Sermon: New Life in Christ

Text: John 20:30-31

21^st Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)

August 24, 2008

Scripture introduction.  If you have been participating in some of the Rally Day activities here at Central, you will recognize our second reading this morning as the theme verse for Rally Day and, really, for the entire coming year of Christian education programs.  It comes from the Gospel according to John, from the 20^th chapter, very near the end of the book.  As the 20^th chapter begins, Mary Magdalene approaches the tomb of Jesus on Easter morning and, mistaking him for the gardener, has her encounter with the risen Christ.  Then John reports the appearance of Jesus to the disciples, who—except for Thomas—were gathered in the upper room.  Then, a week later, Jesus appeared to Thomas, too.  After describing that encounter, our text for this morning reads, “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book.  But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.”

That sounds like the ending of the book, doesn’t it?  Scholars generally agree that this was the original ending to the gospel.  However, as the book began to circulate in the community of believers who produced the gospel, someone decided that it was important to tell just one more story—the one about Jesus appearing to the disciples by the Sea of Galilee—and this story is now chapter 21, which is the end of the gospel.  We can speculate about why this particular story may have been added.  But perhaps it is sufficient to say that the addition itself is proof of the truth of the original ending—that there really were many other stories that could have been told, but that the ones we have are sufficient to teach us how to have new life through belief in Christ.

Sermon.  There are several ways we could go with this text.  We could use it as an interesting window through which to study the community of persons—probably located somewhere in Asia Minor, perhaps in the city of Ephesus—who wrote the Gospel according to John.  We could talk about the process of writing and transmission and how it probably occurred in stages.  And we could think about what this teaches us about Scripture itself—not only that it is inspired, but also how it is inspired, and at many different levels.  But that subject is probably more appropriate for a Christian education class.  So, I’ll leave it at that, and hope that I increase your appetite for the kind of offerings we have before worship on Sunday mornings and at other special times of the year.

The direction I would like to go with the text this morning is related, but with a different emphasis.  I want us to think together about what it means for us to have new life in Christ—and then about what Scripture has to do with it.  So, first, what does it mean for us to have new life in Christ?  I say “us,” plural—all of us—because that’s how John puts it.  When John says, “so that you may come to believe,” it is clear from the Greek that he means, as we say in the South, “you all” or “ya’ll.”  We can read this two ways.  First, we can read it as if it applies to each person in a group of individuals.  If this is the case, then the narrator of John is writing about how individuals can have new life through belief in Jesus.  Indeed, that is the emphasis that many have placed upon this verse and upon John’s gospel as a whole, allowing the gospel story to change individual lives.

Another way to read the plural “you’s” in our text is to consider that they apply not only to a collection of individuals, but also—or maybe even primarily—to the group, the community as a whole.  If this is the case, then the gospel narrator is writing about what it means for a community to have new life through belief in Jesus.  Experts on John’s gospel often speak of the community that produced this book, and there is much evidence of group authorship, including but not limited to the addition of chapter 21 after the natural ending of our passage today.  I don’t think it is unreasonable to ask, based on our text this morning, what gives a community new life?

Sometime during the last week or so (I can’t remember where), I read about a Presbyterian church that once had had many members and many ministries.  It was in an inner city, and over time the members moved to the suburbs and the character of the downtown neighborhood changed.  Although I can’t remember the details, we all have seen examples of this happening.  As it turns out, the budget of the church was shrinking, and it appeared that before long the budget would no longer support the maintenance of a church in that location.  You may imagine this had been the source of many discussions at the session meetings and within the congregation.  Finally, when it appeared that closure could not be postponed much longer, someone had the idea that if they were going to run out of money, they might as well run out doing something.  So they began a very modest soup kitchen ministry at their church, inviting in the persons who lived in the surrounding downtown neighborhood.

Then something amazing happened!  The soup kitchen ministry began to grow, and there were more faces in worship than there had been before.  True, they were different, but they were worshipful and respectful.  More than that, they began to take part in the ministry of the church.  Before long the much expanded soup kitchen ministry was being staffed by the very persons who depended on it.  And, again, the membership of the church grew.  And what about the money problems?  It turns out that when the church began to be more active in the community, it was noticed not only by the persons who came to receive a free meal, but also by other persons in the community, who recognized this church as a place where true community existed.  They, too, began to attend—and give—and soon the budget issues were largely relieved.

Now, here’s the question.  Just as we are aware of many church situations that were similar to this one, we also know that the story is not typical.  Many of the churches faced with these challenges eventually do not find “new life,” and they die.  What was different about this particular church?  How did they find “new life”?  Well, I can tell you one way it didn’t happen.  It didn’t happen because the pastor preached a sermon about the importance of mission, about how we all can and should give more to relieve the suffering of the world.[1]  That kind of message makes people feel guilty and discouraged.  We instinctively know that our pocketbooks, no matter how full, will not by themselves relieve the suffering of the world.  Add that to the growing sense of despair that results from a shrinking budget, and you can see that something else was operating in this church.  Well, what did happen?

Church members who lived through the transformation traced the changes to a growing sense of community within the church.  The first step was the opening of the soup kitchen because it signaled to the downtown neighborhood and—more importantly—to the church members themselves that people outside the church mattered.  The next major breakthrough was when the church members began to understand that the persons coming to receive free food were not simply mouths to be fed.  They were people, to whom God had given unique skills and energies.  Gradually the congregation began to realize that these persons, marginal as they appeared, had gifts to bring to the church.  The church members eventually came to understand their acquaintances not only as receivers, but also as givers.  Perhaps the original church members also began to realize that they themselves were not only givers, but also receivers.  It was a short step then for the new persons to become members themselves and to be welcomed into the family of God. 

When the church began to nurture the sense of family and community, people from all walks of life were attracted.  Everyone—even the introverts among us—needs community.  And community is in short supply these days.  Nobody sits on the front porch anymore.  We are all so busy that social clubs and fraternal organizations are beginning to fold.  We know community when we see it, and we are drawn to it. 

The principal enemy of “new life” is fear and anxiety.  No matter how much we as individuals may have, no matter how secure we may seem to the outside observer, if we are afraid and anxious, we hold onto what we have so fiercely that we cannot reach out to others.  But when we know that we are valued members of a community, when we are convinced that we are members of God’s family, we trust God and God’s family to help us through the hard times.  One of the best ways to feel valued ourselves is to value others; somehow it’s easier to believe we are loved when we ourselves are loving.  Thus, we realize that heartfelt security comes not through things but through relationships.  When we feel secure, we can relax.  We are no longer afraid.  Our anxieties may not go away completely, but in the security of community they are manageable. 

Jesus spent a lot of time teaching about what he called the kingdom of God—that state of existence in which people understand themselves to be part of God’s family and attempt to relate to one another in love.  Jesus fine-tuned and tweaked that message, but it goes way back through scripture to the earliest writings of the Old Testament—the commandment that we love one another as we love ourselves and that we welcome strangers into our midst.  In God’s kingdom this is not a suggestion, rather it is a commandment.  It’s a commandment because God hard-wired us to be in relationship with each other and with God.  Our adversary is the idea that “it’s every man for himself.”  God knows that we reach our full potential in community.  And God wants us to be fulfilled and happy.

As we study the scriptures during the coming year of Christian education, I hope we will pause to notice all those times when Jesus—and the law and the prophets and the apostles—are teaching us about the importance of nurturing community and welcoming the gifts of the unusual persons among us.  We give of ourselves, including our money, because we feel loved in our church family and because we love the other children of God who have been called to this place with us.  This is what gives us, as a community of faith, “new life” in Christ.