3 INCLUSIVE

      “THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN - INCLUSIVE”  March 13.1994
           Num. 21:4-9; Eph. 2:4-10; John 3:14-21       Lent - 4

Make no mistake about it - Jesus is the only Son of God; that is, Jesus is the One who was sent into this world, who was in the beginning with God and was God, who became human and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth.
Jesus is the only one who can be identified with God and speaks with God’s full authority... “For in him the fulness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of the cross.” Col.1:19,20

And what ever we say or don’t say about the inclusiveness of God’s love, must be said in the light of this truth and in no way minimize it or dilute it.
For that is to throw the baby away with the bath water; that is to nullify all that Jesus did as God’s Son, and that is to take away the very uniqueness with is ours to share with the world; the uniqueness of a God who desires everyone to be saved, everyone to come into the presence of God’s awesome love and come to the knowledge of the truth, that

“God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”

Indeed, a God, who “did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”... in order that the “immeasurable riches of God’s grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” might abound in our world, and we might be alive together with Christ and this God who is rich in mercy and who loves all with a great love...
“Who is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.”  Ps. 103:8


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Having said this, we now turn to our word for today -inclusive.
It is a word which wasn’t heard much around the halls where I took my theological training.  It is a word which has come to the foreground and is very much a part of theology today because of the terrible things which have happened without it, in the name of God and in the name of Jesus and in the name of religion.  For we have championed its opposite for too long now - exclusive - and the result is far from anything which is pleasing to God.

The divisions of our world, many of which are outlined by bold religious  differences, leave a lot to be desired and leave many lost and confused as to who is right and what to believe and where is God in the midst of it all.
It is no idle coincidence that the fighting in Sarajevo and Belfast and the West Bank, has deep religious roots which make it even more fanatical and more tragic.  And it is not an over simplification to say that this is, in part at least, the result of the word exclusive, which has long been dominate in the world of religion and needs now to be replaced by its opposite -inclusive.

What ever we do with the powerful words of our Gospel for today, and the equally powerful words of our second lesson, which contain two of the most loved and quoted verses of the Scriptures -

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him may not perish
but have eternal life.”    Jn. 3:16
                                         and
“For by grace you have been saved through faith,
and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God-
not the result of works, so that no one may boast.”  Eph. 2:8,9

what ever we do with these words, we dare not use them to exclude anyone from God’s love or God’s Kingdom, even though it sounds like we are given permission to do so when it says, “those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”

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For to do so is to do that which is never ours to do...judge another person’s believing.  This is where a lot of the terribleness of religion, based on it being exclusive and I can decide who is in and who is out, comes from.  Who are we to think we can know the mind of God or the heart of another human being?  Or who is God’s elect?  “It is God who justifies.  Who is to condemn?” (Rom. 8:33,34)  And on what basis do we judge, if we do?  On the basis of the person saying the words or doing the deeds?

Paul says in Romans10:9 that ; “if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”  But Jesus says in Matthew 7:21, that  “Not every one who says to me ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven but only the one who does the will of my father in heaven.”

And our Gospel for today, makes it clear that the way to know who believes and who doesn’t isn’t just by what people say they believe, but by the deeds of our lives which show whether we love darkness or light.

And then, as if this isn’t enough to scare us off from making the judgements which lead to exclusive thinking which leads to condemning all who do not believe as I do and act as I do, we are reminded by Paul, as he struggles which this same issue, that we are dealing with a God who is reported to have said to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion of whom I will have compassion.”(Rom. 9:15)
In other words, stay out of my business - which is deciding who is in and who is out; and be about the business I gave you when I sent my Son to be your Savior and acted kindly towards you when I let Him be lifted up on the Cross, for you, “(to) show the immeasurable riches of (my) grace in kindness toward (you)” -and that is to be compassionate as I am compassionate!


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If I had to choose one verse to sum up all that Jesus said and did, this verse from Luke would be a top contender.  “Be merciful, compassionate, inclusive, as your Father is merciful, compassionate, inclusive.”  Lk. 6:36

Yes, inclusive belongs in that verse; as Walter Wink, a contemporary theologian says.  It is a proper translation of the word merciful or compassionate for our day.  And it is a word we need to come to grips with, lest our religion be an excuse for rejecting those God loves and becomes a means to keep us from the tasks to which God calls us, namely to love light rather then darkness and do what is true to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that our deeds have been done in God.

We are to give the gift we have been given!
We are to be a blessing because we have been blessed!
We are to live as “children of light” (Eph. 5:1) and that means
“clothe (ourselves) with compassion, kindness, humility,
meekness, and patience.  (Bearing) with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, (forgiving) each other;
just as the Lord has forgiven (us), so (we) also must forgive.
Above all, clothe (ourselves) with love, which binds
everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of
Christ rule in (our) hearts...And be thankful.”    (Col.3:12-15)

AND LEAVE THE REST TO GOD!!!

Don’t spoil what God has done by trying to play God with other peoples lives and faith.  We never know enough to do that!  And when we try, we become exclusive with God who never intended to be excluded by anyone from anyone.  If there is to be excluding, God will be the one to do it and it may well be far different then how we would do it.  For if we take our clue from Jesus, with God more times then not the first are last and the last are first, those who think they are in are out and those who are sure they are out are given the seats of honor.   Which is to say it is not ours to say who is in or who is out...it is ours to show something of the “immeasurable riches of (God’s) grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” to all!
In other words, “Love ’em all; let God sort them out!”
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Is this not why Mother Teresa stands out as such a unique person in our day?
She comes from a strong doctrinal Church which along with much of traditional Christianity has preached God’s love and practiced exclusivity in so many ways both within its ranks and without, that it can hardly be said to be very open to anything which sounds too inclusive, too accepting of those who are different.  And yet she does not let this keep her from doing that which can be clearly seen to be deeds done in God, that is, deeds born of the love of God and deeply reflective of the immeasurable riches of God’s grace and love; and when asked to try put into words what she is doing, so we can see if it is true or not she blows us away with the reminder that:

“The same loving hand that has created you
       has created me.
If he is your Father
        he must be my Father also.
We all belong to the same family.
Hindus, Muslims and all peoples are our brothers and
        sisters.
They too are the children of God.

Our work among the Hindus proclaims that
        God loves them
        God has created them
        they are my brothers and sisters.
Naturally I would like to give them the joy of what I
         believe
but that I cannot do;
only God can.
Faith is a gift of God
         but God does not force himself.

Christians, Muslims, Hindus, believers and nonbelievers
       have the opportunity with us to do works of love
       have the opportunity with us to share the joy of
              loving and come to realize God’s presence.
Hindus become better Hindus.
Catholics become better Catholics.
Muslims become better Muslims.”
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And the love God has for the world becomes incarnate again, in those who confess Christ as Lord and in those who don’t; and something of the kingdom of heaven comes on earth because God’s love is not excluded from anyone and God’s lifting up of God’s only Son shines more brightly in the darkness of this world and the darkness will never overcome it.

The bottom line is, you see, that the best that we can say about what we believe is said through our deeds, not our words.  And to use words, even holy words to exclude is to violate the heart of God and it is to love darkness more then light.   What ever else we do, we dare not use God’s Word to exclude anyone from God’s love, for God’s love is infinitely more inclusive then we ever dreamed possible, and Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross penetrates the darkness of this world with a light which shines beyond our expectation and control.

Wm. Johnston, a Catholic priest who has spent years in the Orient, seeking to lift up this Jesus God sent whom we know to be the Son of God, has said it well when he said:
“I have spoken of an inner revelation, a gift of faith, an interior word offered to all (people) and I have said with Paul that God does not show partiality.  This I believe is true.  Yet I also believe that this inner grace is offered to all, thanks to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ who is ‘the true light that enlightens every (person) (Jn.1;9).  In other words, the inner light of faith is not unrelated to Christ but is his gift to all (people).  ‘for there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all...(I Tim. 2:5,6). I am aware that in taking this position I may sound unecumenical in that I give to Jesus Christ a unique role which I cannot accord to the founders of other religions even when I esteem them profoundly.  But, after all, this is my belief, and ecumenism can only grow and develop when the members of the great religions are honest and faithful to their deepest convictions.  Perhaps the matter could be stated more positively by saying that the Risen Jesus who sits at the right hand of the Father belongs to all (people) and to all religions.  No one religion, even Christianity, can claim to understand ‘the unsearchable riches of Christ.’ (Eph. 3:8)
And no one dare use the ‘unsearchable riches of Christ’ to exclude anyone from God’s Kingdom.  “For we are what (God) has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.”