Sermon – May 22, 2011 – Who Can Do Greater Works than Jesus?

Who Can Do Greater Works than Jesus?

A sermon preached by Rev. Ginger Gaines-Cirelli at St. Matthew’s UMC May 22, 2011, the fifth Sunday of Easter.

Texts:  1 Peter 2:2-10, John 14:1-14

Life and death.  This is at the heart of the story we wrestle with—as human beings and, most certainly, as the Church.  How do we make sense of human existence with its mixture of joy and sorrow, struggle and victory, meaningful purpose and hopelessness, pain and love, beauty and evil?  How do we deal with the fact of death, of change, of the vulnerability and fleeting nature of creation and human bodies?  These are the most basic human questions, regardless of culture, creed, age, socio-economic status, or any other human variable.  Philosophers, sages, prophets, rabbis, seekers through the ages have pondered the questions.  And the Wisdom of God has inspired many responses in varied cultures and lands around the world.

The astonishing claim that Christians make is that once upon a time, the fullness of the Wisdom of God came to dwell right in the middle of the human story—took flesh and dwelled among us—to show us a way to be in relationship with God, other humans, and with the creation, to reveal the truth of God’s love and mercy, and to free us from fear of death by showing us that life is from God and in God and that life brings change, but never ends.  This revelation of the way, truth, and life, speaks in a powerful way to the deepest questions and struggles of what it means to be human and how to live in a world that can be so confusing and scary.

The Gospel text we heard this morning is most often read at funerals—I’ve been reading it a lot lately—and it is an appropriate text for such occasions.  It is the beginning of Jesus’ farewell speech to his community of disciples as he prepared for his own suffering and death.  The image Jesus uses here is of a house—with many dwelling places.  It is helpful to notice that throughout the Gospel according to John, Jesus speaks about dwelling or abiding in God and God abiding in him.  The context, you see, leads us to understand that what Jesus is pointing to in this metaphor, has to do with relationship to God—not necessarily a place in the sky.  Jesus is preparing to die and to dwell fully with the Father again—to go home as it were.  The promise Jesus makes is that we can dwell in God just as Jesus dwells in God.  Jesus shows us the way to dwell in God, prepares a “place” for us in God—both in this world and in the next.

There is much we could say about all of this, of course.  The questions and implications of this passage are much greater than can be addressed in one sermon.  But the thing I have been thinking about is how this teaching reminds us that we are part of something larger than just ourselves.  We are invited to share and to abide (or dwell) in the very life of God.  This provides us with a framework to understand and ponder all the big questions; it provides us a context in which to find meaning and purpose for our lives.  And these lines of scripture also provide us with these words from Jesus:  “Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father.” (Jn. 14.12)  What??  One renowned pastor and teacher has said that this verse “has to be one of the most incredible statements in the Bible.”[i] Even when we place our lives within the context of participation in God’s life, I still find myself thinking, “There’s no way I can do greater works than Jesus.”  And, quite frankly, I’m correct.  I cannot do greater works than Jesus.  But as John Wesley said, what God has promised, God is able to accomplish.  So there must be something I’m missing.  That same pastor and teacher, in wrestling with this most incredible statement in the Bible says, “I don’t think [Jesus] meant that you or I will do these things individually.  But, when we join our faith, our loyalty, our prayers, our talents, our stewardship with others in churches, and when churches join together in larger groups of churches, we are able to help build schools, hospitals, mission centers, and other forms of Christian ministry that can teach more people every day, bring a healing ministry to more sick people every day, feed more hungry people every day, bring love and caring to more lonely and distraught people every day than Jesus was able to touch in his entire lifetime.”[ii] In other words, followers of the Way of Jesus, TOGETHER, are a continuation of Jesus’ ministry in the world and are able to share in doing even greater works of love, mercy, caring, and justice than Jesus did in his earthly life.  Who can do greater works than Jesus?  WE can, through our participation in the life of the Church.

Perhaps you never thought of it this way, but when you prepare coffee for fellowship, when you set up or put away tables, when you fold and stuff bulletins, when you bring bags of groceries for the food pantry, when you prepare an agenda for a meeting or share in conversation about how to organize care for church members, or volunteer in the nursery or sing in the choir or send a card or make a call to someone who is hurting—when you do these and every other thing you do through the life of the Church you are participating in Jesus’ ongoing ministry and mission in the world.  YOU are sharing the ministry of Christ.

There once was a traveler who journeyed all over the globe in search of wisdom and enlightenment. In the midst of one village, he came upon a great deal of noise, dust, and commotion.  He approached the nearest laborer and asked, “Excuse me, I’m not from this village. May I ask what’s going on here?” The laborer replied curtly, “Can’t you see? I’m busting rocks.”  The traveler approached a second laborer doing the same thing and asked the same question. The second laborer replied, “Can’t you see? I’m earning a living to support my family.”  The traveler then approached a third laborer who was also breaking up rocks and posed the question a third time. With a broad smile and a gleam in his eye, the third laborer replied with great pride: “Can’t you see? We’re building a cathedral.”

Every task you undertake in and through this community is a participation in something much larger than that task, much larger than yourself, much larger than this Church.  You and I together participate in Jesus’ ongoing ministry in the world—we’re “building a cathedral!”  The epistle we read this morning teaches us that we are called to be “living stones” to be built into a spiritual house—with Christ as the cornerstone.  In other words, not only are we “building a cathedral,” but also our lives—by the power of God—ARE a cathedral.  One commentator suggests that what the epistle of 1 Peter “may be alluding to is that stones become living when they are shaped and formed into an edifice where living takes place. Christ is the cornerstone of the church, the foundation of our lives. As the foundation stone, he is the platform upon which our lives are constructed… The cornerstone serves the function of knitting the walls together.  As a cornerstone, Christ knits together our lives and gives our existence shape and form.”[iii]

So we, as living stones, grounded and guided by Christ the cornerstone, are shaped and formed into an edifice where LIFE takes place—where real life, meaningful life, life in God takes place and is offered to others.  And each and every stone in that edifice has a place and a purpose and brings strength and beauty to what God is building in and through us.  You see, YOU are an integral part of what God is doing in the world.  There are gifts that only you can offer, tasks that you might be just the person to take on, that will help God build us into a more Christ-like shape—and the thing is that no task or role is trivial or meaningless.  We share in and continue the ministry of none other than Jesus Christ!

Yesterday, through this Church’s Spring into Service event, folks learned about how to care for the earth, used sweat and elbow grease to clean and care for this building and grounds that provides space for us to worship and serve and learn, made cards for our troops serving abroad, collected food to feed the hungry, coordinated Volunteer in Mission teams to bring hope and safe living conditions to a local family, learned online tools for sharing with others the good news of what God is doing through St. Matthew’s, and much, much more.  And throughout the year, we provide shelter and support for a vulnerable family right here in our own building, we pray for the needs of our members and for the needs of the world, we challenge and guide one another through small groups and Bible study, we sing to the glory of God, we nurture our children and youth, we provide opportunities to stretch and grow through leadership and project coordination, we give thousands of dollars to mission and ministry through St. Matthew’s initiatives and through the apportionments we share with the Annual Conference and General Church and UMCOR.  This week Linda Cooper, Dave Monroe, and I will participate in our Annual Conference session in which the churches throughout the Baltimore-Washington Conference come together to be reminded, among other things, that we are all participating in something larger than ourselves, larger than our local churches, larger than our Annual Conference or our denomination.  You and I and all who follow Jesus share in the ministry of Christ who has prepared a place for us in the very life of the Triune God.  We are living stones, God’s people at work to continue and build on the ministry of Jesus.  By God’s grace we are shaped by Christ’s Way and Truth and are empowered to be living witnesses to the power of God’s life and love, even in the face of every question, doubt, and even death.  This is a great responsibility and an awesome privilege.  Who knew?  WE CAN do greater works, even than Jesus.  And we are.  Thanks be to God!