Bait and Switch
Gospel
The Spirit that comes upon Jesus at his baptism sustains him when he is tested by Satan so that he might proclaim the good news of God’s reign.
The Holy Gospel according to St. Mark, the 1st chapter.
Glory to you, O Lord.
9In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. 11And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
12And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. 13He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.
14Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, 15and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”
The Gospel of our Lord. Praise to you, O Christ.
Bait and Switch
Grace to you and peace from God our Creator, from our Risen Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ and from our Sustainer, the Holy Spirit. Amen.
123 million people watched the Super Bowl. 123 million! Largest television audience ever recorded in the history of our country! So let’s get to the serious question folks. Let’s get to what really mattered. What was your favorite Super Bowl commercial? Was it the Dunkin Donuts commercial with Ben Afflect and Matt Damon acting silly and annoying the heck out of Jennifer Lopez with Tom Brady lurking in the background? Or was it the Uber Eats commercial in which Jennifer Aniston and David Schimmer who for 10 years played Rachel and Ross on the sitcom “Friends” bump into each other and Jennifer has no idea who he is. Or was it the State Farm commercial featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger with what sounded an awful lot like a Boston accent?
Or was it the “He Gets Us” ads – the ads about Jesus – Jesus who understands us, empathizes with us, and relates to us – who gets us. It’s almost as if in the midst of that fierce, tense, nail-biting football game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49’s and all those silly, puzzling, extravagant, over-the-top commercials selling everything from coffee to T-Mobile, there’s this moment – there’s this moment:
“And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart (the football game paused, the commercials parted), and the Spirit descending like a dove upon him. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
And there – in the commercials – we see him, Jesus himself and he gets us. In the first commercial we see Jesus in the guise of one person washing the feet of another and what’s remarkable is who Jesus is and whose feet Jesus is washing. For example, in the commercial we see an oil rig worker washing the feet of a climate activist. We see a police officer washing the feet of a young Black man. We see an older woman washing the feet of a young, pregnant woman outside a family planning clinic while abortion protesters look on. We see a priest washing the feet of a young gay man. As the commercial ends, words appear on the screen: “Jesus didn’t teach hate. He washed feet.”
Yes! How true! The heavens tore apart and Jesus appeared. What a beautiful depiction of Jesus. That’s Jesus as we know him. Jesus is the one who brings people together. The message is clear, Jesus builds bridges rather than walls. Jesus creates a peace between people on the opposite sides of issues.
Yes! All that is true. And later in the broadcast there is a second ad which asks the question, “Who is my neighbor?” The ad reminds us that according to Jesus, it is the person we don’t notice or value or welcome. Again, yes! That’s accurate. That’s who Jesus is, and Jesus gets us. Sounds awesome, doesn’t it! Ads like these to 123 million people!
But then immediately after we see this amazing Jesus who gets us and we hear these comforting and affirming words, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased” the Spirit immediately drove Jesus into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness for forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts…”
Driven into the wilderness, tempted by Satan, surrounded by wild beasts –let’s wander into the wilderness. Let’s face the wild beasts. Let’s discover how Satan is tempting us with these slick ads. OK? You ready?
The first temptation – is the temptation to think that this is money well-spent considering the fact that 123 million may have watched the commercial – if they weren’t running to the kitchen or the bathroom when it aired. However, we know that a 30 second Super Bowl commercial cost 7 million dollars so it is estimated that these two commercials cost a total of 17.5 million dollars. 17 and a half million dollars.
Think about that for a moment. Instead of showing pictures of what people could be doing for one another, how about instead the same people use 17.5 million actual dollars to actually help people? For example if one school lunch costs 3 dollars, 17.5 million dollars could feed 5.8 million hungry children at lunchtime. Or we could ask Barbara Fox from School on Wheels how many school backpacks $17.5 million dollars would buy or we could ask Karen Danielson how many lunches and dinners we could provide for Father Bill’s in Brockton.
The second temptation: It is tempting to think that these ads serve as a great marketing campaign about Jesus for those who don’t believe in Jesus. You know – it will bring more people into the flock. It’s evangelism on steroids. It’s getting the message out on the largest platform ever in the history of the country. Now all that may be true and it may have some good impact. However, it may be safe to say that most people who are not believers, who are not Christians already get the idea that Jesus was a pretty cool guy. Jesus already has a good reputation among the general public even among non-Christians. People already know that Jesus taught us to love our enemies, to welcome all people, to care for the marginalized, to feed the hungry, to hanging out with so-called “undesirables,” to love without conditions.
However, the truth is that those outside the church don’t need to be reminded of what good and wonderful things Jesus did. No, instead they need to be persuaded that those inside the church actually know Jesus themselves because so many outside the church see those inside the church as hypocrites. The truth is that so many outside the church see us who are inside the church as not practicing what we preach – or worse yet – actually preaching the opposite of what Jesus taught.
To so many Jesus is a really cool guy and taught good things. It’s the church which is not cool, not welcoming, not honest, and not at all consistent with what they know about the Jesus. They hear and see so many ways the church excludes people and judges people that they wonder – do those church people really know Jesus? They see so many politicians actually hating people in the name of Jesus that they wonder – how can the church do that?
The third temptation: The third temptation is to assume that the people behind the ads really do believe the message of their own ads. If you go to their website, it is almost impossible to discover who funds the organization or the ads. Why aren’t they open about who they are and where their money is coming from? What are they hiding?
However, it is widely known – as reported by Forbes magazine – that billionaire David Green, the CEO of Hobby Lobby is a major benefactor of the “He Gets Us” campaign. And it’s important to know according to many reports that David Green and his billions and billions of dollars are behind others campaigns actively working against women’s rights, against LGBTQ+ rights and against the rights of women to make decisions about their own bodies.
If that’s the case then why show ads depicting a priest washing the feet of a gay man – if you don’t really believe it or practice it? If that’s the case why show an ad depicting an older woman washing the feet of a younger, pregnant woman outside a family planning clinic if you don’t really believe it or practice it? Is it hypocrisy at its worst? Is it a hijacking of the gospel of Jesus Christ?
It is true that these ads do, indeed, demonstrate to millions watching some very good qualities about Jesus, but there may be a more subtle unspoken message that is tempting to miss. That message is this and it’s an old familiar, stale, hateful message, “Jesus loves the sinner, but hates the sin.” In other words, Jesus loves you but not the life you are living as an openly non-binary person or trans person or gay person. In other words, Jesus loves you but not the work you are called to do as one who protects a woman’s body. In other words, Jesus loves you but not the work you are doing to remind people that Black Lives really do matter.
“Now after John was arrested (for – by the way – proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ courageously and boldly with great risk to his life and freedom. After all he was imprisoned and executed.) Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”
There is no getting around the sad and disturbing fact that those on the outside looking at us see us as the problematic church, the hypocritical church, the church that says one thing and does another, and no matter how progressive Holy Trinity Lutheran Church is we are still to many on the outside – THE CHURCH.
Repent those of us in the church who act as heaven’s gatekeepers. Repent those of us in the church who judge. Repent those of us in the church who are wolves clothed in sheep’s skin. Repent those of us in the church who call ourselves church but are in fact beasts tempted by Satan in the wilderness. Repent. Church. Repent. Amen.
Sources:
- Column by Matt Shur, Patheos, www.patheos.com
- Column by David French, New York Times Friday, February 16, 2024