Competitive Religion

Sermon: John 14:1-14 – Competitive Religion

May 18^th, 2014

Pr. Paul Cannon

Grace and Peace Bethany Lutheran Church!

Is anybody else the type of person that get’s really competitive over unimportant things? I’m kind of that way.  I have this tendency to get a little upset when I lose.  Kirstin and I nearly broke up three or four times after cribbage games (partially because I’m a bad loser AND a bad winner).

I’m not sure where I got it from. I certainly didn’t get it from my parents.  My mom in particular has a very distinct anti-competitive attitude.   Before my high school basketball games, she used to say things like “Good luck Paul!  I hope you tie, because I would feel so bad for the other team if they lost.”  

It could be that having a twin brother drove my competitive spirit. The only time we used to fight, was when we were competing.  It didn’t matter if it was foosball in the basement or basketball in the driveway.  All games were fiercely contested.

Or maybe it’s just that we live in a competitive world.  We’ve even found a way to turn eating into a competition! Have you seen those hotdog eating competitions? It kind of ruins hotdogs for you.

Religion has become a competition as well. A lot of folks think of church as the cosmic version of the TV show, the Bachelor, where in the end God chooses his favorite church to be with. And if we know anything about the bachelor, it’s that those relationships last forever.

In truth though, competition can be a good thing. It’s fun to compete.  It can help push us to be better.   But I’m not sure that competition is what God is all about. I don’t think God’s plan was just for Lutherans to go to heaven!

I mean, I love Lutherans.  We’re great! I believe Martin Luther and Paul had it right when they said we saved by grace through faith! Lutherans follow this and strive to live up to it.  We give generously.  We live faithfully.  We care about justice and freedom and the poor.  And best of all, no other religion in the world does bake sales like we do bake sales (did I mention the youth are having a bake sale today?)!  Lutheranism does have something unique and special to offer the world. 

 

But does being Lutheran mean that God only loves Lutherans? Did God decide one day that only the 4 million or so ELCA members won the religious lottery?  Of course not!

But many Christian denominations say exactly that, and they use the verse we heard from our Gospel today as their proof. And here’s the verse I’m talking about: Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father, except through me.”  

It’s a verse that we have to wrestle with, because it’s one that we hear a lot of Christians use, and misuse.  And most often, it gets misused like this. People say, “See! My religion is the BEST religion.  Even Jesus said so.”  

That verse in particular gets twisted to mean that you can’t get to heaven if you don’t know Jesus. Christians win.  Everybody else loses.

But is that what Jesus is really getting at here?  Because if so, it seems a little harsh.  Is some guy who is born and dies on an island really out of luck because nobody ever told him about Jesus?  Is that the God that we know and love? 

That’s not to mention that Christians haven’t even been able to figure out exactly what it means to follow Jesus.  It seems like there’s always one group of Christians that’s constantly telling another group of Christians that they aren’t doing it right! 

We’ve been chasing our own tails for two thousand years, and I think it’s time to recognize that there are merits and demerits to all religions.  There’s good and bad to each one of us.  Or as Martin Luther put it, we are all 100% sinners, and 100% saints at the same time. 

What about Jesus words then?  Doesn’t he say, “No one comes to the father except through me.”  It sounds like an exclusive statement.  And in some ways, I think it is.  Jesus is making the unique claim that if you know him, that you will know God.  And if you love him, you will love God.

But here’s the catch.  I think it’s exclusive in a way that is unique to God, because every time in the Bible, when God makes an exclusive move like this…it’s ultimately for an inclusive end.  Let me say that again.  When God makes an exclusive move, it’s ultimately for an inclusive end.

That phrase is something my Old Testament professor Terry Fretheim used to say.  And he claimed that it’s a pattern found throughout the Bible – Old and New Testaments.  When God chose the Israelites to be “His People” he told them that they were called to be a “priestly nation.” 

They weren’t chosen because God loved them more, or because he decided one day that he only wanted this one specific group of people in heaven. They were chosen to bring God’s creative and redeeming Word into the world!  They were called to do a job – to be a blessing for the world.

And throughout the book of John, where we hear our Gospel today, this same pattern is repeated.  Before Jesus says “No one comes to the Father …” He says this, “In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places.” 

Pastor Carrie’s Wednesday Words mentioned that this was actually a popular funeral verse.  And I think that’s the case because we all cling to the hope that there’s going to be space for us in God’s house.

In my Father’s house, there are many rooms. There’s room for everybody.  There’s a place for all.  God’s not going to run out of guest beds here.

And YES, Jesus makes an exclusive move. But this doesn’t mean that we’ve won a game of the Bachelor with God. Because when God makes an exclusive move, it’s for an inclusive end.  Or put another way, God doesn’t choose us to be a blessing for ourselves, God chooses us to be a blessing for others.

If to know God is to follow Jesus, then maybe we need to pay closer attention to what Jesus was actually all about, rather than trying to figure out who’s in and who’s out.

“I am the way, the truth and the life,” Jesus says.  If that’s the case, then what is Jesus way?  What is his truth?  What is his life?  Isn’t the way of Jesus to uplift the poor, heal the sick, forgive the sinful and the free the oppressed?    Isn’t his truth that God’s love is for the entire world?  Wasn’t his life one that he gave up for others?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, through faith and by the grace of God, it’s time for us to do likewise.  It’s time for us to stop competing with one another and start helping each other.  You are all called by God to be a blessing for the world. 

The church and Christianity, and our very selves, are at our best when we are living for the sake of our neighbors! When we follow the way, the truth and life of Jesus, is when we do the job God has called us to: to be a blessing for the world.  

Amen