The Unauthorized Homily

By Bill Dunn

A commentary on the Scripture readings from the Sunday Lectionary

(Scripture readings for Sunday, May 3rd: Acts 4:8-12; 1 John 3:1-2; John 10:11-18)

GOD’S INCLUSIVE EXCLUSIVITY

This week is labeled on the church calendar as the “Fourth Sunday of Easter.” But we might as well call it “Politically Incorrect Sunday.” In the first reading from the Book of Acts, St. Peter makes a proclamation which has offended people for centuries—especially in recent generations when Relativism has reigned supreme in the popular culture.

Speaking about Jesus, Peter declares, “There is no salvation through anyone else, nor is there any other name under Heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved.”

Oh boy. Talk about narrow and intolerant. You can’t put a gentle spin on that sentence. Peter is saying plainly that the ONLY way to be saved and enter into Heaven, the ONLY way to avoid eternal damnation, is through Jesus Christ.

This is the great scandal of Christianity: the claim that Jesus is the only path to salvation. Whenever Christians point out this claim of exclusivity, people are outraged. “So you’re saying only YOU have the truth?!” “You mean all other religions are WRONG?!” “So if I don’t believe exactly what you believe then I’m going to Hell?!” and on and on and on.

A couple of points should be noted. First, Christians didn’t invent this Jesus-only doctrine; Jesus did. He said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

Don’t shoot us for being the messengers. If it really rubs you the wrong way, take it up with Jesus Himself. But remember: if God is really God, then He has every right to offer the world salvation via one path or via many paths. He also has the right, by the way, not to offer this sinful world salvation at all. Thankfully He did offer salvation, and apparently He chose one path.

Secondly, Peter’s claim that “there is no salvation through anyone else,” is not the same thing as saying, “There is no salvation through any other church denomination but mine.”

Many folks subtly transform the “Jesus-only doctrine” into the “Our liturgy-only doctrine,” or the “My creed-only doctrine,” or the “This tradition-only doctrine,” or the “Our translation of the Bible-only doctrine.”

(Some of my relatives who attended parochial schools in the 1940s and ‘50s tell of priests and nuns who taught that only Catholics would enter into Heaven while ALL Protestants were going to Hell. And in recent years I’ve met some rather fervent Fundamentalists who insist the only way to get to Heaven is to be baptized their way—“Full emersion! None of that ineffective sprinkling stuff!”—and to make a born-again pronouncement their way, and to read the King James Bible only, and to get away from that Pope-worshipping cult based in Rome, and to destroy those idolatrous rosary beads, etc.)

This technique, transforming God’s way into “Our special interpretation of God’s way,” is what really offends people—and rightfully so.

The Gospel reading this week offers some insight into how God can be exclusive—the Jesus-only doctrine—while at the same time be much more inclusive than we might think.

During His famous “I am the Good Shepherd” speech, Jesus tucks a curious little concept right in the middle of it. After explaining that He will lay down His life for His sheep, and that His sheep know Him, Jesus changes gears and adds, “I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice.”

This is usually interpreted to mean Gentiles, those non-Jews from Greek and Roman culture who comprised the majority of believers by the end of the first century. But is it wise to put God in a box? Is it a smart thing to limit His plans?

Maybe by “other sheep” Jesus also was referring to more contemporary groups with no apparent ties to Christianity, such as Jews, Hindus, Muslims, and the Democratic National Committee. After all, Jesus is the eternal “Word” through whom all things were made. Maybe people who have reverence for the mysterious force which created the world are really worshipping Christ without knowing His name.

Jesus said He is the way, the truth, and the life. Maybe those who sincerely seek the truth are actually seeking Him and don’t yet realize that the true Truth has been personified in Christ.

I’m just speculating—this is not the “Dunn-only doctrine.” But we know that “God so loved the world” (John 3:16), which means the whole world, not just a small part of it (nor a small denomination in it).

And God reminds us, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways….As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9). I suspect this means we understand all the details of God’s plan of salvation about as fully as a hamster understands all the details of how a computer works.

It just might turn out that God’s plan of salvation is very narrow and Politically Incorrect—salvation through Jesus only—and at the same time it is very inclusive and broad. Love is like that.

When we get to Heaven, we may be surprised by who is there, and maybe even more surprised by who is not there. Most of all we should be grateful that God offers us a way to get there at all.

©2009