Do You Hear Me Now? 4/21/13

       Who is Jesus?
       Who are you, Jesus, was the way the crowd asked it of him when he walked in the
midst of them. Figuring out Jesus was the question du jour – and still is today. Are you the
messiah we've been expecting?, the Jewish community of that day asked him. Tell us
plainly.We need a simple answer. Don’t keep us thinking, guessing, considering,
pondering, wondering.
       Evidently people were talking about Jesus - the crowds he was gathering, the stories
about his works that were spreading, the feedings, the healings, the teachings. In Mark’s
gospel story Jesus asks his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” (Mk 8:27-29) The
answers given were: a new John the Baptist, a new Elijah, a new Jeremiah, and another
prophet like Elijah, Jeremiah and John. “So who do YOU say that I am?” Jesus goes on to ask.
Peter says, “You are the Messiah.”  In Matthew’s telling, Jesus goes onto say that famous line to Peter, “You are Peter, and upon this Rock I will build my church….”(Mt 16:18)

The answer...
       Who are you Jesus? Jesus answers that question two ways: one, he says that he’s
already told them, if they listened. And second, if the words don’t come through, look at his
works. This is what Jesus told John the Baptist, too, when he sent from prison to ask. Jesus’
words and works match – he has so integrated the message of God into his living that he is
totally consistent in his speaking and living. Most of us haven’t gotten that far in our own
faith and living – we still have ideals which draw us, even as we know we usually fall short.
We WANT to live up to the compassion and faithfulness we hear God call us to, we WANT to
be that integrated – and sometimes we manage to do it – not every time, but sometimes.
        Just like those physical therapy folks who make the exercise more difficult as soon as you are getting better at it, my experience is that God continues to give us a deeper spiritual exercises, just so we don’t get complacent and think we've “mastered” this Christian thing.

Another take on Jesus' answer
        Another take on Jesus’ Q & A is to see that it points up the doubt we all are prone to
feel in difficult circumstances. Even John the Baptist wondered about Jesus. On the one hand, we KNOW God is with us; on the other hand, sometimes we wonder where God is, or if we’ve heard right, or if God really hears and cares. A father who brings his son to Jesus for healing, phrases it this way – “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mk 9:24) Many times we have to have something affirmed and reaffirmed to let it sink in; we have to hear it several times, especially if it’s vitally important.
       The conference I attended up at Mercy Hospital last weekend talked about the role of parish nurses, for eexample attending doctor’s appointments with us as a second set of ears to hear just what the doctor says to do. Sometimes when we’re in crisis, things go right past us – a second set of ears at the doctor’s is often a good thing. I think affirming Jesus as the Messiah is one of those important things we might
have to hear a few times.

Predestination??? Free will?????
       Jesus then adds a confusing statement – people asking can’t “hear” him, his words or his actions, because they are not his sheep – his sheep DO hear his voice and know him, and no one can snatch them away.
       That might be reassuring if we are among the sheep who hear Jesus’ voice, and a reassurance that we cannot be snatched away. But for those on the “not-hearing” side, it sounds strangely like they DON’T hear Jesus because they CAN’T hear Jesus. Or, as some have taken it, they don’t recognize Jesus’ voice because they aren’t chosen, or elected, or predestined in the first place. I’m deeply uncomfortable with that take on Jesus’ words, and wish this were just a translation difficulty…but there are other puzzling statements like this in Scripture that lead to the difficult concept of predestination …. or double predestination – ie that some people are predestined to be among the sheep, and some are predestined NOT to be among the sheep, a kind of determinism or fate type of thinking.
       I’m uncomfortable with that kind of take on Jesus’ words because it leaves behind other Scriptures that indicate God’s love for ALL people was the reason Jesus came, and that we are given this time to decide, to choose whether to trust God. Being raised in the Baptist tradition which emphasizes our free will and our free choice to respond to God’s grace, this kind of strict predestination is bothersome. Yet we as Presbyterians look to Calvin as the font of our Reformed heritage, and Calvin was a proponent of this view of predestination in his great work, The Institutes of the Christian Religion. Many have tried to reconcile these two views, but, like on other issues, the Bible sometimes speaks in various voices. After all, it does contain many books from many authors, and all over a great many years - all relating to the One God, all reflective of deep faith, yet sometimes with a different take on things. So these kinds of verses are there, but so are the other.

Modern hyper-Calvinism
       There’s a resurgence of interest in Calvin these past few years, and some believers have been drawn into a strict interpretation of John Calvin’s writings on this topic, now being referred to as Hyper-Calvinism. Calvin as well as Luther both revived the earlier teachings of Augustine of Hippo about predestination and election. In this view, some are elected to salvation, and the rest are therefore are elected to not believe. Therefore Christ didn’t really die for ALL people, but just for the elect. The choice has been God’s, as God is free to do what God wants. And although we might fall into sin again, our election and salvation are sure, as they are hidden in God. The point of this doctrinal understanding is in order to ensure that salvation is totally of God’s grace; that our actions have nothing to do with earning or deserving our salvation – in fact, according to Calvin, we can’t do anything good anyway, as we are totally depraved. God’s grace is totally responsible for our election, our salvation, our hearing and responding. Even our faith is a gift of grace – God is the first mover in any of our responses to God. Lest we think there’s no need for outreach, however, Calvin reminds us that we don’t KNOW who the elect are, however, so we must still proclaim the gospel so the elect can hear.
         It’s reassuring to me that people of faith have disagreed on Augustine’s interpretation of predestination in the whole history of the Christian church, as well as with Calvin and Luther’s strict interpretations. It’s important to see the context in which Luther and Calvin lived and did theology in order to understand why this emphasis on grace alone was so vital to them. We might remember that Luther’s arguments with the church of his day centered around the place of pious works and godly observances in our salvation. The church of Luther’s day had swung way off to the side of emphasizing good works, to the point of holding these things up as the means of salvation. In addition, if a person didn't have enough pious works they could purchase some goodness with a monetary gift – this was called the buying of indulgences. Luther despised this as unbiblical and heretical – our FAITH was what mattered, not our works. Our righteous works (or lack of) were not the point – God’s grace was the point, and our hopelessness without it.

IMHO
       In the evaluation of many, Luther and his followers swung a little too far to the other way. Luther couldn't even read James’ letter about how our good works showed our faith, but wanted it struck from the Scriptures. We can see and appreciate the corrective response to how the church had become off base as to the place of holy living and pious actions; and we certainly want to affirm the grace of God in seeking us and providing for our salvation in Jesus Christ.

Other voices in Scripture
However, as I said previously, Scripture often doesn't speak with one voice about how God works. Even in the gospel of John, there are those beautiful words of Jesus in John 3:16 - God loved the whole world so much that Jesus came, so that the world might be saved. Acts and Romans state that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. In Mark’s gospel, we believers are sent to the world to proclaim the gospel to all creation. John the Baptizer recognized Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, and that Christ came into the world to save sinners. “Whosoever” was the King James word – whosoever believes, whosoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.  A seminary professor used to suggest that we think of this problem like a door that from the outside says “Whosoever will;” yet from the inside it says, “Elected from the beginning of time.” I kind of like that. Even Luther and Calvin said that in the end it all comes down to mystery.

Conclusion
       However we resolve this tension, or whether we just live with tension and let it be, this idea of election or predestination is never a reason to sink into an “us/them” mentality,that is, we are the elect and saved and we must be greater than those outsiders. Even the purists of predestination theology say that our election has nothing to do with our virtue or goodness or superiority, so there’s no reason here for boasting on our part, or for looking down on any people as less worthy.
      My prayer this morning is that we indeed hear Jesus’ voice calling us to follow, telling us that Jesus and God are one, & therefore Jesus rightly reveals who God is; and that when we hear Jesus, we are hearing God. May we also hear that even if we doubt or stumble, our trust in God’s salvation is sure. AMEN.