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11.01.09

All Saints’ Day

SERMON SERIES: QUESTIONS FOR GOD

SERIES 4: SACRAMENTS & THEOLOGY

PART 4: WILL NON-CHRISTIANS BE SAVED?

ISAIAH 56:1-8; JOHN 10:1-16

• Universal Salvation
• Living In a Pluralistic Culture
• We live in a pluralistic culture, a culture that is multi-racial, multi-ethnic, and multi-religious
• Sociologists refer to our age as the “post-Christian era”
• To say that we live in the post-Christian era in no way means that Christianity is dead or lost its relevance
• It simply means that Christianity is not the only viable option by which a person can choose to live,
• It is one option among many from which a person can choose
• In the post-Christian era, every option is considered valid, and no option is considered right or wrong in comparison to all the possible choices a person can make
• The validity of the various options from which people can choose is demonstrated by the emphasis our culture places upon “political correctness”
• It’s no longer considered appropriate for purely Christian prayer to be offered in public schools
• Challenges have been raised in the courts regarding the display of a nativity scene outside government buildings
• Questions have been raised about whether the trees we decorate for Christmas ought to be called “Christmas trees” or “holiday trees”
• And what is the appropriate greeting we should use as the holiday season approaches?
• Should we say “Merry Christmas,” “Happy Hanukah,” “Happy Kwanza," or just use a more generic greeting like “Happy Holidays’?
• All of this debate over what is the “politically correct” thing to say and do is directly related to the “freedom of religion” and “separation of church and state” clauses in the U.S. Constitution
• Recognizing that everyone has the right to believe whatever they want to believe or to believe nothing at all, and that the government has no right to impose any particular religious belief upon our citizens, an extreme amount of care is encouraged to respect the rights of those who believe differently from us
• We are encouraged to be cautious not to offend others by imposing upon them beliefs they do not share
• Ministry In a Pluralistic Culture
• The challenge for us as Christians in such a pluralistic culture is how can we be effective in our ministry in a culture as religiously diverse as ours?
• How do we relate to people who believe differently than us and share the gospel with them in a way that is not offensive?
• Can we coexist peacefully with them and agree to disagree without being disagreeable, or is there some common ground we all share on which we can work together cooperatively?
• Must we blanketly accept the beliefs of others who are different, and if so, what does that say about the value of our beliefs?
• How can we be faithful in fulfilling Christ’s Great Commission to “make disciples of all nations” if the faith claims of other religions are just as valid as the faith claims of Christianity?
• These are difficult issues that the church of our generation must face
• Our culture is not that different from the culture of the first-century church
• Christianity was born in a racially and ethnically diverse culture, a culture which had a variety of faith options from which to choose
• Despite this diversity, Christianity spread like wildfire
• On the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the believers, three thousand converts were baptized following Peter’s preaching of the first Christian sermon (Acts 2:41)
• Later on, we’re told that “the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:47)
• Much of the book of Acts tells about the missionary journeys of the apostle Paul, who travelled to such cultural and business centers as Athens, Ephesus, Philippi, and Rome, travelling as far as Spain, preaching the gospel, winning converts for Christ, and establishing Christian congregations
• The key to the early church’s effectiveness is summarized in Paul’s words, “I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.” (1 Corinthians 9:22)
• In other words, the early believers were flexible enough to listen to and respect the people to whom they sought to minister, yet firm enough in their convictions not to compromise the truth of the gospel they proclaimed
• To each person to whom they witnessed, they demonstrated the love and compassion of Jesus Christ
• Salvation By Grace Through Faith
• The Universalism Argument
• In a culture such as ours, “Will non-Christians be saved?” is a question with which we must wrestle
• In light of the beliefs of our culture, it’s a legitimate question
• Our culture holds beliefs such as
• If God loves us all and Jesus died to save us all, how could a loving God save some and condemn others?
• It doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you believe something
• It doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you live a good life
• All religions teach basically the same thing, so as long as you are loving, God will be pleased
• Is it possible to recognize the validity of other religions and hold to the belief that Jesus’ words, “I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me,” (John 14:6) are true?
• In Isaiah 56, the prophet declares that faith in God is not limited to one race or nation or people
• It is a universal faith open to all
• One does not have to be born a Jew in order to receive the blessings of the grace of God
• God’s house will be a house of prayer for all nations
• This was a startling revelation for Israel because they believed that they alone were the chosen people of God
• But now, God declares through the voice of the prophet, that there is a place in God’s family for outcasts, signified by the acceptance of eunuchs, and that foreigners will not be excluded from fellowship with God as well
• These words, however, are not a declaration of universal salvation
• While outcasts and foreigners are certainly welcome in God’s house, they only become part of the people of God by binding themselves to the Lord to serve him, to love the name of the Lord and to worship him (vs.6)
• This is a declaration that there is only one God, who is Lord of all the earth, and we become part of the people of God only as we profess faith in God and commit ourselves to worship him and serve him
• The Good Shepherd
• John 10 contains Jesus’ teaching about the Good Shepherd
• Shepherd imagery is used throughout the Old Testament as a reference to the rulers of Israel
• The prophets had many harsh words to say about the shepherds of Israel, accusing them of plundering the poor for their own profit, devouring the weak, and scattering the flock of God
• Through the prophets, God promised that God himself would come to gather God’s flock and shepherd God’s people with justice
• In this passage from John, Jesus declares that he is the fulfillment of God’s promise
• As the Good Shepherd, Jesus will call his sheep by name and they will listen to him and follow him
• To all who follow him, Jesus promises abundant life
• He will protect them from the wolves that come to attack them and provide them with everything necessary for an abundant life
• During the summer months, the flocks of Israel were left out in the field during the night
• The shepherd would build a sheep pen with piles of rocks to corral the sheep
• Along the top of the rocks he placed thorns to keep wolves and rustlers from climbing over the walls
• The shepherd would lie down at the entrance to the corral, making himself the gate into the sheep pen so that no one could gain access to the sheep except through the shepherd
• Jesus uses this image to declare that no one can gain entrance into the flock of God unless they come in through faith in him
• The “Other Sheep” of Jesus
• Jesus closes his discourse on the Good Shepherd with some curious words
• He says, “I have other sheep who are not of this sheep pen.  I must bring them also.  They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.” (vs. 18)
• Some have used this verse to argue for universal salvation, claiming that the “other sheep” are people of other faiths
• But there are two factors in the context of this passage that make this possibility a wrong conclusion
• The first factor is the nature of the audience to whom Jesus is speaking
• Jesus’ audience is a Jewish one, and they believed that they alone were the chosen people of God
• In these words, Jesus is echoing the words of Isaiah, declaring that God’s love and grace is not limited to one race or nation or people, but that the possibility of salvation is open to all
• The “other sheep” are all those (including us) who will come to faith through the ongoing ministry of Jesus’ followers
• These words are a challenge to the church to be faithful in proclaiming the message of the gospel and to break down the barriers that exist between people so that all might have the opportunity to be saved
• The second factor is that, in order to gain entrance into the flock of God, those who come must listen to the voice of Jesus
• In other words, they must accept his teaching in order to experience God’s love and grace and blessing
• While the possibility of salvation exists for all, salvation is granted only to those who choose to accept the opportunity for salvation that God offers through faith in Jesus Christ
• God has predestined some to be saved and some to be judged, but whether we are saved or judged depends upon our choice to either accept God’s gift of grace or reject it
• Faithful Witness in a Pluralistic Culture
• The challenge for us, then is to find ways to share the gospel story with those whose beliefs are different in ways that are loving and respectful of them as people, and that is faithful to the teaching and example of Jesus
• Acts 17 gives us an example from the ministry of Paul on how to do this
• In Acts 17:16-34, Paul is speaking to a gathering of learned men in Athens
• These were a people who believed in many gods, as evidenced by the many altars and statues that adorned their city
• Paul noticed that one of those altars was dedicated to “an unknown God”
• Using this as common ground from which to start, Paul proceeded to reveal to them the identity of this unknown God and share with them God’s plan of salvation offered to all through faith in Jesus Christ
• As we live our life in a multi-religious culture, we must seek to find some common ground with those who believe differently from us
• That common ground shows that we love them and respect them as a person
• From that common ground, we must move on in loving and faithful ways to explain the differences of what we believe and why it is meaningful to us
• And we must be careful to demonstrate God’s love and grace through our words and actions, rather than acting judgmental of them because they believe differently
• The truth of the gospel proclaims that the opportunity for salvation is available to all through faith in Jesus Christ, but is not our place to judge who will be saved and who won’t
• In the end, God will save whom God chooses to save