1. Grace,
mercy, and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ. Amen. The message from God’s Word today comes from
Psalm 46:1-2 (read text from bulletin). Today
we conclude our sermon series on a Christian Response to World Religions by
looking at a response to Buddhism.
Throughout this series we’ve studied other world religions so that we
are able to do what St. Peter calls us as Christians to do in 1 Peter 3:15, “15but in your hearts regard
Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who
asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.” Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2.
Often religion is
criticized as being “pie in the sky.”
Actually, every religion is very realistic about life. We know in our hearts
that things aren’t the way they should be. We’re not satisfied with life as we
see it. As Paul said, “The requirements
of the law are written on [our] hearts” (Rom 2:15).
3.
In Psalm 46, the
writer recognizes that there will be times of trouble. We’re in a fallen world.
Bad things will happen. Suffering will come. Our bodies only last so long. They
can only take so much abuse. Our relationships get strained and fractured. They
too can take only so much abuse. Our hearts get broken with grief and guilt and
despair. Those
are facts of life. We know it. God knows it too. Fortunately, God doesn’t leave us alone. He
doesn’t leave us to our own devices. He comes as our Refuge and Strength. He
protects us from the storms of life and strengthens us through them. He came in
Jesus Christ to take upon himself the great storm of his own holy wrath against
sin. He was very realistic. He knew we were “lost in trespasses and sin” and came to save us.
4.
Buddhism also is
realistic in admitting life’s problems. But, a realistic solution isn’t offered
by this religion. Actually, as we shall see, the Buddha never intended it to
become a religion, but rather a way of life, a way of dealing with suffering. The founder of Buddhism was a prince named
Siddhartha Gautama. He was isolated from the masses, like all the royalty of
his day, and trained in the arts and philosophy. One day Gautama snuck outside
the palace walls to see the real world. He was so overwhelmed by the suffering
he saw on the streets that he never returned to the palace. Instead, he vowed
that he would find the solution to suffering or he would die seeking it.
5.
As Gautama walked
around the countryside, he realized that the Hinduism of his day was corrupt. The
priests performed meaningless rites for money. The masses received no
instruction or help. The elite oppressed the poor. He finally sat under the
famous bodhi tree in northeastern India and resolved not to arise unless he had
the answer. There he received his “enlightenment.” Gautama went to Hindu holy places and preached his
new insights. Disciples gathered around him. By the time he died at age 80, a
new religion had been formed. Martin Luther never wanted to form a separate
denomination, but to reform the Roman Catholic Church. In a similar way,
Gautama Buddha wished only to spread his teachings and reform Hinduism. He didn’t
want to be worshiped or to start a new institution. He simply wanted to help
relieve the suffering of the world.
6.
What were
Buddha’s basic teachings? Gautama was a Hindu, and he kept the basic teachings
of the Hindu religion: karma and reincarnation. But, he rejected the social
developments in Hinduism: caste and priesthood. Instead, he promoted the “Three Refuges”: the Buddha, the Dharma, and
the Samgha. These are the three
essentials to gain freedom from suffering. The path to freedom begins with him,
Buddha. “Dharma” is the word for
“teaching.” We are to follow his teaching, especially the 8-fold path that
we’ll soon look at. Finally, only those in a “samgha,” or monastery, will be able to carry on the necessary
discipline to attain freedom.
7.
The basic tenets
of the Buddha’s teaching are simple. Life is suffering. The cause of suffering
is our desiring and craving. The solution is to stop this craving. If we stop
our desires, we will stop our frustration and suffering in life. How to do it?
The Enlightened One provided the famous “8-fold path”: right views, right intention, right speech, right action, right
livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right meditation. Each of
these steps builds on the previous one. You can’t attain freedom from craving
unless you master each stage along this path. It all begins with getting the
right view of reality, recognizing suffering and the cause of suffering. Then
you must use your willpower to decide to do something about suffering in your
own life. You correct your speech so that it is nonviolent; then you correct
your actions. You must be sure that the way you make your living does no harm
to any living thing. The Buddhists realize that this is only possible for a
monk.
8.
At a Buddhist
monastery some Christians were discussing their beliefs with the monks and they
asked the abbot to give them a sermon on some Buddhist teachings so that they
could better understand them. The head monk spoke about many things, but he
concluded by appealing to the Christians: “Remember
that you are now in the crucial reincarnation. You are a human. Only in this
reincarnation can you make either good karma or bad karma. Your future
suffering or freedom depends on what you do now. Do not even kill a mosquito.
In some previous reincarnation that mosquito was your own mother.” You can
see that the Buddhist teaching aims toward a lessening of suffering in the
world, just as the Buddha himself said, “Precisely
this do I teach: suffering and the stopping of suffering.”
9.
Many ideas
expressed in Buddhism’s “8-fold path”
sound similar to truths in Scripture. Buddhism’s 8-fold path might be compared
to the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. It’s intended as a path to responsible
living in a suffering world, an attempt to be part of the solution rather than
part of the problem. A nonviolent lifestyle may be admirable when compared to
our crime-ridden society. But, despite outward similarities between the “8-fold
path” and tenets of Christianity, there is a world of difference in the
doctrines they express.
10.
As we said at the
start, we are in a fallen world. We know it. The Buddhists know it. The
question is what can be done about it. The path of the Buddha appears to be a
noble one. Christians too seek to learn
spiritual discipline to try to control their natural cravings, greed, violent
speech, violent actions, violent attitudes, and violent lifestyles. As St. Paul
told a young pastor, Timothy, “It is
through . . . craving that some have wandered away from the faith and
pierced their hearts with many pangs” (1 Tim 6:10 RSV).
11.
The Buddha
himself recognized that our inner nature must be ruthlessly controlled and contained.
Only the monk isolated within four walls can possibly avoid some of the
temptations and contradictions of life in the real world. But even that is far
from the true solution. Buddhism is like a Band-Aid. It’s not the cure.
12.
How should the
Christian respond to Buddhism? First, we must recognize that it is not enough
to attempt to control our sinful nature. It’s too powerful and unruly; such
attempts will fail. The old Adam in us must be put to death. That is what the
Scriptures mean when they say we have been crucified and buried with Christ in
Baptism. Our sinful nature will not be fully subdued until we are delivered
from this “body of death” through
Jesus Christ our Lord (Rom 7:7–25).
13.
Second,
Christians must affirm that mere human efforts at “right living” are also doomed to fall far short of the glory of God
(Rom 3:23). But, at the same time we are baptized into Christ’s death, we’re
also baptized into his resurrection life, and we receive the life-giving Spirit
to dwell within us. The Christian life is really the living out of the life of
Christ, who lives within us. It is not based on Law, that is, trying to follow
severe rules and harsh disciplines. Rather, St. Paul describes it this way: “Through the law I died to the law so that I
might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but
Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of
God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal 3:19–20).
14.
The cure comes
only through our triune God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. That is the Good News
for the Buddhist—and for each of us. We’re not left to our own devices. We have
an “ever-present help.” We’re cared
for by the God of compassion. We’re not
preoccupied with relieving our own suffering. Instead, we are free to go out
and proclaim the sufferings of Christ. His sufferings have earned for each
person God’s eternal redemption from the suffering of this world.
15.
Certainly we
can’t accept the Hindu teaching of reincarnational karma that returns a person
to this world again and again (see Heb 9:27). St. Paul said, “If only for this life we have hope in
Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men” (1 Cor 15:19). Rather, our
confidence is in God’s promise that “our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the
glory that will be revealed” (Rom
8:18).
16.
Deep in our
hearts we, and Buddhists, know there’s more to life. God has put into the heart
of each person an inner awareness of his existence and a yearning for his love,
his heaven. As St. Augustine said, “My
heart is restless until it finds its rest in you.” Buddhism exhibits that
restlessness; and the Christian’s mission is to help lead restless souls to the
One who alone grants eternal rest.
Amen. Now may the peace of God that passes all understanding guard your
hearts and minds in Christ Jesus until life everlasting. Amen.
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