Based on Psalm 71, Jeremiah 1:4-10, Luke 13:10-16
There is a slogan that pops up every now and again that states emphatically, “Jesus Saves”…usually in all capital letters. That’s it…just those two words. What do those two words mean to you? For some, “Jesus Saves” might be the punchline to the old hockey joke which said, “Jesus saves but Gretzky scores on the rebound!” I wouldn’t be surprised if you were unclear about “salvation”, as the mainline Christian Church moved away from an emphasis on teaching about salvation over the last few decades. Evangelical branches of Christianity, however, have always been focused on “saving” people (or at least their souls) – speaking and teaching about the primary importance of developing a personal relationship with Jesus. According to evangelical teaching, once you are saved your primary mission in life is to go out and save as many souls as you can.
In the 1970s it became popular to post “Jesus Saves” on church billboards and in denominational mailings. Back then most of the U.S. population attended a Christian church routinely. Thus, it might be that people would have had an understanding of what those words really meant – though I can’t say that I did. Currently, because we have more than two generations that are mostly unchurched, we see television advertisements that state “Jesus Gets Us” rather than “Jesus Saves”. I find that to be a deeply troubling and sad statement about the state of Christianity in the U.S., because “Jesus Gets Us” is a far less powerful and transformative message than “Jesus Saves”. Christianity grew from its humble beginnings not because Jesus “got us”, but because He alone saves us from our individual and communal sins.
Today we will reflect on what salvation means from a United Methodist perspective and I will do my best to help you understand what Christian salvation is, whether you have been saved and how to talk to others about salvation through Jesus the Christ. To accomplish that task, we will turn to today’s Bible readings and to a sermon from our founder, John Wesley.
Our scripture readings for today offer us some perspectives on what the Bible teaches us about salvation from God, for salvation is a prominent theme in the Bible. In the First Testament Jewish perspective, salvation often meant God rescuing a person or a people from a threatening situation, physical illness, oppression or the spiritual consequences of sinful behavior. In this light the psalmist sings, “In you, LORD, I have taken refuge; never let me be put to shame. In your righteousness, rescue me and deliver me; turn your ear to me and save me. Be my rock and my refuge, to which I can always go; give the command to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress. Deliver me, my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the grasp of those who are evil and cruel….”
Likewise, the reading from Jeremiah about the calling of the prophet reveals God’s intention for this young person to be God’s mouthpiece. To speak God’s words to try to get the kingdom of Judah and her leadership to understand the need for repentance so that God will save them from the coming Babylonian aggression and exile. God put God’s words in Jeremiah’s mouth and promised to accompany him wherever he was sent. God said, “Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you…today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant….” Thus, God is saying that salvation comes when we realize that God abides with us, and when we freely choose to do as God commands, we can help to change the world for God and for the coming of God’s kingdom.
Jesus heals a woman who had been crippled for 18 years, and he does this on the Sabbath. Now, there were many restrictions in Jesus’ day about what could and could not be done between sundown on Friday and sundown on Saturday – to observe the Sabbath and keep it holy. Doing any kind of work was forbidden, and still today, Orthodox Jewish believers follow many Sabbath dietary and life restrictions. So, it is not surprising that the synagogue leaders would rebuke him, when Jesus (whose name literally means “He who saves”) healed this woman by freeing her from bondage. Jesus sharply reminds these leaders that freedom and release from bondage (synonyms for salvation) are cornerstones of what keeping the Sabbath is all about.
We know from the Bible that God saved the Hebrew people many times. The two great acts of salvation being the Exodus from slavery in Egypt and the return of the Exiles from Babylon after 70 years. God’s salvation in this light is then the free will acceptance of God’s unconditional love and God’s peace (shalom) in the life of the individual and of the nation. Salvation is understood by Israel as the lived experience of not only the release from captivity but the forgiveness of sins at the individual and communal level.
We Christians believe that God’s salvation work continued when God was born in human form as Jesus. The coming of Jesus ushered in the kingdom of God on earth – the beginning of the final salvation work of God. This ultimate salvation will be realized when Jesus returns, and the New Jerusalem comes to earth as detailed in the Book of Revelation. Thus, salvation in New Testament terms is both a now and a not yet event, both individual and communal.
John Wesley takes up these issues in his Sermon #1 entitled, “Salvation by Faith”. John preached this sermon in 1738, just three weeks after his “heart was strangely warmed” and he experienced first-hand the saving grace of God’s love and forgiveness in his life. In the glow of his realization of salvation by his faith in Jesus, John Wesley wrote this foundational sermon to teach all of the people called Methodists about salvation. Early in the sermon, Wesley observes that salvation comes through faith in Christ’s teachings, “…Christian faith is then, not only an assent to the whole gospel of Christ, but also a full reliance on the blood of Christ; a trust in the merits of his life, death, and resurrection;…and cleaving to him, as our "wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption," or, in one word, our salvation….” Thus, for Wesley, God’s saving work in us and our world comes from faithfully living out the whole gospel of Jesus – choosing to freely love God and each other as much as we are able.
Wesley goes on to further clarify and expound upon this teaching that salvation is present in our lives today – that God loves us and that God has forgiven our sins – yes, all of our sins through the death and resurrection of Jesus. Wesley had come to this realization just three weeks before this sermon was delivered, and he wanted people to know (contrary to Church of England teaching at the time) that all believers could experience salvation here and now.
Moving forward in his sermon, Wesley teaches about how salvation comes through faith in Jesus writing, “…This then is the salvation which is through faith, even in the present world: a salvation from sin, and the consequences of sin, both often expressed in the word justification; which, taken in the largest sense, implies a deliverance from guilt and punishment, by the atonement of Christ actually applied to the soul of the sinner now believing on him, and a deliverance from the power of sin, through Christ formed in his heart. So that he who is thus justified, or saved by faith, is indeed born again;…going on in the might of the Lord his God, from faith to faith, from grace to grace, until at length, he comes unto ‘a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ….’"
For John Wesley then, salvation was possible in our lifetimes through our faith in Jesus the Christ and acceptance of God’s freely given gift of unconditional love. Wesleyan salvation is the realization that our sins have been forgiven through the great sacrifice of Jesus, so we no longer need to feel guilt or shame about our propensity to sin. Salvation comes because we are released from our bondage to sin and allowed to grow into the mind and heart of Jesus – into loving God and our neighbor fully and completely.
Hear the good news…you have already been saved through the forgiveness of your sins! We are therefore redeemed to live lives that can grow in wisdom, in holiness, and in right relationship to God and to each other; as individuals and as a faith community. I hope you can now understand why “Jesus Saves” are the two most transformative words in the world. Let us recapture their power and live our lives spreading those words! In the name of Jesus…amen!