| "Jesus as the Good Shepherd. What a powerful image this has been down through Christian history. And its power as a symbol continues to be felt by us even though most of us New Yorkers have never known a shepherd and have never encountered a large flock of sheep-even on the so-called Sheep Meadow of Central Park-unless, like Scott Morton, we grew up in Scotland, or, like Warwick Busfield, in New Zealand. Still, many of us, perhaps most of us, can call to mind vivid images of Jesus as the Good Shepherd from paintings and stain?glassed windows, from Sunday School pictures, from hymns and anthems. Some of us may also recall that our neighboring Presbyterian Church to the south, on West 66th Street, bears the name "Good Shepherd-Faith." And some of us may be aware that before the word "pastor" came to mean "clergyperson" it meant "shepherd." Thus, the title "pastor" seeks to convey the idea that the minister of a church is a "shepherd of the flock." And did you know that my family name, Shafer [an Americanization of Schäfer], is a word in the German language meaning "shepherd"? So if you ever address me as Pastor Shafer, you'll be calling me "Shepherd Shepherd"! Now, countless sermons could be preached on our lesson from John 10, on the theme of Jesus as the Good Shepherd, so we preachers need to narrow our focus. And as I was pondering today's Second Lesson and considering what approach to take in this sermon, my eye locked onto one particular sentence-the first sentence in verse 16-"I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold." I suspect I was drawn to this image of "other sheep" in different folds because in the past I've taught courses at Fordham University on religions other than Christianity-like Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism-and also because my wife Margaret and I will be going this fall to the part of India where she grew up as the daughter of Christian missionaries, the part of India where the dominant religion is Sikhism rather than Hinduism. And perhaps I was also drawn to the "other sheep" motif because I have learned over the years that one of the questions un-churched persons most frequently ask churchgoers is this: "What's the Christian attitude toward other religions?" Anyway, upon re-reading "I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold," I recognized what it is that I most want to explore with you this week-namely, the topic: "Christianity and Other Religions." Now, I need to acknowledge up front that the author of the Gospel of John is not thinking of himself as talking about other religions when he is speaking of God's other sheep. No, the author of John thinks he is talking only about other Christians-like those today living in the different fold of another denomination (Roman Catholic or Greek Orthodox) or like those today living in the different fold of another country (Indian Christians or Iraqi Christians). But in approaching this text with fresh eyes, let me introduce the grand interpretive principle that, as a matter of fact, stands at the center of this congregation's mission, the principle stated by the Puritan preacher John Robinson, way back in 1620, as the Pilgrims were about to embark from Holland on the Mayflower to journey to the New World. Robinson said to this group: "There is yet more light and truth to break forth from God's Word." This was the world's first "more light" statement, and in it Pastor Robinson was claiming that, by the power of the Holy Spirit, meanings are conveyed through Scripture which not even the authors themselves were aware of. Indeed, Robinson believed that, in principle, the Holy Spirit can lead us to find truths in Scripture that no Christian group or generation has previously seen or understood. Well, the 19th-century hymnwriter George Rawson took Robinson's thought and built on it when he authored the hymn that we sang at the beginning of this service: "We Limit Not the Truth of God." Listen again to the words of this hymn's profound first verse: "We limit not the truth of God to our poor reach of mind, By notions of our day and sect, crude, partial, and confined. No, let a new and better hope within our hearts be stirred: For there is yet more light + truth to break forth from God's Word." Here, John Robinson and George Rawson are saying this to us: the scriptural truths to which the Holy Spirit leads us are not confined to those comprehended by any one Christian group or any one Christian generation and its limited reach of mind. No, the Holy Spirit leads persons of differing eras and differing cultures to discover in Scripture truths that have gone ungrasped by Christians in other times and different climes. So I believe that when Christians today read in John 10:16-"I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold"-the Holy Spirit is seeking to lead us beyond the view that there is no salvation outside of Christianity-beyond that view to the understanding that God does have other sheep and that Christianity is not God's only sheepfold. If this is true-namely, that God does have other sheep-then, as Christians, what should our attitude be toward other religions? In the remarks that follow, I will not be able to answer this question completely, nor do I seek to. Instead this sermon presents some preliminary and exploratory thoughts. And it invites you to join me in thinking at greater length about some possible approaches to answering this question, a question that we are bound to find quite difficult to answer-precisely because of our limited reach of mind, precisely because of the partial and confined notions of our own day or group. Now, if I really believed what so many people are constantly saying, namely, that all religions are "basically the same"-if I really believed that, then it would be quite simple for me to affirm that Christianity is just one path to God among many. But I don't believe that. And the more I learn about the world's various religions, the more convinced I become that religions are not "basically the same." So it is not easy and simple for me to affirm that Christianity is just one path to God among many. To cite but one example of the basic differences that do exist and can be adduced: Christianity teaches the existence of God, the existence of soul, and the existence of self, whereas Buddhism denies the existence of all three. Buddhism says there is no God; there is no soul; there is no self. You've certainly noticed that in this morning's service I've included elements of worship drawn from a variety of religious traditions-elements of worship that I believe we Christians can speak and pray with integrity. What is of course not at all evident to you, because you weren't with me at the time, is just how many prayers and responses from other religious traditions I rejected from inclusion, because I thought we Christians could not speak and pray them with integrity. And what probably did not register at all in your consciousness is that none of this morning's worship material comes from Buddhism, much as I admire that ancient tradition. But you see, I find its religious vocabulary just too, too different from Christianity's to be used by us. Actually, I believe the problem there runs much deeper than just a difference in vocabulary. The problem is that there is such a yawning chasm between us and Buddhism in the content of our religious experiences. And what probably did not register at all in your consciousness is that none of this morning's worship material comes from Buddhism, much as I admire that ancient tradition. But you see, I find its religious vocabulary just too, too different from Christianity's to be used by us. For example, the Buddhist societies in Asia have never developed the systems of social ethics that have arisen in the West as a direct result of the transmission to us of ancient Israel's prophetic tradition, through both Judaism and Christianity. So to make a long story short, I find that religions are not all "basically the same." They don't all teach the same worldview. They don't all counsel the same values. They don't all instill the same virtues. They don't all proclaim an identical God. For instance, one of the concepts that most sets Christianity apart from the world's other most influential religions is the concept of incarnation-the concept that Jesus embodied not only a perfect human nature but also a truly divine nature. Among the world's most influential religions, only Hinduism shares with Christianity this concept of incarnate deity-not Judaism, not Islam, not Buddhism. Now, as a Christian, I believe that Jesus was the human we were all created to be-a human living in perfect harmony with the Creator's will. And I also believe that Jesus incarnates for us the true nature of God-God's nature as creative, as transformative, as loving. Now, if I affirm, as I do, that Jews and Muslims and Hindus and Buddhists are God's other sheep, sheep of God's other folds, then I should believe not only that I have truths to share with them-such as the truth of the incarnation-but also that they have truths to share with me. And if I'm seeking evidence that persons of other religions are truly sheep of God's other folds, then perhaps where that evidence is to be found is in something like this: that in my dialogue with persons of a differing faith, I as a Christian encounter insights that bring me to a fuller and more dynamic understanding of God's truth. And indeed I have had such experiences. From Hindus I have re-learned what many Christians have under-emphasized, neglected, forgotten or even rejected-the truth and actuality of the incarnation as opposed to just its theory, the truth that God actually did come to live among us, in flesh. And from Jews, I have learned what it means for a community to trust in the goodness of God-even in the face of such incomprehensible communal suffering as that which European Jewry experienced at the hands of the demonic evil of Adolf Hitler. From Muslims, I have learned the value of practicing the presence of God in the everyday routines of life. And from Native Americans, I have learned that we must love and respect the whole of the natural world created by God. We must love and respect it, not exploit and pollute it. And, yes, I have in fact learned something from Buddhism as well. I have learned the importance of freeing myself from the dominance of ego and of getting in touch with my interior world. And from Native Americans, I have learned that we must love and respect the whole of the natural world created by God. We must love and respect it, not exploit and pollute it. So, I, as a Christian, do have God's truth to share with others. And I also have more of God's truth to learn from others. And these two thoughts-that I have God's truth to share with others and that I have more of God's truth to learn from others-these two thoughts form the frame for my reflections this week, my reflections on Jesus's saying, "I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold." Well, the subject of a Christian attitude toward other religions has hardly been exhausted by what I have said this morning. In fact we've only scratched the surface of the topic. For as I said, there is yet more light and truth to break forth from God's Word! Let us pray: Amen |
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