The Meaning of Jesus: Was Jesus born to a virgin? Sunday, March 18, 2007 – Rev. David Tinney Text: John 3:1-16 Theme: More important than any historical truth about virginal conception is the belief that God so loved us that God invaded this world through Jesus Christ and allowed us to catch a glimpse of the Kingdom of God. This week I was supposed to preach on the topic “Was Jesus born to a virgin?” That is a sermon topic that has gotten more than one pastor removed from his or her pulpit. I knew it would be controversial when I developed the sermon series plan but still went ahead with it. But what I learned this week as I taught two classes on the subject is it is too big, too complicated, too controversial a subject to be limited to a 15-20 minute sermon and is definitely more suited for a classroom than a pulpit. Even when the class had hours of reading and preparation time and when we exceeded our hour and a half class time we still had more questions than answers. We merely opened the faith boxes a little farther than we had before and we all realized it would be a dangerous thing to do during a time of worship on Sunday morning. So I would like to preach around the topic without having to address the historical accuracy of the birth narratives. I would like to ask a larger question that I think is more inviting and more apt to touch and inspire our hearts rather than test our minds. Here is the question. If we were to eliminate the Christmas stories that are only found in Matthew and Luke, if we were to eliminate those four chapters would it change your faith? Before I continue I would like for you to think about that question for just a moment. I ask that you refrain from a knee-jerk, of-course-it-would-change-everything response to thinking about it for a moment or two. If you consider the early Christian communities that gave birth to the gospel stories, at least two communities (those represented by Mark and John) did not find it necessary to have the birth stories proclaimed. If you think about later theologians I have never heard anyone say we as Christians are saved by the cradle. We declare we are saved by the cross. So would it make a difference? Would it change your faith? While you are pondering that question I am going to throw you one more. If you had one person either from the past or present that you could spend a day with and ask any question who would it be? What would you ask her or him? I have now given you two engaging questions to consider and there is no way to continue this sermon with you considering them in silence, so I would like to break from our normal patterns of preaching and I would like for you to turn to someone on your right or left and share your answer to the latter question. Who would you like to spend a day with and what questions would you ask? (Pause and slight debriefing by asking for responses) Larry King, the great talk show host and great interviewer, was asked this question by one of his guests. The person turned the tables on King in the middle of an interview and caught King by surprise. He responded, “I would like to spend time with Jesus Christ and ask him if he was born of a virgin.” I find it curious that one of the greatest interviewers of modern time, someone who is known for his piercing questions, would if only given one question would ask this one. He later explained that for him this was the most important question in history because Jesus’ birth represented what is known as a “hinge of history” moment. These are moments where all of history turns and is never the same again. This question for him was more important than whether or not Jesus died for our sins upon the cross because it spoke to the fact that God was demonstrating God’s love so much that God was invading our world. This was an invasion that would change history forever. It is interesting that this sermon series immediately follows the series that I did on comparative religions. If you remember my talking about the great world faiths they all share something in common. Every religion, EVERY one of the great faiths sees this world as temporary, troubled, flawed, and locked in sin and struggle. Every faith points to another kingdom – to a second world – a metaphysical world greater than our current world. Humankind has been aware of this from the beginning of time and has constructed stories in nearly every religion of humankind reuniting with the Divine in some future kingdom. In pre-modern times all natural events like eclipses, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, and even sunrises and sunsets were explained as activities of the unseen world. As we became more scientific and learned more about the natural laws the “unseen world” became more visible. Our scientifically trained eyes and minds slowly started to see the world differently and reason replaced faith and fact replaced miracle. Writer William Irvin Thompson describes us modern believers as flies walking around the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel not being aware of the masterpiece surrounding us. We are so close and yet we cannot see the world just waiting to break in around us. The problem we moderns have with the birth stories of Jesus is that we keep seeing them through scientific eyes where miracles are rare or nonexistent. This was not true in the time of Jesus. This was not true in the early Church where these stories had their birth. This is not true for many of us who still love to wander in the “thin places” where God is very near and very active. The writers of the gospels were not interested in verifying details of the invasion of God. They were never concerned about complicated formulas of virginal conception but were joyously proclaiming the good news – God’s kingdom has just broken through! We are not alone! We are not cosmic orphans but we are beloved children of our heavenly Creator. The text that I chose today was not a description of Christ’s birth or of the virginal conception as you might expect if I was going to be preaching on the topic. Today’s text is a birth announcement sent out to John’s church and to every believer to follow. He didn’t feel it was necessary to get into the details of the how but decided instead to share the why. “For God so loved the world, God have God’s son Jesus Christ…” God the author of life, God the creator of the universe, God the power of the unseen kingdom has just invaded our world and made the invisible visible through Jesus Christ. It is a “hinge of history” moment. Perhaps the greatest of eternity. But why is it important to our faith? Why is the birth of Christ or the invasion of God into this world essential to our spiritual journeys? It is vitally important because all material explanations, all scientific explanations, all physical explanations of this world are limited and fall short of the wonder and miracle behind it. It is vitally important because all love that we know, all attraction that we experience, all the beauty we see, all the joy that we feel, all the wonder that takes our breath away is nothing in comparison to what awaits us. Our love, no matter how perfect it might be, pales in comparison to the divine love that awaits us. It is tremendously important, because all justice, all mercy, all forgiveness, all goodness, all compassion is not only inspired by this unseen source but is simply a foretaste of its perfection. When humankind turns its back on the unseen kingdom, when we ignore its presence, when we rationalize and reason God’s kingdom away – our earthly kingdom rots. History repeats that lesson over and over again. But when we allow the kingdom to creep in – even in small ways – then it is a transforming presence. That is why Christ’s coming is so significant. God doesn’t just creep in quietly or unseen – God becomes one of us to declare the kingdom so we can catch a glimpse of what is in store for us. This past week I happened to read a portion of the book “To End All Wars,” the story of Ernest Gordon, a British Army officer who was captured at sea by the Japanese during World War II. Gordon was sent to a prisoner of war camp deep in the Thai jungle to construct the Burma-Siam railroad for the future invasion of India. He and thousands of other prisoners hacked their way through thick jungle, in 120-degree heat, wearing only loin cloths and no shoes, their bodies stung by all manner of insects, and feet cut by sharp rocks and sticks. When prisoners would slow down they would be beaten, bayoneted or decapitated in front of the others as an example. Many of the prisoners died of exhaustion or from malnutrition and disease. It is estimated that 80,000 eventually died, which comes out to be 393 fatalities for every mile of track laid. Even though Gordon was young and strong he gradually started to fail. He contracted beriberi, worms, malaria, dysentery, and typhoid. Any one of the illnesses could have killed him. Somehow he endured. Then he contracted a violent case of diphtheria which ravaged his throat and palate so badly that when he swallowed his food or drink would come out his nose. He was laid in the “Death House” with rows and rows of other prisoners rotting and waiting to die. But Gordon’s friends had other plans for him. They constructed a bamboo addition to their hut and lifted his bed off the ground and out of the swamp. This was one of the first acts in what Gordon would later call the “Miracle of the River Kwai.” Until this moment the camp was very much like a hellish scene extracted from Dante’s Inferno. In this “every man for himself environment” fighting, stealing, cheating, and survive at any cost prevailed. Men lived like animals. The change really came the day a Japanese guard shouted that one shovel was missing and demanded to know who stole it. Everyone in the ranks denied responsibility. The guard declared that if no one confessed then every one would die. As he was about to make good on his declaration and shoot the first man in the line, and enlisted man stepped forward and said, “I did it.” The guard struck him with all his might, kicking and beating the prisoner, who still managed to stand at attention through the whole ordeal. Finally in an act of extreme anger, the guard brought his rifle butt down on the man’s skull crushing it. Later that day a proper inventory was done and it was discovered that all shovels were accounted for and none had been missing. The man had laid down his life for others. Love had broken into the darkness of the camp. Attitudes slowly changed. Fighting ceased. Stealing grew increasingly rare. The men started to care for each other and Gordon was the recipient of such care. His friends dressed his wounds, located medicine, horded food just for him, and slowly brought him back from death. Gordon later wrote: Death was still with us – no doubt about that. Be we were slowly being freed from its destructive grip. We were seeing for ourselves the sharp contrast between the forces made for life and those made for death. Selfishness, hatred, envy, jealousy, greed, self-indulgence, laziness, and pride were all anti-life. Love, heroism, self-sacrifice, sympathy, mercy, integrity, and creative faith, on the other hand, were the essence of life, turning mere existence into living in the truest sense. These are the gifts of God to men… True, there was hatred. But there was also love. There was death. But there was also life. God had not left us. He was with us, calling to live the divine life in fellowship.”1 Into one of the darkest times, into one of the darkest places in history, love broke in and slowly transformed a hellish prisoner of war camp into a place where mercy, love, and faith prevailed. On a grander scale, on a cosmic and eternal scale, God broke into the darkness of human history and gave us a foretaste of the Kingdom. As I ponder the question I asked at the beginning of the sermon about whether or not the Christmas stories change my faith I have to answer in this way. I am not concerned in the least about IF they happened. I am not concerned in the least about HOW they happened. I celebrate WHY they happened. For God so loved this world. For God so love this rebellious sphere. For God so loved you and me that God was willing to become one of us and make visible God’s invisible Kingdom. 1 Philip Yancey, “Rumors of Another World: What on Earth Are We Missing,” Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI 2002, p172-77. --------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ --------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ Was Jesus born of a virgin Page 1