Sermon and Worship Resources

[While King Duncan is enjoying a well deserved retirement we are going back to his earliest sermons and renewing them. The newly modernized sermon is shown first and below, for reference sake, is the old sermon. We will continue this updating throughout the year bringing fresh takes on King's best sermons.]

Original Title: “Jesus, Where Are You?”
New Title: Teacher, Doctor, Savior, God?

A pastor was showing a painting of Jesus to a group of children. He explained, "Now, young people, you understand this painting came from the artist's imagination. He didn't really know how Jesus looked." Whereupon one youngster said, "Well, pastor, it sure looks like Him to me." Now, that brings us to the question: What does Jesus look like?

Some Greeks were attending the festival of the Passover. They came to Philip and said to him, "Sir, we would see Jesus." That's the universal need of humanity, isn't it? "We would see Jesus." Somebody show us what Jesus is like! It is the hunger that gnaws at the heart of every person who has ever walked this earth, even though they may not be able to give name to it, and even though, because of the baggage the name Jesus carries in the world, some may violently disavow such a need. The beggar in the slum of Calcutta and the banker on Wall Street both have this same basic craving, "Sir, we would see Jesus."

We need Jesus for life. We need Jesus to give meaning to our existence. We need Jesus to forgive us our sins. And so, we ask with those Greeks, "Sir, WE would see Jesus. Where DO we see Jesus?" I can think of some places.

FIRST OF ALL, WE SEE HIM IN THE HISTORICAL RECORD.

We first encounter Jesus in the record made of his life by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. It is not a very complete record. For example, we have no idea how Jesus really looked. Was he tall, short, slender, chubby, muscular? You may be offended by the idea of a chubby Jesus, but we really have no idea. Most of us tend to see Jesus according to our own ideals. Books and articles throughout the years have tried to portray Jesus as an executive, as a salesperson, as a hippie, as a fire-brand radical, as a black man, as a blue-eyed blonde and every other way imaginable. Because the historical record is so limited, we have a tendency to see Jesus according to our own needs. In many ways Jesus is a blank canvas and we paint him as we see him, not as he really is, or was.

Cal Samra, in his book, The Joyful Christ, tells of a time when he needed healing and found it in a new vision of Jesus. Over ten years ago, Cal's life fell apart. His failing health had driven him to move far away from his family and friends, to the warm environment of Arizona. His health had also forced him to leave his job. His marriage had failed. He was worn out and sick, lonely and depressed. At the young age of fifty, Cal Samra had no more hope left. He decided to take his own life.

Cal bought a length of rope and drove around in the desert looking for a sturdy tree. But most of the growing structures in the area were either palm trees, which are too tall to hang from, or cacti, which are pretty impossible to hang from. Next, Cal decided to throw himself into a river and drown. No luck there. It was summertime, and most of the rivers were dried out from the heat. Cal's luck had really given out if he couldn't even find a way to end things.

Finally, he decided he needed a less permanent solution to his problem. He drove to a Franciscan retreat. He entered the chapel there and began to pray out the sorrow in his heart. A warm, cheerful Franciscan, Father Gavin Griffith, welcomed Cal and asked him to stay for dinner. Father Griffith kept Cal laughing throughout dinner with his jokes and humorous remarks. On the wall of the kitchen was a picture Cal had never seen before, a portrayal of a vigorous, joyful Jesus, titled "The Laughing Christ."

Before Cal left the retreat center, Father Lambert gave him another picture of a smiling Jesus. This picture, painted by a Mrs. Joyce Martin, was like the first picture of the laughing Christ in certain ways. Instead of a pale, blond, sorrowful man with a glowing halo over his head, this Jesus was dark skinned, strong, and healthy looking. He had a broad smile, and He glowed with warmth and good cheer. His gaze was straightforward, honest, and twinkling with mirth. This was a warm, personable, real Jesus. The kind of man anyone would want to follow. As Cal contemplated these two images of Jesus, he realized that he had never known this side of Christ. This new way of seeing his Savior was the beginning of Cal Samra's emotional healing. (1)

If Jesus is God, then we should not be surprised that he meets us where we are. In the midst of our needs.

Each of the four Gospels - Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John - presents a distinct portrait of Jesus.

Matthew's Jesus is portrayed as the fulfillment of Jewish prophecy. He is the Messiah, the long-awaited Savior. In Matthew Jesus is the teacher par excellence. The Sermon on the Mount and his discussion at the end of the ages. He is the miracle worker which underscores his divine authority. In Matthew Jesus has a royal lineage. He is the Son of David and King of the Jews.

Mark's portrait is of a powerful and active figure. Jesus is not long winded. He is rather ready to jump into action. He is the miracle worker, demonstrating his authority over sickness, demons, and nature. The Gospel moves swiftly, emphasizing urgency and the need for faithful discipleship. In Mark Jesus' suffering is the ultimate expression of God’s love and redemption. If Matthew's Jesus is a teacher; Mark's portrait is a healer.

Luke, being a physician, sees Jesus’ compassion and concern for the sick, distressed and poor. Jesus reaches out beyond the Jews to the gentiles. He is the universal Savior, even speaking to women. It is in Luke that we experience a great storyteller: the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son have shaped the lives of countless people with their emphases on forgiveness and reconciliation. Where do we find Jesus’ birth narrative? Of course it's in Luke, the physician. Luke wants to remind us that Jesus in his humble beginnings identifies with our humanity. Throughout Luke Jesus prays and opens his life and his relationship with God.

If in Luke, Jesus is the man of the people, then John's Jesus is the mystical, divine, theological One. Jesus is the Word made flesh, the eternal Son of God who existed before creation. For John Jesus IS divinity. His miracles reveal his glory. John's Jesus loves profound images. We find the “I am” statements here: I am the Good Shepherd, I am the bread of life, I am the way, the truth, and the life. In John, Jesus is the invitation, the door that we must pass through, to experience eternal life through faith.

Matthew: He is the teacher, the Messiah.

Mark: He is a man of action, a miracle worker.

Luke: He is a man of the people, the compassionate Savior.

John: He is the Word made flesh, God with us.

Each perspective enriches our understanding of who Jesus is and invites us to encounter him personally.

We have a tendency to see the historical Jesus according to our own needs. But the first place we see Jesus is in the historical record. But the second place we see Jesus may be a surprise to you.

WE SEE JESUS IN THE LIVES OF PERSONS IN NEED.

Jesus said, "When you do it unto the least of these, you do it unto me." We see Jesus in "the least of these." Knofel Staton in his book, Check Your Commitment, talks about something unforgettable that happened when he was a control tower supervisor in Japan. Two jet fighters were flying in formation and had just started their descent when the lead pilot radioed, "I've just lost my wing man." That meant that one of the two planes had gone down. Immediately workers in the control tower picked up the red crash phone connected to the rescue helicopter team on stand-by duty. When that phone is lifted, a rescue team is to be in the air in 120 seconds.

The lead pilot descended below the clouds looking for his wing man. When he found him, he saw that he had bailed out and was in the ocean. The radio communication from the pilot circling helplessly overhead while his friend struggled in the water stabbed the hearts of the control tower team as they listened.

"My wing man is tangled in his parachute. Have you notified the helicopter?" he said desperately. "He's floating, but having a difficult time getting his life raft inflated. Have you commissioned the helicopter?" Minutes later they heard another message: "He's still not inflated. He's beginning to sink. Where's the rescue team?" Minutes later came another plaintive plea: "Now he's above water, but still struggling. Where's the helicopter?" Still later: "He's under water again, where's the helicopter?" Then seconds later they heard: "He's about four to five feet under. I don't know if he will come up again. Where's the helicopter?" And seconds later: "I can't see him now. I fear we've lost him. Where's the helicopter?"

Where was the helicopter? It never got to the scene. At the investigation and hearing, it was discovered that the rescue team had decided to do some Christmas shopping at a PX fifty miles away. That team was so busy taking care of themselves, they never heard the cries for help.

Knofel Staton goes on to say, "The multitudes are all around us. Many are already in the water without an inflated raft, and the parachute lines of complex living are entangling them. Some are still floating. Others are beginning to sink. Where are the rescue teams?" (2) You and I are God's rescue team. And friends, there are a multitude of people who need to be rescued. Families are coming apart. Teenagers are losing themselves in drugs and suicides. With the Welfare Reform Act people who have never had a real job in their lives are facing desperate times. You and I can say, "Well, it's about time. They needed to find a job a long time ago." The truth is that many of them are unemployable and many of them have children who will be going without some of the necessities of life. Many of these children will turn to a life of crime.

Can you look into the eyes of someone who is hurting and see Jesus there? That is the real test of discipleship. Discipleship has little to do with perfect attendance in church. Church is but a place we come to sensitize ourselves so we can see Jesus. Jesus in the historical record and Jesus in others.

Some years ago the New York Fire Department had a great parade. One feature was three buses loaded with people from all walks of life, the high and the low. Signs on these buses read: "All of These Were Saved by Our Fire Department from Burning Buildings." (3) Wouldn't it be great if we could fill a caravan with people this church has saved? We see Jesus in people who are in need.

FINALLY, WE SEE JESUS IN THOSE WHO ARE HIS DISCIPLES.

That's us! We ought to be able to see Jesus in one another. You have heard it said, "You are the only Bible some people will ever read." We could also say, "You are the only Jesus some people will ever meet."

Now, we could get discouraged at this point. Not every person who bears Christ's name has Christ's heart. "What a pity," observes Annie Dillard, "that so hard on the heels of Christ come the Christians." Philip Yancey tells of a T-shirt that he spotted at a political rally: "Jesus save us . . . from your followers," and of a line from the New Zealand film Heavenly Creatures in which two girls describe their imaginary kingdom: "It's like heaven only better” there aren't any Christians!" (4)

"One of the bitterest moments of my life," said a missionary, "was when an earnest young Buddhist boy said to me, I want to believe in Christ, but I have never seen Him in those who profess Him. How can I believe in someone Whom I have not seen?'"

"Sir, we would see Jesus," says a hurting world. "A Christian," says Robert E. Gibson, "is the keyhole through which other folks see God."

Earl Palmer, in a fine little book entitled, The Enormous Exception, tells the story of a premed student at the University of California, Berkeley "who became a Christian after a long journey through doubts and questions." When Palmer asked the young man why he had chosen Jesus Christ, he answered that what had "tipped the scales" in his spiritual journey were the actions of a Christian classmate. During the previous term the premed student had been very ill with the flu and, as a result, had missed ten days of school. "Without any fanfare or complaints," his Christian classmate carefully collected all his class assignments and took time away from his own studies to help him catch up.

The premed student told Palmer, "You know, this kind of thing just isn't done. I wanted to know what made this guy act the way he did. I even found myself asking if I could go to church with him." (5)

A small act of love, but a friend saw Jesus there. And so you and I are confronted with a question: Can others see Christ in us? If we were the only Jesus people ever met, would it be enough to "tip the scales."

Charles Shedd in his book, Brush of an Angel's Wing, tells of a collection he had put together of the various faces of Christ. One of Shedd's favorite diversions was smoking a pipe. One day as he was studying the faces of Christ, he heard a voice from "the inner chamber" of his spirit ask, "In which of these faces would a pipe look good?"

He knew his pipes had to go but not right away. He took them with him when his wife and he were on vacation on a lake in the Ozarks. He told the Lord, "I really have quit, you know. But this is vacation, isn't it? Far from the faces of Jesus collection, far from the youth groups and all those I might influence. What's wrong with a dreamy pipe full up here?" He got out his pipe box and handled the pipes one by one. "The Whisper" said, "hand them over!" Shedd said he had it out with the Lord and once and for all it was settled. It was settled the Lord's way!

So one morning, he took his pipe box out on the lake, at least a half mile from their cabin and dropped them over. The next morning, though, there they were! On the beach in front of their cabin.

The argument with the inner Voice began again. So, the next morning, he took his wife Martha with him. They rowed back to the middle of the lake. Martha held one hand and with the other, Shedd took each pipe, dropped that particular old friend overboard, and watched it sink to the bottom of the lake. He said, "They are yours, Lord. This time, they're yours." (6)

Who you are may depend on what kind of face you see on Jesus. Do you see a loving face, a forgiving face, a saving face? Sir, we would see Jesus? That's our cry and that is the world's cry. We see Jesus in the historical record. We see him in the poor and the outcast. And, hopefully, others can see him in us.

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1. Cal Samra, THE JOYFUL CHRIST (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1986), p. xiii-xv.

2. Knofel Staton, CHECK YOUR COMMITMENT.

3. Lee Roberson, THE MAN IN CELL NO. 1, (Murfreesboro, TN: Sword of the Lord Publishers, 1993), p. 41.

4. Philip Yancey, THE JESUS I NEVER KNEW (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1995), p. 234.

5. Charles R. Swindoll, SIMPLE FAITH (Dallas: Word Publishing, 1991), p. 50.

6. JOYFUL NOISELETTER, August/September 1996, pp. 1, excerpt from BRUSH OF AN ANGEL'S WING, by Charles Shedd, "In Which of These Faces Would a Pipe Look Good?"

[ORIGINAL SERMON]

A pastor was showing a painting of Jesus to a group of children. He explained, "Now, young people, you understand this painting came from the artist's imagination. He didn't really know how Jesus looked." Whereupon one youngster said, "Well, pastor, it sure looks like Him to me." And that brings us to the question of the day: What does Jesus look like?

Some Greeks were attending the festival of the Passover. They came to Philip and said to him, "Sir, we would see Jesus." That's the universal need of humanity, isn't it? "We would see Jesus." Somebody show us what Jesus is like! It is the hunger that gnaws at the heart of every person who has ever walked this earth, even though they may not be able to give name to it, and even though, because of the baggage the name Jesus carries in the world, some may violently disavow such a need. The beggar in the slum of Calcutta and the banker in Beverly Hills both have this same basic craving, "Sir, we would see Jesus."

We need Jesus for life. We need Jesus to give meaning to our existence. We need Jesus to forgive us our sins. And so we ask with those Greeks, "Sir, WE would see Jesus. Where DO we see Jesus?" I can think of several places.

FIRST OF ALL, WE SEE HIM IN THE HISTORICAL RECORD.

We first encounter Jesus in the record made of his life by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. It is not a very complete record. For example, we have no idea how Jesus really looked. Was he tall, short, slender, chubby? You may be offended by the idea of a chubby Jesus, but we really have no idea. Most of us tend to see Jesus according to our own ideals. There was a best-selling business book recently titled Jesus, CEO. Jesus has been portrayed as an executive, as a salesperson, as a hippie, as a fire-brand radical, as a black man, as a blue-eyed blonde and every other way imaginable. Because the historical record is so limited, we have a tendency to see Jesus according to our own needs.

Cal bought a length of rope and drove around in the desert looking for a sturdy tree from which to hang himself. But most of the growing structures in the area were either palm trees, which are too tall to hang from, or cacti, which are pretty impossible to hang from. Next, Cal decided to throw himself into a river and drown. No luck there. It was summertime, and most of the rivers were dried out from the heat. Cal's luck had really given out if he couldn't even find a way to kill himself.

Finally, he decide he needed a less permanent solution to his problem. He drove to a Franciscan retreat. He entered the chapel there and began to pray out the sorrow in his heart. A warm, cheerful Franciscan, Father Gavin Griffith, welcomed Cal and asked him to stay for dinner. Father Griffith kept Cal laughing throughout dinner with his jokes and humorous remarks. On the wall of the kitchen was a picture Cal had never seen before, a portrayal of a vigorous, joyful Jesus, titled "The Laughing Christ."

Before Cal left the retreat center, Father Lambert gave him another picture of a smiling Jesus. This picture, painted by a Mrs. Joyce Martin, was like the first picture of the laughing Christ in certain ways. Instead of a pale, blond, sorrowful man with a glowing halo over his head, this Jesus was dark skinned, strong, and healthy looking. He had a broad smile, and He glowed with warmth and good cheer. His gaze was straightforward, honest, and twinkling with mirth. This was a warm, personable, real Jesus ” -the kind of man anyone would want to follow. As Cal contemplated these two images of Jesus, he realized that he had never known this side of Christ. This new way of seeing his Savior was the beginning of Cal Samra's emotional healing. (1) Many of you know of Cal Samra today as the head of the Fellowship of Merry Christians.

We have a tendency to see the historical Jesus according to our own needs. Bu the first place we see Jesus is in the historical record.

The second place we see Jesus may be a surprise to you. WE SEE JESUS IN THE LIVES OF PERSONS IN NEED.

Jesus said, "When you do it unto the least of these, you do it unto me." We see Jesus in "the least of these." Knofel Staton in his book, Check Your Commitment, tells about something unforgettable that happened when he was a control tower supervisor in Japan. Two jet fighters were flying in formation and had just started their descent when the lead pilot radioed, "I've just lost my wing man." That meant that one of the two planes had gone down. Immediately workers in the control tower picked up the red crash phone connected to the rescue helicopter team on stand-by duty. When that phone is lifted, a rescue team is to be in the air in 120 seconds.

Can you look into the eyes of someone who is hurting and see Jesus there? That is the real test of discipleship. Discipleship has little to do with perfect attendance in church. Church is but a place we come to sensitize ourselves so we can see Jesus ” Jesus in the historical record and Jesus in others.

FINALLY, WE SEE JESUS IN THOSE WHO ARE HIS DISCIPLES.

"Sir, we would see Jesus," says a hurting world. "A Christian," says Robert E. Gibson, "is the keyhole through which other folks see God."

He knew his pipes had to go ” but not right away. He took them with him when his wife and he were on vacation on a lake in the Ozarks. He told the Lord, "I really have quit, you know. But this is vacation, isn't it? Far from the faces of Jesus collection, far from the youth groups and all those I might influence. What's wrong with a dreamy pipe full up here?" He got out his pipe box and handled the pipes one by one. "The Whisper" said, "hand them over!" Shedd said he had it out with the Lord and once and for all it was settled. It was settled the Lord's way!

So one morning, he took his pipe box out on the lake, at least a half mile from their cabin and dropped them over. The next morning, though, there they were! On the beach in front of their cabin.

The argument with the inner Voice began again. So ” the next morning, he took his wife Martha with him. They rowed back to the middle of the lake. Martha held one hand and with the other, Shedd took each pipe, dropped that particular old friend overboard, and watched it sink to the bottom of the lake. He said, "They are yours, Lord. This time, they're yours." (6)

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1. Cal Samra, THE JOYFUL CHRIST (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1986), p. xiii-xv.

2. Knofel Staton, CHECK YOUR COMMITMENT.

3. Lee Roberson, THE MAN IN CELL NO. 1, (Murfreesboro, TN: Sword of the Lord Publishers, 1993), p. 41.

4. Philip Yancey, THE JESUS I NEVER KNEW (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1995), p. 234.

5. Charles R. Swindoll, SIMPLE FAITH (Dallas: Word Publishing, 1991), p. 50.

6. JOYFUL NOISELETTER, August/September 1996, pp. 1, excerpt from BRUSH OF AN ANGEL'S WING, by Charles Shedd, "In Which of These Faces Would a Pipe Look Good?"

Dynamic Preaching, Collected Sermons, by King Duncan