CHRISTIANITY 101: WHAT’S IN IT FOR ME?
I had the most bizarre dream the other night; a dream that really rattled my cage. It seemed my wife died and was met at the Pearly Gates by none other than St. Peter himself. St. Peter said to her, “Would you like to come inside?” She said, “Oh, more than anything else in the world.” St. Peter replied, “In order to enter the kingdom of heaven, you’ve got to pass a spelling contest.” My wife said, “Spelling is not exactly my strong suit, but I’ll certainly do my best.” St. Peter said, “Spell ‘God.’” My wife said, “G-O-D,” and St. Peter quickly replied, “Welcome to the kingdom of heaven.”
Well in this dream, after my wife’s untimely demise, I quickly took up with a woman who was half my age. I was having the time of my life when I was tragically killed in an automobile accident. And I was met at the Pearly Gates by none other than my wife. She said to me, “Would you like to come inside?” I said, “Oh, more than anything else in the world.” She replied, “In order to enter the kingdom of heaven, you’ve got to pass a spelling contest.” I said, “Spelling is not exactly my strong suit, but I’ll certainly do my best.” My wife then said, “Spell… Czechoslovakia.”
The question of how one gets to heaven and who really gets to go there is a question that has plagued humanity since the beginning of time. In fact, that is exactly the question that was on the mind of Nicodemus in the passage I read from the gospel according to John. Nicodemus was a teacher of the law and a member of the prestigious Sanhedrin, which was essentially a Jewish high court some 2000 years ago. He came to Jesus by cover of darkness, since Jesus had already caused quite a stir amongst Jewish leaders, and he did not want them to know that he was there. Yet Nicodemus sensed there was something special about this Jesus. So he came to Jesus with a question by cover of darkness.
He began the conversation with these words: “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do, unless God is with him.” Do you see what Nicodemus was doing? He was beginning the conversation with flattery. As Dale Carnegie once said, “Flattery is telling another person precisely what he thinks about himself.” Perhaps Nicodemus was thinking, “Flattery will get you everywhere.”
Yet Jesus wasn’t fooled by token flattery. He knew why Nicodemus was there and he did not waste time on palaver. He looked right at Nicodemus and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born anew, one cannot see the kingdom of God.” Jesus was talking about spiritual matters, while Nicodemus thought he was talking about earthly matters. Thus, the first thing Nicodemus said to Jesus in response was, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” So Jesus got him on the right track. He said to Nicodemus, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”
It is from this brief exchange that many have taught that in order to get to heaven – in fact, in order to even be considered a Christian – one must be born anew. Now I’m here to tell you that that’s true, but there is a catch. The Greek words translated “born anew” are genaythay anothen. They literally mean, “begotten from above.” What that’s saying is that the process of being born anew or begotten from above…does not begin with us. The process begins with God. As Jesus later said to Nicodemus, “Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born anew.’ The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but you know not whence it comes or whither it goes; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
So you see, the process of being born anew is a gift from God, not a personal achievement. Oh, a gift must be received that we might possess it, but it remains a gift just the same. The point is that faith and salvation come by way of the Holy Spirit, not by way of our concerted efforts. This is meant to keep us humble and to engender faith within us out of gratitude rather than out of pomposity. But still, our American culture leads us to believe that we are in control, that we are the masters of our own destinies, and that we make all the choices, does it not?
Many years ago, there was a very devout woman in my church in Salem, Ohio named Elaine. She had a son-in-law who had a Ph.D. in neurosurgery. In other words, he taught neurosurgeons how to operate. He was clearly an incredibly brilliant man. He was also an atheist, which broke his mother-in-law’s heart. Elaine tried long and hard to convince her son-in-law that God was real, and that he really ought to have faith. Yet she found herself confounded at every turn.
She was telling me about this one time, so I said to her, “Let me have a crack at him.” She said, “Oh, he’d kill you in an argument!” I said, “That may be true. But what I’d say to him is this. Faith necessarily begins with God. If you don’t have faith, maybe it’s not because you have rejected God, but rather, it’s because God has rejected you.” Elaine quickly replied, “You can’t say that!” That was not at all what Elaine wanted to hear, but based upon the theology of faith we just described, it’s altogether possible that that is exactly what was occurring.
The American Religious Identification Survey, conducted in 2008 by Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, reveals that 80% of Americans surveyed identify themselves as Christian. Of course, that begs the question, “What does it mean to be a Christian?” Because we all know full well that the 80% of Americans who claim to be Christian are not a part of the church. I think of my own family. We went to church every Sunday morning when I was a kid. I became a minister, in no small part through the influence of a man named Bill Skinner of the First Presbyterian Church in Sioux City, Iowa. My brother and my sister – also raised in the church – have no part of the institutional church to this day. They’re relying on me to get them into heaven, and that sentiment hurt no one more than it hurt my mother.
I know there are people in this congregation who are in the very same boat. They raised their children in the church. Then they watched their kids grow up and move away and begin to raise families of their own. Only they are not raising their children in the church. No one’s heart is more broken than a grandmother who sees son or daughter fail to raise her grandchildren in the church.
Here’s the thing. We stated very clearly that faith begins with God. That’s what the church has taught for 2000 years now. Thus, are we saying that God is rejecting those people? Is God rejecting our own children and grandchildren? Or could it be something else? Remember, we said that faith is a gift from God. Yet a gift must be received that we might possess it. Could it be that our children are simply not ready to accept the gift?
Listen to this. In March of 1978, the Presbyterian Church conducted a survey of its membership. The study was called, “Prayer, Religious Practices, and Sources for Christian Growth.” Church members, church officers and church ministers were asked how often they prayed, how often they read the Bible, and how much these practices meant to them. What they discovered was that the less control people felt they had over their lives, the more likely they were to be involved in seeking a relationship with God. Did you catch that? The less control people felt they had over their lives, the more likely they were to be involved in seeking a relationship with God.
Women were more likely than men to pray, and to view prayer as being important in their lives. Younger and older people were more likely than people in their middle years, poor people more likely than rich people, and divorced or widowed people more likely than married people. You see, when we are without the defense of being able to pretend that we are in charge, we become more willing to turn to God. The more deeply people have been wounded by the experience of life, the more open they are to a relationship with God. We become more eager for a relationship with a God who just might upset our plans and disrupt our conveniences...when we feel we are not in control. Thus, when we feel as if we are in control of our lives, God is a luxury we may choose not to afford. But when we feel we are not in control – when we feel as if we need help from an outside source – we tend to be far more open to faith in God.
Perhaps that’s why our children and our grandchildren are not in church. It’s not that God has rejected them. It’s that they feel as if they are still in control of their lives. And chances are, they will not turn to God…until the vicissitudes of life convince them to give that up.
Jesus told Nicodemus that no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born anew, or begotten from above. From those words we derived that faith begins with God. It has to do with the movement of the Holy Spirit. Yet a gift must also be received in order to be possessed. Still, I suppose, the question remains: What do I really gain by being faithful? Or, perhaps even better still: “What’s in it for me?”
There is perhaps no greater fear than the fear of death. A few years ago, however, a survey determined that the greatest fear in America was the fear of public speaking. Jerry Seinfeld did an interesting bit on that. He said, “A recent survey says that the greatest fear in America today is the fear of public speaking. Death…was number two! So in other words, at a funeral, most people would rather be in the casket than up front doing the eulogy!”
Truth be told, I think our greatest fear is death. No one wants to die, at least not while they’re healthy. So Jesus addressed that fear. As he said in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” So what do I really gain by being faithful? What’s in it for me? Eternal life is what’s in it for me.
Of course, I never like to read John 3:16 without adding John 3:17. John 3:17 says, “For God sent the Son into the world not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.” We tend to stop with John 3:16 and try to determine who’s in and who’s out. Now this tends to upset some people when I say it, but I really believe it. I do not believe it is our job to determine who is in and who is out. I believe that’s God’s job. Suffice it to say that those who believe in Jesus Christ are in. Who’s out…is up to God.
Of course, people today want something a bit more tangible. To say that faith in God can bring us eternal life is seen as pie-in-the-sky theology by some. So when they say, “What do I really gain by being faithful?” or, “What’s in it for me?” they want something they can sink their teeth into. They want something in the here and now. So I’m going to give you that right now.
I did a funeral for someone not long ago who was not a part of this church. In fact, she was not a part of any church, and neither were her two sons. I did what I always try to do in a funeral sermon. I share pleasant thoughts about the dearly departed, then we dip down into the valley of the shadow of death, then we try to emerge in the light of the resurrection. In my mind, I’m following the pattern of the 23rd Psalm. After that was accomplished, the funeral director then led everyone past the casket for one last goodbye. I wish they wouldn’t do that. In any case, one of her sons began shaking violently in his grief, and crying out, “I can’t believe this is happening! Come back to me, Mother! Come back!” It was the desperate agony of a man in pain. It was the sheer trauma of a man who was no longer in control. It was the utter devastation of a life without faith.
Contrast that story with the couple for whom today’s chancel flowers were given. Bob and Libbie Christie were members of this church for 61 years, and were married for nearly 69. When it says in the Bible that the two shall become one in marriage, such was indeed the case for Bob and Libbie. They were devout in their dedication to one another, and they were devout in their faith. Nearly every Sunday morning, I could look out in the congregation and see them sitting pulpit side, about a third of the way back, right beside the outside aisle…Bob in a coat and tie, and Libbie in a bright blue hat.
When Libbie died in the Meadville hospital at 11:55 p.m. on July 12th, 2007, 91-year-old Bob got up, got dressed, and drove down to the hospital in the middle of the night. I’m sure it was a beautiful goodbye. He shed a few tears, but he did not fall apart. Because of his faith – because of his profound faith in God – he knew he’d see his Libbie again. And a little less than three months after that, he went to join her. Faith brings eternal life, but faith brings peace in this lifetime as well. Because of our faith in Jesus Christ, we have nothing to fear…in this lifetime or the next. That’s what’s in it for us. Amen.
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