The Authentic Messiah -- FPC sermon excerpt
Coffee.
It’s an incredibly valuable commodity — second only to oil. Americans drink 2.3 billion pounds of the stuff, more than any other country.
With the stakes so high, a federation of coffee growers in Colombia thought long and hard about what to do with Juan Valdez. I know you’ve seen Juan on television — he’s the fictional coffee-grower who has been featured in ads for decades now, helping to establish “100 percent Colombian coffee” as an international brand.
Problem is, Juan is getting old. According to Fast Company magazine (May 2007), he has become a bit of a joke, with recent ads showing him on a surfboard. The Columbian coffee growers saw this, and were very close to sending him into retirement.
Then a consultant from Portland, Oregon, advised them to hold on to Juan. “Juan Valdez taps into a fundamental human truth,” said the consultant — “the things we savor the most are the hardest earned.” Maybe Juan still had value, as someone who is dedicated to the hard work of raising coffee by hand.
So the federation of coffee growers decided to introduce a new younger Juan, instead of retiring him. They learned that people emotionally connect with Juan because he seems authentic, and authenticity is a priceless quality.
It is important to be authentic. Even if you are a fictional coffee grower.
Of course, coffee federations are not alone in seeing the appeal of authenticity. Companies everywhere are sensing that consumers gravitate toward brands that appear to be true and genuine. Starbucks is popular because it imitates authentic Italian espresso bars. BMW’s Mini taps into people’s natural desire for joy on the road. Organic foods are flying off the shelves because consumers sense that they are connected to farming practices that are healthy and good.
So authenticity is hot. But how do you tell the difference between what is “really real” and what is “fake real”? How do you differentiate between a true espresso bar and a Starbucks?
That was the question that John the Baptist asked, while he was locked up in prison for offending King Herod. John sent his disciples to Jesus, and they asked him, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?” (Matthew 11:3). John needed to know if Jesus was a really real Messiah, or a fake real Messiah.
Remember that there were lots of false Messiahs running around the region, claiming to be God’s one and only king. A man named Judas of Galilee led a bloody revolt against Rome in the year 6. Simon was a slave of Herod who became a messianic figure when he rebelled in the year 4. Theudus attempted a revolt against the Romans in the 40s, and was killed.
There was no shortage of fake Messiahs claiming to be authentic. This is why John asked, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?”
The answer Jesus gives is fascinating. He doesn’t say “yes” or “no,” but instead suggests that they look around and make up their own minds. “Go and tell John what you hear and see,” says Jesus: “the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me” (vv. 4-6).
Look at what I am doing, Jesus suggests — then decide for yourself whether I am a really real Messiah. This is like a coffee federation saying, “Don’t listen to Juan Valdez. Just drink the coffee.” Or a car company saying, “Ignore our ads. Just drive the car.” Authenticity is to be found in actions, not words — but rarely are people completely confident in the performance of their product.
Fortunately, Jesus wasn’t struggling with any performance issues. Everywhere he went, the blind were receiving their sight (9:27), the lame were walking (9:6), the lepers were being cleansed (8:2), the deaf were regaining their hearing (Mark 7:31-37), the dead were being raised (Matthew 9:25), and the poor were having good news preached to them — “Blessed are you who are poor,” said Jesus, “for yours is the kingdom of God” (Luke 6:20).
Look at what Jesus is doing, not at what he is saying. He is not just talking the talk, he is walking the walk. His actions are proving that he is really real, not fake real — he is authentic espresso bar, not Starbucks.
He is the Authentic Messiah.
It’s an incredibly valuable commodity — second only to oil. Americans drink 2.3 billion pounds of the stuff, more than any other country.
With the stakes so high, a federation of coffee growers in Colombia thought long and hard about what to do with Juan Valdez. I know you’ve seen Juan on television — he’s the fictional coffee-grower who has been featured in ads for decades now, helping to establish “100 percent Colombian coffee” as an international brand.
Problem is, Juan is getting old. According to Fast Company magazine (May 2007), he has become a bit of a joke, with recent ads showing him on a surfboard. The Columbian coffee growers saw this, and were very close to sending him into retirement.
Then a consultant from Portland, Oregon, advised them to hold on to Juan. “Juan Valdez taps into a fundamental human truth,” said the consultant — “the things we savor the most are the hardest earned.” Maybe Juan still had value, as someone who is dedicated to the hard work of raising coffee by hand.
So the federation of coffee growers decided to introduce a new younger Juan, instead of retiring him. They learned that people emotionally connect with Juan because he seems authentic, and authenticity is a priceless quality.
It is important to be authentic. Even if you are a fictional coffee grower.
Of course, coffee federations are not alone in seeing the appeal of authenticity. Companies everywhere are sensing that consumers gravitate toward brands that appear to be true and genuine. Starbucks is popular because it imitates authentic Italian espresso bars. BMW’s Mini taps into people’s natural desire for joy on the road. Organic foods are flying off the shelves because consumers sense that they are connected to farming practices that are healthy and good.
So authenticity is hot. But how do you tell the difference between what is “really real” and what is “fake real”? How do you differentiate between a true espresso bar and a Starbucks?
That was the question that John the Baptist asked, while he was locked up in prison for offending King Herod. John sent his disciples to Jesus, and they asked him, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?” (Matthew 11:3). John needed to know if Jesus was a really real Messiah, or a fake real Messiah.
Remember that there were lots of false Messiahs running around the region, claiming to be God’s one and only king. A man named Judas of Galilee led a bloody revolt against Rome in the year 6. Simon was a slave of Herod who became a messianic figure when he rebelled in the year 4. Theudus attempted a revolt against the Romans in the 40s, and was killed.
There was no shortage of fake Messiahs claiming to be authentic. This is why John asked, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?”
The answer Jesus gives is fascinating. He doesn’t say “yes” or “no,” but instead suggests that they look around and make up their own minds. “Go and tell John what you hear and see,” says Jesus: “the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me” (vv. 4-6).
Look at what I am doing, Jesus suggests — then decide for yourself whether I am a really real Messiah. This is like a coffee federation saying, “Don’t listen to Juan Valdez. Just drink the coffee.” Or a car company saying, “Ignore our ads. Just drive the car.” Authenticity is to be found in actions, not words — but rarely are people completely confident in the performance of their product.
Fortunately, Jesus wasn’t struggling with any performance issues. Everywhere he went, the blind were receiving their sight (9:27), the lame were walking (9:6), the lepers were being cleansed (8:2), the deaf were regaining their hearing (Mark 7:31-37), the dead were being raised (Matthew 9:25), and the poor were having good news preached to them — “Blessed are you who are poor,” said Jesus, “for yours is the kingdom of God” (Luke 6:20).
Look at what Jesus is doing, not at what he is saying. He is not just talking the talk, he is walking the walk. His actions are proving that he is really real, not fake real — he is authentic espresso bar, not Starbucks.
He is the Authentic Messiah.
posted by Henry Brinton | 2:12 PM
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