LENT 2C - Genesis 15:1-12; 17-18; Psalm 27:10-18; Philippians 3:17-4:1; Luke 13:22-35 -

4 March 2007 - A sermon preached by The Rev. Peter A. Munson for St. Ambrose Episcopal Church, Boulder, Colorado

 

Will I Be Saved?

 

INTRODUCTION - An ecumenical clergy group

 

As part of my Lenten discipline this year, I have accepted an invitation to be part of an ecumenical group of clergy leaders. We’re meeting once a week for six weeks to discuss the book The Last Week, by Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan. It is a book about the last week of Jesus’ life. We are not as ecumenical a group as we could be. There is one rabbi from Boulder, one women who belongs to a Sufi order (the more mystical side of Islam), and for the last half of the sessions we are going to be joined by Ibrahim Kazerooni, a Muslim associated with the Abrahamic Initiative at St. John’s Cathedral. So far we have been about ten Christians, one rabbi, and one Sufi, and among the Christians, there are no Catholics, no Baptists, no Pentecostals.

 

The rabbi among us, who grew up in London, is very open to dialog and clearly wants to be there to help foster that dialog, but he is already having some difficulty with the book choice. Even though Borg and Crossan are what you would call very progressive Christians, they are still Christians. As open and non-threatening as the rest of us try to be, Rabbi Marc has already shared stories of what it was like to grow up as a very distinct minority in England, where the predominant view he encountered among Christians was that he was going to go to hell if he did not convert to Christianity.

 

A SNAPSHOT OF THE WORLD

 

I wonder if we could stop for a moment and take a snapshot of the world, with respect to how the major world religions would be represented, according to number of adherents. (These numbers and percentages come from 2005 figures, from www.adherents.com.) I need 32 of you to come forward, and we will put a spotlight on the world for a few moments. Of the 32 of you (I have rounded off the figures slightly):

 

10 (33%) would be Christian 2.1 billion people

6 (21%) would be Muslim 1.3 billion

5 (16%) would be secular/non-religious/agnostic/atheist 1.1 billion

4 (14%) would be Hindu 900 million

2 (6%) would be Chinese traditional religion 394 million

(Combination of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism)

2 (6%) would be Buddhist 376 million

2 (6%) would be indigenous (tribal, animist, shamanist) 300 million

1 (0.6%) would be “other” (primarily African tribal, Sikh and Jewish)

African traditional 100 million

Sikhism 23 million

Judaism 14 million

 

What are we to make of these groupings? I guess we could come to all sorts of conclusions.

 

As Christians, we could say, “We’re number 1!” If we were more paranoid, we could say, “The Muslims are gaining on us!”

 

We could say, given today’s lesson from Genesis, “What happened to God’s promise to Abraham, that his descendants would be as the stars in heaven?”

 

We might be led to say, “The third largest group, 1.1 billion people, one sixth of the world’s population, does not ascribe to any religion? Wow!”

 

We could say, “What does this have to do with today’s lessons, or what does this have to do with Lent?” To which I’d say, “I’m glad you asked!”

 

WILL ONLY A FEW BE SAVED?

 

In today’s Gospel lesson, someone asks Jesus, “Lord, will only a few be saved?” This is a timeless question, really, as is evidenced by the stories Rabbi Marc tells of being in England, and folks telling him what he needs to do to be saved. There is always an implication in these “Are you saved?/Who will be saved?/Will only a few be saved?” types of questions. The implication is that some will be with God in paradise in the end (whenever that is) and that others will not. And when the question is framed in this way, the framer is almost always assuming that he or she will be part of the “in” group, and that some other person, or group, or maybe even one billion people representing a different religion from ours will be on the outside looking in.

 

Do all Jews need to be converted to Christianity to be saved, even though God called out for himself a chosen people when he first called Abraham, and Jesus said that the key patriarchs of the Jewish faith have already been resurrected and are living with God? Remember when the Sadducees came to him claiming there is no resurrection, and Jesus replied, “... have you not read what was said to you by God, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is God not of the dead, but of the living.” (Matthew 22:31-32)

 

Do 2.1 billion Christians need to be converted to Islam to be saved? Do you find that question a little insulting? Well, do 1.3 billion faithful Muslims need to be converted to Christianity to be saved? Either way, are billions of people going to burn in the fires of hell because they don’t come to God in the “right” way, because the path they follow to God is totally and unarguably the wrong one, by someone else’s definition?

 

Jesus’ answer to the man who asked the timeless question was interesting and complicated. He began with, “Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able.” (Luke 13:24)

 

He adds that some who claim familiarity with the Lord will not be admitted into the kingdom. “There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob [there they are again!] and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrown out.” (Luke 13:28) Even though he mentions a narrow door, Jesus says that people will come from all over - “from east and west, from north and south, and will eat in the kingdom of God.” (Luke 13:29)

 

But the overall tone of the remarks is, “Don’t focus on others! Focus on yourself! Don’t be presumptuous about your own standing with God, just because your parents or grandparents or great-grandparents have faith, or because you think you belong to the right religion. What about your faith - your relationship with God right now? What’s going on there?”

 

SELF-EXAMINATION

 

He asks them to be about self-examination, not other-examination. That is where Lent fits in. We are not invited on Ash Wednesday, in the name of the Church, to a time of other-examination and self-assurance. “Oh, he won’t get in! There’s no way she’s getting in! That religious group won’t get in! But I’m saved! I know I am getting in!”

 

No. We’re invited to observe a holy Lent by entering into a time of self-examination and repentance. And our repentance can begin with confessing all the times when we have condemned one person or perhaps two-thirds of the people living in the world today to hell. And our self-examination, well... that process could occupy us for the rest of Lent, if not the rest of our lives. How am I doing with loving you with all my heart and soul and mind and strength, Lord? How am I doing with loving others the way that you love me? There’s plenty of grist for the mill right there, with only those two questions.

 

I am reminded of something Paul wrote to the Philippians. Paul, a person who could come across as self-assured at times, maybe even borderline cocky... this Paul wrote: “Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” (Emphasis added; Philippians 2:12-13)

 

God is at work in you. God is at work in everyone who is open to the healing power of His grace. Be open to what God wants to do in you and through you. God wants to do a saving work in you, and that is enough to focus on. We don’t need to focus on how God is going to save everyone else. We can let go of that, and leave it to God’s grace, trusting that God is deeply concerned for the other six billion (and more) people in the world. How does God want me to be transformed, so that I am more able to reach out in love to others in this world? That’s enough for me to focus on.

 

Marcus Borg, like you and me a Christian, says this about Christian exclusivism:

 

“Moreover, there is a “common sense” reason for rejecting Christian exclusivism. When we think about the claim that Christianity is the only way of salvation, it’s a pretty strange notion. Does it make sense that “the More” whom we speak of as creator of the whole universe has chosen to be known in only one religious tradition, which just fortunately happens to be our own?

 

And there is a specifically Christian reason for rejecting Christian exclusivism: the classic Christian emphasis on grace. If one must be a Christian in order to be in right relationship with God, then there is a requirement, and we are no longer talking about grace, even though we might use the language of grace. If our relationship with God is based on grace, then it is not based on requirements, not even the requirement of being Christian. Of course, deepening the relationship depends upon paying attention to it, but the relationship is not about requirements.” (Marcus J. Borg, The Heart of Christianity, p. 220)

 

CONCLUSION

 

Who will be saved? Are you saved? Will only a few be saved? Will Muslims and Jews be saved? Will all Christians be saved? These are timeless questions. They are going to be asked until the end of time. But I would suggest to you that they are the wrong questions.

 

If you want a “saved” question to work on for a while, try this one. Will I be saved? There is something inherently different in that question, than in the other category of “who is saved?” questions. For one thing, “Will I be saved?” is a good Lenten question. For another, it will lead us into a much bigger exploration of the nature of God, of my relationship with God, and my relationships with other people. And that is probably enough to chew on for one lifetime.