A sermon preached at Journey United Church of Christ on Sunday, March 18, 2012.
Based on “Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived” (Harper Collins 2011)
READINGS FOR THE DAY:
John 12:44-50 (Today’s English Version)
Jesus said in a loud voice, "Whoever believes in me believes not only in me but also in him who sent me. Whoever sees me sees also him who sent me. I have come into the world as light, so that everyone who believes in me should not remain in the darkness. If people hear my message and do not obey it, I will not judge them. I came, not to judge the world, but to save it. Those who reject me and do not accept my message have one who will judge them. The words I have spoken will be their judge on the last day! This is true, because I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has commanded me what I must say and speak. And I know that his command brings eternal life. What I say, then, is what the Father has told me to say."
John 14:1-6 (The Message, by Eugene Peterson)
"Don't let this throw you. You trust God, don't you? Trust me.
There is plenty of room for you in my Father's home. If that weren't so, would I have told you that I'm on my way to get a room ready for you? And if I'm on my way to get your room ready, I'll come back and get you so you can live where I live. And you already know the road I'm taking."
Thomas said, "Master, we have no idea where you're going. How do you expect us to know the road?"
Jesus said, "I am the Road, also the Truth, also the Life. No one gets to the Father apart from me.
You CAN Get There From Here … a 1000 different ways.
So, I have this wonderful GPS – you probably have one to – that does all sorts of wonderful things. I can choose the color scheme for the display & what information can be displayed, I can choose the voice that speaks the directions to me or I can choose no voice at all and only visual commands.
One of the best features is the one that allows me to choose how I will get to my final destination. The shortest in terms of miles traveled, the shortest in terms of time, the most use of expressways or the least use of expressways. I forget where we were going or what we were doing, but Curt and I actually chose the “most scenic” option once – yeah, it was only once. And what a crazy adventure it was. We saw back roads, places and people we had never seen before … and I’m not sure many of them had actually seen a car for a very long time. Now we may not use the option much, but it’s a nice option to have.
On the Pathway to God
If you were describe the “perfect” journey to God, what would it be like? In the Gospel of John, it is recorded that Jesus described it something like this …
“I am the way the truth and life. No one comes to the Father except though me.” (John 14)
In his book, “Love Wins” Rob Bell begins to unpack those familiar words like … “Jesus says I am the way, the truth and the life …What he doesn’t say is how… or when … or in what manner the mechanism functions that gets people to God through him. He doesn’t even state that those coming to the Father through him will even know they are coming through him. He simply claims that whatever God is doing in the world to know and redeem and love and restore the world is happening through him. (p. 77)
Many have understood those words in as a radically exclusive travel plan in which the journey could Bell describes like this: Jesus is the only way. Everybody who doesn’t believe in him and follow him in the precise way that is defined by the group going the defining isn’t saved, redeemed, going to heaven .. you’re either in or you’re in hell … (p. 78)
And others accept a travel plan that, like my GPS, allows for options. They would maintain that there are multiple or many paths to God. Bell describes this travel plan with these words: The kind that is open to all religions, the kind that trusts that people will get in, that there is only one mountain, but there are many paths. This inclusivity assumes that as long as your heart is fine or your actions measure up, you’ll be ok…insists that Jesus is the way, but holds tightly to the assumption that the all-embracing, saving love of this particular Jesus Christ will include all sorts of unexpected people from all across the cultural spectrum. (p. 78)
Now Bell goes on to issue this cautionary warning: As soon as the door is open to Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and Baptists from Cleveland, many Christians become uneasy, saying that Jesus doesn’t matter anymore … NOT TRUE
Absolutely not true What Jesus does declare is that he – he alone – is saving everybody. And then he leaves the door way, way open…. Creating all sorts of possibilities. (p. 78)
I work in an Interfaith Center on campus, so it’s a topic that is familiar to me and believe me, I’ve been part of discussions that have approached the topic from many different angles. One explanation for the “multiple paths” goes something like this: We all worship the same God, we just all God by different names. Bell explains it like this: “Some people have so much baggage with regard to the name Jesus that when they encounter the mystery present in all creation – grace, peace, love, acceptance, healing, forgiveness – the last thing they are inclined to name it is Jesus” (p. 80)
Another explanation comes at it from God’s perspective, not he human angle. It is based on God’s story throughout history including the “First Covenant” as well as the “New Covenant”. Jesus honors the covenants made before – particularly with the Jews and the Muslims. God makes a promise to Abraham and Sarah that God will “make of theme a great nation”; it’s a promise, a covenant that is extended to their family and in essence the entire nation of Israel. It’s a promise that they will always be God’s chosen people, “a light to the nations” ... they will be blessed to be a blessing. It’s a promise that has been passed down through Jewish people everyone. It’s a promise that can’t be broken. An in the midst of that promise, another covenant is formed with Abraham’s disenfranchised child, Ishmael. When, in a fit of jealousy, Sarah forces Abraham to send Hagar and Ishmael away and when they mother and child are on the verge of death, God comes to them and promises to protect Ishmael. Those descents would become the people of Islam – Muslims found round the world. It’s a God-promise. A true covenant. A promise that cannot be broken. I don’t know about you, but I’m not really comfortable with a God who says “ah … yeah … about that promise … things have changed and I’m not going to be able to honor that anymore.” As humans, we break promises, we dishonor our covenants, we betray one another, we change our minds all the time. But does God?
Our God is not a God like and Jesus himself takes on that commitment. God seems to be about extending the covenant, not abandoning covenant. God seems to be about widening the circle with new covenants instead of narrowing it by cutting some off from grace and love. It’s an approach that we see emulated in Jesus as well. Bell writes: Jesus himself seems to redefine who’s in and out. His disciples want to shut down a man healing in his name in Luke 9 but he says sharply “Do not stop him, for whoever is not against you, is for you.”
He praises the faith of a Roman Centurion. A sinful woman wastes a ton of money or perfume and he calls it worship. When he encounters a despised tax collector, he wants to have dinner with him. (p. 80)
Bell proudly proclaims: The Gospel, Paul writes in his letter to the Colossians has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven (Colossians 1).
Every
Creature
Under
Heaven
I wonder what all this means? Given all these stories and teaching in scripture, perhaps it is our responsibility to be extremely careful about making negative, decisive, lasting judgments about people’s eternal destinies. If Jesus says he “didn’t come to judge the world, but to save the world” (John 12), is that perhaps the example we can embrace? Perhaps in a world filled with prejudice and hate crimes and in a world where lots of energy is put into defining who’s “in” and who’s “out”, could we be called to take a different path?
I am reminded of the words of the Serenity Prayer that focus on our need to first understand others and then seek to be understood. I wonder what would change if we lived by those words when it comes to relating to people of other faith traditions? Can we seek to understand the differences … and in seeking to understand, find that we have much in common? Can we seek to understand traditions … and in seeking to understand, find the richness and deep meaning? Can we seek to understand beliefs that may seem strange at first … and in seeking to understand, find new appreciation for our brothers and sisters who also find themselves on a journey to God?
Let's join in praying the words of the hymn "God Beyond All Names'"
God, beyond our dreams, you have stirred in us a memory,
you have placed your powerful spirit in the hearts of humankind.
All around us, we have known you; all creation lives to hold you,
In our living and our dying we are bringing you to birth.
God, beyond all names, you have made us in your image,
we are like you, we reflect you, we are woman, we are man.
All around us, we have known you; all creation lives to hold you,
In our living and our dying we are bringing you to birth.
God, beyond all words, all creation tells your story,
you have shaken with our laughter, you have trembled with our tears.
All around us, we have known you; all creation lives to hold you,
In our living and our dying we are bringing you to birth.
God, beyond all time, you are laboring within us;
we are moving, we are changing, in your spirit ever new.
All around us, we have known you; all creation lives to hold you,
In our living and our dying we are bringing you to birth.
God of tender care, you have cradled us in goodness,
you have mothered us in wholeness, you have loved us into birth.
All around us, we have known you; all creation lives to hold you,
In our living and our dying we are bringing you to birth.
--Bernadette Farrell
you have placed your powerful spirit in the hearts of humankind.
All around us, we have known you; all creation lives to hold you,
In our living and our dying we are bringing you to birth.
God, beyond all names, you have made us in your image,
we are like you, we reflect you, we are woman, we are man.
All around us, we have known you; all creation lives to hold you,
In our living and our dying we are bringing you to birth.
God, beyond all words, all creation tells your story,
you have shaken with our laughter, you have trembled with our tears.
All around us, we have known you; all creation lives to hold you,
In our living and our dying we are bringing you to birth.
God, beyond all time, you are laboring within us;
we are moving, we are changing, in your spirit ever new.
All around us, we have known you; all creation lives to hold you,
In our living and our dying we are bringing you to birth.
God of tender care, you have cradled us in goodness,
you have mothered us in wholeness, you have loved us into birth.
All around us, we have known you; all creation lives to hold you,
In our living and our dying we are bringing you to birth.
--Bernadette Farrell
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