WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:16.780 Hi, my name is George Sinclair. I'm the lead pastor of Church of the Messiah. It is wonderful 00:00:16.780 --> 00:00:20.780 that you would like to check out some of the sermons done by Church of the Messiah, either 00:00:20.780 --> 00:00:24.920 by myself or some of the others. Listen, just a couple of things. First of all, would you pray 00:00:24.920 --> 00:00:31.520 for us that we will open God's Word well to His glory and for the good of people like yourself? 00:00:32.079 --> 00:00:37.939 The second thing is, if you aren't connected to a church and if you are a Christian, we really, 00:00:38.179 --> 00:00:42.579 I would really like to encourage you to find a good local church where they believe the Bible, 00:00:43.240 --> 00:00:48.760 they preach the gospel, and if you have some trouble finding that, send us an email. We will 00:00:48.760 --> 00:00:54.560 do what we can to help connect you with a good local church wherever you are. And if you're a 00:00:54.560 --> 00:00:59.340 non-Christian checking us out, we're really, really, really glad you're doing that. Don't 00:00:59.340 --> 00:01:04.680 hesitate to send us questions. It helps me actually to know, as I'm preaching, how to deal with the 00:01:04.680 --> 00:01:07.780 types of things that you're really struggling with. So God bless. 00:01:12.500 --> 00:01:21.879 Let's pray. Dear Lord, by your Spirit, would you take us and shape us and open our hearts 00:01:21.879 --> 00:01:29.579 to understand what you would teach us? We want to walk with you more faithfully. We want to rejoice 00:01:29.579 --> 00:01:39.399 in your salvation. We want to encourage one another with your truth. So would you come and help all that 00:01:39.400 --> 00:01:44.660 we do and that we say and that we reflect on, bring glory to you? In Jesus' name, amen. 00:01:48.740 --> 00:01:55.620 Now there are conversations on airplanes that you soon forget, and then there are others that you 00:01:55.620 --> 00:02:03.600 never, that you'll stay with you for life, and I want to tell you about one of those in the second group. 00:02:03.599 --> 00:02:10.919 I was on a flight from New York City to Chicago some years back, not too many years back, but some 00:02:10.919 --> 00:02:17.599 years back. But because of bad weather, we were forced to land in a nearby city, and I can't remember 00:02:17.599 --> 00:02:23.639 which one that was. But once we had landed, we were told to remain seated since we would not be getting 00:02:23.639 --> 00:02:30.459 off the plane. We sat there, as it turned out, for at least two hours, which is very unusual. 00:02:30.460 --> 00:02:37.140 Naturally, the man sitting next to me, I'm going to call him John for now, and he and I engaged in 00:02:37.140 --> 00:02:43.560 conversation. I learned the sort of things you learn in such conversations. He lived in New York 00:02:43.560 --> 00:02:48.900 City. He was vice president of a wellness firm there, and he enjoyed reading a good book. 00:02:50.319 --> 00:02:54.980 Eventually, the conversation turned to matters of faith, and I, of course, said I was a Christian. 00:02:54.979 --> 00:03:01.560 Perhaps to find out just what sort of Christian I was, he mentioned that he was now married to his 00:03:01.560 --> 00:03:08.639 male partner, having divorced his wife some years back. He pointed out that certain fundamentalist 00:03:08.639 --> 00:03:15.919 Christian friends hadn't accepted his second marriage. I just listened. Next, I learned that he 00:03:15.919 --> 00:03:21.319 was Roman Catholic, but that he thought that all religions were basically the same. He added, 00:03:21.319 --> 00:03:27.859 almost offhand, that he was in the habit of attending and participating in seances with a 00:03:27.859 --> 00:03:34.519 group of friends. His expression told me he was eager to hear my thoughts on any or all of the above. 00:03:36.219 --> 00:03:43.060 Right there on the plane, in other words, he was inviting me into the public square, one theme for 00:03:43.060 --> 00:03:48.000 people. It's a great thing to hear my thoughts on the other. 00:03:48.000 --> 00:03:49.620 This is a great thing to hear, and I'm going to see you next time. 00:03:49.620 --> 00:03:50.460 We're going to be a part of the program today, where people engage freely and civilly with one another 00:03:50.460 --> 00:03:54.860 about things they believe to be true and good and worth celebrating. And we spoke freely, 00:03:55.259 --> 00:03:59.659 because even though we knew others could easily tune into our conversation, 00:03:59.819 --> 00:04:05.699 and they probably were, after all, we're on a plane, neither of us imagined that we could get into any 00:04:05.699 --> 00:04:13.539 trouble for the things that we were saying. As I try to do in such situations, I was praying mentally 00:04:13.539 --> 00:04:20.620 as we spoke, asking God to give me the wisdom and the words to say. Since John had mentioned several 00:04:20.620 --> 00:04:25.379 things I could comment on at this point, I didn't make reference to the fact that he was gay. 00:04:26.120 --> 00:04:32.039 I did, however, respond to his point about all religions being the same, saying, yes, 00:04:32.040 --> 00:04:38.400 they are indeed similar where you'd expect them to be here and there, but also quite different in some 00:04:38.400 --> 00:04:46.180 fundamental ways. But this topic wasn't really exercising him at the moment. What was really 00:04:46.180 --> 00:04:55.540 troubling, as I was soon to find out, was after I told him a conversion story of a woman in Mexico 00:04:55.540 --> 00:05:02.920 who had been drawn into the occult? My parents used to live in a city called Cuernavaca, and this 00:05:02.920 --> 00:05:11.300 woman happened to be from Cuernavaca. This woman, she was a nominal Christian, had become the apprentice 00:05:11.300 --> 00:05:19.340 of a well-known psychic healer who went by the name of Pachita, and had learned to perform psychic 00:05:19.339 --> 00:05:28.659 surgery alongside this woman, believing that the witchcraft had to be good because it was all aimed 00:05:28.659 --> 00:05:34.739 at helping people get better. Along with the apprenticeship, the woman had taken up transcendental 00:05:34.739 --> 00:05:41.279 meditation, and as part of that practice, she was instructed, once she found herself in a state of 00:05:41.279 --> 00:05:49.039 deep meditation to invite a spirit guide to join her there. So, assuming that this too was a very 00:05:49.039 --> 00:05:57.779 compatible practice with Christianity, she asked Jesus to come and join her in that space. 00:05:59.879 --> 00:06:06.139 But it so happened that one day she came to realize that all of this was a form of real deception. 00:06:06.139 --> 00:06:14.000 She was in a trance, and the Jesus she was expecting to meet turned into something like a great 00:06:14.000 --> 00:06:21.899 ferocious wolf instead. And it wasn't long before one thing led to another, and she had given her life 00:06:21.899 --> 00:06:30.219 to Jesus. And I turned to John, my fellow passenger, and I said, what I'm trying to say is that there is 00:06:30.220 --> 00:06:38.240 great deception in these practices, no matter how much this or that healing may work. 00:06:40.280 --> 00:06:45.500 I waited, a little bit worried that that was going to end the whole conversation, but he really, 00:06:45.700 --> 00:06:53.820 surprisingly, wasn't silent for long. And he said, you know, one seance that I participated in not long 00:06:53.819 --> 00:07:01.099 ago was very dark. In fact, it was something like something was trying to strangle me, and I had to 00:07:01.099 --> 00:07:09.800 get out and run away. And a few moments later, he asked me, how am I supposed to tell whether what I'm 00:07:09.800 --> 00:07:18.379 dealing with is good or bad? Great question. Now, I have no idea of where John is today, but I'm thankful 00:07:18.379 --> 00:07:26.379 for the delay on that plane that gave me the chance to have that conversation and to point him to the 00:07:26.379 --> 00:07:34.459 one rule we have, scripture, as our guide. And I've told you this story partly because it sums up where 00:07:34.459 --> 00:07:40.860 we've been in this mini-series. It highlights the predicament that you and I are in if we're committed 00:07:40.860 --> 00:07:48.120 to the idea that you make the road by walking, that we have nothing outside ourselves to help us 00:07:48.120 --> 00:07:54.819 discern the nature of things that are unseen, no standard to guide us in the area of human 00:07:54.819 --> 00:08:02.259 sexuality. But the story also brings us to the third core value of progressive Christianity. 00:08:02.699 --> 00:08:09.780 It's the idea, as John said, that all religions are the same. Now, what's usually meant here is not 00:08:09.780 --> 00:08:15.519 precisely, of course, all religions are exactly the same. That's not normally what's meant. What's meant 00:08:15.519 --> 00:08:22.959 is that all the religions grasp something of the reality that we call God, a little bit like in 00:08:22.959 --> 00:08:29.319 that picture parable of the men who take hold of this or that part of an elephant, but because 00:08:29.319 --> 00:08:37.460 they're blindfolded, they simply mistakenly assume that they're grasping the whole of the reality. 00:08:37.460 --> 00:08:45.400 The British philosopher of religion, John Hick, was one of the major proponents of this progressive 00:08:45.400 --> 00:08:52.060 view of the religions. Although he was raised in an evangelical home through contact with Jewish, 00:08:52.759 --> 00:09:00.240 Muslim, Sikh, Hindu communities in Birmingham, England, he came to believe that underneath all of 00:09:00.240 --> 00:09:08.240 these external things of the religions, creeds, forms of worship, you name it, he said, quote, 00:09:08.360 --> 00:09:15.460 basically the same thing was going on in all of them. And what was that thing that he believed to 00:09:15.460 --> 00:09:22.180 be going on in all of them? And he wrote, human beings coming together within the framework of an 00:09:22.179 --> 00:09:31.799 ancient and highly developed tradition to open their hearts and minds to God. It only made sense for him, 00:09:32.179 --> 00:09:37.620 therefore, to conclude that all religions are equally valid ways to find salvation. 00:09:38.719 --> 00:09:46.139 This idea, very popular today, brings up the whole matter of the public square and how we might 00:09:46.139 --> 00:09:52.159 empty it metaphorically, at least when it comes to beliefs about God and the way of salvation. 00:09:52.179 --> 00:09:58.019 And I think that's just what our Western culture has done. We've said that you and I have no 00:09:58.019 --> 00:10:07.539 business interfering in each other's spiritual lives. Am I right? Here's an experiment. Go down to 00:10:07.539 --> 00:10:14.339 Byward Market after church today and tell the first person you meet that a man who died and rose again 00:10:14.339 --> 00:10:21.879 2,000 years ago has a claim on his or her life. If you get the reply, hey, buddy, 00:10:22.179 --> 00:10:29.839 you do you, all right? You're only going to be getting one of the polite versions of one of the most 00:10:29.839 --> 00:10:38.219 culturally acceptable reactions today to this idea. It's an answer that's intended to remind you and me 00:10:38.219 --> 00:10:45.120 that if God has something to say to me, assuming there is a God, well, he'll have to say it directly, 00:10:45.120 --> 00:10:53.399 which means he's not going to say it through a preacher he happens to send to tell me. 00:10:54.779 --> 00:11:01.279 And that's where we are. We can have very lively discussions down there in Byward Market about all 00:11:01.279 --> 00:11:07.240 sorts of things related to food and entertainment, housing and transportation, you name it, all sorts of 00:11:07.240 --> 00:11:15.000 things. But as soon as we touch on matters that have the label personal values, well, folks quickly 00:11:15.000 --> 00:11:17.159 vacate the public square. 00:11:20.860 --> 00:11:26.279 Apart from arguing that the deep unity of the religions is the best way to achieve lasting peace 00:11:26.279 --> 00:11:32.899 today, well, progressive Christians will want to say, surely the sense of fairness, a sense of fairness 00:11:32.899 --> 00:11:39.620 requires us to say that whatever way people choose is the one that's right for them. And the belief or 00:11:39.620 --> 00:11:47.159 attitude here usually goes by the name of religious pluralism. So it's not just a description of multiple 00:11:47.159 --> 00:11:54.699 religions, it's an ideology that says what I've tried to describe. Now, on a personal note, of all the 00:11:54.699 --> 00:11:59.439 core values of progressive Christianity, this is the one I've probably struggled with the most. 00:11:59.440 --> 00:12:08.060 In fact, years back, I found a kind of modified form of this somewhat appealing. I was content to say 00:12:08.060 --> 00:12:15.240 something almost like this. I was content to say something like, well, some degree of salvation 00:12:15.240 --> 00:12:22.040 must be available in all the religions. But if you want to have the fullness of what God has, well, 00:12:22.400 --> 00:12:29.380 you'd probably do best to become a Christian. Now, I'll try to respond to these claims after 00:12:29.379 --> 00:12:36.899 we've had a chance to look at Luke 24. But before we turn to scripture, I'd like us briefly to think 00:12:36.899 --> 00:12:43.620 about the basic problem I've tried to give a name to, the empty public square, and ask how it is that 00:12:43.620 --> 00:12:51.379 faith has been ruled out as a way of knowing. How has faith been ruled out as a way of knowing? 00:12:51.379 --> 00:12:58.340 Leslie Newbigin, missionary in India many years, is very helpful here with a simple illustration. 00:12:58.340 --> 00:13:05.620 He gives, he says, imagine you're walking along the road, and you see a pile of bricks and 00:13:06.820 --> 00:13:13.700 bags of mortar and a bunch of workers hovering around, and you're wondering, well, I wonder what 00:13:13.700 --> 00:13:20.820 could possibly be going up here on this site. And Newbigin says, you have two choices and only two. 00:13:21.780 --> 00:13:27.860 You can stand around and wait till it's built, and then with the powers of observation, you can 00:13:27.860 --> 00:13:35.540 go ahead and conclude, well, they built a fitness center or whatever. But if you don't plan to stand 00:13:35.540 --> 00:13:40.180 around and wait till they're finished building, your other choice is to take the word from the builder. 00:13:40.740 --> 00:13:49.140 Ask the builder. Our walk is by faith, not sight in this case. So faith as a form of knowledge, 00:13:49.139 --> 00:13:57.299 faith as a way to know, taking a reliable witness's word. This doesn't mean that faith is blind, 00:13:57.299 --> 00:14:02.980 right? Because by faith, we do come to know God himself and his ways and his plans in the measure 00:14:02.980 --> 00:14:09.860 that he reveals them to us, of course. And this brings us to Luke 24, which is all about reliable 00:14:09.860 --> 00:14:15.940 witnesses. Right from the start, it's all about bearing witness, right from the empty tomb at the 00:14:15.940 --> 00:14:22.660 beginning of Luke 24 to the end. And to you, you are witnesses when Jesus tells his disciples. 00:14:24.820 --> 00:14:33.220 These speak of the builder and the obligation we have to take the builder's word, to take him at 00:14:33.220 --> 00:14:38.420 his word. So turn with me to that chapter. We've only read the last part. I'm not going to read the 00:14:38.419 --> 00:14:47.459 whole chapter, but I am going to take you through five scenes very quickly to highlight this business 00:14:47.459 --> 00:14:53.299 of bearing witness and how it's happening. So it starts, as I said, with the empty tomb. 00:14:53.779 --> 00:15:00.099 And the empty tomb is a bare fact. It's a naked event, if you like, because the women, verse 4 says, 00:15:00.819 --> 00:15:04.980 are perplexed. Verse 4 tells us they are perplexed. They have no idea what to make of it. 00:15:04.980 --> 00:15:13.800 But God graciously tells them what it means. He sends two men in dazzling apparel, still there in 00:15:13.800 --> 00:15:20.800 verse 4. They tell the women that Jesus has risen from the dead and point them to a greater witness, 00:15:21.500 --> 00:15:28.860 Jesus himself. They say, verses 6 and 7, remember how he told you that the Son of Man must be delivered 00:15:28.860 --> 00:15:36.980 into the hands of sinful men and be crucified on the third day rise. Remember how he told you. 00:15:37.220 --> 00:15:45.019 And verse 8 tells us that they remember Jesus's words. Scene 2. I'm sorry. Yes, scene 2. The women 00:15:45.019 --> 00:15:52.060 have rejoined the 11 and the rest of the disciples and they are now bearing witness themselves to all 00:15:52.059 --> 00:15:57.619 these things, says verse 9. That is, to what they've seen, what they've heard, what they've realized, 00:15:57.719 --> 00:16:05.679 what they have remembered or recalled with the help of these men in white garments. So it's striking, 00:16:06.119 --> 00:16:13.239 as it should be, that the disciples find what they say to sound made up, sound made up, verse 11. 00:16:13.240 --> 00:16:21.799 They're in a state of disbelief, of unbelief. Peter is no exception, although he does get up and rush to 00:16:21.799 --> 00:16:28.879 the tomb and after he looks inside and sees only the garments, well, he too is left in that original 00:16:28.879 --> 00:16:38.139 state of marveling, of perplexion there at the empty tomb. Scene 3. Two disciples are on the road to Emmaus. 00:16:38.139 --> 00:16:46.519 Jesus joins them, but for the moment doesn't reveal his identity to them. And this allows Jesus to hear 00:16:46.519 --> 00:16:53.360 their testimony to what's going forward in the days and what's unfolding. It's a true testimony 00:16:53.360 --> 00:17:01.840 as far as it goes because they tell about Jesus's ministry, his arrest, his crucifixion, and now the 00:17:01.840 --> 00:17:09.160 report about the tomb having become empty. But I say the report is only true as far as it goes 00:17:09.160 --> 00:17:16.059 because Jesus rebukes them for their slowness of heart, verse 25. Slowness of heart in receiving 00:17:16.059 --> 00:17:24.579 the testimony of the prophets. Had they taken hold of that reliable testimony, in other words, 00:17:24.640 --> 00:17:30.279 they would have been able to say not only that something marvelous has been taking place, but why? 00:17:30.279 --> 00:17:40.119 Scene 4. And we're still in the Emmaus Road story because it's the next day. This scene puts 00:17:40.119 --> 00:17:47.940 God's kindness to his people on display because Jesus comforts these two disciples with the revelation 00:17:47.940 --> 00:17:53.960 of his identity. He has already explained the scriptures to them, beginning with Moses and all 00:17:53.960 --> 00:18:00.579 the prophets, verse 27. And now he lets them see who he is as he breaks bread with them. 00:18:03.519 --> 00:18:11.079 And through that encounter, they come to understand why it was that they were so moved as he 00:18:11.079 --> 00:18:17.920 explained the scriptures to them on the day before. The text doesn't say this was the work of the Holy 00:18:17.920 --> 00:18:23.960 Spirit, but we can be certain that as their hearts were warmed, as the text tells us, tells us that as 00:18:23.960 --> 00:18:30.320 Jesus opened up the scriptures, that it was the Holy Spirit himself who was bearing witness to the truth 00:18:30.320 --> 00:18:38.580 of what he was saying to them. Scene 5. The disciples are now all together back in Jerusalem, putting 00:18:38.580 --> 00:18:45.100 together Peter's report that Jesus has appeared to him now, and the Emmaus Road report. And they're 00:18:45.099 --> 00:18:53.179 putting all this together, and they're consulting. And Jesus appears to them all. Now, it's important 00:18:53.179 --> 00:18:59.019 that we not miss the joy of the occasion because it's there. The disciples are truly marveling at 00:18:59.019 --> 00:19:05.819 what's taking place. Right before their eyes, Jesus is showing them that his new form is not 00:19:05.819 --> 00:19:14.240 non-physical, as they were bound to imagine. He shows them his hands. He shows them his feet. 00:19:14.240 --> 00:19:21.460 He even takes a piece of broiled fish and eats it in front of them. And the testimony 00:19:21.460 --> 00:19:30.099 of their marvel should cause us to marvel too, even today, even if we've read this story a hundred times, 00:19:30.279 --> 00:19:36.039 because we're dealing with a work of God that's on the order of creation itself. 00:19:36.039 --> 00:19:44.700 The resurrection of the body, which we profess belief in, is the most amazing thing we can imagine, 00:19:45.259 --> 00:19:51.480 because it puts the promise never to die again right there in front of us on full display. 00:19:52.839 --> 00:19:58.899 But with all that, we shouldn't miss the rebuke. For all the joy, there is still a rebuke. And Jesus' 00:19:58.900 --> 00:20:06.300 question to his disciples, all gathered together, why? This is verse 38. Why did doubts rise in your 00:20:06.300 --> 00:20:12.700 hearts? Just as the eleven and other disciples failed to take the women's report seriously, 00:20:13.240 --> 00:20:20.060 so too, as a group, they had failed to take hold of what the prophets had foretold about Jesus. 00:20:20.059 --> 00:20:26.679 Well, for instance, what? Well, the fact that Isaiah had prophesied that God's servant would need to 00:20:26.679 --> 00:20:35.000 suffer for our transgressions, Isaiah 53, 5. Or that David had foretold that God would not permit 00:20:35.000 --> 00:20:40.139 his holy one to see corruption. Now, these things would have been discussed. These things were part of 00:20:40.139 --> 00:20:47.960 their ordinary lexicon. Well, these things hadn't taken root in their hearts. And yet, even here, 00:20:47.960 --> 00:20:55.860 Jesus is a good shepherd who leads them to pasture. And he explains to them all that the scriptures had 00:20:55.860 --> 00:21:02.720 to say about him, taking all of the Hebrew scriptures, the Old Testament, explaining to them 00:21:02.720 --> 00:21:12.440 where it is that he, Jesus, fit in and what was going on and everything that the scriptures bear witness 00:21:12.440 --> 00:21:18.820 to and how they point to Jesus. And what Jesus is doing here is an act of sheer kindness and mercy. 00:21:19.759 --> 00:21:27.400 And when we put together what we've just seen with the verses that follow, we get a full picture of the 00:21:27.400 --> 00:21:35.220 new beginning that is about to happen for the disciples. Four brief points. Jesus has given them 00:21:35.220 --> 00:21:42.579 peace. When he appears among them and says, peace to you, he's not just announcing peace, 00:21:43.039 --> 00:21:51.140 although he's certainly doing that. He's actually bringing it to them because his resurrection means 00:21:51.140 --> 00:21:57.400 peace with God. Take it from Paul. Paul will say, Jesus was delivered up for our trespasses 00:21:57.400 --> 00:22:04.800 and raised for our justification, raised so that we might be made right with God. He was raised that 00:22:04.800 --> 00:22:11.560 we might be reconciled to God, to have peace with God. The second thing that Jesus has given his 00:22:11.560 --> 00:22:18.380 disciples apart from this peace is understanding, understanding of how present things, what present 00:22:18.380 --> 00:22:24.840 things mean and what's going forward in the light of everything that has been taught in the past in the 00:22:24.839 --> 00:22:31.379 scriptures. And then thirdly, he gives them a commission. He says, verse 48, in a very short 00:22:31.379 --> 00:22:40.480 verse, probably the shortest in the chapter, you are witnesses of these things. Specifically, they now know 00:22:40.480 --> 00:22:47.439 that they are to be custodians, if you like, of God's word. They were to carry the message that Jesus was 00:22:47.439 --> 00:22:54.740 going to suffer on the third day and that Jesus was to suffer on the and on the third day to rise from the 00:22:54.740 --> 00:23:01.220 dead, verse 46, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all 00:23:01.220 --> 00:23:10.339 nations beginning from Jerusalem in the following verse, verse 47. So peace, understanding, a commission 00:23:10.339 --> 00:23:19.759 which involves purpose. Fourthly, he gives them a promise, the promise that of the power from on high 00:23:19.759 --> 00:23:26.960 to fulfill it. So he says, go wait and wait till the promised spirit has come. Now, I don't know how 00:23:26.960 --> 00:23:33.200 all of this strikes you as you have this panoramic view of Luke 24, but I think it's all about the 00:23:33.200 --> 00:23:41.440 builder telling us what he's building. And it's a rich telling because he he tells us how he's used 00:23:41.440 --> 00:23:49.740 under witnesses in the past, prophets, David. He tells us how he's employed extraordinary witnesses 00:23:49.740 --> 00:23:56.019 like those like those men in dazzling apparel. He tells us how he's used ordinary witnesses in spite 00:23:56.019 --> 00:24:05.299 of their unbelief, confusion, and and state of perplexity. And he tells how he promised to empower 00:24:05.299 --> 00:24:10.799 yet more ordinary witnesses so that the good news of salvation in Jesus could be made known 00:24:10.799 --> 00:24:17.859 to every nation. And this brings us back to the challenge of religious pluralism where we began. 00:24:18.919 --> 00:24:29.819 Apart from showing us how God has acted and spoken decisively in Jesus, how can the lessons of Luke 24 00:24:29.819 --> 00:24:37.759 help us to respond to the progressive to the progressive Christian claim that all religions provide 00:24:37.759 --> 00:24:46.039 valid paths to God? Well, I want to just make two points. In the first place, I think Luke 24 helps 00:24:46.039 --> 00:24:53.259 us to be clear about what salvation is and what it isn't. It's not about a vague opening up of the 00:24:53.259 --> 00:25:00.839 individual soul to the mystery we call God. That would reduce faith to a kind of thing we could just 00:25:00.839 --> 00:25:06.200 take for granted, like an electric current that you and I have, and we could just switch it on and off at 00:25:06.200 --> 00:25:14.720 will. Rather, salvation is God's idea worked out in history through means that he chooses. And what's 00:25:14.720 --> 00:25:20.580 important is that salvation doesn't remain an idea, but because salvation is ultimately what? 00:25:21.259 --> 00:25:29.059 Salvation is ultimately a person, the incarnate word himself, who intrudes, if you like, something 00:25:29.059 --> 00:25:35.940 we, that we dislike in our, in our, in our private, private culture. But he intrudes into what we 00:25:35.940 --> 00:25:43.440 imagine to be private space. And through his intrusion, he calls sinners like you and me to be united to 00:25:43.440 --> 00:25:50.519 him in his death and resurrection. And the amazing thing is that it doesn't matter who the delegated 00:25:50.519 --> 00:25:57.160 witnesses are, who they happen to be, because it's the Holy Spirit who does the calling and who confirms 00:25:57.160 --> 00:26:06.180 in our hearts that what we hear with our ears is from God. And what's faith if under, if salvation is 00:26:06.180 --> 00:26:14.279 understood this other way? Well, but faith is by nature a response of trust in something that's there. 00:26:14.279 --> 00:26:22.720 Saving faith is the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts that enables us to trust in something that 00:26:22.720 --> 00:26:31.799 God has done, God has promised, and God has revealed. Second point, I think in the second place, Luke 24 00:26:31.799 --> 00:26:38.599 helps us to think properly about the nature of religion and what its limitations are. And here we can, 00:26:38.599 --> 00:26:47.480 we can ask a progressive Christian friend, how do you know that the religions lead to salvation? The religions as 00:26:47.480 --> 00:26:54.579 such. If the idea in the parable of the elephant and the blindfolded men is that we don't have reliable 00:26:54.579 --> 00:27:03.319 witnesses to the big picture, well then who exactly is telling us reliably that they're all grasping different 00:27:03.319 --> 00:27:12.139 parts of an elephant. And in the end, you see the parable shows its own limitations. It breaks down, because what 00:27:12.139 --> 00:27:21.460 we're left with in this sea and a sea of multiple narratives is just conflicting stories about what 00:27:21.460 --> 00:27:30.220 salvation is and how you obtain it, what the human problem is and how you get out of it. As it happens, one of those 00:27:30.220 --> 00:27:35.259 narratives tells us that salvation, understood as enlightenment, comes as we don't concern ourselves 00:27:35.259 --> 00:27:42.460 much with God and with salvation. These questions that distract us from the real, from really, really 00:27:42.460 --> 00:27:49.259 tuning into our hearts. So we're supposed to detach ourselves from these matters. And that, and that leads, 00:27:49.740 --> 00:27:56.460 leads us, leads us to, to this modified proposal, to the effect that the religions, well, they offer degrees of 00:27:56.460 --> 00:28:02.620 salvation to salvation to their adherence, but that the fullness of salvation is found in Jesus. This, this sounds 00:28:02.620 --> 00:28:08.460 somewhat appealing on a certain level. It sounds like, well, I still get to, to invite people to trust in Jesus. 00:28:09.500 --> 00:28:16.740 But still, there's the big question, how do we know that the great religious traditions offer some kind of partial 00:28:16.740 --> 00:28:26.819 salvation? Where does that come from? What if, what if the religions are not interested in the biblical idea of salvation at all? 00:28:27.660 --> 00:28:35.579 What if salvation, as they conceive it, involves the ultimate extinction, excuse me, of the individual person? 00:28:36.579 --> 00:28:39.400 The ultimate extinction of the individual person. 00:28:39.400 --> 00:28:47.759 For that matter, is it precisely faithful adherence to religion that saves? Is that how we want to think of the matter? 00:28:48.440 --> 00:28:53.759 I think these are real questions that we can put to, to friends we meet as God gives us the opportunity. 00:28:54.259 --> 00:29:02.960 Biblically speaking, it's apparent that when God saves someone, he does so in spite of their religion and not because of it. 00:29:02.960 --> 00:29:09.700 We have to remember that as the disciples assembled together on that first day of the week, they were being religious. 00:29:11.019 --> 00:29:17.420 As the gospel accounts taken together, they tell us that they were trying to come to terms with what's going on. 00:29:17.519 --> 00:29:22.779 They're, they're no doubt praying. They're no, no doubt doing all sorts of things as faithful Jews. 00:29:23.000 --> 00:29:26.299 And yet, as we saw, they're in a state of unbelief. 00:29:27.299 --> 00:29:31.240 Newbigin reminds us that we often think, well, Jesus appeared to the believers. 00:29:31.240 --> 00:29:34.579 Well, they weren't believers when he appeared to them. 00:29:35.140 --> 00:29:36.299 He just appeared to them. 00:29:36.640 --> 00:29:37.859 And that's important to remember. 00:29:39.079 --> 00:29:44.900 Or think of Saul, a faithful, dedicated, card-carrying Jew, 00:29:45.460 --> 00:29:49.279 whose sincere convictions led him to persecute the church. 00:29:51.259 --> 00:29:53.240 Religion is not a bad word, of course. 00:29:53.319 --> 00:29:54.599 I'm not here to tell you that. 00:29:54.799 --> 00:29:57.039 But the point is, is that it's a mixed bag. 00:29:57.039 --> 00:30:05.099 Even Christianity, insofar as we can make of it a mere religion, can be something we need to be saved from. 00:30:06.019 --> 00:30:10.899 The standard for all religion, therefore, including Christianity, is the gospel. 00:30:11.659 --> 00:30:18.200 The good news of reconciliation with God that has come through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. 00:30:18.200 --> 00:30:25.900 As we think of religion this way, Christianity can then become a patterned way to respond to the gospel. 00:30:26.259 --> 00:30:31.279 Through particular forms of worship, through gathering, through catechizing, 00:30:31.559 --> 00:30:36.180 through all of these ways in which we encourage one another in the Christian life. 00:30:36.259 --> 00:30:38.340 But these things do not save us. 00:30:39.200 --> 00:30:41.220 Rather, we're saved for them. 00:30:41.539 --> 00:30:43.759 We're saved so that we can walk in them. 00:30:44.440 --> 00:30:46.680 Otherwise, we're getting at the cart before the horse. 00:30:46.680 --> 00:30:50.180 After we've said all this, there's still the question, 00:30:50.299 --> 00:30:53.620 but what about those who never even get to hear the gospel? 00:30:53.720 --> 00:30:54.960 And here I'm going to start closing. 00:30:55.799 --> 00:30:58.240 Now, on one level, this is a very valid question. 00:30:59.259 --> 00:31:03.360 Former Hindu students of mine back in India sometimes asked, 00:31:03.960 --> 00:31:06.360 what about my relatives who never even heard of Jesus? 00:31:07.400 --> 00:31:08.320 It's a real question. 00:31:08.500 --> 00:31:09.100 It's a good one. 00:31:09.200 --> 00:31:10.500 It's a valid one. 00:31:10.560 --> 00:31:12.940 But happily, as we turn to scripture, 00:31:12.940 --> 00:31:16.400 we find out we're not the first ones to ask this kind of question. 00:31:17.259 --> 00:31:20.460 Luke 13 records how once, when Jesus was teaching, 00:31:20.620 --> 00:31:22.240 some unnamed person came up and said, 00:31:22.340 --> 00:31:25.759 Lord, will those who are saved be few? 00:31:27.840 --> 00:31:29.320 You remember how he answered? 00:31:31.039 --> 00:31:34.100 Now, one thing he didn't do was get into the question of numbers 00:31:34.100 --> 00:31:35.460 and the final count. 00:31:36.100 --> 00:31:38.960 What he did do was to turn the question right around 00:31:38.960 --> 00:31:42.400 and make it very personal as he speaks to you and me 00:31:42.400 --> 00:31:44.360 through his word very personally. 00:31:45.519 --> 00:31:48.860 He said, strive to enter through the narrow door, 00:31:49.579 --> 00:31:52.000 which here in his teaching means, 00:31:52.539 --> 00:31:55.200 do not presume on your religious membership. 00:31:55.200 --> 00:32:01.019 Because he says, many who think themselves very closely associated 00:32:01.019 --> 00:32:03.759 with the big names, with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, 00:32:04.080 --> 00:32:07.299 will actually find themselves thrown out of the kingdom. 00:32:08.360 --> 00:32:12.740 While many will come from all corners of the earth, 00:32:12.819 --> 00:32:15.200 Jesus says, and find themselves in God's kingdom. 00:32:15.200 --> 00:32:20.160 And I think Jesus' message here in saying that there will be surprises 00:32:20.160 --> 00:32:25.039 is that he, being the architect and builder of the city 00:32:25.039 --> 00:32:27.140 that we're thinking about in this series, 00:32:27.480 --> 00:32:28.840 that city with foundations, 00:32:29.319 --> 00:32:30.380 he knows what he's doing. 00:32:30.380 --> 00:32:34.340 Partiality and randomness don't apply to God. 00:32:35.880 --> 00:32:38.580 What's key is that we grasp the very personal, 00:32:38.760 --> 00:32:42.860 the very urgent nature of the call when we hear it. 00:32:43.360 --> 00:32:44.240 Come follow me. 00:32:45.620 --> 00:32:49.060 Now, from our side, things might really seem unfair. 00:32:51.160 --> 00:32:53.660 Stella and I have had a chance to live in so many places 00:32:53.660 --> 00:32:56.080 where Christians are in a very small minority. 00:32:56.220 --> 00:32:57.720 And you say, well, this isn't fair. 00:32:57.720 --> 00:33:01.079 Where little Jimmy is raised in a home 00:33:01.079 --> 00:33:04.039 where his parents teach him to trust in Jesus. 00:33:04.620 --> 00:33:07.319 While little Chloe is told all her life, 00:33:07.920 --> 00:33:10.539 look, you're just going to have to figure it all out for yourself. 00:33:10.640 --> 00:33:12.400 You're going to have to make the road as you walk it. 00:33:13.640 --> 00:33:16.279 But what we regard as the accidents of history 00:33:16.279 --> 00:33:18.620 present no barriers at all 00:33:18.620 --> 00:33:21.140 to what God can do in anyone's life. 00:33:23.220 --> 00:33:25.460 Here's how J.I. Packer and Roger Beckwith 00:33:25.460 --> 00:33:26.779 address the issue. 00:33:26.779 --> 00:33:27.799 And with this, I'll close. 00:33:27.920 --> 00:33:28.319 They wrote, 00:33:28.859 --> 00:33:31.639 no limits can be set to the dealings 00:33:31.639 --> 00:33:33.559 of the merciful God with individuals, 00:33:34.019 --> 00:33:36.920 even within non-Christian religions. 00:33:37.039 --> 00:33:38.160 I think it's key there. 00:33:38.779 --> 00:33:40.899 It's not because of our religion 00:33:40.899 --> 00:33:42.940 that God looks down favorably on us. 00:33:44.059 --> 00:33:46.519 He calls his own and he knows his own. 00:33:46.599 --> 00:33:47.099 In other words, 00:33:47.480 --> 00:33:49.359 we say in the Collect for Purity 00:33:49.359 --> 00:33:50.339 every time we gather, 00:33:50.960 --> 00:33:53.339 that unto God all hearts are open, 00:33:53.460 --> 00:33:54.259 all desires are known. 00:33:54.299 --> 00:33:55.279 He knows every heart. 00:33:55.279 --> 00:33:56.460 He knows every desire. 00:33:56.460 --> 00:33:57.819 He knows his own, 00:33:58.000 --> 00:34:00.059 and not one of them will perish. 00:34:01.200 --> 00:34:03.059 But then Packer and Beckwith add this, 00:34:03.139 --> 00:34:04.440 reminding us of the need 00:34:04.440 --> 00:34:08.079 to continue to faithfully proclaim 00:34:08.079 --> 00:34:10.619 the good news to people of all nations. 00:34:11.880 --> 00:34:12.800 They add this, 00:34:12.860 --> 00:34:14.239 supernatural revelation 00:34:14.239 --> 00:34:15.960 sets forth Jesus Christ 00:34:15.960 --> 00:34:18.279 as the only Savior from sin 00:34:18.280 --> 00:34:20.620 and charges the church 00:34:20.620 --> 00:34:21.980 to preach this gospel 00:34:21.980 --> 00:34:23.560 throughout the world 00:34:23.560 --> 00:34:25.260 as man's one hope 00:34:25.260 --> 00:34:28.320 in this world and the next. 00:34:29.040 --> 00:34:30.040 So may God 00:34:30.040 --> 00:34:34.600 give us the courage, 00:34:34.720 --> 00:34:36.000 give us the strength 00:34:36.000 --> 00:34:38.960 for this task that lies ahead of us. 00:34:39.340 --> 00:34:39.940 Shall we pray? 00:34:39.940 --> 00:34:46.740 Dear Lord, 00:34:46.800 --> 00:34:48.720 we thank you for your great salvation 00:34:48.720 --> 00:34:50.840 worked out in history. 00:34:52.280 --> 00:34:54.820 We thank you for your word 00:34:54.820 --> 00:34:56.000 and for the many witnesses 00:34:56.000 --> 00:34:57.460 who brought it our way 00:34:57.460 --> 00:34:59.360 so that we can know 00:34:59.360 --> 00:35:00.880 what it is that you've been building. 00:35:02.139 --> 00:35:04.340 So we ask that you would give us grace 00:35:04.340 --> 00:35:06.320 every time we hear your voice 00:35:06.320 --> 00:35:07.860 to really take hold of it, 00:35:08.200 --> 00:35:09.559 to take hold of your truth, 00:35:09.680 --> 00:35:12.140 to take hold of your words of hope. 00:35:13.260 --> 00:35:14.059 And this we do, 00:35:14.640 --> 00:35:15.519 as we do this, 00:35:15.620 --> 00:35:17.700 we also long for the day 00:35:17.700 --> 00:35:19.500 when the redeemed from all nations 00:35:19.500 --> 00:35:21.460 will come into your kingdom. 00:35:22.260 --> 00:35:23.960 So we pray in Jesus' name. 00:35:24.640 --> 00:35:24.920 Amen.