Guide Our Feet: Jesus as the One Who Inspires

Psalm 27:7-14; Luke 13:31-35

A Sermon Preached by Donald Mackenzie

March 7, 2004

The second sermon in the Lenten series ‘Guide Our Feet Faces of Jesus Who Calls Us to Follow’

University Congregational United Church of Christ

Seattle, Washington

Wait for God; be strong and let your heart take courage; Wait for God!” Psalm 27:14

Jesus inspires us two ways. Jesus inspires us by showing us what the lack of inspiration looks like, by showing what a bleak landscape that is. In other words, he tells us the truth about ourselves. The truth permits us to be emptied of all the numbing and irrelevant things that take up space in our beings. And he inspires us by telling us stories that fill us with the spirit of God, stories that inspire us. To inspire is to fill with the spirit. Inspiration is the connection with and the filling of our spirits with God’s Holy Spirit.

Jesus shows us the truthful emptiness of an uninspired humanity in “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it.” Here, in Jesus’ mind is an example of an uninspired situation; an empty situation!

The truth about ourselves is also contained in Psalm 27, which has both lament and promise of hope and redemption. Lament is what makes the psalms so human. They know the pain and anguish of human experience. They also contain hope and that is what makes the Psalms divine. Jesus was familiar with the psalms. Over and over in his ministry he affirmed our humanity and inspired us, that is made us vessels of the divine by telling us stories and by doing things that evoked God’s Holy Spirit.

The inspiration in today’s gospel reading is the truthful naming of our emptiness. Other stories that fill us with inspiration are many in the gospels and we will address those shortly.

In the meantime, let’s think of ourselves as tubes that can be either empty or full. But to be emptied or filled, there can be no top, no lid on these tubes. Right now, in our culture, many of us have lids—things that keep us from being emptied and filled. The lids on us are a numbness. We are numbed by television, by advertising and by the noise and speed of the culture, by no Sabbath, by no centering, and for many, by no pattern of relationships that can constitute a community. We are filled with irrelevant things and we can’t seem to get rid of them. We must empty ourselves of the numbing experiences we have and permit ourselves to be inspired, filled with the loving strength of God’s holy spirit. Inspired means filled with the spirit.

You know what it feels like to be numb and full of irrelevant things. The antidote is prayer and centering, and a focus on the inspiration of Jesus. Prayer and centering are Sabbath moments, and are one way to empty ourselves of that numbness and those irrelevant things. In prayer and centering we can discover the truth about ourselves and that helps to empty us of all that is irrelevant and numbing.

And you know what it means to be inspired. These days inspiration is so readily recognizable because it is so different from what is going on around us. When I am driving and listening to the radio I can find tears in my eyes because of the words of a song or a commentary on NPR. I was listening to Alison Krause sing a song that begins “I’m just a ghost in this house…” It’s a song that tells the truth about loneliness. The song inspires me because the culture tries to cover up loneliness or convince us that if we just buy the right things we won’t be lonely. In January I heard words from Martin Luther King, Jr. These words brought tears to my eyes. Last summer I read words by Abraham Lincoln and again, I found tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat. You know what this feels like and you know how different inspiration feels from ordinary life and you know all the things that compete with inspiration—consumerism, individualism, noise and speed---a whirlwind of inactivity taking us nowhere fast!

The inspiration in today’s reading is the truthful naming of Jerusalem’s inability to hear God’s word and respond appropriately. There are so many other inspiring moments in Jesus’ ministry. In a discussion about the meaning of human relationships, a lawyer asks Jesus “and who is my neighbor.” The story of the Good Samaritan that follows, says we are all neighbors to each other—it tells the truth and it is inspiring. Then there is the story that begins, “there was a man who had two sons.” The story of the Prodigal Son tells the truth about forgiveness, which is that God always forgives us no matter what. Then the washing of the feet of the disciples was Jesus’ way of affirming the essential worth of these and all human beings. The act said, “you are human, it is good to be human and even though you make mistakes you can support and forgive each other as God forgives you.” The towel around Jesus neck, the towel that he used to wipe the feet of the disciples, is now represented in this stole that we wear.

Jesus inspires us by first pointing out what lack of inspiration looks like and then by telling the truth about ourselves. The truth empties us, it takes the lid off and empties us! Then he inspires by filling, by giving us stories about what is possible through love, the love that comes from God and can fill us and hold us. Thanks be to God. Amen!