Who is This Guy?

Preached at Center Moreland and Dymond Hollow United Methodist Churches
July 1, 2007

Psalm 77
(John 1:1-18
Acts 10)

This seems like an odd scripture for a pastor's first sermon, doesn't it? Why begin with a lament that God has left the author? "What is this new guy trying to say? Didn't he want to come here?"

It's nothing like that. I picked the Psalm out of the lectionary passages for today for a couple reasons. First, it is the Lectionary, which keeps my discipline of weekly Scripture study intact. Second, what is being said in the first half of the Psalm is what we all say at some point in our lives. We all wonder at times whether God is paying attention to us. I feel that way sometimes, I am sure you do too. So it's a place to start, a feeling we've all felt.

Sure it's true that we have all come from different places--I am not from here, some of you aren't either, but some of you are. Sure it's true that we have different problems going on in our lives. Sure it's also true that there are different joys that we are all feeling, as well.

But I am pretty confident in saying that we all remember a time or place when we thought that God had left us, or was punishing us, or somehow was silent. And we've often used words that are exactly like these words in Psalm 77. We just know we've done something wrong, and we remember the good old days when God was with us, doing great deeds.

Then comes verse 11:
I will call to mind the deeds of the Lord; I will remember your wonders of old. I will meditate on all your work, and muse on your mighty deeds. Your way, O God, is holy. What god is so great as our God? You are the God who works wonders; you have displayed your might among the peoples.

What Scripture is it that you remember when you recall God's mighty deeds?
For me, there are two stories from Scripture that could almost be considered "totems". Two mighty deeds that remind me that God is good, and that God is with me. With Us.

The first is from the Gospel of John. It's the first 18 verses. What this scripture reminds me of is that Jesus was present with God at the beginning of the universe, and helped create the world. "The Word was with God and the Word was God". The Word of God becomes the man Jesus Christ at the time God chooses. We are His people.

For me, this gives me comfort in troubled times because the Christ, present at the creation of the universe, has also been where I am, in the body of Jesus Christ. It's like the genie in Disney's Aladdin: "Great, Colossal, cosmic powers, Itty bitty living space!" And the Christ chose to squeeze into that space for us. For you and for me.

The second scripture that keeps me honest comes from Acts 10. It is actually the beginning of the story that becomes the theme for the second half of Acts. It is the Story of Paul going to the Roman Centurion Cornelius' house to speak the Word, and have it accepted by Cornelius. What's fascinating and scary for Peter is that no one outside of the Jews has really heard this new word yet in the way the Jews are telling each other, and Peter's not really interested in telling it to this particular instrument of the occupation. But in a vision, he is told that what God has created, no one shall call profane. The indication is that Cornelius is also created by God, and therefore eligible for this new salvation brought about by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

What God has created, let no one call profane. Think about that for a second. Is there any person, any human being not created by God? Any human being on earth? Sit down and watch the news sometime with this in the back of your mind. Paris Hilton. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Vladimir Putin. The President and Congress and the Supreme Court. Immigrants. Once it starts sinking in, the way I feel about people change. God has created every single one of these people, and so I get uncomfortable calling them profane.

So who is this guy, this Jesus Christ? Who is this person who has great cosmic powers, came to live in a human body, and calls me to love or at least refrain from hating?

I think I have an idea of who he is. I have my relationship with him. So do you. None of our experiences are wrong, but none of us understands fully what claim Jesus has on our lives. That, I think will be what our time together will be--living together, walking that journey together, supporting, challenging each other, growing together.

I will call to mind the deeds of the Lord; I will remember your wonders of old. I will meditate on all your work, and muse on your mighty deeds. Your way, O God, is holy. What god is so great as our God? You are the God who works wonders; you have displayed your might among the peoples.

May God display his might, may he work his wonders among us. May we meditate together, for His way is holy.

May my words have been the Lord's intention this day. Amen.