The Religion of Jesus

Posted on Mon, Jan 30, 2012

Mel Williams

THE RELIGION OF JESUS Luke 4:14-21

A sermon by Mel Williams

Watts Street Baptist Church

January 29, 2012

 

“You can’t just talk the talk; you’ve got to walk the walk.” We’ve heard that statement many times, and we’re usually talking about living out our faith—not words only, but deeds, actions.

When I first came to Durham, I went to a dedication of some new Habitat houses where our Watts Street members had been closely involved in the construction. Millard Fuller, the founder of Habitat, was here to speak at the dedication. He looked out over these new houses, and he said, “Folks, we’re looking at a sermon. I’d rather see a sermon any day than hear one.”

Words and deeds are both important; but we often say, “Actions speak louder than words.” Jesus was a person of action and words. The reason I’m drawn to Jesus, the reason I’m a Christian, is that Jesus’ actions match his words. His words and deeds are consistent and congruent. In Jesus’ interactions and healings, we get to see a sermon as well as hear one. But his actions are compelling—healing, feeding, forgiving, showing compassion. As St. Francis is reported to have said, “Preach the gospel at all times; if necessary, use words.”

Did you notice in our Luke 4 text? Jesus starts his ministry with words. We could turn that old statement around and say, “It’s not only important to walk the walk; it’s also important to talk the talk.” In other words, we need to articulate the essence of our faith, what we believe. 

That means that we need to go back and get it—back to what Howard Thurman called “the religion of Jesus.” Thurman was an African American theologian, mystic, teacher of many leaders of the Civil Rights Movement. Thurman says that the great problem has been Christianity, which has been used as a tool of oppression—to support slavery and segregation and the oppression of women and gays and lesbians. Christianity has often betrayed those who have been marginalized. Christianity has too often been a tool of the powerful, the dominant group; and it has been used, at times, as an instrument of oppression. “Slaves, obey your master.”

But the religion of Jesus is different from Christianity. Our job is to get back to the religion of Jesus, not the corruption that Christianity has brought. Jesus himself was a poor, marginalized Jew, which is why oppressed people have found in Jesus an advocate, a champion for their dignity, their rights.

If Jesus is the clear advocate for the oppressed, what then is the religion of Jesus? Jesus started with words. Some have called the Luke 4 text his inaugural sermon, but he’s actually reading from the book of Isaiah. These words point to actions— “I’ve been sent to preach good news to the poor, release to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, freedom for the oppressed, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor—the Jubilee year, the year when all financial debts are forgiven and rights are restored.”

This text has become central to me, to my faith. Why? If we say “Jesus is Lord,” that means we are followers of Jesus. If Luke 4 is Jesus’ mission statement, that means that his mission now becomes our mission. Where he leads, we will follow.

We could easily re-write Luke 4 and say, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon US—all of us at Watts Street Baptist Church—calling us to do the same actions—bring good news to the poor, release to the captives, sight to those who can’t see clearly, free the oppressed from whatever has enslaved them, and restore the rights to those who have been denied their rights.

If we are followers of Jesus, this is what we’ll be doing—continuing Jesus’ mission. But you might say, “This sounds impossible!” But it’s our mandate, our manifesto, our marching orders.

How can we do it? It may help us to look at the first part of the text: “Then Jesus filled with the power of the Spirit—filled with the power of the Spirit—returned to Galilee, first teaching in the synagogues. Mark 1 says that Jesus was in Capernaum; and when the Sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught.” (Mark 1:21)

 “Filled with the power of the Spirit,” Jesus went to church and taught. How did he get filled with the Spirit? I have an educated guess, a hunch. The historical Jesus was a human being, like you and me. He did not arrive here as a supernatural being; he was like us. But he spent large chunks of time with God. He had a persistent, disciplined life of prayer. Yes, he spent a lot of time with people—teaching, healing, and leading his little band of disciples. But over and over, he left the crowds, he left his disciples, and he went off to a quiet place to pray.

What kind of prayer? Surely at times his prayer was words; but he also sat in silence and stillness—wordless prayer. He anchored himself in the Silence that is the source of all sound. He opened himself, emptied himself, so that he could be filled with the energy of the Spirit. In other words, Jesus was a contemplative, a mystic. He lived his life in the Spirit, staying connected to the Source of his energy and power. That’s why Luke reports that he was “filled with the power of the Spirit.”

It was this deep connectedness to God, the Spirit, that made Jesus such a buoyant, compelling, magnetic person. People were drawn to him. They wanted what he had. I am drawn to him. I want what he had. I want the religion of Jesus, the person of prayer.

This is why the Gospel of John says, “In him was life, and the life was the light of all people.” Wherever Jesus’ spirit appears, the weak and oppressed find LIFE—new energy and a burst of courage, for Jesus gave them good news: As Howard Thurman says, it’s the good news that “fear, hypocrisy, and hatred…need have no dominion over them.” (Howard Thurman, p. 29, Jesus and the Disinherited)

It is from this perspective that I see the May 8 statewide vote on the marriage amendment as a proposal coming from fear and discrimination against same sex couples. This marriage ban comes from oppressive Christianity, not the religion of Jesus.

Jesus found his energy from his prayer, his communion with God. Then he turned to release that energy on behalf of the poor, the oppressed, the least privileged people. He was a prophet, a social reformer. In the tradition of Isaiah and Jeremiah and the other prophets, Jesus spoke God’s word to the people and the power structure of his day. He criticized the economic, political, and religious leaders of his time. He advocated an alternative social vision, and he often got into trouble with the authorities because of his vision. (from Marcus Borg, Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time)

What is Jesus’ social vision? He was a non-violent person who embodied non-violence in his actions. He did not support hierarchical power; he did not support rulers lording it over their subjects. He supports servant leadership—a towel and basin for washing feet. Power, he said, is not found in status, but in service. He rides into Jerusalem not on a stallion but on a donkey, the beast of burden. Like the donkey, Jesus is always carrying burdens. Jesus calls us to be servants as he was a servant. When did you see me hungry—or thirsty or sick or in prison? (Mt. 25 When you minister to any of these, you minister to me.” 

The religion of Jesus is compassion. When Jesus says in the synagogue, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled,” he’s giving notice that he’s standing in solidarity with the marginal people—the poor, the sick, the mistreated, the left out. Compassion is the ability to stand in solidarity with the people others don’t care about—the victims, those whose backs are against the wall, those who don’t have a voice. 

It may sound simplistic to say, “God will take care of you.” But Jesus embodied that care. He showed his caring for every person; he turned no one away. The essence of the religion of Jesus is that he cares for you, for me. When we internalize that care, we are given confidence and assurance that cruelty, violence, poverty, and discrimination will not have the final word.

Many people would rather turn away from suffering, drive past it on the freeway. It’s too painful to see it, so it’s too easy to insulate ourselves from the hurt. But not Jesus, and not Jesus’ people. Compassion means breaking through the numbness and allowing oneself to embrace the feeling or situation of another. It may be easy to give money for this cause or that cause; but compassion is more than money. I heard someone say recently, “The wealth of congregations is not in its money, but in the pews—the people.” It’s involvement, getting our hands dirty. Compassion is a trademark quality of this congregation. We learned it from Jesus.

Finally, the religion of Jesus is forgiveness—for the captives and those who are saddled with debt. Without forgiveness, all of us are trapped in the past, trapped in guilt, trapped in anger or bitterness—trapped. The most radical thing Jesus ever did was to forgive sin. Even on the cross, he said, “Father, forgive them…” The New Vision, the New Community, that Jesus is bringing is based on forgiveness. 

A Christian is a person who follows Jesus and claims the religion of Jesus. We pattern our life after his life. He was a mystic and a social reformer. We seek to follow him and imitate his life. We may fail; but we are seeking to draw our energy from the springs of prayer and to keeping opening the circle to the weak, the poor, the left out. That’s the religion of Jesus.

May it also be our religion.

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