1.
Please
pray with me. May the words of my mouth
and the mediation of our hearts be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock and
our Redeemer. Amen. The message from God’s Word, as we continue
our sermon series on a Christian Response
to World Religions is taken from Ephesians 2:8-10. Today our focus is on a, “Christian Response to Hinduism,” dear
brothers and sisters in Christ.
2.
“What are the two religions in the world?” Often people answer, “Christianity and non-Christian religions.” That’s true. But a better
answer is, “The religion of God’s pure
grace in Christ, versus all the religions of works, including those so-called
Christian groups and practices that are actually based on works.” Our key verse for this series on
non-Christian religions is Eph 2:8–10: 8For
by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it
is the gift of God, 9not a result of works, so that no one may
boast. 10For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for
good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” The
salvation of God in Christ for the whole world—by grace alone, through faith
alone—is the Good News that we proclaim to the world. And it’s news to most
people of the world! We naturally think according to Law: we must suffer the
consequences for our evil actions, but by our “good” actions we can earn our
own way in life and into eternity. That’s impossible for us sinful humans. As the children learned in Vacation Bible
School this past week, Isaiah 64:6 says, “6We have all become like
one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We
all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.” It also is unnecessary, since God in his mercy
gives heaven as his free gift of love through Jesus’ suffering, death, and
resurrection.
3.
As we go
through this series on non-Christian religions, we will see over and over this
distinction between the one religion of grace, and all the other religions of
works. Even for us Christians, the old flesh in us still operates along the
lines of these other religions. The religion of pure grace began with the
creation of Adam and Eve in Eden. But their rebellion against God corrupted our
human way of thinking so that the way of law replaced the way of grace that God
had provided. Yet the true religion remained one of grace, as God immediately
promised a Savior, whose grace would restore what was lost in the Fall (Gen
3:15).
4.
Of the
world’s major religions, the most ancient example of man-made, Law-based
religion is Hinduism. The first scriptures of Hinduism, the Vedas, can be
traced back to 2000 B.C., the era of Abraham. These scriptures are a collection
of chants and hymns composed by ancient mystics. They reflected upon their
experiences of meditation and concluded that God is within us. Even further,
they concluded that God is in everything, and everything is God. This phrase is
the kernel of Hinduism: “I am Brahman
(God), and that thou art.” In other words, man is divine, like God. Sound
familiar? What was the temptation that Satan gave to Eve in the Garden of Eden?
Genesis 3:5 says, “5For God knows that when
you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good
and evil.”
5.
A
consequence of this thinking is that all events also are “god.” You simply
accept life as inevitable. One of the most popular Hindu books is the Bhagavad Gita. It’s part of a great
epic, the Mahabharata, where the god
Krishna is the charioteer for the hero Arjuna. They come to a fateful battle
for the kingdom, but Arjuna hesitates. On the other side of the battle are his
family and friends. How can he destroy them? Krishna advises him to proceed: “You must simply carry out what life gives
to you. You must not fight fate.” Everyone has their karma to work out, and it will all sort out in the end.
6.
A
Lutheran missionary had an experience in India that illustrates this. He was in
the car of a Hindu friend when he turned to close the door in the back, where
the kids were sitting. In the process, he hit a pedestrian who was walking
along the side of the road. Quickly a huge crowd gathered. The missionary
immediately sent the kids ahead, telling them to start walking down the street.
Once a mob gathers, there’s no telling what may happen. With a mob, however, there is always someone
who assumes leadership. As it turned out, the pedestrian wasn’t seriously
injured, but no one knew that. The leader said the missionary should take the
injured man to the hospital. The missionary’s group agreed, of course. Then he
announced that this accident was the pedestrian’s “vidhi,” or fate. It was destined to happen to him that day. It was
inevitable. The crowd accepted the rationale and dispersed. The Lutheran missionary retrieved the kids,
made sure the man was treated, and headed on his way—thankful that the Hindu
doctrine of fate had prevented a violent reprisal!
7.
Hindus
believe that Brahman is all things. There’s no history, no beginning and no
end. Hindus speak of time as a breathing in and breathing out of Brahman. All
things come from Brahman, and all things return to Brahman eternally. There’s
no goal, no purpose, no heaven, no judgment. There’s only the eternal Brahman,
into which all things simply are reabsorbed.
What meaning is there in anything, then? The one meaning Hinduism
teaches is the doctrine of “karma.”
This teaching is that every bad action will have bad consequences for you, and
every good action will bring good to you. This retribution doesn’t come from a
personal God, but simply from a natural, relentless law: the law of karma.
8. Karma works itself out through thousands of
reincarnations, which is the next Hindu teaching. You are reincarnated
according to the accumulation of karma from your previous life. If you’re born
poor, it’s because you were disobedient in your previous life. If you’re
obedient now, your next reincarnation will be better. If you’re well off, it’s because
you deserve it based on your previous life. You can see what this doctrine does
to stifle the desire for social justice and equality. This also goes against the Bible’s
teaching. Hebrews 9:27 says, “27And just as it is
appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.”
9.
One of
the most difficult issues to deal with in mission work among the Hindus is the
exclusive claim of Christ: “I am the way
. . . No one comes to the Father except through me” (Jn 14:6). In
contrast, the Hindu says: “All paths
eventually reach the same summit. All rivers eventually flow into the same
ocean.” Each person is free to take the path they find most suitable, and
we are not to judge another’s preference. Eventually everything gets reabsorbed
into the eternal Brahman, so it doesn’t make any difference.
10.
The
elements of Hindu society naturally flow from these ideas. The caste system is
justified by karma and reincarnation. The diversity of gods and goddesses, of
teachers and philosophies, result from individual preferences. And yet there is
an underlying spirituality and a fervency of prayer that is immensely
impressive. At the same time it is also depressing, because the focus is always
on human efforts to justify oneself.
11.
The
Hindu system of religion breeds a great thirst for spiritual development. If
someone doesn’t develop in spirituality, he’s considered little more advanced
than a dog. Our spirituality is what makes us human, in the Hindu way of
thinking. If you act like a dog now, you will end up like a dog the next time
around. You’ll find a great interest in
spiritual matters in India, and an eagerness to talk about such things. People
want to learn from one another’s spiritual experiences. Many are sincerely attracted
to Jesus Christ. They sense in him the great spirituality they are seeking. You
see pictures of Jesus in Hindu homes and temples. Hundreds of thousands of
Hindus worship Jesus as their preferred deity. That gives us a wonderful
opportunity to help them grow in their knowledge of Christ.
12.
If you
go to a Hindu temple you will find that people beat themselves and meditate for
hours. Yet, there is no joy in their
worship because they were trying hard to win the favor and forgiveness and help
of their gods by their own efforts. Hindus
are fervently seeking what we celebrate because we already have it in Christ.
We know God’s forgiveness, favor, and help are ours by his grace alone.
13.
But the
fact is that God is love—love for us according
to the Gospel of Christ’s grace. We know it and we celebrate it. We don’t have
to deal with our “karma.” The Lord
already has. Jesus took all our punishment upon himself. We gather in his house
not to win his favor, but to receive it through his Word and in his Supper. Our
worship is a “feast of victory.” God rejoices to see his children come before
him, forgiven and renewed through his Word and Sacraments.
14.
That’s the
Good News we have to declare to all the world. The Gospel of grace alone is
something humans could never imagine on their own. It’s totally against our
natural way of thinking. it’s what God himself came to tell us, reveal to us,
and fulfill among us in Christ. The Hindus of the world also need to know it,
for they too are people for whom Christ died. They are part of the world God
loved in the sending of his Son. “Whom
shall I send? Who will go for us?” God asks. May we echo Isaiah (6:8): “Here am I. Send me.”
No comments:
Post a Comment