Romans 10:11-17; Luke 24:13-31

The bell for the final round has sounded! After 45 years of trying to witness to the gospel, I am now entering the last round of regular preaching to this congregation.

As I rested recovering from an operation - one of a number of repair jobs that come to people of my age - I asked my myself: what should I emphasize in the last few weeks and months that I have the privilege of speaking to you?

After much soul and mind searching I decided to spend the last round of speaking about Jesus.

Now you may think that that is nothing new - at least not in this church. But consider this.

• Although more books have been written about Jesus than about any other person in human history, there is still no agreement as to what he was really like. Was he a teacher or prophet or charismatic or revolutionary? Was he the Son of God, and if he was what does that mean?

• You see, we have no manuscript of what Jesus actually said. The four gospels do contain a lot of historical details, but these details vary in the different gospels and they are always interwoven with the life experience of the one who tells the story.

• At the same time, more historical scholarship has gone into researching the New Testament than into any other ancient texts. Thousands of scholars around the world and through the ages have turned every word, every letter, every sentence and looked at it from all points of view. When scholars of ancient history see with what care and details the New Testament scholars work, they are quite amazed. The result of that scholarship is that a certain outline of Jesus has emerged which reaches widespread agreement. I do not want to take your time to add to speculations. I want to focus on those results that are reliable and trustworthy in the field of scholarship.

• A famous New Testament scholar who also guided me in my doctoral studies (Eduard Schweizer), who has written many books and many scholarly articles, once said to me that the most original thought that he had had was probably describing Jesus as the One "who fits no formula". That has served me as a reminder that however close we shall get, we shall never quite get there. The mystery will remain. And that is good. Who wants to live without mystery.

Why are we interested in Jesus?

Why are we interested in Jesus? Why do we as Christians need to be interested in Jesus? The answer is simple. Because there is no Christian faith that is not related to Jesus. Therefore our faith is shaped by the vision of life that we have of and that we have from Jesus. As Christians we believe that the God who created the universe, who is larger than we can think, who is greater than we can imagine, that same God whom Jews and Christians and Moslems worship, that that God has not remained an unfathomable mystery to human beings, that that God is not an abstract deity into which each one can project its own content, but that that God has made God's nature, God's being, known in the story of Jesus.

So when God becomes interesting to us, when we experience God

• not as life-denying but as life affirming,

• not as a slave owner, but as a liberator,

• not as abstract, but as passion,

• not as disinterested, but as compassionate,

then Jesus guarantees us that understanding of God.

That is the reason why we call him divine or name him the son of God. He guarantees that the word "God" is a good word.

The word creates faith

But how does our interest in Jesus arise? Why are we more interested in Jesus than in Pilate or Herod or Plato or Socrates or Shakespeare? Why do even the ancient and modern saints not point to themselves but to Jesus? Why do the heroes of our time - Nelson Mandela, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Martin Luther King, Oscar Romero - consider themselves in a different league to Jesus?

The reason is that the story of Jesus fascinated them as it fascinates us. We have become interested from deep with in. The story of Jesus has awakened something in us that is new. We have experienced faith in Jesus.

You see, by nature we are hearers. The ear is important and prominent. You listen before you speak. It was through the ears when you heard the revolutionary words: "I love you."

We are not surprised therefore, that God comes to us through words which we hear. The apostle Paul praises the bearer of good news, because how can people hear unless someone tells the grand story? "So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ."

But even though the Lord is generous to all, and God certainly does not grant ethnic or social favours, the fact remains that some "obey" and others don't. The apostle uses here the word "obey", because when the good news are heard and flow into the conscience then they change our ultimate loyalty. Christ begins to take form in us.

That is the first reason why we are interested in Jesus. Listening to his story, God has entered our life and changed us. This change is not arbitrary. It has direction. It wants us to retrieve our true humanity. Not selfishness and conflict and hatred and war make us truly human, but faith in God, love for each other, and respect for our environment.

We hear the story of Jesus and if we allow it to shape our conscience then Christ will be formed in us.

But faith is not just an individual experience. We are created to live with others. Faith therefore not only opens us to God, but it also creates a community in which it is lived and nurtured.

Faith is a community experience

The story about the two men walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus is a prominent Easter story. But what it wants to teach us is how Christian faith is experienced and lived after Jesus had died.

You see, Cleopas and his friend knew all the facts of what had happened during the last few days - the days of betrayal, capture, torture, sentencing and crucifixion,. They knew about "Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people." They knew that the "chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him." They knew about the women visiting the tomb and finding it empty.

But the story teller makes the point: with all that information, they did not recognize Jesus.

Only at the meal table, the intimate expression of community, "their eyes were opened, and they recognized him." And at that time "he vanished from their sight". They now had each other to celebrate Christ in their midst. We remember the ancient affirmation: "where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them." (Matthew 18:20)

The church has always spoken and at times has argued about the "real presence" of Christ in the Lord's Supper. The Lord's Supper is the intensification of community. Here the friends of Jesus celebrate their commitment to each and they celebrate the real presence of Christ.

Invitation

We are interested in Jesus, we need to be interested in Jesus, because Jesus shapes our faith in God. If Jesus does not shape our faith in God, then other ideas and values will.

Just as young women should carefully guard their virginity, so we should all carefully guard our conscience. Our conscience determines who we are. If Christ is formed in our conscience then we shall be growing into true humanity.

Our faith needs to be filled. And if our faith is not shaped by Jesus, it will be shaped by other interests. History is replete with examples of how faith has gone astray. Power and selfishness and violence and legalism often cloud our faith. We therefore need to be constantly reminded to whom we belong and what that means.

That is my purpose for the weeks ahead.