"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way to the place where I am going."
Thomas said to him, "Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?"
Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him."
Philip said to him, "Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied."
Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, "Show us the Father'?  Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 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 and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father.
I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.

 

Quick question:  are you saved?  What do you have to do to be saved?  Do you have to be born again?  You know, the more I’ve grown as a Christian, the more I’ve realized that modern Christianity has embraced certain beliefs that just aren’t part of Christianity.  What am I talking about?  I’m talking about the fact that there are a tremendous number of teachings that we take as fact, or at least that are presented to us as fact, even though they really go against both what scripture says and what Christians experience in daily life. 

What particularly bothers me is how strong some beliefs are that they have to power to cause us to miss what the Bible teaches even though the actual teachings stare us in the face.  We have a hard time shaking these misbeliefs because they have been accepted as true for so long that even when we read the original passages that they are based on, reading words that contradict the modern beliefs, we don’t recognize them as wrong.  Let me give you several minor examples.  If I were to ask you what Mary rode into Bethlehem on, would you answer that she rode on a donkey?  If you did, you would be wrong.  Riding on donkeys wasn’t all that common in Mary’s day.  The donkeys carried possessions and provisions, not people.  Mary most likely would have been walking.  At any rate, the Bible doesn’t say anything about the means of transportation.  But we accept the fact that she rode in on a donkey because we have seen her on a donkey in art, in stories, and in the movies despite the fact that the Bible is silent about donkeys. 

Okay, let’s try another.  If I were to ask what fruit Eve gave to Adam, how would you answer?  You’d probably say that she gave him an apple.  Of course, that has to be the answer because we’ve seen her holding an apple in art, movies, and in pictures advertising the television show, Desperate Housewives.  Unfortunately, that answer is wrong.  All the Bible says is that she gave Adam the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  There is no description of what the fruit looked like.  But we believe it was an apple because we’ve seen pictures where she gives Adam an apple.  Her giving Adam an apple is a minor misbelief. 

There are all sorts of biblical myths that we accept without challenge, and some of them actually have the power to diminish our faith.  So, what I want to do with you this morning is to explore two myths about salvation in order to help you get a better sense of what scripture really says.  And maybe by doing this I can help you see a deeper, better form of Christianity than you knew existed.  I was originally going to explore five myths, but I realized that we’d be here until dinnertime.  I then whittled them down to four myths, but realized we’d be here through naptime.  I whittled them down to three myths, but realized we’d be here through lunchtime.  So we’ll have to stick with two myths:

Myth #1:  Jesus is the Only Way to Salvation
I don’t want to say that this belief is completely untrue, but I believe that it is narrow in a way that limits what Jesus actually taught.  This myth is based on a familiar passage of scripture, the sentence above that says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

This passage seems pretty clear, doesn’t it?  Basically it is saying that if you aren’t a Christian, you aren’t saved.  It may seem to say that, but that’s not what it says.  Take a look at that passage again in more depth.  The passage starts out with Jesus talking about his impending death, and about the fact that he will prepare a place in heaven for his disciples.  It seems like he is talking about them getting into heaven.  What most people miss in reading this passage is when Jesus makes a shift. 

            Thomas, not understanding that Jesus is talking about heaven, says, "Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?"  That’s when Jesus makes a shift and says that he is the way, the truth, and the life.  Jesus often does this in John’s gospel.  He changes the topic in order to talk about something even deeper.  He starts out talking about heaven, and then shifts to talking about forming a relationship with God who seems to be so transcendent that we can never actually see God.  He’s teaching them about that nature of God.  He’s responding to a question that the disciples have struggled with throughout their time with Jesus.  Jesus keeps talking about the Father, but the disciples are very much like us.  They never see the Father.  They can’t touch the Father.  They don’t know where the Father is.  And they really, really want to see the Father.  So Jesus basically tells them that they have already seen him.  He says that since he is the way, the truth, and the life, and that no one comes to Father except him, they are seeing the Father now, in him.  In fact, they are having a deep, tangible relationship with the Father through Jesus.  He says, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father…  Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?...  Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me.” 

He’s no longer talking about getting into heaven.  He’s talking about how we form a relationship with God.  He’s talking about the power of a relationship with God, saying that the relationship with God makes all the difference.  But he’s also saying more.  He’s talking about “incarnation.”  Do you know what incarnation is?  It’s a fancy word that means God is in a human being.  God the Father is in Christ.  Jesus is telling them that they know God because God is incarnated in him, and by forming a relationship with him they are forming a relationship with God.  But there’s much more here than meets the eye.  Later in John’s gospel, Jesus tells his disciples that he is the vine and they are the branches, and that because they are connected to him, they are also connected to the Father.  In effect, the Father isn’t only in Jesus and Jesus in the Father.  Through the incarnation of God in humans, the Father is in us.  He says this a bit later in a passage we didn’t read for this morning when he says, “On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.”  In effect, he is saying that we also can incarnate the Father and Christ in us, as well as the Holy Spirit.

You already know this, but you may not realize it.  Think about what we call the church.  We call it the “body of Christ.”  When we call it this, we are saying that Christ is incarnated in our church, and in everything we do as a church.  When the church reaches out to someone in need, God in us is reaching out to someone in need.  When we teach children about God, God in us is teaching children about God.  When we pray together, God in us is praying to God.  Still, there’s more.  Each of us also bears Christ.  As individuals, we are Christ’s hands and feet in the world.  Wherever we are, we choose either to bear or bar Christ.  We are Christ’s incarnation in the world, and God is present in and through us. 

There are huge ramifications to this, because it means that we have the ability either to open people to salvation, or close them off to it is simply through our interactions.  Think about how you treat co-workers.  Do you treat them with compassion, care, concern, and love?  If you do, you open them to God’s grace and love.  Do you treat them with indifference, criticism, or anger?  If so, you close them off to God.  The same is true with how we treat others at school, home, and everywhere else.  We are Christ’s hands and feet in the world.  How we treat others either opens them or closes them to Christ’s saving power. 

So let’s get to the heart of this passage.  Is it saying that if we aren’t Christian we aren’t saved?  Does it mean that all are saved?  I suppose your answer will depend upon how you understand “salvation,” because it is in our misunderstanding of salvation that we turn this passage into a myth. 

Many Christians, especially evangelical Christians, have an incomplete and diminished understanding of salvation, and it causes them to formulize Christianity.  They will tell you that Christianity is about being saved from sin in order to get into heaven when we die.  That’s often what they mean when they ask if we are saved.  When they say this, they are partially true, but they also oversimplify salvation.  There is much more to salvation than getting into heaven.  To understand what I mean you have to look at the word “salvation” itself, and especially look at its roots.  For instance, look at the Latin root of salvation.  It comes from the Latin salvus, which means both “to rescue” and “to heal.”  Salvus is also the root of the word “salve,” which is a healing ointment put on wounds.  But also go back to the Greek.  The Greek word for “salvation” is sotay.  The root of the verb, “save,” is sozo.  Both versions mean “to heal” as well as to rescue.  The idea of salvation has a double meaning, and the idea of healing is its essential meaning, not being rescued.  To understand what I mean by this, look at the passage from James 5 that says, “Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven.”  There’s a very odd phrasing in it.  Why would the elders pray over the person and have the prayer of faith save the sick.  Wouldn’t it be better for the prayer of faith to heal the sick person?  The answer is that it does.  The translation of this passage, from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, translates sozo as save.  But the right translation is “heal.”  Again, the word means two different things at the same time.  When we pray for healing, we connect the person with God, love, and grace, so that this prayer of faith heals from the soul outward.

I want you to think about what this understanding of salvation as healing means for us as individuals.  It means that we are called to be healed by Christ so that we can share Christ’s healing love.  The focus is on healing, not heaven.  Our being healed prepares us for life in the here and now.  This has huge ramifications for us.  It means that when we spread the Gospel, we are called to spread healing, and this healing is what opens people to heaven.  How do we spread that healing?  We do it doing what Christ taught us to do.  When we act out of love, forgiveness, compassion, gentleness, kindness, peace, and reconciliation, we act in healing ways.  When we act out of bitterness, anger, indifference, selfishness, and harshness, we act in wounding ways.  When Christians respond to people around them by saying, “I’m saved and you’re not,” they wound others, throwing up a wall of division and scorn.  When Christians respond to others in a way that says, “I love you no matter who you are or what you believe,” they act in healing ways that always offers the possibility of reconciliation and love—that always offers the possibility of connecting people with Christ.

What does is mean to be a church based on salvation as healing?  It means being a church that focuses on healing people from their pain rather than a church that deals solely with figuring out how to get people into heaven.  It means being a church where people are allowed to be flawed and imperfect because the church is a place that helps them to feel loved and cared for.  A church based on healing is one in which people aren’t told how awful they are for not being saved, but are invited to become part of the church because that is where they find God.  A church based on healing is one in which people who are divorced, grieving, feel lost, have been hurt and judged by other churches and other Christians, and who feel like misfits are welcomed.  It is a church in which people pray for each other, visit each other, and care for each other.  It is a church in which love, mercy, compassion, peace, reconciliation, and gentleness are all experienced because that is the nature of God. 

Think about how the whole Christian church is meant to be a place of healing.  Our two central sacraments are sacraments of healing.  The first is baptism, which is a sacrament in which we see how God washes us clean of sin so that the rift between God and us, a rift caused by our indifference to God, can be healed.  The sacrament of communion, based on Jesus’ broken body and shed blood, becomes the basis of our being renewed.  Jesus heals us in the sacrament through his wounds.  Everything about Christianity points to it’s healing foundations.  Unfortunately, too many Christians focus so much on berating others on what they have to do to be saved, that instead of bringing God’s healing to them, they wound them.  And all this leads us to myth #2.

Myth #2:  To Be Saved, We Have to Be Born Again
An awful lot of people would agree with this statement.  I’ve heard it over and over again that to be saved we have to be born again.  The problem is that it simply isn’t true, and when people say that we have to be born again to be saved, they aren’t being biblical.  So where do they get the idea that we have to be born again to be saved?  Quite simply, it comes from a well-known passage in the third chapter of John, where it says, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”  The problem is that this passage isn’t about salvation, but about learning deep wisdom.  I want you to do something for me right now.  Look up the passage in John 3:1-10.  As you read it, underline the words “salvation,” “save,” “justify,” “righteous,” or any other word that means “salvation.”  Do it now before reading on.

Did you notice something funny?  The passage says nothing about salvation.  Nothing.  Why?  Because the passage isn’t about salvation, it’s about wisdom and spiritual power.  Nicodemus comes up to Jesus, and marvels at all the things Jesus does and knows.  In his statement is an implied question:  “How do you know these things and do these miracles?”  Jesus responds by saying we need to be born again, which, by the way, is not an accurate translation.  The Greek word used for “again” also means “above.”  Like “salvation,” it has double meaning.  The point of the passage is that Jesus is telling Nicodemus that in order to be like him we have to have a spiritual birth to go along with our physical one.  We have to become open to God’s realm, and when we do we can understand all mysteries.  But this passage is not about being saved.  It’s about gaining wisdom and spiritual understanding.

So what about those pesky born-again experiences?  I think there’s a very clear reason why some Christians have them and others don’t.  I call it my “bungee cord theory of born-again experiences.”  Think in your mind about someone you know who has had a born-again experience.  If that person is like most people, then he or she will tell a similar story.  The typical born-again story goes like this:  “I was living my life, drinking, smoking, playing around.  Things weren’t going well for me.  I was living my life for myself, and I didn’t care that much about others.”  Or “I was struggling in my life, feeling alone, isolated, lost.  I felt unloved, and as though I couldn’t love others.”  In either case, the ending is the same:  “I had an experience of God’s love in my life, drawing me back to something greater.  I realized that I couldn’t live my life this way anymore, and so I committed my life to Christ.”  These people are like people attached to God with something like a metaphysical bungee cord.  Throughout their lives, they stretch and strain to attain some sort of independence from God as they fill their lives with self-destructive or self-loathing messages and actions.  Then, at some point, they realize that they can no longer live this way, and they SNAP! back to God.  It’s a dramatic and sometimes traumatic experience.  They feel born-again.  But many don’t have these experiences because they never stretched away from God.  They never left the center.  They grew up Christian, or even if they didn’t, they lived life close to the center (perhaps without even realizing it).  Their experience of finding God is much gentler and natural feeling because they never tried to leave God. 

         So what is this passage trying to teach us?  I think the answer is remarkably similar to the passage about Jesus being the way, the truth, and the life.  It is a passage that says that Christian faith is a process of growing up into people of love, healing, and wisdom.  And just as growing up can be painful, growing as a Christian can be painful.  It requires choosing a way set by Christ, a way that leads to healing.  It requires becoming open spiritually in a way that we may resist.  But the point is that we are called to grow up and become adult Christians who bring healing and love to the world. 

Amen.