Our sermon series for Lent is called
“Jesus in HD”. The “HD” part really has two meanings. In
electronics, of course, “HD” stands for high definition. It allows us to
see things on a television or a computer or other device much more clearly than
we could otherwise. And we hope this sermon series will help us see Jesus
more clearly than we have before.
But in Jesus’ case, “HD” stands for
something else. Some of you may have figured out what it is. We
refer to Jesus as having been both fully human and fully divine.
Now, understand what we mean when we say that. It’s not like
Jesus was half-human and half-divine. It’s not like Jesus was sometimes
human and sometimes divine. Jesus was both fully human and fully divine
at the same time. So, in this case, that’s also what “HD” means:
human and divine.
Now, if you don’t quite understand how that worked, don’t worry
about it. No one else, including the best theologians the world has ever
produced, really quite understands it either. And of course, there’s
never been anyone else on earth who was both fully human and fully divine, so
there’s no one we can compare Jesus to in an attempt to learn more about how it
worked. It just did, somehow, in a way that only God knows and
understands.
But while we don’t understand how it worked, there are lots of
things that are really neat about it. And we’re going to look at some of
them in this sermon series. We’re going to look at both the human Jesus
and the divine Jesus. We’re going to do that in an attempt to understand
better who Jesus really was when he walked the earth.
One of the great things about Jesus having been fully human is
that it means Jesus went through the same things we go through. Jesus did
some of the same things we do. Jesus felt some of the same things we feel.
And one of the things Jesus felt when he walked this earth was
loneliness.
We already said that Jesus is the only one who has ever been on
earth who was both fully human and fully divine. That made him absolutely
unique, in the strictest sense of the word.
All of us are unique in some way, of course. There’s no one
in the world exactly like me, and there’s no one in the world exactly like you.
But Jesus was unique in his very essence. There has never been and
never will be anyone like him. There has never been and never will be
anyone even similar to him.
And while in one way, it might seem like it would be cool to be
absolutely unlike anyone else, it seems like it would have to be a pretty
lonely existence. To have no one who knew what your life was really like.
To have no one who could really understand what it was like to be you.
To have no one you could really explain your feelings to, because even if
they really wanted to there was no way they could ever really understand.
Jesus did what he could to try to lessen his loneliness. We
heard tonight about how he asked people to travel with him. Twelve of
them, the disciples, were his special friends, the ones who would be closest to
him in his ministry.
And while I’m sure that helped in some ways, it probably did not
help in others. Because even though those twelve people were his friends,
they could not really understand who Jesus was or what he was doing or what he
was going through. We see that lots of times in the gospels, times when
Jesus tried to explain things to the disciples and they did not have a clue
what he was talking about.
In fact, having people around may have made it worse in some ways,
because the disciples had each other. They could talk to each other and
understand each other. They knew what each other was going through.
And that probably just emphasized to Jesus that he did not have anyone
like that.
And so, sometimes, Jesus would go off by himself. We’re told
that Jesus went to spend some time with God, and I’m sure that’s true, but I
suspect he also went off by himself because sometimes being around people was
just more than he could handle at that moment. Because even when Jesus
had people around him, he was still really alone, because there was still no
one else who could really understand.
Have you ever felt like that? Have you ever felt like there
was really no one who could understand what your life was like? Have you
ever felt like no one really understood what it was like to be you? Have
you ever felt like there was no one you could really explain your feelings to,
because even if they wanted to understand there was no way they really could?
I’ll bet a lot of us have felt that way. I know I have.
We may or may not have let anyone else know how we felt, but we felt it.
Maybe some of you feel that way tonight. It hurts. It hurts a
lot.
Maybe we try to get out among people to make ourselves feel
better. And that helps in some ways, but it does not help in others.
Because even if those people are our friends, it feels like they still
really don’t understand who we are or what we’re going through. Even if
we try to explain it to them, they still don’t really have a clue.
And sometimes, being with people just makes it worse, because we
see them interacting with each other and seeming to understand each other, and
it just emphasizes to us that we don’t have anyone like that. And so, we
go off by ourselves, because sometimes being around people is just more than we
can handle at that moment. Because even when we’re around people, we’re
still really alone, because there’s no one else who can really understand.
As I said, I’ve felt that way. If you’re feeling that way
right now, I don’t have a magic cure for you, any more than I had one for
myself. But I can tell you a couple of things.
One of them is that you have a God who understands what you’re
going through. Jesus knows exactly how you’re feeling, even if no one
else does. And because Jesus is the Son of God, that means God knows
exactly how you’re feeling, too. God knows, and God understands.
And you can always talk to God about it. That’s what Jesus
did when he was alone. He talked to God. God will be there, and God
will understand, even when it feels like no one else does. And God will
help you keep going, even when you feel like you cannot keep going or don’t
want to. God will give you the strength and the courage and the faith you
need. God will get you through it.
God does not want you to be alone. God does not want any of
us to be alone. One of the first things God says in the Bible, right
after creating Adam, is “it is not good for the man to be alone”. And
it’s not good for a woman to be alone, either.
The other thing I can tell you is that you have a church family
who wants to be there for you. One of the reasons God formed the church
is so that we could be there for each other. We may not be able to feel
what you’re feeling, but we can love you. We can support you. We
can encourage you. We can pray for you. God does not want anyone to
suffer at all, but God especially does not want anyone to suffer alone.
So even if you cannot tell us exactly what’s going on, you can let
us know that you’re in need of help and in need of prayer, and we will be there
for you. If you’ve tried that in the past, and we’ve not been there for
you, then I apologize, because we’ve failed you. But I encourage you to
give us another chance. We’re not perfect--I most definitely and
certainly am not perfect--but we do want to be there for you. And we know
God wants us to be there for you, too.
The fully human Jesus knows what it’s like to be alone. And
the fully divine Jesus will be there for you and help you through it. The
church that Jesus started needs to be there and help people through it, too.
It hurts to be alone. Let’s all do what we can to reach out
to those who are hurting. With God’s help, we can build a community where
no one will ever have to be alone again.
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