Admiring Jesus

Sermon for North Hill Adventist Church
December 3, 2011

Admiration is a source of joy and character formation. When we admire some one, it makes us happy. We tend to become like those we admire, so it is smart to be judicious in our admiration.

As Christians, we admire Jesus most highly of all humans. In fact, worship can be thought of as a form of admiration. The four gospels are admirations of Jesus. Admiring Jesus will naturally shape us. It will make us more compassionate, less violent, less hostile, more concerned for little people. Admiring Jesus will help us relate properly to the powerful and the rich. We will neither demonize them nor kowtow to them. Admiring Jesus will guide us in relating to people "beneath" us. We will not demonize them nor coddle them. The more we admire Jesus, the more skillful we will become in cooperating with God in what he is up to in the lives of people around us.