SUNDAY SERMON: Worshipping Jesus, the Son of Man
The holiest thing we ever do is worship a man named Jesus.
. PHOTO| FILE| NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- It took no less than an apparition of the Risen Christ, in all his heavenly glory, to make this Pharisee see how God had established a new law, more perfect than the Law of Moses.
- Ever since angles appeared in the sky on Christmas night, ever since Magi came from the East to adore the Baby Jesus, no one can say that worshipping a man is absolutely prohibited.
Some Christians like to quote the Book of Exodus: “You shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything in heaven above or on earth below or in the waters under the earth.” This text is usually dragged out to lay down the law against people like me. They seem to think God has declared that all Christians who like statues are a bunch of idol worshippers destined to burn in hell forever.
I like to display images of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, especially during Christmas — and the three Magi for Epiphany. It has never occurred to me to worship these images. They are helpful in the same way that I find it helpful to keep photos of my parents and siblings set up in the sitting room. (I have never worshipped any of those images either.)
A text from the book of Deuteronomy is worth recalling: “If anyone, man or woman, among you ... goes and serves other gods and worships them, or the sun or the moon or any of heaven’s array ... you must take the man or woman guilty of this evil deed outside your city gates, and there you must stone that man or woman to death.”
We too easily forget that worshipping a man, no matter what his personal qualities, was absolutely prohibited by the Law of Moses. This is why Saul of Tarsus felt righteous overseeing the stoning of Stephen and why he got official permission to have all Christians either executed or put in prison.
It took no less than an apparition of the Risen Christ, in all his heavenly glory, to make this Pharisee see how God had established a new law, more perfect than the Law of Moses. Ever since angles appeared in the sky on Christmas night, ever since Magi came from the East to adore the Baby Jesus, no one can say that worshipping a man is absolutely prohibited.
The holiest thing we ever do is worship a man named Jesus. He was truly a man — and still is and always will be. And yet, we believe that this man was and always will be truly God. Jesus is not “more or less” equal to God. In the strictest sense of the word, He is God. Together with his heavenly Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ is all-powerful Creator of the universe.
If this means anything, it means that I worship a man. Whether you approve of statues or not is trivial compared to the fact that the shepherds, the Magi and many others could touch their Creator with their hands, see him with their eyes, kiss him with their lips and bow down before him. Come let us adore him!
