Sermon “Show Us The Father”
Henry G. Selby
All Saints’ Episcopal Church
Morristown, Tennessee
Easter V: May 22, 2011
“May the words of my mouth and the mediation of my heart be always acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.” AMEN.
I am called Henry. I am a child of God, a member of Christ, and an inheritor of the Kingdom of Heaven. There are lots of Christians in the world who are troubled by today’s Gospel reading. At the heart of their troubles is this concept that Jesus the Christ, our Lord and our Savior says, “no one comes to the Father except through me”. I am reasonably certain that some of you sitting in the pews today find this concept troublesome.
And why? Well, because you personally know some good folks . . . from history, or maybe even members of your own family . . . or maybe even you yourself . . . whom you believe to be outside of that body that we know as followers of Jesus. But they’re good folks! They do good works! Anyone who has gone through confirmation class will have wrestled with the idea of a “good” Muslim or atheist or Jew or Hindu or Mormon or unbaptized baby winding up in the fires of hell or some odd theological cubbyhole called “limbo”, because he has never, quote, “accepted Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Savior”. And the idea of a loving God relegating those (whom God purports to love) to hell is repulsive to our logic and natural sense of justice.
But brothers and sisters, right there in the red-letter edition of the Holy Bible we have Jesus saying “no one comes to the Father but through me.”
I am well aware of how some people deal with this issue. “Yes. Gandhi was a good man in the world’s eyes, but he didn’t know
Sermon “Show Us The Father”, page 2
Jesus. He will not be in heaven.” This view is widely held here in east Tennessee.
Another group of people deal with the situation this way: “no matter what, everyone is going to heaven”. This concept is called “universalism” and would include the most heinous criminals in the annals of history. That doesn’t seem quite right either.
In both of these extremes, the adherents are reluctant to wrestle with the implications of Jesus’ words. My hope is that you here this morning will not be afraid to think deeply – very deeply – about this concept.
There are other ideas, of course: there’s reincarnation, there’s nothingness (following our earthly life), there’s becoming a part of the infinite at some atomic level and streaking about the cosmic ether at light speed.
Perhaps some of you are familiar with charismatic preacher by the name of Carlton Pearson who fell from grace at his megachurch in Tulsa, Oklahoma for suggesting that “Hell Sells” and that he would no longer sell salvation out of fear. “How can you love a God who is torturing your grandmother for eternity” he said. His congregation, numbering 6,000 people each week, booted him for suggesting that God is actually a loving God.
More recently we have the megachurch pastor Rob Bell, (10,000 member Mars Hill Church) an amazingly engaging preacher and mighty good theologian to boot, who has angered the fundamentalist powers with a similar message. If you haven’t heard of his book “Love Wins”, well . . . you haven’t lived. It’s a well-spent $11.98 plus shipping. And it’s available on Kindle. Anyway, he puts hell on trial. And guess what? Love Wins. Protestant American preachers are not organized well enough to have something like the Spanish Church
Sermon “Show Us The Father” -3-
did with its inquisitions, but when the book came out, Albert Mohler, President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, immediately called an emergency meeting of influential pastors to suppress Bell’s heresies. It’s not working. Bell’s book remains on best-seller lists. “Love Wins” by Rob Bell. It’s a good read for people who think.
You already know that Anglican theology, our theology, is founded upon the three-legged pillars of reason, tradition, and scripture. When we consider the totality of Jesus’ teachings, it is relatively easy for us to accept “no one comes to the father but through me” at a level that has nothing to do with altar-calls or emotional conversions at the end of junior high church camp. And while we can play with ideas about coming to God through Jesus during our earthly life AND/OR after our earthly death, or whatever, the real essence of our Lord’s teaching here is encouragement to continually seek God.
The Great Commandment and the Great Commission, so effectively touted by evangelists of our current age, are critically important for you and me. We must love God and our neighbors as ourselves above all else. And, we must “go and teach all nations”. We must NOT, however, fall into the very dangerous trap of claiming how many souls we’ve saved. We don’t save them. We never have and never will. And here’s a warning for you: if you keep of tally of those you’ve saved, you’d better be accountable for all those you didn’t. Guess which list will be longer. It’s futile, it’s inappropriate, and quite frankly, it is absolutely toxic to an understanding of the real Good News.
So I’m making the case that this Gospel lesson is really about encouragement. Listen again to the exasperation in our Lord’s voice when Philip asks him to “show us the father!” “Philip! Have I been with you all this time and you’re asking me to show you the father?” Don’t you get it?
Sermon “Show Us The Father” -4-
Now I need to pause to explain this very clearly: if you think I’m going to make a pronouncement that Hitler and Osama are in Hell, Gandhi is in Heaven, and who knows about the Mormons, I am NOT. If you want to know what I believe, it’s this: I do believe that God loves us so much that God gave us free will: and this will allows us to accept or reject salvation at some mysterious (for lack of a better word) “time”. And I believe that, through Jesus, we can recognize salvation either in this life or the life to come. Again, not everyone will. But my belief is not the point at all. In fact, that is central to this portion of today’s reflection. It’s not my job to determine who is saved and who isn’t. My job is to carry the message of salvation . . . that I have come to recognize and believe . . . and leave the results of my industry up to God! Let me say that one more time: our job is to do our job. God is in charge of the results.
But how, you may ask, does one come to recognize and believe and carry the Good News of Salvation? Aren’t we just like Philip? I mean, we’ve been hanging around the church for YEARS, saying the prayers, singing the hymns, and making the barbecue . . . and can we say that we REALLY recognize and believe?
Whitsunday is right around the corner. (Whitsunday? Whitsuntide? OK, you modernists call it Pentecost!) Three more weeks of Eastertide and then we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit and the bestowing of spiritual gifts on the community of believers. Spiritual Gifts are not talents or skills: they are God-Given gifts that are exclusively given to build up God’s church, and they are given to you and me. Remember when I mentioned our job? Well, our job is to use those gifts. It is in using the gifts that we may come to see God . . . and ultimately realize the hope of our calling. It’s all about call and response. Vocation.
Now next fall we will be offering a series of classes in Spiritual Gifts. I hope it will be well attended. But today, Rally Day, is the perfect
Sermon “Show Us The Father” -5-
time for you to reflect not only on the talents and skills that you can bring into service, but on the particular and amazing gifts that have been given to you by the Holy Spirit. I urge you in the strongest possible way to open your hearts and minds this morning . . . during this Divine Service . . . for direction. And when we go forth rejoicing in the power of the spirit and head into the parish hall, start putting
your name on one or more of the ministry opportunities before you. Did you read in Saints Alive that Pastor Scherry has tallied up more than 80 ministries offered by our parish? This is astounding!
If you’re still one of those people who need religion to frighten you a little bit, consider this: we all have gifts. And one day we’re going to have to account for them. But please don’t let guilt be your motive. It is my belief that fear of Hell is the precisely the wrong way to approach Union with our Creator. The motive is gratitude. Pure and simple gratitude. I fail at keeping the law. I ignore the warnings of the prophets. I have no trouble recognizing my own failures. There is no hope for me . . . until . . . at the foot of the cross or at the barbecue pit or singing a hymn, or straightening out prayerbooks in the pews or washing dishes I say: “My Lord and My God!”. And I say, thank you God. You have been made known to me through your Son.
Can we say that we REALLY recognize and believe? Well, I sure hope so. Let me share this with you, brothers and sisters. Just this week I was standing out here in the parking lot late in the evening having a conversation with an engaging and thoughtful man. He’s not a newcomer to our parish, but like me, has only been here for a few years. Our topic had drifted to the behaviors of various worshipping communities. In the course of our conversation he referenced our sign out front and he made this observation. “You know that sign that says “all are welcome”? This church really means it.” All are welcome. This church really means it.
Sermon “Show Us The Father” -6-
If we read the scriptures, there is no doubt of a need for a Savior. And when we realize that we are saved, there is no doubt that we will queue up for grateful service in our Savior’s name.
I am called Henry. I am a child of God, a member of Christ, and an inheritor of the Kingdom of heaven. And so are you. And that’s really good news.
And now unto God the father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, be ascribed as is most justly due, all might, majesty, power, dominion, and Glory, both now and evermore. AMEN.
