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

Reformation Day with Confirmation: October 30, 2011

Preacher: Pastor Carrie B. Smith

John 8:31-36

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Among your options for movie-watching this Halloween weekend is a film called “Anonymous”. Set in Elizabethan England, “Anonymous” spins out the story of Edward de Vere, the Earl of Oxford, who is the true author of the plays that have been falsely attributed to the no-good, amateur, imposter William Shakespeare. “To be or not to be, that is the question”, “Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears,” and “This above all: to thine ownself be true.”—none of this was written by the man famously known as “The Bard.” Shakespeare, it turns out, was a fraud!

Now if this information about Shakespeare is news to you, then you also may be interested to know that it was the CIA who really assassinated JFK. And it just so happens that reptilian aliens were behind the plot to destroy the World Trade Center. Oh, and don’t forget the most important fact of all: Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene had a family together, and their descendants are alive today and living in France.

These and other so-called “truths” can all be found in books or on the silver screen. In fact, if you think up the craziest idea possible—reptilian aliens master-minding 9/11, for example—you can probably find an online community dedicated to that very same belief. Conspiracy theories are nothing new, but the free flow of ideas in the internet age has made “the truth” extremely hard to pin down. What makes a theory “true”? Academic research? A million followers on Facebook? Ten books on Amazon? Or seeing it played out on the big screen by our favorite movie stars?
Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but these days it seems the truth is in the hands of the movie producers and the web-bloggers.

The Gospel lesson for today, Reformation Sunday, is also about the truth. In John chapter 8, Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him: “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” The truth, he assures them, lies not with the Romans or the religious authorities or even with established tradition. Truth, says Jesus, is in his Word.

I wonder: if we heard Jesus saying these things today, would we call him a conspiracy theorist? Would we, like that small group of his followers, wonder if Jesus really had the truth on his side? After all, a sandal-wearing, long-haired radical, challenging long-held beliefs and claiming to have exclusive rights to “the truth” could be the guy appearing on the next episode of The History Channel’s hit conspiracy show “Ancient Aliens.”

Jesus could be just another guy with a crazy idea…or he could be Jesus Christ, the son of God. He could be Jesus, our brother, who walks with us. He could be the one we’ve been waiting for, the Savior of the world, the king of love, the lamb of God and the prince of peace! Jesus could be who he says he is: the way, the truth, and the life.

Today, we have 22 young disciples being confirmed at Bethany, thanks be to God! Twenty-two young people, who in baptism were already sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ forever, will come forward to have their faith affirmed through the laying on of hands and prayer. We rejoice that these young disciples have said “We know the truth, and the truth has set us free.” Amen!

This is a joyful day, but contrary to certain conspiracy theories, Confirmation is not graduation from church. And the Confirmation program is not a two-year process of downloading secret information into teenage brains! Faith isn’t about knowing facts.

But faith is about knowing the truth and being set free because of it. In preparation for this day, each of our young confirmands wrote a faith statement. The idea was for them to articulate what they know to be true about God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Now I read all of these faith statements, and I can tell you that our young people did not write lists of facts, or theories of the universe, or systematic theologies. Instead, they wrote the truth—the truth as they have experienced it through hearing the Word of God, receiving the body and the blood of Jesus in communion, and through living in community with you here at Bethany.

Here is a sampling of the truth that sets us free, as the confirmands in the class of 2011 understand it:

“God is always there for me.
When God is on your side, numbers don’t count and size doesn’t matter.
God walks with me.
God pays attention to me.
God makes me strong in hard times.
I am a gift from God to the world!
God will help me make difficult decisions.
Even when I can’t hear God’s voice, God is there.
God knows the future…God gives us a future!
God heals us and helps us to bear pain in life.
God forgives and loves everyone!
I can trust in God!
God has been with me every single day, and knew me before I was born!
Even when I have doubts, God is with me.
I don’t have to do anything special to have a relationship with God!
God gives me courage to do what is right, even if it is unpopular.
God helps us learn from our mistakes."


***
Now this last one was interesting to me, especially coming from a group of teenagers, because some of us were teenagers once, and we never made mistakes, ever. Amen?

Actually, the truth is…we all make mistakes. We all, in fact, sin. And one of the truths that didn’t make it on this list of faith statements is the one Jesus mentions in today’s Gospel passage: “Truly I say to you: Everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave doesn’t have a permanent place in the household; the Son has a place there forever. So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.”

Most of us have no way of understanding what true slavery is like, but I think teenagers (like our own confirmands) know very well what it means to feel like slaves. Teenagers know what it means to be slaves to fashion. They can feel like slaves to popularity or to achievement. They may feel they are in bondage to the judgment of others or to the expectations of teachers and parents. In some cases, teenagers may feel stuck with the life situation they were born into, or to the limitations of their town, their school, or their neighborhood.

Most importantly, teenagers can feel bound to the mistakes they’ve made.

The truth is, we all feel bound to our mistakes. We feel enslaved to our failings, our mistakes, our pasts, our addictions, or even to our grief.

But sisters and brothers, on this Reformation Day, we give thanks for the truth that Martin Luther brought to our attention: that we are saved by grace through faith, apart from works. The Son has set us free, and we are free indeed! Amen!

Sisters and brothers, God has said “yes” to each of us in our baptisms. God has said “yes” to us, while we were yet sinners and even though we fail even to live up to our best intentions.

Teenagers feel like they hear “no” a lot…but today I pray that our confirmands will hear God’s “yes” loud and clear. And as these young people affirm their faith today, I pray that you will also hear God’s resounding “yes” to you!

Yes, you will make mistakes.
Yes, you are forgiven.
Yes, the cross and the resurrection were enough, no matter what!
Yes, you are loved because of who you are!

And yes, you have gifts and talents that are needed in the world and in the church.

This isn’t secret knowledge. It isn’t a conspiracy theory. It is simply the truth as we know it. Thanks be to God! Amen.