Sermon "If God Was One of Us"
Rev. Lonnie Richardson
Christmas Eve December 24, 1997
If God Was One of Us
A rock singer, Joan Osborne, had a song out this past yearcalled "One of Us" that was nominated for a Grammyaward. It immediately gets the attention of the Christiancommunity because it raises the question, "What if God wasone of us?... Just a stranger on the bus trying to make his wayhome."
Many sincere persons were offended by the song, taking it as acynical putdown of the faith. The idea of meeting God as astranger on the bus is going a bit too far for some. But on theother hand, isn't that exactly the central affirmation of ourChristian gospel that God has met us in a human being, Jesus ofNazareth. Our problem is that we do not initially meet Jesus as ahuman being. We encounter Jesus in the lofty doctrines of thechurch, in the grandeur of a stained glass window, or in a pieceof classic art with a halo hovering over his head. We have neverseen a stranger on the bus with a halo over his head.
So it is hard for us to put ourselves in the shoes of thefirst followers of Jesus, Peter, Bartholomew, Mary Magdalene,James or John, who met him first of all as a human being. And yetfrom the very beginning of their relationship with him there waswonder, there was awe, there was more than they could explainwith the usual answers. Where did he get this extraordinaryauthority to speak with such boldness and conviction, words whichwere such a breath of fresh air? How was it that his prayer, histouch could bring healing to people who had no hope. What kind ofcompassion could provide a community for all kinds of people whowere excluded at all other places in that society?
There came a time in the experience of his closest followers,when he asked them point blank, "How about you, what do youthink?" And Peter said the biggest thing he could, "Youare the Messiah, the Son of the living God." Peter's answerdoes not connect easily to our time. We are not a part of asociety that is eagerly awaiting a messiah, nor do we live in aworld that is filled with gods like the GreekRoman world. Thequestion comes across the years to address each generation,"Who do you say that I am?"
As we consider our response, it seems to me that the biblicalstudy of the life of Jesus over the past two centuries can serveus, because it has helped us to recover the reality that thedisciples first met Jesus as a human being, and were brought tothe point of trying to express their extraordinary developingconviction that God was somehow present, active, speaking,giving, healing through this human life. As someone has suggestedour faith is not so much resting on the hope that Jesus is likeGod, as if we were experts on what God is like, but our faith isresting on the hope God is like Jesus, that is compassionate,forgiving and welcoming.
If Jesus is not fully human, if he is of different stuff thanourselves, then Christian faith becomes ancient history. We goback 2000 years to an event in a far away time and place, and thefaith becomes a kind of hero worship. But if Jesus is human as weare human, then the faith becomes absolutely current, pertinent,and awaiting our response. The challenge and the invitation thatJesus holds before us is the possibility that we too as humanbeings can be the temples of God's presence, the vehicles ofGod's action. We can enter into the realm of God in the world. Wecan become the body of Christ. As we affirm God in Jesus, we areopening to the possibility of God in ourselves.
By some miracle of grace, it is the human that god uses. Godwhispers in our ear, "Don't quit, keep on playing," andas we continue, we are lovingly enfolded, graciously inspired,and from our feeble efforts something wonderful can emerge.
Jesus comes to us across the years, yet still vividly,powerfully, beautifully, and the question remains, "Who doyou say that I am?" If we meet him like Peter as a humanbeing, if we affirm him as one in whom God is present and active,we are not only saying something about Jesus. We are openingourselves to a possibility. We are standing at the threshold oflife's most exciting adventure.
Prayer:
Our loving God: We thank you for giving us a chance once againto celebrate the birthday of your Son. We remember with awe thesigns of His arrival: the glorious singing of the angels, thebeckoning twinkle of the star, the hushed stillness of the night.We praise you for all who welcomed Him: for sturdy, reliableJoseph; for beautiful, gentle Mary; for the shepherds, confused,but openhearted; for the wise men, astonished and deeply moved;and even for the cattle who looked on curiously and shared theirhome with Him. As you have chosen to become as one of us may wechoose to be like you through Jesus the Christ. Amen.
