or listeners. Jesus' hand is raised in blessing. The artist's intent is for us to experience the blessing as we leave. The Sermon on the Mount embraced many teachings, beginning with the Beatitudes. The nine stained glass windows represent the nine Beatitudes. "Beatitude" is a Latin word translated from a Greek word (which was translated from Hewbrew!) that means "the highest state of happiness." And we told the children today that Blessed in this context means, simply, "very happy".

         Perhaps you had to learn the Beatitudes by heart like I did as a girl in British public schools. I think it is likely that the children in Sunday school long ago in this church used to have to learn them as well. How many of you had to learn them by heart? (Dear Reader, Many raised their hands!) Let's look at the windows on my right, your left. You can actually see the windows best from under the opposite archway with no lights on when the sun is going down. The first, next to the back window, is Blessed are the persecuted, the second is the one printed on the cover of your Order of Service, Blessed are the meek (we changed "meek" to "gentle" for the sake of the children). The next few are Blessed are the hungry, then the peacemakers. I can't make out the one above the organ pipes. I suspect from the figures it is Blessed are the poor.

         Over on my left, your right, I can't make out one over these organ pipes, but I suspect it is Blessed are those who are reviled, next is those who mourn, then the pure in heart, then the merciful. By the way, at the end of this month, the last lecture in the series that begins next week, is a lecture on these stained glass windows by Professor of Art History, Memory Holloway, from UMass Dartmouth. She will no doubt be able to tell you a great deal about the meaning of the figures and their symbols, particularly since she's also getting a degree in theology. I hope you'll get tickets, or at least A ticket from Bill Elliott in the Parish Hall today.

         What was the Gospel writer's intent in having Jesus relate the Beatitude, or these "conditions of happiness"? The Gospel writer was definitely referring to the end times when the world would end and Jesus would come again and the poor, the meek, the persecuted, etc., would get their just desserts. There was a practical application in that when people heard the Beatitudes, the teachings would affect them so that they would begin to create the conditions of the Kingdom to come and would be happier because they would have improved their circumstances or behavior. Of course, we do see in our congregations the meek (or gentle), pure of heart (or caring), and the peacemakers (working for social justice), but the writer's eyes were on the other world.

         The opposite of the word "blessing" is not "unhappy" but "cursed." Beatitude-type teachings were not new. They are also in the Hebrew scriptures (Sirach 25:7-9, Isaiah 30:18, 32:20; Daniel 12:12.) and in the pagan literature of the ancient Middle East. (p. 180, NIB, Vol. VIII) These Beatitudes are also found in one other Gospel, Luke's, and the sermon was called the Sermon on the Plain. Those Beatitudes were intended to awaken people to better behavior in this life.

         Blessed are you, who are Unitarian Universalists,for every Easter, you get to engage in yet another free and responsible search for truth and meaning, according to our fourth Principle!

         I found a few modern day Beatitudes on the Internet. Here they are:

         "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst, for they are following their "low fat" diets."

         "Blessed are the pure in heart, for surely, their cholesterol shall be the lowest in the land."

         "Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you, for you shall be known as President of the United States, or another elected official!"

         Seriously though, Jesus' teachings were courageous and radical. Pronoucing God's blessings on the poor was a great departure from the teachings of the day since. Another teaching was "If you love those who love you, what is the merit in that. . . .you should love your enemies." (Luke 6:32) And we heard in the reading Jesus' associations and defense of women, his caring for the despised Samaritan, and his association with outsiders. His wisest words and bravest actions were those that illustrated love, radical love. Many of Jesus' teachings meant for the end times are good enough for all times.

         Easter for me and for perhaps many of you is a time to remember the words and acts of a great person, an exemplar for all times. Jesus did die a terrible and shameful death. But we, Unitarian Universalists, emphasize the life well lived that brought light and life.

References

The following has inspired and informed this sermon:

Duling, Dennis. The New Testament: Proclamation and Parenesis, Myth and History, Third Edition, New York: Harcourt Brace College Publications, 1994.

Spong, John Shelby. Liberating the Gospels: Reading the Bible with Jewish Eyes, New York, NY: HarperCollins: 1996.

The New Interpreter's Bible, Vols. VIII and IX, 1995.