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Rev. Tom
Lenhart How many here work with someone who is a member of one of the other great faiths? Who has a friend or neighbor who is a Jew, a Muslim, a Hindu, or a Buddhist for example, or has a family member who is? In this day and age each of us encounters members of religions other than our own, living down the street, working in the next office or as a member of our nuclear or extended family. We are living in a time in which the religions of the world are literally and figuratively a stone’s throw away – sometimes living harmoniously with each other and too often not. Christians have sought off and on through the centuries to understand the meaning, role and truth of these other religions that they have encountered. Today that issue is, I believe, critical. Look at the trouble spots of our world -- the places were violence and oppression reign. How often it is that religious hatred, intolerance and ignorance are part of the problem -- not necessarily the sole or even the principal cause of the violence and oppression but clearly a factor. Think of the Sudan, the Balkans, and, of course, the Middle East. But it is also a critical issue because it touches us personally. On May 29, 2004 I attended and participated in the wedding of my son and the love of his life, a young woman who came to this country from India 25 years ago with her parents. The wedding was a blended service containing elements from a Christian wedding service and many elements from a traditional Hindu wedding ceremony. It was presided over by a Hindu priest and a Protestant minister. The elements of the two traditions were intentionally mixed together. By their words and their actions both the priest and the minister affirmed the importance and sacredness of the elements of their own and the other’s religious tradition. I have been to many weddings and am hardly objective in this case, but this wedding was one of the most joyous, sacred and spiritual religious ceremonies (for its celebration of both traditions) that I have attended. Not surprisingly the homily at the service -- attended in equal measure by Christians and Hindus -- touched upon cross-cultural and cross religious issues. For me the issue of how to understand other religions is not academic. My daughter in law and her family directly challenge me to ask and answer the question of what do I as Christian think of Hinduism. I suspect many of you have personal experiences that challenge you to understand the religious practices and beliefs of friends and relatives that are very different from your own. Now, I suspect you may be thinking -- it’s not such a big deal. Live and let live. We should just be tolerant of others who do things differently or see things differently. Is it really any different than having friends and relatives who have very different political views? Certainly, the world would be an infinitely more peaceful and productive place if religious tolerance were practiced. But for a number of reasons religious tolerance is not as easy to achieve as we might think. Moreover, if all we do is to live and let live when it comes to religion then we have lost the opportunity to learn from each other. And I believe we have also lost the opportunity to learn more about our own faith. Let’s start with why it is hard to live and let live when it comes to religion. The three scripture texts that Jonnie read moments ago are not from the lectionary and I doubt whether they have ever been read together on a Sunday morning. I chose them because they highlight the challenge for a Christian to be accepting of the other world religions and yet to maintain a robust faith of one's own. In the Genesis passage God promises to Abram -- who will later become Abraham -- that his descendants will become as numerous as the stars. Abraham, of course, had two sons Isaac, to whom Jews and Christians trace their lineage, and Ishmael, to whom our Muslim brothers and sisters trace their ancestry. That is why these faiths are all viewed as “Abrahamic” faiths. So ideally we might hope to see ourselves as brothers and sisters in faith with Jews and Muslims. Next, we have the text from John. Jesus says to the disciples, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.” This is quite an extraordinary statement. It suggests two things -- not only is there access to God through Jesus but that Jesus Christ is the embodiment of God -- that Jesus and God are one and yet separate -- that Trinity thing with which we all struggle. On the one hand this text embodies much of what we believe – namely, that in Jesus' coming into the world, the world was changed forever. Our sins were forgiven, we received grace and a path to living in God’s image has been opened to us. So far so good. But the passage is characterized by exclusive language. I am “the” not “a” way. No one comes to the Father except through me. The language is exclusive not inclusive. And there is the rub. Now, the details of this specific passage can be understood using typical approaches to scriptural interpretation. If we look at to whom this passage was written, we can see beyond the exclusiveness of it. We do not know who John was – certainly not one of the original disciples. He probably wrote around the end of the first century AD/CE to a community of followers of Jesus who had been cut off from the Jewish community and were under persecution by the civil authorities -- principally the Romans. In that context one can understand the language used. John wants this community to know that Jesus has not abandoned them – that salvation is before them and all they need do is to stay the course. That is what John emphasizes about Jesus’ life and preaching. So we can understand why the words used would be so specific, exclusive and emphatic. “I am the way, and the truth and the life.” But that explanation doesn’t really answer the broader question of how should we as Christians understand the other religions? As Christians – Jesus Christ is central to our faith. It is through the incarnation, life and death of Jesus Christ that we believe the world was changed and love conquered death and sin for us -- and for anyone else, if they believe. He is the way, and the truth, and the life. But what of religions that do not recognize Jesus as the Son of God or even as a prophet? Christian theologians have struggled with this question for centuries. There is no right answer. Three approaches have been generally articulated. The first is the "exclusivism" approach. It basically says Christianity is the way; the others are not. “Exclusivism” rejects the other faiths, as not having it quite right, but often does not condemn the followers of those faiths. It is a little like the saying, "hate the sin, love the sinner". A second approach is called "inclusivism". Though variously articulated it essentially says Christianity is the way but ours is a God of love and mystery and those who are faithful adherents of other faiths – who are objectively good and moral folks -- will ultimately, if not in this life then sometime in eternity, come to recognize Jesus as the Christ – the son of God and the way to salvation. Karl Rahner, the Catholic theologian, described such people as “stealth Christians.” They will be saved by Christ; they just don’t yet know it. The challenge of such an approach is its “holier than thou” condescending attitude toward non-Christians. As the follower of another great faith, I am supposed to be comforted by the fact that I will ultimately be saved even though I am deluded at present as to the saving grace of my own faith. The final category is “pluralism”, which argues that behind the articulations of all faiths there is a transcendent essence that all are really seeking. In this way all faiths that seek the transcendent are in some way valid. This approach, however, tends to dismiss the significance of the particularities of each faith. What we do -- how we worship -- becomes relatively unimportant to the pluralists. As I said before this is an area in which there is no right, indeed, no orthodox position -- no early group of church fathers or mothers gave us an answer. Here is how I approach the question. There are two beliefs about God that are essential, I believe. One is that God is love – that above all else God loves all creation and wants only the best for it. Second, God believes that diversity is good and desirable. In initiating creation -- that is somehow mysteriously starting the processes including evolution that have lead to our world -- an all-powerful God quite clearly preferred diversity over a world of sameness. If God is love then I cannot believe that God would withhold salvation from a young Tibetan boy, who by accident of birth will never hear of Christianity. Moreover, it seems to me consistent with the diversity of creation, that there be a diversity of paths to salvation. The easiest way for me to get my mind around the relationship of the religions of the world is to think about a great mountain, perhaps Everest. Salvation is at the top. For us as Christians salvation is communion with God through Christ and with all creation. But there are other paths to the summit. Sir Edmund Hillary and Tensing Norgay, the first to the top of Everest, climbed up the south facing side of the mountain. Since then some have ascended that way, many others have found paths along the north side. The summit for a climber takes on a certain appearance depending upon the path one takes. So for the climber from the South it looks one way, while for the climber coming up on the North side it looks another way. So too can the various religions articulate salvation in different terms and yet in a fundamental sense be talking about the same thing. Likewise, they can describe the ultimate in very different ways and yet be talking about the same transcendent essence. Each path way is important and unique too. The handholds and the foot placements – where the pitons and the ropes are placed are unique to each path up. And so I also see the particularities of each faith as having fundamental importance. Our path way requires of us certain things including -- most fundamentally -- a unique and central place for Christ. We may each in this place understand Jesus Christ in slightly different ways but as Christians we acknowledge that our path to God is illuminated by and through Christ. But I think a loving God would acknowledge other paths. Paths that also have different and crucial elements that demark and define them. That are critical to them! One might ask why would God favor multiple paths? Of course no one knows. But in a way isn’t the existence of multiple paths a gift to us? No matter which path we are on, we are all ascending to the summit. We are climbers of the mountain of life -- all seekers after salvation and communion with God. Isn’t there much we can learn from those climbing the other paths? Ways to avoid crevices made by the idols of our day, how to navigate around or up steep cliff faces of doubt and how to survive the thin, threatening air of religous discrimination and oppression. Moreover, aren’t we blessed to be given a glimpse of the mountaintop from another perspective? That doesn’t diminish ours but simply enriches our view and understanding of the summit. x x x As the scripture texts in recent weeks have highlighted, Jewish-Christian relations were an important topic for the early church. One of the first questions focused on circumcision. Did one have to observe Jewish rituals to follow Jesus? Paul and others ultimately concluded that both observant Jews and Gentiles could be followers of Jesus. But what of the Jews who did not accept Jesus as the Messiah? Was salvation barred to them? Was Jesus the exclusive way? In today’s passage from Romans, Paul provides an answer. Essentially, he says God does not break his promises. God promised Abraham and Moses that the Israelites would never be abandoned by God and would find salvation because “the gifts ... of God are irrevocable”. It is as if there is a trail on the mountain that Abraham, Joshua, Jacob, Sarah, Ruth and Moses have blazed for us. We were privileged to follow in their footsteps. At a point in time the path diverged -- with one branch illuminate by the brightness of the Son of God. That is the path we as Christians have and do follow. But that earlier path, as Paul recognized, also continues to the summit. Tomorrow is Martin Luther King, Jr. day -- when we recognize a figure who profoundly changed America for the better. He uniquely shaped, propelled and gave moral and religious fiber to the movement to end racial discrimination and to lower the divides that separate God’s creation --men and women from each other. In the “I have dream speech” he expressed the dream that all of God’s children – black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Catholics and Protestants will be able to join hands and to sing in the words of the old Negro Spiritual: Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty,we are free at last. As his words eloquently reveal, he was mindful not simply of racial barriers but of those built on religious difference. As well he said, in his speech accepting the Nobel Peace Price in 1964, these words “I still believe that one day mankind will bow before the altars of God and be crowned triumphant over war and bloodshed, and nonviolent redemptive good will [be proclaimed] the rule of the land. And the lion and the lamb shall lie down together and every man [and woman] shall sit under his [or her] own fig tree and none shall be afraid.” It is no accident the Dr. King referred to the altars (plural) of God. If we are to live together – if we are to be the people of God, as Jesus would have us -- then we must acknowledge the multiplicity of God’s altars. To do so in no way lessens our faith, if anything it fulfills it. Amen |
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