What a Stupid Thing!
Speaker: Rev. Matt Henry
Location: Whitney United Methodist Church
Date: March 29, 2009
Now the title of this sermon is “What a Stupid Thing!” (Displays a picture of running of the bulls in Spain with one bull heading right at the photographer) Whoever took this picture…what a stupid thing! My guess that’s the bull run at Pamplona. What do you think it took to get that picture, huh? Makes me wonder exactly what article of clothing is hanging off that bull’s horn. So, I have a friend by the name of Rick Blood. How’s that for a name? He’s a therapist. You’ve got to love that name for a therapist and he told me last week…he said this is the definition, his definition, of the word stupid….having all the right information and not using it. I think that’s a pretty good definition, actually.
How do you see Jesus? The Gospels give us interesting images of who Jesus is, and if you only get glimpses of who Jesus is from three out of four sermons a month for about 15 minutes you’re not going to get a lot. If you read the Gospels carefully you’re going to get all kinds of images of who Jesus is. To say that you and I follow the teachings and buy into a charismatic Pentecostal creature who encourages you in the idea not only is self abuse okay but that it’s good for you, is really a stupid thing. Who among us, after all, really blesses our enemy, loves them, and invites them to continue the abuse? If someone robs from you and you know it, freely give them more. If they take your shirt, give them your good coat too. If someone smacks you, give them the chance to do it again. I mean, my love for them means normally that I pray for my enemies. That means that I pray that they get their act together not that I let them abuse me.
But that’s precisely what this Pentecostal foolhardy, this is my body, this is my blood, consume me, psycho cannibal does. What a stupid thing. The historical accounts from Josephus and Phylo record that the gossip phone tree chain was just as active in 50 CE as it remains today. “Do know what he actually said to his parishioners? You want to hear it? Bite me! Drink me! Consume me! I’ll still be around. Can you imagine? Did you ever hear of such a thing? Well, you call her and I’ll call her and we’ll make sure this gets around.” The biggest threat the early church posed to the surrounding culture was that the culture assumed they were a cannibal sect who refused to buy into the conventional societal norms of worshipping the imperial gods with everyone else. They assumed that “This is my body – this is my blood” was literal. And then, just like their leader, they began freely martyring themselves on the tips of Roman swords for an idea, a different way of thinking and understanding how the world was to be. What a stupid thing!
The early church witnesses to a young woman, about 20, by the name of Perpetua. And Perpetua was accused of being a Christian which was an illegal thing then. She was to be put to death in the Roman Forum, and indeed she was, to no doubt, a huge cheering throng. And Perpetua was to be put to death by a gladiator with a Roman sword, which indeed she was. But when it came time to do the deed the Roman soldier was so overwhelmed with her calm peacefulness…a 20 year old girl…he could not bring himself to do it. So she grabbed his sword, directed it’s tip to her throat, and she said, “I love you. Let me take this pain from you” she tells the soldier. While he’s holding on to the handle she reaches around and grabs the handle and plunges it into her own throat. What a stupid thing! After all, those AIG execs ought to be tarred, feathered, strung up and shot, right? Huh. Maybe. Interestingly enough, Christians are both the first and the last to get it.
The reason behind why it makes sense to follow a suicidal, Pentecostal, Evangelical crazy preacher who tells his followers to come out of the world they live in, right? Be from it not of it, right? where if someone smacks you, you kick them. The one who says “My kingdom is not of this world.” No, man, it’s of the Intermountain Psychiatric Hospital. This is what we call self abuse. If you come into my world and you’re preaching to me if someone smacks me, give them the opportunity to do it again and love them for it, guess what? That’s going to place you over there and they’re going to put you on some kind of drugs, man. Right? How would Jesus fare in our world today? Mmmm….a suicidal, Pentecostal, Evangelical crazy preacher who tells his followers to come out of the world they live in. Who are we talking about here? Tell me. Who are we talking about here? I’m waiting. Give me an answer. Who are we talking about? Huh? Oh, interesting. A suicidal, Pentecostal, Evangelical crazy preacher who tells his followers to come out of the world they live in. Talking about you? How about Jim Jones? How about David Koresh? How about St. Paul of Tarsus? Christians are so often the last to get the foolishness of the cross.
Here’s a case in point. On National Public Radio this week I heard the story of a Pentecostal preacher from Oklahoma. Now what is it about Oklahoma? I mean, that state produces some pretty far out people if you ask me. They have some pretty good football teams, but anyway this Pentecostal preacher from Oklahoma….this is what was reported on National Public Radio….had one of his parishioners. Now, as you all are about to hear this, if you think you have problems with me, I want you to listen closely to this. I mean, this story is giving me ideas. This Pentecostal preacher had one of his parishioners shoot an arrow with a bow in church to make a point. Now, some of you remember I kind of flung my Bible one time to make a point in the children’s’ story and I heard about that so you should be glad that I don’t own a bow and arrow. So, okay, this parishioner stood up and shot this arrow with his bow and at that moment another parishioner stood up to protest this. Bad move. At which point the pastor took offense and asked the man to leave. So, the man did….and he brought the police back with him (This is all happening in the context of the worship service)….whereupon the archer….get this….was arrested for (quote) the ejection of a missile in an enclosed public place, and the pastor was arrested as an accessory to the crime. Such is the foolishness of the cross. All of this is a lesson in congregational dynamics and the foolishness of the cross.
Paul is addressing a church that is being torn apart by division and, at the center of it all, is this….is the cross. The Corinth First United Methodist Church is comprised of both Jewish and Gentile believers, and the Jews outside of the church are telling their fellow Jews inside the church that this Jesus is a stumbling block to authentic Judaism because they remember him hanging on the cross while being tormented with such statements as “If you are the Messiah, then come down off that cross.” For them the Messiah certainly doesn’t win the war against Rome by voluntarily dying and telling his followers there is some kind of reward for being abused. That’s not the role of the Messiah. That’s stupid. No Messiah is going to do that, so he’s obviously not the one because, if he was, the sign would have been him coming down off that cross and kicking Roman boody, which would have been the wise thing to do, amen? Yeah. For their part, however, the Corinthian Gentiles are putting pressure on their Gentiles on the inside, the Gentile believers, because they find that they’re asking them to come to their senses because A) no god can be killed by a human, B) no god lets themselves be killed by a human, and C) no god forgives humans for killing them. Clearly, natural logic, reasoning and wisdom suggest this man is no God nor Son of God.
So, who is Jesus and precisely why are we stupid enough to buy into what the world views as a pre modern illusion meant to explain and cover for our fear and ignorance? It all depends how you understand who Jesus is. If you think Jesus is merely a wise sage, you’re one level of stupid. If you think he’s got the power of God to pull off miraculous healings not recognized by the American Medical Association, you’re another kind of stupid. If you think he’s some transcendental mystic priest who has an inside track on divine wisdom, you’re that kind of stupid. But, if you see Jesus as a firebrand socialist who’s primary gig was to eliminate poverty and that defines you, too, you’re your own brand of stupid. But, if you view Jesus as the only one who actually, truly, understood love and got it right, then maybe you are a wise person indeed.
The love for equals is a human thing—of friend for friend, brother for brother, sister for sister. It is to love what is loving and lovely. And the world smiles. The love for the less fortunate: now that’s a beautiful thing—the love for those who suffer, for those who are poor, the sick, the failures, the unlovely. This is compassion, and it touches the world. The love for the more fortunate: now that’s a rare thing—to love those who succeed where we fail, to rejoice without envy with those who rejoice, the love of the poor for the rich. The world is always bewildered by its saints. And, finally, then there is love for the enemy—love for the one who does not love you but mocks and threatens and inflicts pain. The tortured’s love for the torturer. This is God’s love and it alone conquers the world.
These words I bring to you this morning I speak to you in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.