Super Savior -- FPC sermon excerpt
They call him “Touchdown Jesus.”
He is 62 feet tall, rising out of a former cornfield in southwestern Ohio. Made of steel, fiberglass and Styrofoam, this statue of Jesus Christ has upraised arms, which make him look like a football referee signaling a touchdown. This mega-messiah, with arms and hands big enough to hold a dump truck, was erected by a non-denominational church along Interstate 75.
And here’s where the story gets interesting: Not long after the church had the statue erected, the highway suddenly became safe. There were 14 deaths in the two-year period before the sculpture’s appearance. Then there were none. The church’s pastor, Lawrence Bishop, told the Cleveland Plain Dealer, “Since that’s been up, there hasn’t been one wreck out there. We didn’t build it with that intent, but that’s what happened.”
So maybe this Jesus is a Super Savior. One who has calmed the storm of highway killings.
Of course, there may be other forces at work. About the same time that the statue appeared, the state of Ohio spent a million dollars to install a cable that runs down the median. This barrier is designed to prevent vehicles from crossing the median into oncoming traffic.
Says Jay Hamilton, the highway engineer who designed the barrier, “I honestly think that Jesus can perform miracles, but I don’t think the statue was the miracle out here. It was the barrier.”
Take your pick: Whether it was Touchdown Jesus or the state highway department, we can be thankful. Interstate 75 is now a much safer stretch of road.
The first letter of John also describes a Super Savior, but it doesn’t take a particular position on giant statues by the highway. Instead, John focuses our attention on the fact that our faith in Jesus turns us into children of God, and makes us members of God’s family. As children of the Lord, we are to love one another, love God, and obey his commandments. If we do these things, we are going to be given a surprising victory — “whatever is born of God,” says John, “conquers the world” (1 John 5:4).
Conquering the world. That’s even better than an accident-free drive on the Interstate.
He is 62 feet tall, rising out of a former cornfield in southwestern Ohio. Made of steel, fiberglass and Styrofoam, this statue of Jesus Christ has upraised arms, which make him look like a football referee signaling a touchdown. This mega-messiah, with arms and hands big enough to hold a dump truck, was erected by a non-denominational church along Interstate 75.
And here’s where the story gets interesting: Not long after the church had the statue erected, the highway suddenly became safe. There were 14 deaths in the two-year period before the sculpture’s appearance. Then there were none. The church’s pastor, Lawrence Bishop, told the Cleveland Plain Dealer, “Since that’s been up, there hasn’t been one wreck out there. We didn’t build it with that intent, but that’s what happened.”
So maybe this Jesus is a Super Savior. One who has calmed the storm of highway killings.
Of course, there may be other forces at work. About the same time that the statue appeared, the state of Ohio spent a million dollars to install a cable that runs down the median. This barrier is designed to prevent vehicles from crossing the median into oncoming traffic.
Says Jay Hamilton, the highway engineer who designed the barrier, “I honestly think that Jesus can perform miracles, but I don’t think the statue was the miracle out here. It was the barrier.”
Take your pick: Whether it was Touchdown Jesus or the state highway department, we can be thankful. Interstate 75 is now a much safer stretch of road.
The first letter of John also describes a Super Savior, but it doesn’t take a particular position on giant statues by the highway. Instead, John focuses our attention on the fact that our faith in Jesus turns us into children of God, and makes us members of God’s family. As children of the Lord, we are to love one another, love God, and obey his commandments. If we do these things, we are going to be given a surprising victory — “whatever is born of God,” says John, “conquers the world” (1 John 5:4).
Conquering the world. That’s even better than an accident-free drive on the Interstate.
posted by Henry Brinton | 2:10 PM
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