June 3, 2011 (Peace with Justice Sunday)
Scripture:1 Corinthians 12: 4-27
Sermon: Blowin’ in The Wind
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- Just as the turbulent decade of the '60's was unfolding, BobDylan wrote a song that was to become one of the most popularsongs of the era.
How many roads must a man walk down
Before they call him a man?
How many times must a white dove sail
Before she can sleep in the sand?
How many times must the cannonballs fly
Before they're forever banned?
The answer my friend… is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind.
How many years must some mountains exist
Before they are swept to the sea?
How many years must some people exist
Before they're allowed to be free?
How many times can a man turn his head
And pretend that he just doesn't see?
The answer my friend… is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind.
- The song is called “Blowin’ In the Wind” and it asks some tough questions – questions that are as relevant today as they were 50 years ago when they were first penned. Dylan wrote this song before he became a born-againChristian. I'm not sure what he meant when he said that theanswer to these questions of justice and compassion is "blowin'in the wind."
- He could have meant that the answer is elusive,that it is blowin' in the wind; in other words, "who knows theanswer."
- On the other hand, he may have meant that the answerwas blowin' in the winds of change and revolution that weresweeping the land, swirling into a storm of questioning andrebellion and newness.
- The interesting thing is, even after Dylan became a Christian, he could have finished thesong using the same words he did…
“The answer my friend is blowin' in thewind.”
You see, in the Hebrew language, as well as in Greek, theword used for "the wind" is exactly the same word they used for"the Spirit!" "The answer (to these questions of human dignity andjustice and compassion) is blowin' in the spirit!" The answermy friend is in the sweeping, transforming, renewing movement of God'spresence over the landscapes of human hearts and relationships,bringing with it life and breath, leaving in its pathreconciliation, tolerance, trust, and peace with justice.
- In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, chapter 12, he reminds his readers and us that we are the body of Christ. We are Christ's Body. We are the living embodiment of theSpirit that blows and moves and changes and heals and rectifies.
II.
- Our Peace With Justice emphasis today provides uswith a wonderful opportunity to ask ourselves what it means forus to be the Body of Christ. The late United Methodist bishop Kenneth W. Copeland answered this question by sayingthat to be Christ to the world means at least four things. FIRST: We must see through theeyes of Christ. SECOND: We must speak with the voice of Christ. THIRD: We mustheal with the hands of Christ. FOURTH: We must breathe with Christ'sspirit.
- Let's take just a few moments to consider what this means...
1) We must see through the eyes of Christ. What does thatmean to see through the eyes of Christ? What does the world look like through Christ’s eyes? What does our community look like through his eyes? What do people look like? Through Christ's eyesthere is no east or west, there is no black or white, there is noslave or free, there is no male or female. Christ looks at people and sees their inner being and their potential. Through Christ's eyes every human being is a person loved by God and the church, as Christ's living body, cannot beselective in our outreach,seeing and seeking only those who are like us. InChrist's eyes, every person is precious. In Christ’s eyes every person is a person for whom he died.
2) We must speak with the voice of Christ. Do you rememberwhat Jesus said when on the Sabbath day he stood in theNazareth synagogue and launched his public ministry? "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,"he read from Isaiah, "because he has anointed me to preachgood news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to thecaptives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at libertythose who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of theLord."
If the church is going to be the Body of Christ, we musthave the voice of Christ.
To have the voice of Christ means that we fulfill inour world today this ancient prophecy that Jesus declared wasfulfilled in him. We must speak with the voice of Christ to humankind in every situation and every condition. This is not about choosing between a “social gospel”or a “personal gospel.” It's about casting the seed of the good news of Jesus Christ anywhere we can. War and peace, inflation and thenational debt, how the government spends the taxes we pay,where and how people live, relationships between cultures and ethnicities, health care, immigration, poverty, sexual exploitation, the environment -- whatever is of concern to human beings is afair game for the gospel of Jesus. The gospel has something to say for ourhuman plight, including our politics or oureconomics. We cannot forbid the gospel going into any area ofhuman life. No area is off limits to Jesus Christ. The church,therefore, must speak fearlessly and compassionately the words of God's good news to every person, wherever that person is.
3) The church must heal with the hands of Christ. Theministry of the church is the ministry of redemption and healing. In Isaiah 35, there is a phrase... "the excellency of Carmel." Bishop Arthur J. Moore tells in his book Immortal Tidings inMortal Handsabouthearing a famous archeologist lecture on the subject of Mt.Carmel. The archeologist said that on this bald mountain, lovelyflowers were found. There was no known explanation for theirpresence and beauty among the blistering rocks. This was the"excellency of Carmel" for Bishop Moore, and he wrote:
"Then I began to understand something of the richsuggestiveness of this saying. Jesus came to give beauty forashes, joy for mourning; to make an old world young again, and towork his ancient miracle of renewal and release in the lives ofthose who were helpless."
The church as Christ's Body continues this work ofredemption and healing among the poor and the vulnerable; in thedivisions that continue between races, cultures, genders, and ages; among those who are economically deprived and politicallyoppressed; among those who have everything except what they needto make what they have worthwhile and meaningful; with the emotionally and mentally ravaged; with those in the tenacious grip ofalcohol and drugs.
4) Finally, the church breathes with Christ's spirit. Weare not a human organization (although we act like it most of thetime), we are a spiritual organism. Our life is the life ofChrist's spirit. His spirit gives us power.
William SloanCoffin tells this story that stems from the1973 coup in Chile, when the dictator Pinochet moved against PresidentSalvador Allende. For a few days, the Chile National Stadium in Santiago was transformed into a concentration camp and torture center, as soldiers rounded up activists and government officials loyal to the deposed President. The most famous detainee was Victor Jara, a 40-year-old folk singer. The National Stadium today is now called the Jara stadium, named in his honor.
Here’s how Coffin tells the story…
"A young Christian, a singer, was imprisoned with thousandsof others in the National Stadium in Santiago. As he stood amongthe frightened and demoralized prisoners, he began a solitary song in praise of his Lord. A guitar was passed to him and theSpirit began to blow. Soon thousands were singing with him. Asusual, the authorities were threatened by the power of God's Spirit moving so freely and openly. So they seized the young manand took him away. When he returned, not only had his guitarbeen smashed, but he had no fingers. Horrified, his fellow prisoners drew back, but he walked into the empty space betweenthem, lifted his bloody hands, and again began to sing with aglory on his face. Once more the Spirit began to move, thepeople took up the song, and predictably the guards moved inagain. This time when he came back, he had no tongue. Many weptas they realized what had been done to him. Everyone waswatching. For awhile he stood motionless. Some thought he wasfainting. But then they realized that his graceful, silent swingwas a dance. And soon they were all swaying silently with him,inspired by his glory, moved by his spirit. This time when theguards came, they thought they would end it all, and they shothim dead. [But they could not kill the Spirit] …the Spirit continued to blow."
- That Spirit continues to blow today. It animates Christ’s body, the church.It sweeps across the landscape of our lives, trying to find expression in the likes of you and me. And as the Spirit blows, the gates of hellcannot prevail against it!
The answer my friend is blowin' in the wind. The answer isblowin' in the Spirit.
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