Sunday, May 21, 2006
Sermon: “Creator Connection”
Scripture: I John 5: 1-6
Reverend Larry Gerber
There’s a statue of Jesus along Interstate 75 that is being given credit for a dramatic decrease in highway deaths.
They call him “Touchdown Jesus.”
He is 62 feet tall, rising out of a former cornfield in southwestern Ohio. Made of steel, fiberglass and Styrofoam, this statue of Jesus Christ has upraised arms, which make him look like a football referee signaling a touchdown. This mega-messiah, with arms and hands big enough to hold a dump truck, was erected by a nondenominational charismatic church along Interstate 75.
And here’s where the story gets interesting: Not long after the church had the statue erected, the highway suddenly became safe. There were 14 deaths in the two-year period before the sculpture’s appearance. Then there were none. The church’s pastor, Lawrence Bishop, told the Cleveland Plain Dealer, “Since that’s been up, there hasn’t been one wreck out there. We didn’t build it with that intent, but that’s what happened.”
So maybe this Jesus is a Super Savior. One who has calmed the storm of highway killings.
Of course, there may be other forces at work. About the same time that the statue appeared, the state of Ohio spent a million dollars to install a cable that runs down the median. This barrier is designed to prevent vehicles from crossing the median into oncoming traffic.
Says Jay Hamilton, the highway engineer who designed the barrier, “I honestly think that Jesus can perform miracles, but I don’t think the statue was the miracle out here. It was the barrier.”
Take your pick: Whether it was Touchdown Jesus or the state highway department, we can be thankful. Interstate 75 is now a much safer stretch of road.
The first letter of John describes Jesus as a Super Savior, but it doesn’t take a particular position on the power of giant statues to prevent highway accidents. Still, there is something redemptive going on here. John focuses our attention on the fact that our faith in Jesus turns us into children of God, and makes us members of God’s family. As children of the Lord, we are to love one another, love God, and obey his commandments. If we do these things, we are going to be given a surprising victory — “Whatever is born of God,” says John, “conquers the world” (1 John 5:4).
Conquering the world! That’s even better than an accident-free drive down I-75.
But what do these words really mean? It’s important for us to break this passage down, and then put it back together like we are assembling a steel and styrofoam statue of Jesus. John begins by telling us that everyone “who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God” (v. 1a). Each of us is on a search for God, a search that is motivated by a deep desire to be connected to our Creator.
Laurie Capps of Annandale, Virginia, tells the story of her 8-year-old daughter Grace, an only child. Laurie often hears Grace after she has gone to bed, whispering in her room. Sometimes Laurie hears Grace’s footsteps at night, scurrying around the house, retrieving a doll or stuffed animal.
One day Grace was whispering and Laurie asked her what she was doing. “I’m playing hide-and-seek with God, Mom.”
Laurie laughed and told her, “Gracie, honey, don’t you think that God can find you anywhere you hide?” She rolled her eyes, “Mom, I’m looking for God.”
Each of us, in our own way, is looking for God. For some, the search ends quickly, and for others it is a lifelong quest. The good news is that we can find God in Jesus Christ, the one who is the human face of God. And when we find God in Jesus, we become a member of God’s family. We cease to be an only child, and become part of an enormous family of faith.
Then John says that everyone “who loves the parent loves the child” (v. 1b). This is a reminder that there can be no distinction between love of God and love of our fellow children of God. Now this can be an enormous challenge, especially when our brothers and sisters are really getting on our nerves, but there is an upside to our efforts: Love actually improves our health and happiness. It is even good to verbalize our love. Just the other day I was talking to our grandson, Luke, via telephone. When it was time to say goodbye, I said: “I love you Luke”. He responded: “I know that Grandpa, but it is good to hear it anyway, good night”. I know that my health and happiness was improved at that moment, and I trust his was too.
A Florida study of AIDS patients found that those who helped others, especially fellow patients with more advanced stages of the disease, were more likely to live longer. Another study reported that within support groups, the people who were offering help — rather than always receiving help — fared better with their illness. In a recent British poll of volunteers, half of those surveyed said that their health had improved while they engaged in volunteering. One in five claimed it helped them lose weight.
Love others and lose weight. There’s no downside to that arrangement!
John goes on to elaborate on what it means to love the children of God: He says, quite simply, that we are to “love God and obey his commandments” (v. 2). According to this verse, our love of one another is not primarily an emotion or an expression of affection, but instead it is a life of obedience to God’s commandments. If you say you love your parents, show it by honoring them. If you say you love your spouse, show it by not committing adultery. If you say you love your neighbor, show it by not stealing, envying, murdering or making false accusations. When it comes to love, actions do — in fact — speak louder than words.
“For the love of God is this,” says John, in case we miss his point, “that we obey his commandments” (v. 3). Love and obedience — they go together, like peanut butter and jelly, mom and apple pie, Law and Order, Jessica Simpson and Nick — oh, guess not. As James, the brother of Jesus, says in his little letter, “Be doers of the word, and not merely hearers” (James 1:22). Obedient doers of the word know instinctively that loving words have to be translated into loving actions. James makes this point so vividly when he writes, “If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill’ … what is the good of that?” (2:15-16).
Love and obedience belong together, right along with faith and good works. It’s the way that God has designed the world, which is why John can say that God’s commandments “are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3). He knows that they are good for us, and good for all our brothers and sisters.
So, what is the message here? It’s clear that while something might be afoot with that 62-foot Super Savior along an Ohio highway, something a lot more powerful is happening according to this text. The power of God comes to us through our faith in Jesus, our love for God and one another, and our obeying of God’s commandments. Faith, love and obedience are going to guard and guide us much more effectively than a roadside pile of steel, fiberglass and Styrofoam.
In fact, they are going to conquer the world.
You can conquer your world when you mix faith, love and obedience together. John says that “this is the victory that conquers the world, our faith. Who is it that conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” (vv. 4-5).
Jesus is truly a Super Savior, and by trusting in him we are given victory over the world. Not simply victory over a stretch of dangerous highway. Not just triumph over a personal obstacle or a professional challenge. No, victory … over the world.
This means that our faith in Christ will keep us connected to God, no matter what life throws at us. Our spiritual link will remain strong, in spite of frustrations and failures, breakdowns and betrayals. As Paul writes to the Romans, “I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39).
Nothing will be able to separate us. Absolutely nothing. That’s victory. That’s world conquest. That’s the power of a Super Savior.
It’s clear that this victory has nothing to do with domination, and everything to do with transformation. Jesus changed the world forever when he gave his life on the cross, and we follow this path when we imitate him with lives of sacrifice and service. Jesus conquered the world and its death-dealing powers by rising to new life, and we show our own commitment to his way by responding to darkness, despair and evil with light, hope and goodness. As Christians, our goal should never be to crush the world. Instead, it should be to change it.
When we do this work, we achieve the kind of goal that is pleasing to the Lord. Christ’s ministry is advanced as we practice faith in Jesus, love of God and neighbor and obedience to God’s commandments.
This is true victory.
The best kind of world conquest.
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Sources:
Anderssen, Erin. “Doing good deeds can improve health, make you happier, scientists suggest.” The Globe and Mail. January 15, 2005, theglobeandmail.com.
Capps, Laurie. “Autobiography as haiku.” The Washington Post. January 5, 2003, F1.
Sloat, Bill. “Giant Jesus: highway guardian or Christian kitsch?” The Plain Dealer of Cleveland, September 23, 2005, newhouse.com