Images of Christ
(series)
Lamb of God
By Rev Steven R
Mitchell
Mountain View
United Church, Aurora 1/27/2013
Based on Isaiah
53:1-10 and Revelation 5:11-13
The Christian church has come to interpreted
Isaiah 53 to be a prophecy of the coming Messiah that we know as Jesus of
Nazareth. This morning’s passage gives
attributes that we can see in Jesus such as: a person born into a family of
little importance, who was arrested, beaten, and killed unjustly. Jesus himself referred to himself as a shepherd,
yet eventually being lead off as a lamb to be slaughtered. Yet scholars tell us this passage in Isaiah
was truly referring not to one specific man, but rather in general of a person
who speaks out for the rights of others and against social injustices that are
committed by those in positions of responsibilities, yet pervert their
positions of trust for their own selfish gains.
When
we think of the overall person of Jesus, he actually was the personification of
how the Hebrews viewed themselves as the instrument of God to the world. As a people, they were considered the
underdog, the less powerful. They were
born out of a man named Abram and his wife Sari, promised by God to become a
great nation, if they put their faith and trust in this one God. This new nation found themselves as slaves in
the land of Egypt, escaping the powerful hand of Pharaoh through the leadership
of a man known as Moses. Under the
leadership of a shepherd boy, David brought together the twelve tribes of the
Hebrews, turning them into one nation. Then
once again, this nation found itself in exile and only temporarily enjoying
peace before finally being defeated by the Roman Empire. Even though this tribe of people is not known
for its economic or political might in history as other countries are, it is
known as the nation who gave us the concept of one Universal God, who is more
powerful and more relational than any understanding of deities prior to
them. Our Christian religion is built
upon the understandings of this small nomadic people.
I
am struck by the question Isaiah poses in the very first verse, “Who
would have thought God’s saving power would look like this?” I remember my very first week in Seminary
were I first started to be confronted with this question, when introduced to a particular
man attending classes. What made this
man fit the question, “Who would have
thought God’s saving power would look like this?” was the fact that this man
was in a wheel chair and his body was constricted by Cerebella palsy. “Truly, how is this man going to be
effective as a voice for God?” I thought to myself, “You could hardly
understand a word he spoke. No
congregation was going to hire a man who couldn’t speak clearly.” My thoughts were coming from a lack of
understanding of how God can use anyone who is willing to follow the call of
God. This man was eventually going to
use his degree, his credentials as a way of giving voice to people who needed
his understanding of design for physically challenged people in a way that
would prompt legislators to consider future building codes that would force
housing to conform to the needs of handicapped people.
Over
the years, I have come to ponder more and more on this question of “Who would
have thought God…. “especially from
the perspective of the small church? We
most often think of the larger churches who provide the voice that will be
heard by those who are entrusted through political positions. Yet over and over again, what I have observed
is that God uses those who seem to have no power, no political pull, no
monetary means to persuade. God uses the
Rosa Parks of our society to say, “No, this is not right.” Or patrons from a
gay bar in New York City known as Stonewall telling police that, “Enough is
enough”, no more harassment would be tolerated. Or a mother who started M.A.D.D. after the
death of her child by a drunken driver. Jesus
was this type of voice, and for it he was arrested, given a trial and used as a
scapegoat by the religious leaders of his day.
So
I often wonder, what is the voice of Mountain View? Are we satisfied with where we are at or do we
want to become more? Are we a body of
faith that people in Aurora will say, “Who would have thought God could use
them?” Every morning I wake up and I ask
God this question, “How can Mountain View be a voice for you?” Yet I get paid to ask this question. I ask God, “how can I be used to help
Mountain View be what God wants us to be?”
If I challenged you to pray every morning asking the question, “Who
would have thought God’s saving power would look like this?” what would our
church look like in one year from now? I
wonder what we will have accomplished.
I
was asked to come service this body of faith with the understanding that I
would shake things up. The understanding
being that there needs to be some new challenges put forth to help us move in a
forward direction. I have a vision for
this body of faith and it is based on the founding principles of this
church. The basic principle that as a
collective group of faith filled people, we will be the voice of God to
Aurora.
What
is the voice of God? It is the simple
understanding that all people are the children of God, that justice be equally
applied to all people, and that reconciliation be made between humanity, which
comes through the reconciling of individuals with God. Jesus quoted his agenda, his message from Isaiah
61 when he read to the elders of his synagogue, “…the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. God has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to
proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,[a]2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, to comfort all who mourn.” The injustices that we see today range
from poverty issues, immigration issues, cultural differences, economic abuses,
non-righted wrongs to Native Americans to name just a few. We have not only the opportunities as a body
of faith but the responsibility to be a voice for God. I was hired as the person to help lead us to
be this voice, but ultimately the responsibility for its effectiveness lies on
each members shoulder. I can lay out the road map, bring to light the
issues and struggles, but it is the congregation as a whole who has to
accomplish the work.
In
Revelations we read, “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to
receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!” How do we give praise and honor and glory to
God and to the Lamb of God? King David,
when asked by the priests why he didn’t worship God in the manor that was
prescribed in the book of worship, David responded with, “If God wanted incense and sacrifice, I would do it, but what God
desires of me is my heart!” Jesus
set the examples of challenging those who abuse power and bully those who are
not seen as equals. The best way for us
to “worship” and give “praise” to God, is to become the “Who would have thought…” people of God. I challenge you for one month, as you get up
in the morning or as you go to bed at night to ask yourself this question with
Mountain View in mind, “Who would have thought God’s saving power
would look like this?” and see if you can start to envision what
Mountain View will look like this time next year. Amen
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