God is Powerful

I think Jesus is the most incredible person in human history.

Why?
Because he taught some incredible things.

The most incredible thing of all was that he claimed to be God in the flesh - God wrapped up in human skin.
He claimed to be that "Something" that got it all started. The message of Jesus is that God drew aside the curtain of eternity and actually stepped into human history.

Far from being simply a passive observer, God is an active participant in this world we live in. This was the central thing Jesus taught. It is everywhere in the Gospels.

If this claim by Jesus is not true then we should just forget about him and get on with life. As C. S. Lewis has pointed out, "if Jesus is not really God in the flesh then he is simply a liar or a lunatic and we should treat him as such. He can't be a good moral teacher if the main thing he taught was either an intentional lie, or worse, a psychotic break with reality. We can't go on patronizing Jesus by calling him a great religious teacher if his core teaching was a fraud. If it's not true just forget about him."

But we can't forget about Jesus. Why?
Because this man, Jesus, has had an incredible impact on history. Historian and anthropologist W. E. Leckey, who was not a practicing Christian and who was not sympathetic toward Christianity, wrote in his book on European Moral Development that Jesus' character and teachings give us the highest pattern of virtue, as well as the strongest incentive to its practice. Leckey also said that if you were to ask: Who has had the single greatest influence on the development of western civilization? The simple answer is that by any standard, Jesus stands first. Purely from an objective historical point of view Jesus is the most influential person in all of western culture. He didn't live the life of a liar or a lunatic. The quality of his life, and his influence on history authenticate the content of what he taught. This is one reason we are excited about the Christian message. If God really is like Jesus then the world has reason to be glad.

If this is all true, then how are we to relate to this God who has come to us in the person of Jesus?
A lot of people have what I call the "Carl Ripkin" approach to God. Carl Ripkin was a professional baseball player for the Baltimore Orioles who broke the record for playing in the most consecutive games. He won a place in history just for showing up for work! Some people have that attitude toward God. "God should be impressed if I just show up. God should be applauding me for my efforts. After all, I am basically a good person I do good things. I don't kick the dog. I help some people. I'm not perfect, but who is? So, as long as I keep my nose clean and do my best - what else could God expect of me?"

Most people believe God grades on a curve, and that they will get a passing grade.
As long as they don't murder someone or do something really heinous, they're okay.

But according to Jesus God doesn't grade on a curve.
A curve uses the other people in the class to set the standard for the grading scale. Like athletes in the Olympics, their performance is compared with the performance of the other athletes to determine who's first. So, a long jumper that jumps 15 feet isn't so hot. One who goes 24 feet is doing great. A long jumper that jumps 34 feet is unbelievable! But what if all three where trying to jump over the Grand Canyon? The one who jumps 34 feet is really in the same dilemma as the shortest jumper.

Jesus said: "Blessed are the spiritually poor for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:3. These were the very first words out of Jesus' mouth in what we now call the Sermon on the Mount, probably his most famous message. What does it mean? It means that those who recognize their spiritual poverty are the ones who are most in touch with God's reality. Those who don't think they measure up, who sense how far apart they are from God, they are the ones who understand their true beginning point with God. We are all spiritually poor - impoverished - even destitute. We start with nothing. And until we realize this truth we can't go very far down the road to experiencing a new relationship with God.

There is a story recorded in the Gospel of Mark 2:13-17 of Jesus' encounter with a man named Levy. Levy was a tax collector, which meant he was in league with the Romans who occupied Palestine at the time. He extorted money from his own people as taxes and kept a good percentage for himself. In other words he profited off the misery of his countrymen. He wasn't well liked by the respectable people. And yet in an unexpected move, Jesus invites him to become one of Jesus' own followers. Not only does Jesus invite him into his inner circle, but he also invites himself to dinner at Levi's house. The only dinner guests Levy could hustle up were other anti-social characters like himself: other tax collectors, prostitutes and street thugs. They all fit into the derogatory category of "sinners" and were equally scorned by the religious folks of Jesus' day. Why? Because they weren't trying to be good. They weren't passing the "goodness" test; in fact they were the ones at the bottom end of the scale. And when the religious people complained to Jesus about this discrepancy he said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

You see, it was the people who didn't measure up, who didn't fit the religious profile whom Jesus cared about the most. In fact, one of the insults used against Jesus was that he was "the friend of sinners" - the friend of disreputable people, the people who didn't have it all together.

Religious people have never really liked Jesus - the real Jesus.
They are too busy with religion to see that what God is really after is relationship. They are generally too self righteous and too self-absorbed. Jesus' friends were hard living people; people who had made mistakes and who lived to regret them. He didn't think he was too good for them. In fact he knew he had what they needed. He had the power to help find a new beginning. A new purpose. A new center for their lives. A new direction and the spiritual power to transform their lives from the inside out. That has always been Jesus' invitation to all people and it is his invitation to you.

There is a great story told about heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali. He was on an airplane going to a fight that ran into some heavy weather. The turbulence began tossing the plane around. The pilot came on the intercom and asked the passengers to fasten their seat belts. Everyone complied except Muhammad Ali. The flight attendant approached him and politely asked him to buckle up. Ali said with his quintessential arrogance, "Superman don't need no seat belt." The flight attendant came right back and said, "Superman didn't need no plane either!"

When we believe we can make it on our own, that God has to be impressed with us, what we are really saying is that EGO is our god. Self-sufficiency is not an option with God. We need a power beyond ourselves to intervene in our lives.

That power is the power of God found only in Jesus Christ.

Jeff Ebert
Senior Pastor
Jeff@pcnp.org

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