"The Stressed-Out Savior"

Sermon 08.15.10
“The Stressed-Out Savior”

It’s difficult to put Jesus and the word “stress” together in the same sentence. The Jesus that we know is serene (as in the head of Christ by painter Sulliman), is the great physician due to his many miraculous healings, is the lovable Savior that the children flocked to, is the powerful Lord who walked on the water and commanded the waves. Stress just isn’t part of his vocabulary.

We all know that Jesus has had frustrating moments with the disciples, and had less than friendly relationships with the religious leaders of the day. But I don’t picture him at his wit’s end, pulling out clumps of hair, banging his head against the wall, or smashing a nice earthen ware jug in a fit of rage. It’s an image that we can’t fathom, and yet it is precisely that type of situation as described in today’s text from Luke. And the translation of it, the Greek verb synecho appears only once in the New Testament as a translation for the word stress.

Jesus is not only angry; he’s nasty angry with incredibly harsh warnings. His words are hard to chew and ever harder to swallow. Jesus is upset that his mission has not been thoroughly accomplished through the baptism of fire, and now he’s up against a deadline. He speaks of relatives turning against other relatives, and you get the feeling that it’s going to be much, much more than the Hatfields and the MCoys. All of the in-laws will be there to add fuel to the family chaos. Not a pretty picture at all.

Jesus even adds a final insult to his spurious speech – you all can predict the future weather, but you’re not even remotely aware of what’s going on all around you right now. Period. End of Sentence. Jesus turns on his heel and disappears for the rest of the day. An ugly barrage of words, at best.

But Jesus was just speaking the truth about stress. The old is never new; it’s just repackaged for us today. We are on a planetary timetable as volatile as the first century AD. In Jesus’ time, there was political rest in other countries, violence in many cities, and even Christians arguing with other Christians (imagine that) when Paul writes to the Corinthians, correcting them in 1 Corinthians 1:12 Some of you are saying, "I am a follower of Paul." Others are saying, "I follow Apollos," or "I follow Peter, " or "I follow only Christ." Can Christ be divided into pieces? Was I, Paul, crucified for you? Were any of you baptized in the name of Paul?

The painful answer for us is that these conflicts have been and will continue to be sources of stress in our lives today.
We all experience stress – it is a normal functioning of our human reasoning. Distress is what happens when your gut says “no” and your mouth says “yes.” It’s like the poster that my clergy girlfriend has in her office: One day I shall lose my buds of calm and blossom fully into hysteria.”
The level may vary by each individual: how to stretch one’s dollars on a fixed income, concerns over aging parents, worries about a grandchild leaving for college or medical issues for members of our families. Stress doesn’t have to mean a national crisis – it can be a deeply moving constellation of personal concerns. Because we live in a broken world, we experience the strain and pain of distress each and every day.

Will Willimon, a famous Methodist preacher, taught at Duke Divinity school for many years. As he helped to prepare his young students for the ministry they often sought his advice on matters other than classroom instruction. Many times, they reported that when they told they spouse or significant other that they thought they were called to ordained ministry, that person didn’t want to be married or attached to clergy. In fact, 35% of clergy marriages end in divorce compared with the 25% average of non-clergy couples. Jesus warns everyone in this passage that he comes to wreck relationships, rather than building them up.

For Jesus, there is the tension of bringing people on board for the kingdom when time is running out. He acknowledges the sacrifices that will be made, when families are thrown into chaos, and that even with that, all of his work here on earth may be futile. Here is Jesus, the original example of clergy burnout.

The Stressed-Out Saviour also wants to emphasize that he is not about peace and security this time around. In his time and place, there is an emergency which demands that lives be dramatically changed. We do not hear words that comfort or console us. Rather, it is a time of conflict, crisis and rejection. Our hearts are certainly not soothed by his words. So for us, we can only turn to logic from the apostle Paul who says in Romans 5:3-5. We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good for us-- they help us learn to endure and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. The good news is that the Prince of Peace will still make an appearance, but not just yet.

But remember also that Jesus never said it would be easy. He just said it would be worth it. The Bible does not record Jesus ever uttering that life would be a piece of cake. Christ never stood with the Sadducees and Pharisees and the disciples in a circle around the fire singing “Kumbaya”. He did not declare to the apostles that they would be as happy as pigs in a mud pen, or that following him would lead to fame and glory. Jesus never even promised a happy ending for all of his friends.

There is no easy way to wrap up this passage with a pretty bow made from ribbons of faith. We simply cannot find with any certainty the peace and security that we need from the words that we read. James C. Dobson actually puts this all together when he says, “There are very few certainties that touch us all in this mortal experience, but one of the absolutes is that we will experience hardship and stress at some point”. All we know is that stress will be with us. And so will Jesus. Amen.