Religion and Salvation

Introduction

Religion is a tricky word. I don’t think it’s a very positive word to most people. If you admit that you are religious it will give the impression that you are probably strict or judgmental or maybe irrational.

And to be fair, I don’t have a very positive view of the word “religion” and I’m a professional religious person! I think it goes back to when I was a teen going through youth group and camp ministry. It was popular then to declare that Christianity wasn’t a religion, it was a relationship. It was about following Jesus, not belonging to a stuffy institution!

So, which is it? Is Christianity a religion, or a personal relationship? And the answer is… yes.

It would be silly to deny that Christianity is a world religion – it is an historic belief system represented by a multitude of churches, groups of churches, mission organizations, schools, hospitals, and much more. We’re the biggest and most influential religion globally.

But Christianity really is different than other religions because it is primarily about the knowing of a person. Other religious faiths were led by teachers who claimed that they could show the way of salvation or enlightenment. Jesus claimed to be the way of salvation. This faith is built on deepening a relationship with Christ, not only on following a set of beliefs or teachings.

One of the sillier things a person can say is that “basically all religions are the same.” No. If you zoom out far enough you can find common ground, and there’s certainly something to be gained by people of different religions working to get along and cooperate for the common good. But different faith traditions have some very different ideas about what humanity’s problem is and where the solution to this problem can be found, among other things.

Last Sunday I spoke on sin and hell, so we’ve talked about humanity’s problem from a Christian perspective! And the way I defined sin last Sunday was, at the deepest level, refusing to make God the centre of your life, or your ultimate good.

We talked about the ways things go wrong if you put relationships or work or success or control or wealth or anything else at the centre, including the harmful words and actions and attitudes we call sins, which will flow from letting the wrong thing direct your life.

Today we’ll explore the Christian answer – salvation – and why religion can’t get us there.

Trying To Get Away

The Bible’s call to humanity is to stop rebelling against God’s rightful rule. We want to be our own gods rather than submitting to our creator and seeking to put Him at the centre of our lives.

The prominent New York pastor Tim Keller has a way of explaining the two main strategies people use to shut God out and keep other things in the centre of their lives that I find helpful. He writes that the two ways to carry on in this rebellion against God are to be irreligious or really religious.

Irreligious is easier to explain – you can break all the rules and either deny God altogether or just not live as if you care what He thinks. We covered that path and where it leads pretty well last Sunday, which you can still check out online if you missed it.

But there is also a religious path to rejecting God – keeping all the rules and becoming self-righteous.

Keller writes: “There are two ways to be our own Savior and Lord. The first is by saying ‘I am going to live my life the way I want.’ The second is to live very morally, thinking that God will then have to bless and save you. In the Church that looks like people who see Jesus as a teacher, model, and helper, but not as Savior. You are trusting in your own goodness rather than in Jesus for your standing with God. You are trying to save yourself by following Jesus.

Some people might hear this and think, isn’t that OK? Isn’t that Christian religion? But this is actually a rejection of the Gospel of Jesus. It fails to put Jesus at the centre of your life – you’re still there, using Jesus to justify yourself rather than giving yourself to Jesus unconditionally.

A different way to think about this is to reflect the on story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Even if you’ve never read Robert Lois Stephenson you probably know a little bit about this character. Dr. Jekyll is a man who comes to realize that he is a mix of good and bad, and that his bad nature is holding him back. He wants to do good things, but can’t follow through. So he develops a potion that will separate his good self from his bad self.

The idea is that in the day his good self, free from the influence of his bad self, will be able to realize all his goals. But when his bad side first comes out at night, an alter ego named Edward Hyde, he is far more evil than Dr. Jekyll expected. And what was at the core of that evil? Stephenson writes “Edward Hyde’s every act and thought centered on self.” He only thinks of his own desires and doesn’t care at all who he hurts or kills if they get in his way.

The story is meant to tell us something the Bible also explains to us – that even the best people hide within themselves a terrible capacity for self-absorption and to regard for their own interests over those of all others. This is the reason the rich and powerful are indifferent to the plight of the poor, or why violence, crime, and warfare plague the world. It’s the seed that grows into the destruction of families and relationships. We hide (yes, Mr. Hyde) our sinfulness even from ourselves, but situations can occur that act like Dr. Jekyll’s potion, bringing those bad things out of us.

But there’s one more element in this story that is especially potent. When Dr. Jekyll realizes how evil he can be and he tries to fix things. He resolves never to take the potion again and starts to devote himself to charity and good works. He’s trying to make up for the evil he has done and hoping that doing unselfish things will improve his selfish nature. That sounds reasonable, right? People talk a lot about “working on themselves” these days.

But one day, after a few months of this, Dr. Jekyll is sitting on a bench thinking about how good he has been doing lately, and how much better a man he has become, and how superior he now is to vast majority of other people, those lazy, cruel, regular people who don’t care enough.

And as this happens he feels a horrible feeling pass over him and looks down to discover that, even without taking his potion, he has transformed once again into Edward Hyde. This was the beginning of the end for Dr. Jekyll, who loses all control and eventually kills himself.

Covering his sin with good works didn’t solve his problem, it led to a superiority, self-centeredness, pride, and suddenly Mr. Hyde is back. This story describes both ways of rebelling against God – doing whatever bad things you want – Hyde - and trying, often through religious commitment, to be good enough to justify yourself, which brought Dr. Jekyll right back to Hyde again.

The Way Of Jesus

If you read the Gospels with this idea in your mind, you will quickly see how much Jesus stands against both forms of sin – the irreligious and religious kind.

On one hand, Jesus didn’t lower the bar at all on the moral teachings of the Jewish faith He and most of his first followers were raised in. In fact, Jesus raises the expectations for behavior based on the Jewish scriptures, saying things like:

· You were taught not to murder. I tell you not to lash out in anger even with insults.

· You were taught not to commit adultery. I tell you not to even look lustfully at anyone.

· You were taught not to break an oath. I tell you not to swear an oath at all, just always tell the truth and do what you say you’ll do.

· You were taught to love your neighbour and hate your enemy. I tell you love your enemies and pray for those who mistreat you.

The ethics of the Kingdom of God couldn’t be higher – the irreligious attitude of “just do what you want” gets you nowhere with Jesus, who calls on us to put others ahead of ourselves in a radical way.

But when you read the Gospels you also quickly see that Jesus’ main opponents and the targets of Jesus’ harshest criticism were the religious elite. Some of them were corrupt, simply using their influence and authority for personal gain, and Jesus often condemned their hypocrisy.

But certain Pharisees and teachers of the law were very sincere – they carefully observed everything in the Jewish law as they understood it. They really were trying to be faithful to God. But, like Dr. Jekyll on that bench, the most religious among them often became prideful and self-righteous, looking down on everyone else with frustration or contempt. They were missing something – something vitally important that Jesus came to show us in a world-changing way: grace.

I want to walk through today’s passage from Luke 19 to help us see the extreme and even scandalous grace of God at work here. Some of you know the story of Zacchaeus from Sunday school, including the cute little song about how “Zacchaeus was a wee little man and a wee, little man was he…”

There’s a cartoonish version of this story where a cute little man just really wants to see Jesus and isn’t it wonderful that Jesus takes time to meet him. But if you were in that crowd of people that day I doubt you would have found anything charming about what happened.

Zacchaeus was a villain in that city. He was the head tax collector, and in Israel tax collectors were despised for two reasons. First, they were collecting taxes for Rome, which was the oppressive power Jews wished they could be rid of.

And second, tax collectors were widely seen as being corrupt. They had a lot of leeway to decide how much money to demand from people, and they often asked for more than they actually sent back to Rome, enriching themselves at their neighbours’ expense.

In today’s terms, imagine certain executives of major banks and financial institutions who play risky financial games to earn extra profits without regard for how it might affect everyone else. I think about the American mortgage crisis about fifteen years ago when there were a huge number of foreclosures and massive government bailouts were used to try to prevent the whole financial sector from melting down.

All of that had no cause except for greedy and irresponsible finance people. Imagine being someone who lost their home, their job, their retirement savings, or saw their community devested by that – how are you going to feel about seeing one of these multi-millionaires pull up in their fancy car, stepping out in a suit that costs more than you make in months?

That’s Zacchaeus. But something strange was going on with Zacchaeus. He was determined to see Jesus, desperate even. Important men like him didn’t shimmy up trees in town square to catch a glimpse of someone walking that way, but that’s what Zacchaeus did that day.

Jesus did pass by, and saw Zacchaeus up there. And whether it was through the Holy Spirit or simply because Zacchaeus was infamous in Jericho, Jesus knew who he was. Jesus stopped, looked up at him, and declared that He needed to go stay at Zacchaeus’ house. Zacchaeus happily agreed to this as he dropped down to the ground.

But the crowd was not happy about this. Why was Jesus, who was supposed to be this amazing prophet or godly teacher or maybe even something more, inviting himself over to the house of that man, who was responsible for so much injustice and pain? Everyone wanted to meet Jesus, why would Jesus give His time and attention to Zacchaeus?

But the affect Jesus has on Zacchaeus is immediate. Before Jesus has even gone to his home, before he’s even spoken to Jesus about anything, Zacchaeus publicly promises Jesus that he will completely change his relationship to money and possessions. He pledges to give half of his stuff to the poor – this is an offering of thanksgiving, a way to demonstrate a changed heart.

And Zacchaeus also promises to repay anyone he has cheated by giving them four times what was wrongfully taken. The Jewish law normally required a 20% increase in cases like that, so Zacchaeus has promised to go way above and beyond.

I don’t know if that did much to change the minds of the people gathered around – did Zacchaeus actually mean it? Would he really do it? But Jesus seems to believe it, and says “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham.”

Zacchaeus was deeply lost, but he had been sought by Jesus and now saved. Saying Zacchaeus was a “son of Abraham” wasn’t just re-iterating that he was Jewish, I think Jesus was speaking spiritually here, saying that Zacchaeus had responded in faith and repentance.

In the language that we’ve been using to talk about sin and salvation, Zacchaeus had turned away from sin and now desired God to be at the centre of His life. He had probably been feeling this for some time – his guilt weighing on him, his money and power failing to bring him joy or peace. Sin had left him empty, and maybe, just maybe, Jesus was the answer.

And then Jesus, just by seeing Zacchaeus, and choosing to go stay with him, communicated God’s grace to him so powerfully that Zacchaeus was ready to change anything and everything about his life out of gratitude to God for welcoming him, for giving him a chance to be made new.

This probably didn’t win Jesus many fans in that crowd. They would have preferred to see Jesus tear a strip of Zacchaeus. But Zacchaeus didn’t need his sin exposed or condemned, that had already been happening internally. What Zacchaeus needed was hope. Did God care? Could he be forgiven? Was it possible to walk in a good way after all he had done?

And Jesus, simply by inviting Himself into Zacchaeus’ life and home gave God’s answer, which is the same answer for anyone looking for salvation today. Yes. God does care. You can be forgiven. There is a new life waiting for you, a better life, with Jesus at the centre.

What About Us?

The story of Zacchaeus demonstrates God’s saving grace at work. Somehow or other Zacchaeus woke up to his sinfulness, at least to some degree, and rather than just doubling down and doing even more of whatever he felt like doing, he went looking for God. But not from the priests and religious teachers he knew despised him – from Jesus.

Jesus might be different. And He was – so different that Jesus would even go to the cross to complete His mission to extend God’s grace to anyone and everyone who would turn to Him. No matter what they had done, where they had been, or how hard they had been trying to keep God at a distance, Jesus brought God’s love and forgiveness near.

And He still does. The good news for anyone irreligious, anyone who has just been doing their own selfish thing and comes to desire something better, is that Jesus is full of grace. You only have to reach out, to ask with a sincere heart, for Jesus to help you, to forgive you, and to set you on a good path. What happens next may not be simple or easy, but I believe, deeply, that it will be good. It’s the way back to who you were created to be.

There may be some of us here today who ought to consider this, either because you have never asked Jesus to be at the centre of your life, or because you did that somewhere along the way but you haven’t been living like that lately.

You’ve dethroned Jesus in your life in favour of getting to do certain things your way, without the hassle of Jesus holding you to His higher standard. We don’t just repent of our sin once – we need God’s help to keep Him at the centre each day.

Is He at the centre of your life today?

But it’s also possible, likely even, that some of us need God to save us from religion. Let me put it to you – to us, actually – this way:

Who here feels like you are doing enough?

Are you doing enough for your kids, your spouse, your parents, or your friends?

Are you doing enough for God? Are you praying as often as you should? Are you engaging with the Bible enough? Are you loving and serving your neighbours the way you ought? Are you keeping your words loving and your inner thoughts pure enough? Am I making you feel bad by asking?

Here’s the thing: what’s enough?

If you feel a sense of anxiety, or insecurity, or inferiority because you have a religious standard that you aren’t reaching, that’s actually a sign of too much religion and not enough Gospel.

I don’t have any numbers to try to quantify this, but this is absolutely a reason that some people quit church, because it’s unpleasant to keep hearing that you’re supposed to like this and supposed to be like that, and you know you’re not.

And you won’t ever be – the bar is too high. Better to just give up on religion and find something that makes you happier. Some people switch from religious to irreligious to escape these feelings.

But better than religion or irreligion is mature Christian faith with Jesus – and His love and grace – at the centre.

Religion works by getting people to say “I obey, and therefore I am accepted by God.”

The Christian Gospel works by helping say “I am accepted by God through what Christ has done – therefore I desire to obey.”

Tim Keller writes: “Two people living their lives on the basis of these two principles may sit next to each other in the church pew. They both pray, give money generously, and are loyal and faithful to their family and church, trying to live decent lives. However, they do so out of two radically different motivations, in two radically different spiritual identities, and the result is two radically different kinds of lives.”

One kind of life is motivated by fear. Fear of not measuring up, not being blessed or protected by God, or maybe fear of hell.

The Gospel-believing Christian is motivated not by fear, but by gratitude. We aren’t forced into obedience in order to earn something, we desire obedience, we would like to be as much like Jesus as we can, because that pleases our wonderful savior who even gave His life for us.

A religious identity means you should only feel as good about yourself as your performance allows.

But something unique and different can happen when you build your identity on faith in Jesus. Then you can know that you are accepted by grace, not only because of your flaws but because you are able to admit them. The Christian gospel is that I am so flawed that Jesus had to die for me, yet I am so loved and valued that Jesus was glad to die for me.

This leads to deep humility and deep confidence at the same time. I cannot feel superior to anyone, and yet I have nothing to prove to anyone.

Conclusion

Yes, Christianity is a religion, and the structures and institutions and history and theology that come with it can be helpful in guiding us closer to God. But Christianity is also unique among the world’s religions in that it does not make salvation about our effort or performance, but on what Jesus has done and our willingness to let Him into our lives and keep Him at the centre.

Jesus said that He came to seek and save the lost. He’s still doing that. He’s calling out to the irreligious whose selfishness won’t lead them to the happiness they crave. Like Zacchaeus, He is ready to enter into their lives full of grace.

And Jesus is ready to bring salvation to the religious, too, for those who were taught that holiness is about your performance in doing good and following rules, rather than in gratefully desiring more of Jesus. He wants to set them free, too, where they will grow to be like Him far more than they ever did by their own efforts.

Let’s pray for those who need salvation:

Lord Jesus, who came into this world full of grace and truth, I pray for those who need you to save them from irreligion. I pray for those blindly trying everything they can to live in sin. I ask that you would do for them what you did for Zacchaeus, and give them the gift of discontent so that they will look for a better way. May they find you, and may we be positive examples that would make the desire you.

Lord Jesus, whose death ripped the temple curtain that supposedly separated ordinary people from the holiness of God, I pray for those who need to you to save them from religion. Help those whose faith makes them feel tired or insecure or inadequate because they cannot be good enough or do enough good. Help them to find peace in belonging to you, and to let their gratitude for your love and grace move them into life-giving action for your name’s sake.

Thank you, O God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. Amen.