The Apostles’ Creed Series: I Believe...in Jesus Christ [God’s] only Son, our Lord - Are You Amazed?
Gettysburg Presbyterian Church
Rev. Lou Nyiri
Philippians 2: 1-11 / Matthew 16: 13-21
March 7, 2010

We continue in our sermon series on The Apostles’ Creed…
Two weeks ago, we focused on God the Father Almighty…
Last week we anchored ourselves to what it means to declare, I Believe in God the Father Almighty [and specifically] Creator of Heaven and Earth.
Today we focus on what it means to profess, “I Believe…in Jesus Christ, [God’s] only Son, our Lord…” 

Last week we briefly mentioned how the creeds, along with those elements of the faith, like Scripture, the worshiping community [or church], those items of faith which serve to bolster or firm up or faith can be anchor points in our lives to hold onto when life does not go as we plan.

This past week, as I’ve reflected more on the importance of our creeds and confessions, I discovered the following article “Our Life Story” written by M. Craig Barnes and published in a recent edition of the periodical The Christian Century.  In this article, Barnes’ tells of a conversation he had with a first year seminary student who inquired of him about the reason for the core curriculum courses.  Detecting a lack of enthusiasm on this student’s part, Barnes finally asked, “So, what’s the matter?”
The student’s hands went up in the air as he shot back, “What’s the deal with all these required courses?  When do we get to study things that are relevant?”

“Ah,” Barnes thought, “the old ‘Let’s make thousands of years of inherited tradition relevant to me’ argument.
I’d just had a similar conversation with a woman in the congregation where I serve, he continues, who wondered why we repeat the “same old creed” each Sunday.

Whenever someone starts talking about relevance, the focal point is always on the self. 
The individual is the one, and the only one, who gets to decide if something is relevant.

The assumption behind the relevance agenda is that we are on our own to construct life as best we can.  Relationships, work, philosophies and religion are all a la carte resources that can, or cannot, be used in building a life that we prefer.  Our choices depend therefore on whether or not they are relevant to our cherished ideal of the self.

The problem with this type of reasoning though is that in the process of our trying to make God relevant to our own ideals is that God ceases to be God and instead becomes just one more optional resource.

The purpose of the church and of the church’s seminaries and of the historic church is to understand old, theological traditions.  Most of which do not feel particularly relevant on any given day.  Which is okay…because their devotion is not to human beings…their devotion is to the God of our faith.  By design, their devotion is not to make the gospel relevant to the individual; rather it is to make the individual relevant to the gospel. 

And that is the function of our creeds – Our creeds make the individual relevant to the gospel!

And so today, we confess and profess, I believe…in Jesus Christ, [God’s] only Son, our Lord…”

We too though must be careful not to fall prey to the relevance agenda of our lives.

A scene from the lowbrow 2006 comedy, starring Will Ferrell, Talladega Nights:  The Ballad of Ricky Bobby captures the problem we face.  Racing legend Ricky Bobby gathers his family – plus his father-in-law and best friend, Carl – around the table and says grace for the food. 

“Dear Lord Baby Jesus,” he begins, “we thank you so much for this bountiful harvest of Domino’s, KFC, and the always delicious Taco Bell.”
He continues praying to “Dear Lord Baby Jesus” and “Dear Tiny Infant Jesus,” thanking  him for “my family, my beautiful two sons, Walker and Texas Ranger,…and of course my red-hot, smokin’ wife.” 
Ricky Bobby continues to pray, asking the Lord to use his “baby Jesus powers” to heal his father-in-law. 
Finally his wife interrupts:  “You know, Sweetie, Jesus did grow up.  You don’t always have to call him Baby.  It’s a bit odd and off-puttin’ to pray to a baby.”

Ricky Bobby replies:  “Well, look, I like the Christmas Jesus best.  When you say grace, you can say it to grown-up Jesus or teenage Jesus or bearded Jesus or whoever you want.”
At this point, Carl pipes in with his preferences:  “I like to picture Jesus in a tuxedo T-shirt, ‘cause it says like, ‘I want to be formal, but I’m here to party too.’  ‘Cause I like to party, so I like my Jesus to party.”
Then one of the boys says he likes to think of Jesus as “a ninja fighting off evil samurai,” and Carl adds, “I like to picture Jesus with angel wings.  And he’s singing lead vocals for Lynyrd Skynyrd, and I’m in the front row.”

Ricky Bobby returns to his prayer:  “Dear eight-pound, six-ounce newborn infant Jesus, you don’t even know a word yet, just a little infant and so cuddly – but still omnipotent.  We just thank you for all the races I’ve won and the $21.2 million – Woo!  Love that money! – that I’ve accrued over this past season.”

However ridiculous – or tasteless – the scene may be, it mirrors as only satire can a sad reality of church history and of today’s religious landscape.

In his defense though, at least Ricky Bobby seems to be somewhat aware of what he’s doing, choosing the image he “likes best.”

In contrast, too many of us, whether as individuals or groups, honestly – and naively – believe our view is “objective” and “true,” with no distortion at all.

We’re all tempted to remake Jesus into just about anything we like.
As author Annie Lamott has said,
“We like a Jesus who, hates the people we hate and likes whatever we like.”

We must be careful though not to make Jesus what we want to make him.
We must face the fact that many different saviors can be smuggled in under the name “Jesus,” just as many different deities can be disguised under the term “God” and vastly different ways of living can be promoted under the name “Christianity.”

In a sense, Jesus can become a victim of identity theft – whereby people can say and do things with and in his name that he would never do.

So, what do we mean when we say, I believe…in Jesus Christ, [God’s] only Son, our Lord…?
What does this second and largest section of the creed tell us about Jesus?

We realize that with this second major section of the creed our focus turns us toward the focus of our Christian faith.
When we say, I believe…in Jesus Christ, [God’s] only Son, our Lord…we focus on the name and relevance of Jesus Christ.
It is thought that the creed represents an expansion of a very simple and basic confession of faith:  “Jesus is Lord!”
What we realize then is that at the center of our Christian faith is not a something – rather it is a someone – and that someone is the person of Jesus Christ.

The core of our faith is not a set of abstract ideas or beliefs, rather it is a person.

And not just any person – the person who God chose to do what we could not and cannot do for ourselves – namely, save us from our sin –from that which places distance between us and God.

And speaking of names, what is it about Jesus’ name that helps us see the intent behind this person? 

There has been a widespread notion that “Jesus” and “Christ” are two proper names.
Following this line of thought, “Jesus” is the name of the man from Nazareth who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and “Christ” is the name of Jesus in his heavenly function. 
Thus, some will speak of “the Jesus of history and the Christ of faith.”

However, it is more proper to refer to Jesus as “Jesus the Christ” because “Jesus” is a name and “Christ” is a title.

First of those two is Jesus, a name and not just any name – it is,
“the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of god the Father.” – Philippians 2:9-11
The very name “Jesus” gives us a clue to his importance – go back to the Biblical narrative surrounding the Christmas Jesus and we read, “You are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” – Matthew 1:21
The name Jesus, the Greek form of the Hebrew name Joshua, and it literally means, “God saves.”
In his life, death and resurrection, Jesus fulfilled the meaning of his name. 
In Jesus, God rescues people – from the meaninglessness of life and lifts us into a fuller relationship with ourselves; with our God; with each other and the creation.

Now the second of those two – “Christ” isn’t so much a name as it is a title – though it might be considered a name in the same way old surnames like Smith or Taylor declared one’s trade or profession.  
It is what we Presbyterians would call an “office title” – like say, ruling elder or deacon.
More specifically, “Christ” is an adjective – it is a past participle meaning “anointed.” 

The word itself Christos is the Greek (New Testament) equivalent of the Hebrew (Old Testament) Messiah which means “anointed.”
In ancient society, people were anointed as a sign of being set apart and consecrated for a particular role or function.
The anointed one was singled out by God as having special importance.
In Israel, priests as well as kings were anointed, which is the reason David is often called “God’s anointed.”

Over the centuries and amid a history of exile and oppression, Israel came to look forward to an anointed one – but not one merely to be the next in a long line of priests…not even as a king who would be subservient to Rome or some other foreign power.
The anointed one – the Messiah for which Israel longed would restore and even surpass the kingdom of David.
The anointed one would destroy the enemies of God and of Israel, and would bring about a new order of peace and justice.

When Peter recognizes and confesses that Jesus is, “the Messiah, the Son of the living God,” he is identifying Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah.

When we join these two “Jesus” and “Christ” together and say – I Believe…in Jesus Christ [or Jesus the Christ], [God’s] only Son, our Lord…we are declaring that in this person we find the one who has been sent into this world and set apart from this world in order that we might be taught a still better way – a more profound way – a way to become who it is God needs us and created us to be…in Jesus the Christ we have the one who can do for us what we need most and that is put us in right relationship with God for he is the One who saves us from our sin and He is the One who brings peace and justice into our lives and this world.

He is also “our Lord.”
A phrase we say with such ease that it is difficult for us to see what a readical statement it was for Christians in the second Century – and what a radical statement it could still be.
Like “Christos” – “Lord” is a title (Kyrios) claimed initially by Emperor Domitian in the late first century.
It meant that Domitian was the supreme ruler and that no one could challenge or even rival his authority.
Domitian’s attitude led to the persecution of both Christians and Jews, who denied his authority – his Lordship – in their lives and who insisted that God was the one true Lord.

After Domitian, most emperors claimed this title for themselves.
A common practice of the time was to burn incense before the image of the emperor and declare him to be lord.
Thus, when Christians dared to call Jesus “our Lord,” they were uttering subversive language and making perhaps seditious statements.
They claimed there was another Lord besides – and even above – the emperor.
This could not be tolerated.
If a Christian refused to burn incense before the emperor’s visage and reject Jesus as “Lord” then the only option was – at torture or death.

Now much time has passed and it would seem that to claim Jesus as “Lord” has become so commonplace that the edge has been lost.
We tend to think of it more in terms of a purely religious statement, or at best a statement about how we ought to conduct our daily lives.
We tend to think of it more as one of many other commitments we have and which exist side-by-side with our other commitments to:  family, nation, church, personal or political philosophies, and so on…
The Lordship of Christ though, when properly understood, calls into question or at least limits every other lordship and every other allegiance in our lives.

When the early church Christians declared, I Believe…in Jesus Christ, [God’s] only Son, our Lord…
When we declare, I Believe…in Jesus Christ, [God’s] only Son, our Lord…
They were not and we are not supposed to be making an innocuous statement.

We are saying that our ultimate commitment is not to family, not to nation, not to church, not to anything else in all creation – our ultimate commitment is to Jesus the Christ.
All our other relationships in this world stem out of and are influenced by our primary commitment to Jesus the Christ as Lord & Savior of our lives.
And as such, we will take great care of them because that is what we believe Christ would do.

To illustrate, let me tell two brief stories:

The first comes from the world of deep sea diving.
I’m told that there is a point while diving where the ocean becomes so dark that it is impossible to tell direction.  A diver does not know which way is up, which way is down, which way is left or which way is right.  It can be so disorienting that a diver might actually be swimming downward while thinking he is swimming upward thereby taking himself further away from the surface and safety.  This can be dangerous since a diver has only a limited supply of oxygen while beneath the water’s surface.

The first thing a diver is to do should this disorientation become apparent is – don’t panic.
The next thing one is to do is exhale or remove the respirator from his mouth and let a burst of fresh oxygen out.  Then watch which way the bubbles go – because when you are underwater your bubbles always go up.  Then follow the bubbles upward to the surface.

As Christians, we follow the one who shows us the way – we follow the one who has risen above the confines of the deep and dangerous, we follow and take our cues from the one who is Lord of our lives, the one who has risen to the surface in order to show us the way, the truth and the life.  We follow and believe in Jesus Christ, [God’s] only Son, our Lord.

The next story is about a preacher who ministered in a university town where several members of the academic community worshipped in the church he served.
He prided himself in preparing sermons of depth grounded in academic study theologically sound.
He would preach these sermons so that the academics in his congregation would be impressed.
One Sunday, while standing at the door of the church, shaking hands with parishioners, his life was changed, for the better.
An elder woman of the congregation, a pillar of the church community, shook his hand and told him it was “a fine sermon.”

Smiling and awaiting her next words to be something of how scholarly and well polished the message was, he was surprised by her next words.

“You know,” she said, “I am so impressed by how much you know.  You always give us such insight into who Jesus is.  You always tell us what the great church fathers and theologians of the faith have to say about Jesus.  One thing I am missing from your sermons though is, who do you say Jesus is?  Who is Jesus for you?  Is Jesus your Lord?  Your Messiah?  Your Savior?  The one from whom you take your cues?  Pastor, who do you say Jesus is?”

He pondered those words for days.
And this is what he came up with -  Am I amazed still?  Am I amazed by this Jesus I proclaim?  Am I amazed by this Jesus who is my Savior…my Lord…my Messiah…Am I amazed?
Who is this Jesus who is Lord, Messiah and Savior of my life?

Or, has Jesus become for me relegated to merely just someone I read about in a book?

How about us?
Are we amazed?
Are we willing to let ourselves be changed and led by the one whose…
“name is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of god the Father.” – Philippians 2:9-11

Are we amazed?  [9:30 worship – show embedded PowerPoint clip “Are You Amazed?”]

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