The Way, the Truth, and the Life

Sermon on May 22

I don’t know how many of you may have seen news reports of the latest flap circulating in evangelical circles these days. Now, I don’t mean the obvious fact that Jesus did not return in glory yesterday – no mature Christian, Catholic or Protestant takes these kinds of “predictions” seriously.

No, this has to do with a new book written by Rob Bell, the young pastor of a huge mega-church in Grandville, Michigan, called the “Mars Hill Bible Church.” Rob is the founder and producer of the “Nooma” film series we have been using for the last several years as part of our Adult Education offerings on some Sunday mornings.

His new book is entitled “Love Wins: A Book about Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived.” Not a very modest title, which may be one reason that the book has caused such an uproar in some circles. He has been accused by some of denying the existence of hell and of being a “Universalist” – that is, one who believes that everyone will eventually make it to heaven. He has denied both accusations and staunchly defends his book as not denying the reality of hell, but questioning some of his fellow-evangelicals’ certainty that they know just exactly who is going to hell and who is not!

In one exchange, he argues with a fellow pastor who claimed that Gandhi was certainly in hell. Rob replied, “Gandhi in hell? Really? We have confirmation of this? Without a doubt?”

Of course, those who claim that only Christians -- or even only born-again Christians – will make it into heaven often quote the very passage we have from John’s Gospel this morning: in response to Thomas’ question about how they can know “the way” to where Jesus is going, he replies, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)

The first part of that citation is Jesus’ primary point and he goes on in the rest of our Reading today to elaborate on what it means to say that he is the way, the truth, and the life. Jesus is the way to God because, as he says, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, “Show us the Father?” (John 14:9)

The point here is that the fact of the Incarnation means that Jesus is the “human face of God.” God is really quite beyond anything we can touch or feel or see or even comprehend fully. But the Christian claim is that all we NEED to know about God can be discovered in Jesus. When we look at Jesus, we know what God is like! Does that exhaust everything about the nature of God? Probably not. But, again, all we NEED to know about God, we believe we have found in Jesus Christ. He is “the way” for us.

Next, we are told that Jesus is “the Truth.” And John’s Gospel goes on to quote him as saying “The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works.” (John 14:10) So, when Jesus teaches, he is not just teaching on his own, he is conveying “the truths” he learned from his Father.” Jesus is speaking the truth about God because God is speaking though him.

And finally, we hear that Jesus is “the Life.” Well, I don’t know anyone – Christian or non-Christian – who does not believe that Jesus lived an exemplary life and that if more people lived more like Jesus, this would be a considerably finer world. Or, as Jesus puts it in today’s Gospel, “Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. Very truly I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do…” (John 14:11-12) We are to live life like Jesus!

So, we believe that Jesus shows us the way to God…teaches us the truth about God…and exemplifies for us the kind of life God would have us live. He is, therefore, the way…the truth…and the life! But does that mean that only Christians will get to heaven? And, if so, what kind of Christians? Practicing Christians? What about non-practicing Christians?

Catholic Christians? What about Protestant Christians? Conservative Christians? What about Liberal Christians?

Yet, John’s Gospel does quote Jesus as saying: “No one comes to the Father except through me.” What does he mean by that? Well, Peter Marty (our colleague up the street at St. Paul Lutheran) puts it this way in a recent review of Rob Bell’s book in The Christian Century magazine: “the glue holding Bell’s project together is the firm conviction that Jesus is bigger than any one religion. He is the cosmic Christ who will not be co-opted or owned by any one culture. He is supra-cultural.”

“The apostle Paul wrote, ‘In Jesus, God was reconciling the world to himself’ and Bell is not willing to say that what Paul really meant was a reconciliation of the Christian world. Similarly Bell thinks that when Jesus announced that “God so loved the world…’ he actually meant the world. Had John been interested in shrinking the gospel or lessening the scope of the cross, he might well have proposed that ‘God so loved only Christians.’ But John did not.” (May 17 Christian Century, page 25)

No, John did not propose that…but sometimes Christians seem to wish that he had! Some of this debate is new to evangelical Christians, and that’s why Rob Bell has been so roundly criticized by some of his fellows. It’s not a new debate to Catholic, Orthodox, or Anglican theologians. Roman Catholics believe in Purgatory which may allow a way for former unbelievers yet to be recipients of the gift of heaven.

Orthodox and Anglicans often speak of an “intermediate state” called Paradise where we will continue to grow in grace after death while we await the final judgment, and where those who have never heard the word of Christ or who have had it so poorly presented that they rejected it, likewise may have the opportunity to be introduced to Jesus and walk through that “door of the sheepfold” into eternal life with God.

I remember my professor of systematic theology at Seabury-Western once saying “We absolutely must posit the existence of hell…because God will not force anyone to spend eternity with Him who doesn’t want to. BUT,” he continued with a smile, “ if you and I do our jobs, it is not necessary to posit that anyone will actually end up there…finally!”

Well, to be honest, I expect there actually will be those who choose to turn their backs on God once and for all. There are some people who seem actually that self-centered. But let us not join those who criticize people like Rob Bell who at least hold out the hope that, in the final analysis, Love does indeed “win.”

And that those who – knowingly or unknowingly – follow the way, the truth, and the life of Jesus will one day see him face-to-face and (like us) will receive the Gift that neither they, nor we, deserve.

The Gift of Eternal Life!

(Chris Epting)

Next meeting?

So, I think our next meeting is at noon on May 18. What was the Richard Rohr book we talking about discussing?

Next Cohort Meeting with Brian McLaren

We had a great time on Ash Wednesday talking about N.T. Wright's book, After You Believe, as well as the Brian McLaren workshop recently in Iowa City. I spoke with Brian at the workshop and he has graciously agreed to join us at the next cohort meeting via Skype to discuss his book Naked Spirituality. We will try again to stream the meeting on USTREAM, so if you can't be with us in person, join us virtually. As always, feel free to leave comments and make unique posts (let me know if you want to become a poster for the blog).  Thanks for putting up with my personal posts from time to time.  My hope is that all of our personal stories can fit into the larger mosaic of the cohort story and God's story.

So, we will meet again on April 13th from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. at Fusion coffee in Coralville. Hope to see you there!

Why I like the Mennonites, Part 2: Warts and All

I wrote a post a few months back titled "Why I Like the Mennonites". Several let me know they would like to hear more when I had been part of the community longer. I think some thought I was being a bit idyllic. I was. Mennonites, like everybody, have warts. And when we have them, we don't like to show them. I read The Naked Anabaptist by Stuart Murray and would highly recommend it. Not just for Mennonites, or people seeking to become Mennonite, but for everyone that wants to see how Anabaptism can enrich your faith. Murray does not hide the warts. The good and the bad are revealed for all to see. Hence, the title of the book.

I made reference to Brian McLaren's book, A Generous Orthodoxy in part-one of my Mennonite musings. His suggestion is that we take the best from all traditions; that each heritage has something to offer, and like the body of Christ, we all need each other. Greg Boyd believes the Mennonites have something valuable to offer the Church, and I agree with him. He says quite eloquently,

"Cherish Your Treasure! Not in a prideful way, of course, but simply as a precious gift God has given you and that God wants to give the world through you. Be daringly flexible on all matters that aren’t central to the Kingdom (e.g. worship styles, dress, etc.), but be utterly uncompromising on all matters that are central to the Kingdom (viz. everything that pertains to living a Jesus-looking life). My Mennonite sisters and brothers, you have what multitudes in the rising Kingdom movement are longing for. You can provide a home to so many who right now are looking for one. If you hold fast to the faith you’ve been entrusted with (Jude 3), you may just find your fellowship exploding in the years to come. For, I believe, the Anabaptist vision of the Kingdom is a vision whose time has come."

I have found the welcoming Mennonite fellowship I have been attending these past few months to be just that. I still feel like I've come home. Recently, I was invited by the Mission and Service committee to join them on a trip to St. Paul, Minnesota to visit Third Way. I spoke about this new church in my last post. They are an intentional community of Jesus followers that have sought out the Mennonite denomination and asked to join as a participating community of faith, adhering to the Central Plains Mennonite conference confession of faith. What is so amazing to me is how an established, traditional church has been willing to listen and learn from a group so different from them. I just soaked in the experience. It was a torrential rain in the desert of my soul.

Like I said before, Mennonites are good at listening. I've seen this first hand and heard some stories told about intractable situations in the past that were negotiated with patience and prayer to the point of resolution. The local congregation I attend has lasted for nearly 114 years without splintering. Amazing as that sounds, I'm guessing some of their toughest days are ahead. There are at least two possible reasons for this: One, at the same time many are discovering the treasure of the Anabaptist heritage, many Mennonites are letting their distinct theological perspective be diluted by American evangelicalism, or co-opted by politics either to the right or the left. This is not the first time a leavening of a Spirit-filled movement has affected a potent work of God. In the 1920's there was great fear about the influence of "modernism" in the Church. Out of that fear grew the evangelical movement which many would say has led to phenomena like the "religious right" and alignment of church and government. And though some might think those are good things, the net loss was the distinctiveness of some spiritual movements in a joining with a generalized evangelicalism largely undergirded by fundamentalist reformed theology. Now that the Church is firmly rooted in modernism, the same kind of fear of "post-modernism" is affecting a portion of Mennonites to mix the Kingdom of God with nationalism, and even soften their long held stance on violence.

A second concern, and seemingly more troubling for Mennonites is the issue that many denominations are in dispute over at this moment: sexuality. This has come up for the Central Plains Mennonite Conference in specific ways over the last 15-20 years. What interests me most is how it has been handled more that what resulted. Remember, the Mennonites have this tradition of slow deliberation. All voices are invited into the dialogue. Much prayer is undertaken. Unity is of prime concern. Community discernment is the process. Trust in the Holy Spirit as guide. These tried and true tools have been employed for five hundred years with effectiveness. Surprisingly, with this divisive topic, all seem abandoned. As I understand it, as often as there has been a conflict regarding sexuality, there has been haste to make a decision.

The Central Plains Conference is facing this problem again. My hope is that fear is not the guiding force in these proceedings. That those involved will not forget where they come from. That Jesus' example of a Third Way will prevail and the long held confession of Discipleship into Faithfulness will hold sway. If you haven't guessed, I'm an optimist. I think we can do it. We can get through this one like we have gotten through martyrdom, harassment during wartime, listening to the radio, women in leadership. All of the tools are there. It's been done before. God help us.

Next Cohort Meeting

We had a great meeting with Phyllis Tickle last Wednesday discussing her book, Prayer is a Place.  What a pleasure to join her in conversation over Skype.  I expressed our thanks to her and she wishes everyone who was there the very best!

Our next meeting will be the second Wednesday of March (which happens to be Ash Wednesday).  It is March 9th from 12-2 p.m. at Fusion Coffee in Coralville.  We had 10 people in attendance as we squeezed around the table for a wonderful time of community and faith stories.  That is the most yet and it is very encouraging the support and dialogue that is happening among such a diverse group.

Our next meeting we will be discussing N.T. Wright's book, After You Believe.  Pick it up and join in the conversation.  You can also find more articles, audio and video from Wright here.  We look forward to seeing you at the cohort meeting.