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"THAT'S NOT MY DOG!"
GOSPEL SCRIPTURE TEXT: MARK 14:53-59
DAVE RING, PASTOR
LOS ALAMOS 1ST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
SUNDAY MORNING, OCTOBER 5, 2008
A MEDITATION FOR HOLY COMMUNION

SCRIPTURE LESSON: Mark 14:53-59 (Page 52 in NT of NRSV pew Bibles)--"They took Jesus to the high priest; and all the chief priests, the elders and the scribes were assembled. Peter had followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest; and he was sitting with the guards, warming himself at the fire. Now the chief priests and the whole council were looking for testimony against Jesus to put him to death; but they found none. For many gave false testimony against him, and their testimony did not agree. Some stood up and gave false testimony against him, saying, `We heard him say, I will destroy this temple that is made with hands and in three days I will build another, not made with hands.' But even on this point their testimony did not agree."

PRAYER: "Open our eyes, Lord--we want to see Jesus. We want to see him as He is--and follow Him as we ought. Open our ears, Lord--we want to hear the truth. Amen."

MESSAGE: Be careful with assumptions: A man who had just moved into a neighborhood strolled across the street to meet one of his new neighbors. As they stood there talking, a large dog padded up to the second man and sat beside him. The new man asked, "Does your dog bite?" "No, he's friendly to everyone," was the reply. The new man reached out his hand to pet the dog--and barely got his fingers away in time to avoid a vicious snap. "I thought you said your dog didn't bite!" he exclaimed. The second man responded, "That's not my dog!"

Ever since the time of Jesus, people have assumed certain things about the Christian faith. There's a great deal of information floating around in our world about Jesus, about the Church, about the Bible. Some of it is OK, but a great deal of it is false. On the day of Jesus' trial before the Sanhedrin--and every day since then--the spiritual powers of darkness in this world have been trying to discredit Jesus, and the faith that has grown up around Him, through a campaign of misinformation and disinformation. And millions of people, many of them even nominally Christian, accept such misconceptions and outright lies as being truth. They don't go to the source--the Word of God--to check such things out. Since "everybody knows" it's true, they assume it must be correct. But assumptions can get us into trouble--and "everybody" can be wrong.

Take, for example, the popular perception of Jesus. Almost everyone, whether they are Christian or not, would agree with the statement, "Jesus was a good man." Like Buddha, like Abraham Lincoln, like Mahatma Gandhi, the world affirms Jesus as a singularly positive example of humanity--a good man. The problem with this statement, however, is that Jesus rejected exactly that characterization of himself. In Matthew's gospel, chapter 19, verses 16 and 17, this conversation is recorded: "And, behold, one came and said unto Him, `Good Master, what good things shall I do, that I may have eternal life?' And He said unto Him, `Why callest thou me good? There is none good but One, that is, God.'" Jesus rebuked this man who called him "good." Why? Because it was a clear understatement--a subtle, worldly way of devaluing Jesus. To call Jesus "good" is like calling Mt. Everest a hill, or referring to New York City as a "fair-sized town." To use an expression of William Shakespeare, it's "damning with faint praise." To term Jesus a good man is to so underrate Him as to totally miss His true significance. He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords--and Savior of humanity. Those are His true titles--not some wimpy appellation like "a good man."

Or consider the popular concept of the Church today. The Church is, in the contemporary American mind, sort of a necessary evil. It's institutionalized religion. "Pure" Christianity is, even to many sincere Christians, an individualistic, private relationship between a person and His God. Just "me and Jesus," that's all it takes. Survey after survey of Americans finds millions of so-called Christian believers who have absolutely no affiliation with nor interest in the Church. How completely out of touch that is with the Word of God--and its practice as found in the New Testament! There is not a hint of private Christianity in any of the teachings of Jesus, nor anywhere else in the New Testament. In the Bible, coming to Christ is equated with entry into the Body of Christ--the Church. Just the "idea" that there could ever be such a strange creature as a private, individual Christian with no ties to the Church is so ludicrous as to receive an entire chapter of rejection in the Scriptures--read I Corinthians 12 and you'll learn what I'm talking about. Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, took a very high view of the Church. In fact, the Word of God says he took the ultimate high view--"Christ loved the Church and gave His life for her," according to Ephesians 5:25. Take care, Christians, that you don't undervalue or knock the Church. If Jesus loved the Church, shouldn't we have the same affection for her?

And then, of course, there's the Word of God itself. There are literally thousands of popular misquotes and non-existent so-called quotes of Scripture in our contemporary world. If God were ever asked about some of the strange, made-up verses of Scripture upon which we hang our principles today, I'm sure He'd respond, "Did I really say that?" One classic example here will suffice. How many dozens of times have you heard someone say, with absolute confidence, "You know, the Bible says, `the Lord helps those who help themselves?'" That may be a wonderful justification for American individualism or capitalism or whatever, but it has absolutely no basis in Holy Scripture. There's no Bible verse which even comes close to it. However, there is a wonderful verse of Scripture which says the exact opposite--Romans 5:6--"While we were helpless, Christ died for the ungodly." Praise God that He doesn't wait for us to somehow help ourselves--because we couldn't even if we tried. Christ is the grace of God, freely poured out on worthless, helpless, undeserving humans--like me--like you. Truly, the Lord helps them who can't--or even won't--help themselves.

But what has any of this got to do with Holy Communion, which we're about to celebrate this morning? Quite a bit. For you see, the world, the flesh, and the devil have all been at work on this, too. Holy Communion--the sacred, mystical sharing in the Body and Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ in which only believers may truly participate--has been altered and twisted in so many ways that it's become just a hollow ritual for many. Even though it's one of only two genuine Sacraments in our faith, we don't expect anything special to happen in Communion, because we've allowed it to be rationalized and pigeonholed into just another ceremony, one which we dutifully perform each month or so. And we therefore wind up sharing only bread and grape juice, not experiencing a mighty outpouring of the grace of God upon His assembled people.

Be careful, Christians. Don't assume that, just because everyone else believes something about your chosen faith, it's automatically true. Don't let secular society mold your Christian faith according to its preconceptions. Study the Word directly--and open yourself to ever more of the grace of God. You just might be surprised--pleasantly surprised--at the results! Amen.

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