922 Ministries - The CORE & St. Peter Lutheran

So it happened for the first time on Wednesday, the highway 41 construction project got into my way of getting from point a to point b from my house on the southwest side of town by the airport to St. Peter. And I'm not telling you that to get all of you a little more riled up and frustrated and object to the length of this project and all that's being done and how your life is going to be disrupted. I bring it up because it was the first time it happened to me and so I, having seen the sign, tell me it was going to happen in advance. I looked at what my possible routes would be.

I thought to myself, over the course of the next four years, different overpasses, different on ramps and off ramps, different parts of the highway are going to be under construction. So I want to know what way is the best way and what options will I have over the course of time. In about two minutes, I came up with at least ten. Like from my place over by the airport, I can take about five different routes across town without ever touching the interstate. Might take me a few more minutes, might be a little more scenic, might cause me a little more frustration.

But I think my level of sanctification has gotten better over the years and I won't get too angry about College Avenue going down to one lane as opposed to two. I realize there are other ways that I can get there based on just exiting at different places along the way. Like if Ballard Road gets closed, I can maybe exit on Richmond a little bit earlier. I could go a little bit further. I can get there multiple ways.

It'll take a few extra minutes, but not a big deal. I even realized I can go the back way. I can take 41 south and get on 441 and come around and exit on Northland and hit french road and I'll still get there. It's not that bad. Like, there are multiple ways and multiple paths for me to get from point a, my home, to point b, my main office here at the St.

Peter campus. Over the next four years, I'll be just fine. There are multiple ways to get to the goal. And in life, that principle is true in lots of different areas. Like for example, if you want to get a college degree in today's world, there are multiple paths, multiple ways that you can reach that goal.

You can start with community college to save a few bucks. You can transfer to a bigger university down the road to get more specialized courses. Like there's multiple ways that you can reach that goal. You can do online and you can do in person. You can do a mixture of both in order to reach that goal.

You can accomplish that task in three years, four years, five years. I even have friends who took six years. You can take different paths and different lengths of time to accomplish that same goal of getting that degree. Like in life, there are lots of those kinds of examples.

And on the other hand, sometimes there's not multiple ways and multiple paths to the same goal.

Like, you can choose a different diet plan than someone else and exercise in a different way because you enjoy it more and reach the same goal of weight loss, better physical health. But in other areas of your life, there are certainly things that. There's not multiple paths. There's one. I take the first example I used of roads, like around town here.

I can take multiple paths to get from point a to point b. But if you're coming from the up and you want to get to the lower peninsula of Michigan, there's one road, if you're driving by car, that gets you across. It's called the Mackinac bridge. It's the only way. Like, there aren't multiple roads.

You're not going to find a county highway that's going to get you across that water. It's one path. Same is true. You can get a degree in college, but if you want to be a specialist in a certain field, if you want to be a lawyer or a doctor, there's this thing called law school and medical school. Like, they can tell you on tv and holiday and commercials that you can play a doctor, but you can't play a doctor in real life.

Like, if I apply at thedacare and say I can be a cardiologist, they're going to laugh me out of the room. Like, I haven't done the work, I haven't followed the path. Both those realities that can be true in our world are the real tension in our last objection today. Like the objection to the exclusivity of Christianity, like many people in our world today believe, hold on to proclaim that there are multiple ways to get up the mountain and get to God. There are people who believe that while religions are different, they all lead to the same place in the end.

But Christianity says no. Christianity says that's not the case. There's only one road that ultimately leads you to God, to eternity. And on the surface level, I get that tension right off the top, right? Like when people hear the claim that only christians will end up in heaven and everyone else will not.

The surface level tension that's real comes from this reality that we talked about when you have objections, when there are objections, you need to have conversations, not debates. You need to have conversations because sometimes the objection is to a bad experience. And having conversations are important, not debates, because sometimes these objections are personal and they're emotional. Well, this objection is to something very personal. People, like only one third of the world identifies as Christian.

Just on surface level, we won't go any deeper than what Jesus says, that not everyone who claims to be Christian will get in. But you know what that means just off the top? That the christian exclusivity eliminates two thirds of today's current world, 6 billion people.

Like, if you love people, that hits home.

And I get it on the surface level, because there are some people who wear the name Christian, but they are not good people.

And, you know, people who are Buddhists, people who might be Muslim, people who might be nothing, but they're really good people. Like, you work next to them, you live behind them like they're in your world. You play golf with them. And the tension is real because you look at those people and they're good people and they're kind people compared to those people. Why would they get in and not them?

Because that doesn't make any sense. It's emotional.

And when you have that surface level issue of today's tension where people are involved, you begin to understand why that grows into an objection. Like it grows into an objection. Because there's a natural tension in our world today. And here's the tension. Exclusivity isn't loving.

Like, the reality is, as we look at our world, whether we talk about the workplace or society, we talk about inclusion. Like, inclusion is important. To exclude people based on their race or their gender or their social status or their sexuality or their identity is not being tolerant and not being accepting. Like, excluding versus including is a huge thing in our worldview today.

So when you exclude people and not include people, you have a big tension, like, just in general. But when you add religion to it, it escalates.

So the surface level issues and the tension that are. There are things that help us understand why someone might have this objection.

But can I tell you that I believe there's more to it than that.

I don't doubt that there's an element of loving people. I don't doubt that there's an element of the worldview that we're exposed to that we have to wrestle with and struggle with. Because the world all around us says to be accepting, to be tolerant, is good. I'm not even going to get into inclusion from a world's perspective. And I'm not here to.

To make this into a biblical debate about inclusion and exclusion at the workplace and in society. Like the Bible has a whole lot to say on that. Like, God speaks a whole lot about excluding people based on their gender and based on their race and based on their age. Like the Bible says a whole lot on those things. I'm not getting into that discussion today.

I'm wanting you to see that it's a part of the tension that leads to the real objection.

Because when you mix in people that are real and maybe people that you know, when you mix in this worldview that is taught and encouraged and maybe followed that, that. That you see and maybe wrestle with, at the end of the day, that tension gets into the objection. If you're taking notes, I would pose to you that the real objection that might flow from that tension and the surface issues is this, that Christianity and its exclusivity, if you go back to the blanks, christian exclusivity is narrow, arrogant, and judgmental.

It's narrow, arrogant, and judgmental because there are a whole lot of people in our world today, in view of that tension that is real, that would say, I just don't believe and can't believe and won't believe that there's only one way to heaven.

Like, there are a whole lot of people in the younger generation who have been exposed both to the worldview and have a whole lot of relationships that say, I simply won't believe that. I think that is narrow, judgmental, and arrogant.

But can I maybe speak to you if that's you like, is it really an objection to the exclusivity of Christianity, or is the objection really to the objectivity versus subjectivity when it comes to truth?

Like, that world tension about inclusivity really has a deeper issue. It's the same issue. The real objection, that to speak of an objective truth, that there is an ultimate truth, and that it's God based on the Bible's truth, is the objection.

And the objection is, I look at people, I look at things. I think it's narrow, judgmental, and arrogant.

In a world where truth is anything but objective nowadays, but very subjective, we need to have a conversation. Like, if this is your objection or you wrestle with it, if it's the objection of someone that you know and you need to have a conversation with, if someday down the road you are exposed to that world's tension and you're gonna wrestle with and struggle with maybe leaving God, leaving Christianity as a result. Can I just say, in order to really, truly understand this objection, we have to have an honest conversation, because if you examine all world religions, it's impossible that they can all lead to the same place.

It's impossible that someone that doesn't believe in anything or anyone can end up the same place that is heaven, defined by God in the Bible.

And if you compare world religions, if you really, truly do deeply examine them, they tell you that in order to get to that place, there are different things that get you there. They can't all lead to the same place.

Like, it would be like me telling you to take 94 south and then drive down to Chicago and 65 south and then go 70 east and you'll end up in California. You're not going to get there. California's west. Like, not all roads lead to the same place.

And you might be a Christian, you might be here today saying, this isn't for me. Can I convince you that maybe, just maybe, that part of the reason for the objection is because we try and make it a debate and end it quickly without having a conversation?

And so I want to give you five answers today to help address the objection, to help you maybe see it through a new lens. I'm going to speak from what God speaks. It's his word, not mine. But can I convince you that maybe the answers we're going to find today reveal that this questioning of God's character, that God is anything but narrow. Instead of arrogant, he's loving.

And if you want to object to him because he's judgmental, remember where he placed his judgment, because then you might see it differently.

So in order to understand it, five answers, five truths based on biblical passages to help us see what this objection is and maybe answered in a different way. Maybe the answers that you've heard before have never gone down this path. And the first three answers are vital and important because all too often, Christians leap to answer number five to try and end this conversation. Like some of you came in here today and would say, well, exclusivity. There's only one way to heaven.

Like Pastor Tim, just drop the passage bomb that Jesus says, I'm the way, the truth, and the life, and you can get the sermon over and we can all go home in 45 minutes.

But when we do that, oftentimes we play into the objection. We come across as judgmental and arrogant instead of having a conversation. So instead of jumping there, begin here, the book of Romans, chapter three. The apostle Paul says, now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore, no one will be declared righteous in God's sight by the works of the law.

Rather, through the law, we become conscious of sin. There is no difference between jew and gentile, religious or irreligious. Someone who is brought up in it, born into it, versus someone who has never known it. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Like, the first answer in the conversation to this objection is this truth about sin?

We're all included. It's all inclusive.

Like, the whole conversation that underlies this one is a lot of people want to say, like, I just don't get it. Like, good people should get into heaven. Like, I can't imagine that there's a good God who wouldn't let good people into heaven. You know what? When people say that, I would tell you to say, or I want you to hear that good people should get into heaven.

You know who would agree with that? God. Like, God says all people who are perfect good get in.

But the Bible says none of us are good or perfect.

Like, you would find it hard to argue, no matter what religion you are in, whether you believe something different than I believe or they believe something different than you believe, that any person on the face of planet earth would ever say they are perfect and without sin. Like, if any of you here today have never said a harsh word to your spouse or your parents or your kids, raise your hand right now and I'll let you leave.

Like, if any of you have ever had a sibling, have never intentionally tried to hurt your sibling by pushing them, tripping them, or teasing them, raise your hand.

Like, if you have never had a bad thought about the person in the cubicle next to you or the neighbor behind you, raise your hand. These are like minimal things. We're not talking about big sins. We're not comparing really bad to minimal. Like, the truth is we're all sinful.

Like, I'm a Christian and I'm a sinner. Muslims are sinners. Buddhists are sinners. People who call themselves nuns, who have no religion are sinners. They would all acknowledge it.

Can we all agree on that truth? We're all included in sin.

Like, if we begin there and can agree to that, then we need to see what the Bible says about sinners. This is what the Bible says on the topic. If all are included in this, the Bible says this. The wages of sin is death. What we deserve and get for sin is death.

Physical death. Adam and Eve brought it into the world, the Bible says, but even more importantly, eternal death, separation from God, like, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and all are worthy of death. Being separated from God has nothing to do with whether I'm a Christian or not, whether you're a good person or not. The reality is all of us are in the boat and all of us are guilty of sin and without holiness, no one will see the Lord. Like to get into the Lord's house.

There is a standard holiness. And if you sinned, you're not. Because I've sinned. I'm not like, I get the objection, but as I'm talking to you and we're having this conversation, understand very clearly, because of my sin and my lack of holiness, I would not get into heaven like the path of being a good person, a better spouse than you are, than not using four letter words like you do does not get me in, because he who fails in just one spot is guilty of breaking all of it. The God of the Bible says, you see, sin is all inclusive and sin equals exclusion.

The Bible says, like, you do not get in. You can't take another path of checking this box, that box, or just enough boxes because you can't check them all.

Let me put it this way. Like, think about the mountain. The goal is to get to the house of God. It's his house. A lot of you have a house, apartment, place where you live.

Like, here's the thing about my house. I get to decide who comes into my house. If you bring good beer, you get into my house. If you bring bush light, you can keep it in your house.

Like it's my house. I get to determine who I invite, who comes in, and the rules that take place in my house. Like, unless you're my father in law who completely objects and will not take off his shoes, please take off your shoes when you come into my house.

My wife gave me permission to say that. And yes, it's not my house, it's our house, like, but do you get that right? It's your house, it's his house. Like, heaven is his place. He is perfectly holy.

He gets to set the standard and he gets to determine who gets in, how you get in. And he says about his standard, like, without holiness, you don't get in.

And on our own, we lack holiness.

And that has to be a part of this conversation. We're all included. This is not about christians thinking they're better than others. If we've given that impression, I apologize for all of christians in the world. I'm not better.

None of us are better. We're all broken and we're all in need of a solution. But here's the thing about the objection. That Christianity is narrow, that Christianity is arrogant, that Christianity is judgmental. It's actually an objection to God's character.

But can I convince you that God's character is anything but narrow, that instead of being arrogant, he's loving? Because while sin excludes us and all of us have sinned, here's the truth about God. Look at these passages. It's good and pleases God, our savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. God wants all of you to end up with him.

The Lord's not slow in keeping his promises. Some understand slow. And as instead he's patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance. If you have this objection, or you know someone with this objection, the reason God hasn't returned yet is because he does not want to exclude you, just like he doesn't want to exclude me. He wants all people to be saved.

Like God is anything but arrogant. God is anything but judgmental and unloving. He's so loving that in the face of sin, that excludes us. He still wants you and me and all to be saved. That's God.

That's the God of the Bible. That when you have this objection, you're objecting to somebody who isn't judging you based on you're good or bad, the boxes you've checked. He's treating you like everybody else, and he wants you to be saved. God, just like sin, is all inclusive. God is all inclusive.

He wants all people to be saved. All.

But here's the thing about that. All lacking holiness excludes. You need holiness to be included. None of us are holy, so we need a solution.

And that's where Jesus comes in.

Like all too often, we jump right to Jesus as the reason, the words that he says, as his claims, to try and end this objection, to not even have the conversation. But you have to have those truths in place, that God is an all loving God, that sin is an all inclusive thing, and that sin excludes you and me. And so we need a way for that path to be possible. Well, you know how it's possible to end up in Mount Zion, what is called the new Jerusalem? What is heaven?

The only way, the only path that makes it possible is Mount Calvary, the place where Jesus died. Like God wants all people to be saved. So he solved the problem, the challenge to God, and him being judgmental, understand, God is very judgmental when it comes to sin. He judges sin. But you know what he did?

Instead of judging you for your sin, he put his judgment on Jesus Christ.

He directed his anger, the wrath of hell, on Jesus Christ, his one and only son.

That sounds like a pretty amazing God who knew you couldn't do it, so he did it instead that he sent his son into this world. The Bible tells us there's one God and one mediator, a go between to make it possible. So that from point a to point b, from this life to eternal life, there's one person in the middle, the mediator. And his name is Jesus Christ. The man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people.

He paid the price for all people. He died on the cross for you and for me and for them, for all people of all time. Jesus Christ is the savior from sin. He is the solution for our sin. Jesus is God's solution from exclusion.

Without Jesus, we would be excluded. We need holiness. But Jesus was holy, and Jesus paid the price that we couldn't pay. And Jesus rose victorious. And God says in his word, he became what we were, to give us what we were, not holy.

He's made you holy. Like, it's not about checking the boxes, being the best person ever. It's about Jesus, the best person ever, that gets you in. God's solution from exclusion for all people is Jesus Christ come to earth so that you and I might have a way to heaven.

And yet. But pastor, some are still excluded. They are.

But why?

Because if Jesus is the only path but you don't believe in Jesus, you can't get there. Like God made the path possible. God made a way, but it's faith in Jesus that saves.

The Bible says, Jesus himself said, I'm the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me. Or maybe better yet, the words of John 316, for God so loved the world, he loved all. The solution is for all that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him will not perish, but will have eternal life. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God's one and only son. It is not God who excludes, it's unbelief that excludes, that's not God being narrow. That's not God being judgmental. That's not God being arrogant.

That's a choice.

Like God says, faith in Jesus. The solution is Jesus. Faith in Jesus is the reason for inclusion. Jesus is the solution from exclusion. Perfect life, his innocent death, his resurrection is the solution to the problem of holiness.

And in Jesus, we have been made holy. But without faith in Jesus, created by the Holy Spirit, there is no inclusion. Faith like faith alone. Inclusion.

And I get it. Like, I get the reason for the objection. Like, some people object because they understand that faith in Jesus means this life might be hard. It might mean sacrifice. It might mean the loss of friends.

It might mean a whole lot of things to bear the name of Jesus.

I get it. Like, there's a personal objection to this at times, because there are people that you know who simply have said no to Jesus, and it breaks your heart, and you don't want to think that there could be a place like heaven without them. I get it. For some in our church, even they have family members who've died who didn't know Jesus.

But can I tell you about someone who Jesus talked about the rich. The rich man who, from hell, begged God to send someone back so that his family members wouldn't end up in hell. He didn't want them there. If that's your story, that there's someone who didn't know is no longer here, and you might know that they're there, not with God. They don't want you there.

God wants you there. Like, don't cave into the objection simply because you don't want that reality to be true. Can I speak to those of you who are younger in our world today, the world in which we live? Did you know that the largest segment from a religious identification group standpoint today is called the nuns? N o n e S.

Nuns. They have no religion. They're agnostics, they're atheists. Or just simply believe that there's no group for them. It's the largest group in America now, the nuns.

I get it. Like, a lot of religions have messed it up. A lot of churches have been arrogant and judgmental, but Jesus and God aren't. That's not God's character. He so loved the world.

He loves you don't give up on God simply because maybe christians have done a bad job of representing him, because God wants you there. I want you there.

And can I speak to those of you who are christians today, too?

Like, maybe the first thing we need to do is repent, because maybe we've been the reason for this objection. Like, we judge a whole lot of people who aren't like us, who believe different than us, who live different than us.

We judge whether or not they're worthy of inclusion. Can I convince you to repent and first drop to your knees and remember that all of us are just simply worthy of exclusion. And Jesus is the only reason for inclusion.

Because when you remember that, when this objection comes up, you'll be overwhelmed by the amazing truth that it is, that the only reason we've been saved is by grace, that Jesus is the solution from our exclusion, and he's the reason for our inclusion. Like, when we see it through that lens, maybe the conversation goes a little bit differently, because then people will see a God not as who's exclusive, but is inclusive and loves all, died for all, and wants that person who you love, that neighbor who you think is good to be saved, just like you. And maybe what God will use is you to accomplish just that.

Which is why I love that. Both Al and Dan knew the solution from exclusion and reason for inclusion. Like, when we first put up this building, someone invited Dan to church. And Dan knew the love of Jesus, the reason for inclusion, which inspired him to invite his friend Al, who was from the Oneida reservation. They rode bikes together.

They came to church together. And I'm so glad Dan did, because one day, Al tragically died in a house explosion.

And I can only imagine the rejoicing that happened a few years later when Dan, unfortunately, as a result of cancer and disease, passed away when he joined him there included.

Like, instead of debating this objection, brothers and sisters, if you know people who have it or you're struggling with it, bring it back to the truth about God, who loves, wants all to be saved. And as an answer for the solution, to get there. The only way, the only path, it's Jesus Christ.