“What Does it Mean to be a Christian?”

A homily by The Rev. Alice Marcrum

September 23nd, 2007

From St. Paul’s first epistle to Timothy, we heard read these words, “There is one God; there is also one mediator between God and humankind, Christ Jesus, himself human, who gave himself a ransom for all”. In our present world of pluralistic thinking, these words go against the very grain of what we have been told is politically correct thinking. This is the real battle of which we are engaged. It is a battle that will determine the true way of salvation.

For many, including Christians of various traditions, it is believed that there are many ways of salvation for us. To those who hold to this belief, we who adhere to the traditional Biblical belief that Jesus is the only “mediator between God and humankind” are looked down upon as being ignorant and rigid in our thinking. Their hope for us is that we will become enlightened as they believe they have been enlightened.

The theology of many paths to heaven is inclusive and appears at first glance to warm and embracing. It is a way of thinking that allows everyone to choose their own pathway to peace. It is a smorgasbord way of doing theology. By embracing all beliefs, we are told, all religions are deservedly respected.

But have you noticed that this way of thinking is imposed mostly on Christians? That is we who are found guilty by these enlightened ones to be the oppressors of society? That it is we who are blamed for all the wars or at least most of them for the past two thousand years? That it is we who follow Jesus Christ as the only way to salvation who are sneered and derided for our beliefs?

Now if the same way of thinking that is currently being imposed upon the true believers of Christ, were imposed upon other religious communities there would be a major outcry. To impose the same standard on other religions other than Christianity is seen as a monumental wrong. For some reason, every religion in the world gets a pass from the politically correct police except Christians. The slams and persecutions against those of us who continue to faithfully believe that Jesus is the Way of Salvation comes even from those who call themselves Christians.

My question to these supposed brothers and sisters in Christ is, ‘How can one be a Christian, which literally means to follow Christ, and choose to ignore Christ’s teachings and those of His apostles? Jesus Christ demands complete obedience and acceptance of His teachings from His followers. Anything else is missing the mark. This is why the early Christians prayed the Our Father Prayer, not once a week, but several times a day. The early Christians understood the importance of being faithful followers of Jesus Christ. Yet, their obedience to Christ came not out of fear of punishment, but out of love for the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is in this that I believe our supposed brothers and sisters in Christ are missing the mark, because for them Jesus is NOT their Lord. They serve no Lord, but themselves and in so doing have turned away from the very one whom they profess to all that they love. This is not the faithfulness that Jesus demands from His followers.

In the gospel of Luke, we heard these words of Jesus read today, “No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other.” Jesus compares His followers to the position of slaves. How many here think of themselves as slaves of Christ?

In St. Paul’s letter to the Romans, he introduces himself with these words, “I, Paul, am a devoted slave of Jesus Christ on assignment, authorized as an apostle to proclaim God’s words and acts.” What I just read for you came from The Message, one of the newest translations of the New Testament. In the New Revised Standard Version, the same verse reads as follows, “I, Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God…” The word servant here actually comes from the Greek word doulos which means having complete surrender to another person or a slave.

In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, he writes, “do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you were bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body.” The price that was paid for us was the innocent blood of Jesus of Nazareth, the Only Begotten Son of God, to redeem us from the bondage of sin. So we have become Christ’s own and incorporated through the waters of baptism into the very Body of Christ with Jesus being the Head of the Body.

Years ago, when I had carpal tunnel, I was always dropping things. My mind would tell my hand to hold something, but the message was blocked so my hand would do the opposite of what I wanted it to do. I had to undergo surgery to get my hand fixed so it would work properly.

Today, the Lord Jesus has not changed. He is the same as He was yesterday, today and will be tomorrow. He continues to send the various parts of His Body messages through the Holy Scriptures, yet there are parts of His Body that are no longer receiving the messages. The false teachings have infiltrated the very Body of Christ and become like the calcium deposits on my nervous system in my hand that was blocking my brain’s messages.

To remove these false teachings, it might be necessary for the Body of Christ to undergo some surgery in order to restore the normal function of the Body of Christ. As in all surgery, there will be some pain, but the present condition of the Church cannot continue. When one part of the Body is dysfunctional, then the entire Body suffers.

As Christians, we have been called to be obedient to Christ just as a slave is to His master.  Yet, Paul, who saw himself as a slave to Christ, counted it all joy to serve his Lord.  This is the kind of faithfulness that the Lord Jesus not only seeks, but expects from all of us who call Him Lord. It is only through complete submission to the will of Christ Jesus in our lives that we will ever know the peace that passes all understanding.