Sermon: Salvation

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Salvation

By Charles Rush

November 21, 1999

om time to time, people send me actual quotes from our children, who get it nearly right, just a little confused. Such as the following from would-be confirmands:

Lots wife was a pillar of salt by day, but a ball of fire by night. [So thats why he didnt want her to look back; I knew there was more to that story].

Asked about the ten-commandments, one student wrote, "The first commandment was when Eve told Adam to eat the apple The seventh commandment is Thou shalt not admit adultery." Thats from the Bible of his Uncle Anthony, not God.

Or this: "King Solomon, one of Davids sons, had 300 wives and 700 porcupines." That may have been more accurate than we know.

This question asked one thing you learned about Paul. "St. Paul cavorted to Christianity." (Sounds like a hop, skip, and a jump). He continues, "Paul preached holy acrimony, which is another name for marriage."

Asked about the Christian moral teaching on marriage, one student wrote "A Christian should only have one spouse. This is called monotony." Sounds like he is not completely sold on the idea yet.

And Joey was asked to comment on the Golden Rule taught by Jesus had this to say, "Jesus enunciated the Golden Rule, which says to do one to others before they do one to you." Little surprise to find out his Dad works in Mergers and Aquisitions.

They almost get it right just a little confused. I mention that because it is an apt way of introducing a peek at salvation. Salvation is a profound spiritual reality which we have gotten a little confused. As a result a whole bunch of people from my generation turned off from the concept altogether because we associate it with guilt and the next generation appears to have little or no concern about it at all, which is also sad. Salvation is an important color to have on your palette of spiritual expression.

When I was a child in the South, everyone had to get saved. There were a very few people who would not but you hardly knew anyone like that. Then there were the Epsicopalians, and no one was quite sure about their eternal fate. [Secretly, we were hoping they wouldnt make it to the after life because if they were there, we would probably still be caddying for them.] But for the rest of us, we all committed our lives to Christ because this is what you did to get a ticket into heaven. Our preachers gave these sermons that rather vividly illustrated our life in Hell and made it quite clear that we didnt want to spend much time there. Then they would ask the big question, "if you were to die tonight could you say with certainty that you would spend eternity in heaven?" It scared me enough at 8 to walk the aisle. It seemed to me that our worship never really got very far beyond that. Most certainly we didnt do anything about race relations that I can remember. We didnt do any social outreach at all. W

The older I get, it strikes me as curious because that whole approach is so negative, guilt ridden, and otherworldly. And Jesus was so positive, healing, and communal in this life as well as beyond.

In the New Testament, the root meaning of salvation is based on a fairly primal human experience. It means "to save", "to keep from harm", "to rescue", "to heal", "to liberate". It was based on an experience that was such a regular part of the ancient world, which was subject to far greater danger and harm than we were.

In the Iliad, at one point, Paris gets a sense that his army, the Trojans, might lose their battle to the Athenians. That night, he finds himself inside the walls of Troy, mustering fresh troops and he goes to see his wife, Helen. He wants to pour out his fears. She recounts for him what her future life will look like should he lose the war in fact. The whole town will be pillaged, most of the women will be raped. She will be dragged off to be the concubine for some Athenian for the rest of her life, probably separated from her children, all of whom will be enslaved. It was a truly frightening prospect and it did inspire Paris to full vigor in battle.

That experience of fear at the prospect of immediate doom that doesnt happen sticks with you. It is a primal survival reality that often changes people for the rest of their lives. I met two Navy divers for the Israeli Navy when I was skin diving on the Red Sea in college. Their specialty was parachuting under cover into the water, scuba diving to ships and placing bombs on the hulls of Egyptian boats. One of them missed a drop in the 6-day war, and found himself on the edge of the Sinai desert, pretty far behind enemy lines, in the middle of nowhere. He was walking over the side of a mountain for a view. There appeared to be no one in sight for miles around him. Suddenly right in front of him was an Egyptian soldier. They came literally face to face in astonishment. The Egyptian soldiers gun was at a distance. The Israeli soldier pulled his gun.

Immediately, the Egyptian soldier trembled and began to beg for his life. The Israeli soldier was frightened. His impulse was to kill the Egyptian immediately but when the Egyptian dropped to his knees with his hands on his head, crying, he stopped for a moment. He just couldnt do it. Then he thought about how much noise a shot would make and he began wondering who else might hear it. Meanwhile, this Egyptian is shouting as fast as he can, using a little Hebrew, a little English.

Soon it became clear enough to the Israeli that the Egyptian was also terribly lost from a failed reconnaissance mission and alone. What to do? He said that he had grown up his whole life around Arabs and if there was one thing he had learned deep in his gut, they were not to be trusted under any circumstances. I asked him what did that mean? It meant, he said, that he had no choice but to shoot the soldier in the head, even though he was defenseless. A couple of other soldiers that were with us, nodded in agreement.

But", he said, "something was different that day. For reasons I cannot explain. I told him to get on his feet, keep his hands on his head, and to begin walking. That if he looked back, I would shoot him with his rifle." And he started walking.

I wonder what it was like for that man when he first saw his other troops, the first time he saw his children again on leave, the first night he got back into his own bed. From then on, every day is plus one. You dont forget an experience like that. That is a primal salvation.

There is also a piece of it that can relieve us of guilt that is quite profound and important. I was in a small worship setting in Princeton a few years ago. We had a visiting scholar with us that day from Germany. He was an elderly gentleman and a distinguished scholar.

Somehow the discussion turned to the subject of regrets and different people were sharing regrets. It was an odd afternoon where people were sharing rather deeply and supportively. Finally, this gentleman spoke up and began to describe something he had never been able to talk about. He was a child during the war. One day the Gestapo came to their classroom and called out a list of Jewish children, who all went to the front of the class There was this long pause and he said "And I did nothing And I never saw them again." He broke down. He told me that they had appeared in his dreams from time to time all of his life. Im quite sure that he needed to be healed and forgiven before he died and for reasons I cant explain that was a safe place for him to begin that process. It is not easy and you cant just wave a spiritual wand to make it happen and that is not my point today.

But we can be healed from things we have seen and done in the past, even grave moral lapses. The point is that we can be healed and that healing is salvation. One of the meanings of salvation is "to make whole" in the sense of to become well, to become integrated and reconciled. On a very personal level, all of us become integrated by working through the parts of ourselves that are compromised and destructive. That is the very difficult work that we have to work on and it is more than a life-long project.

The idea of salvation is social, positive, and compelling. It derives from the epic drama of the story of the Exodus. A whole nation, 12 tribes of people, all enslaved, seemingly with no way out, seemingly with no future. In a rather fantastic way that they could not have anticipated, nor would they have predicted, they walk out of Egypt free, to find their own home, to nurture their own children.

The idea of salvation is particularly compelling to people of rejection, of oppression, who are in need of deliverance. That is why when Jesus started teaching about the "Kingdom of God", the people that most wanted to hear about it were those on the margins of society. Lepers came, people with strange diseases, who had experienced so little joy in this life, tanners and people whose very occupation made them unable to participate in the Temple, socially powerless and disadvantaged people whom religion and society had left in some depressed condition; Those who were morally compromised- tax collectors, those who collaborated with the Roman occupation, prostitutes. That is why Jesus said, "I have come to heal those in need of healing, not for those who are already well."

It is not as important to people for whom life in this world has been largely successful and joyous. They beg off the invitation to come to the banquet like the characters in our parable. We are they. They are we, which is why we dont talk about it directly very much. But it is a compelling invitation to our spiritual imagination nevertheless.

Jesus held before us a vision of the Kingdom of God: A place where we would be at peace in ourselves and in harmony with the world; a place where we could be centered in God and have love flow through us to others around us; a place where we would support one another in care, with compassion- healing, forgiving, reconciling; a place where we would pray for one anothers well being.

That in itself is such a powerful reality. Do you ever just stop and focus your spiritual imagination on your children or your spouse or someone close to you? Just lift them up and see them filled with blessing and grace? You should

Jesus showed us a vision of a place where everyone finds a place at the table in community. Everyone thinks that they are acceptable. Everyone feels good about themselves and has something to contribute. It is world beyond mere justice to real community and inclusiveness.

Jesus showed us a world, where we would begin to extend our spiritual imagination beyond our immediate confines: that we would release this Spirit in ourselves, through our families, our community, into the wider world that in some sense it was even possible to be spiritually connected with people you did not know, that we could even pray for our enemies.

Isaiah showed us this vision of our very earth being healed, the physical destruction that we have done to it becomes whole "the Lion shall lie down with the lamb and the child shall play over the snakes hole and shall not fear, nor be hurt." That is a kind of cosmic spiritual reconciliation.

I know what some of you are thinking. You are saying, "Yeah, but that could never really happen." Right! That occurred to the writers of the Bible too. It is a vision where our very world is transformed and healed. What would that look like? It is, in a real sense, beyond our imagination but if Jesus is right, it is not beyond Gods imagination. That is a very hopeful thought.

I mention this today because you are about to gather this week with your families the Kingdom of God? I just hope the kids stop beating the hell out of each other There is no place quite like family to have to work out our salvation is there? They can hold a grudge longer than Slobodan Milosovic. In some ways it is easier to love people on the other side of the world than it is to love Uncle Henry.

I invite you this year to release a Spirit of love, to hold these people up and envision Gods blessing and salvation surrounding them. I share with you a free translation of 1 Corinthians 13. It was done by one of my Greek professors. It is St. Paul on love.

This is what he says "Love does not yell at the kids and pout with the mate; love is not jealous of time and others gifts; it is not domineering or rude. Love does not insist on my way and my terms; it is not self-pitying or demanding of overt expressions like gee your great. Love does not always find fault with the performance of others; it does not shout I told you so. But rejoices in even little successes and all signs of growth. Love accepts humanity even in the family; believes in grace, even for your kids, your boss, your employees; hopes for progress; encourages new beginnings.

Love never ends For I too am human and my way is not always right but God is in us all and leading me through those around me. When I was a child, I acted like a child. Sometimes I still act like a spoiled brat. My children are a mirror helping me to grown into Christian adulthood. Now I will try to be patient and understanding with others as God is patient and understanding with me. So faith in God and others, hope for myself and others, Gods love for me and in me for others, these three; but the greatest of these is love." May God fill you with saving love this season. Just watch what happens.

Amen