First United Methodist Church

There’s a saying that if you don’t stand up for something, you’ll fall for anything. When I think of standing up for Jesus, I’m reminded of the hymn, “Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus.” It’s opening stanza is:

Stand up, stand up for Jesus, ye soldiers of the cross;
lift high his royal banner, it must not suffer loss.
From victory unto victory his army shall he lead,
till every foe is vanquished, and Christ is Lord indeed.

It’s an arousing anthem with a militaristic tone. It conveys God’s might, power, and victory. It encourages us to rely on God’s strength rather than our own and not to wane in the power of the gospel.

When I reflect on the gospel stories and the work of Jesus, that’s exactly what Jesus did. He gathered his strength from the Holy Spirit by spending time in prayer with God. As a result, he could continue to do the work of his Heavenly Father no matter where he was or who he was with.

A lot of his work involved traveling, preaching, and ministering to the least, last, and lost as well as to the diseased, disabled, and demented. He welcomed, loved on, and eagerly ministered to every single person. He even spent time with them in their homes where he offered his unconditional love to individuals and their friends. He encouraged them to worship with him.

Other parts of his work involved teaching people the truth about God. He spent almost equal time with the religious political elites such as Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, and religious lawyers. He dined with them in their homes. Taught with them in the market, teaching steps, and temple. He worshipped with them in the synagogues and temple.

Yet, when it came time to stand-up for what was right, to stand up for God, who did he have to stand up to?

Two groups stick out. First were the people apathetic to him. “Woe to you Chorazin and Capernaum!” (Matthew 11:21). They neither rejected nor accepted Jesus. His message had little effect on them. How sad!

Ironically, the second group were the religious elite. Specifically, it was those who were supposed to be sharing God, teaching about God, and helping others get closer to God. Except, these hyper-legalistic groups made life harder for the people. They created impossible standards and expectations. They limited people’s access to worship. They ignored pleas for mercy and grace. Ultimately, they prevented people from coming closer to God and even hindered their prayer.

In fact, Jesus became so frustrated with the religious self-righteous, that one day he chased them out of the temple. “He said to them, “It’s written, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer.’” (Matthew 21:13) To be clear, this wasn’t about selling things at the temple, it was about the process of entry into the temple and the ability to participate in worship. Every time I read this passage in all four gospels, I wonder how many people are we keeping out of the church?

Jesus stood up to those who denied what God was doing through him. Jesus stood up to the religious legalistic snobs. He stood up to the hypocrites who thought they were better than the “sinners.” He told them, “learn what it means to learn that God desires mercy over sacrifice.” (Matthew 9:13, 12:7, and Hosea 6:6) He stood up to the people who were making it harder for people to come to God, to those keeping people away from God, those who were not allowing people into worship or were preventing people from participating in the community of faith. When he cleared out the temple, he opened it up to those who had been kept out.

What did Jesus stand up for? Jesus stood up for us all. He stood up all the way to the cross. He was branded a vile criminal, a blasphemer, cursed to hang on a tree, for you, for me. He hung there so that we might have a better life through him.

While we were yet sinners, all of us, Christ died for us. We all have sin. You have sin. I have sin. Should we spend time talking and wallowing about each other’s sin? Or should we confess, repent, and move on? For those who want to focus on the sins of others, ironically, I’ve yet to meet anyone that really wanted me to make their own personal sin public.

Instead, let’s focus on the main thing, the work of Christ by the grace of God. Let’s be busy living in the love we have received and have been commanded to share. This doesn’t mean we condone the wrongs of others. This doesn’t mean go out and sin more. This means we do our part by loving people where they are and letting God do God’s part in God’s time.

This is not burying our head in the sand or waiting to see what happens. This is focusing on the mission at hand. The real mission of picking up our cross and following Jesus. As people who stand up for Jesus – as soldiers of the cross – we’re not going to allow ourselves to get sidelined by hurts, hang-ups, and bad habits. We’re not going to allow ourselves to fixate on hyper-legalism.

Finally, we’re all in this together. No one says Jesus is Lord unless it’s by the Holy Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:3) The same Holy Spirit is working through all of us to continue the work of God. Still, it’s not for everyone. Some will choose not to be a part of what God is doing in us and through us. It will hurt. Yet, we must respect that. We will love them regardless.

When I first became a Methodist, I was taught to err on the side of grace. Grace was a hard thing for me to learn. Yet, I learned it by experiencing it. I learned it through others showing me grace.

Therefore, I want to share that grace. The grace and love I have known is life changing. So, when it’s time to stand up for Jesus, I invite you to stand with me. Let’s stand-up for Jesus through grace, mercy, love for one another and for the other.

Grace and Peace,