"Why Do We Need Jesus?"

Sermon preached by John C. Hall on October 17, 2007

Why do we need Jesus? Christians have two basic ways of answering that question. 

The first way goes like this. The Old Testament tells us how God’s people could never get it right. Adam and Eve’s son Cain killed his brother Abel. Abraham’s descendants couldn’t follow the Torah.  The Israelites had difficulty following Moses, even out of slavery.  King David had his failings. Then came the prophets, whom the people stoned.  They oppressed the poor

So God tried Plan B. God sent Jesus to do for us what we can’t do for ourselves. We’re weak. We’re in bondage to our desires.  We have habits, addictions, ambitions.  We’re emotionally needy. We’re anxious about many things — including many imaginary dangers.

We’re lonely, but we’re afraid of people. We want to help others, but we’re afraid we won’t have enough for ourselves. We want to be at peace, but we’re also competitive, and aggressive, and violent. We find war entertaining. When we do have a moment o peace, we get bored.  We want safety, but we also want excitement and adventure.

I know this sounds depressing, but it’s also the raw material for great humor and for most great literature, for that matter. We have big dreams, but we only have so much time. These are some of the contradictions in our nature. The point is, we can’t overcome them or resolve them, by our own power.

So God appeared in the flesh to save us from, and compensate for, this inner turmoil and our failure to be what we think we should be.

As a little historical note — this is how our early Congregational ancestors, the Puritans, thought. This is Calvinist theology. It’s a pessimistic view of human nature. But — and here’s where the hope comes in — according to that same theology, we can be redeemed.  We can be transformed by the power of God in Jesus Christ to rise above our human nature. We can be changed.

So this is why we need Jesus. Because we’re weak. We’re sinners.  We need God to save us from ourselves.

Another view of human nature emerged in the late 1700s and early 1800s, in the so-called “age of reason.” This was a more optimistic view. Humans are basically good.  We all have God within us.  We only need to realize it. We don’t need a savior as much as a teacher.  We need to think differently.

This new optimism came out in the Unitarian and Transcendentalist movements of the early 1800s. Humans are rational.  Give them the right information, teach them how to think, and they’ll do fine. They’ll choose the good. What we need is education. We need a better social environment. We need to believe in ourselves. This is very much like today’s human potential movement. Jesus did what he did, healing the sick, rising from the dead, ascending to heaven, to show us what we can do.

In this view, Jesus isn’t a compensation for human failure.  He’s a moral and spiritual example. We’re not stuck in bondage. We need to recognize our potential.

This debate over why we need Jesus is still going on. It’s not settled among the churches, and probably never will be. But this question — how pessimistic or optimistic about human beings should we be? — is at the heart of our debates about social and political policy.

How should we run our schools? How should we run our social safety net programs? How should we run our prisons? Do we believe that people can be redeemed?  And if so, how can that happen?  How should we run our parole boards? How trusting of other people should we be? How much should we try to control people?  How much to they need to be controlled?

How optimistic or pessimistic about human nature are you? Are humans are basically good? If they are raised in a healthy environment, given a good start, and not abused, and not neglected, and not put down, will they flourish? Will they live wholesome lives?

Or is there a fundamental problem with human nature that we’re stuck with — something that puts us at war with ourselves? Is there something in our psyches that we can’t eradicate, something that gets in the way of peace, and health, and happiness, no matter how we are raised?

How are people transformed into better human beings?  Can we do it on our own, by education and discipline?  Or do we need a savior?  Do we need a higher power, Jesus’ power?

I think that there is some basis for both optimistic and pessimism. In some ways, humans have made progress. Slavery has been outlawed in most places. Women’s rights have expanded. Less oppressive forms of government have taken root. These are improvements.

On the other hand, humans today seem to be more violent and greedy than ever. The 20^th century saw the most bloodshed ever. And for all our technological progress and so-called enlightenment, the disparities of wealth are becoming greater. More and more people in our own nation are living in poverty.  We’re damaging the life systems of the earth that we depend on.

So there are reasons for optimism and pessimism, but which carries more weight in your view of things?

Here’s a final question.  To the extent that things have gotten better, how much credit should we give to the power of Jesus Christ? What would western civilization look like if Jesus Christ had never been born? 

And to the extent that things have gotten worse, to what extent can we blame that on our culture’s turning away from the deep truths that the Christian gospel would teach us?

These are questions worth thinking about, and I look forward to reading what you have to say about them.