When I first met the student for confirmation that I am currently giving classes, he was eager to ask me some questions that he had been thinking about for a long time:
“Can you please tell me about the differences between the religions of the world.” – he asked me. “And can you tell me about what I should do as Christian.”
Not a simple question to answer, but he had to know something. Because when he had started telling his friends about his confirmation, they had started to talk about religion together.
And as any young person living in BC, he had friends that belonged to a lot of different religions and denominations. And what my student for confirmation struggled with was, that his religion – Christianity – seemed vague compared to the religions of his friends.
His friends practiced their religions in a lot of ways. My student for Confirmation did not. He prayed and tried always to love his neighbour, but that is about it:
He did not go through Lent as his Muslim friend went through Ramadan. He did not go to church regularly as his Catholic friend. He did not belong to a certain ethnic group as his Jewish friend. And he did not wear any religious outfit as his Hindu friend.
He wanted to be just as religious as his friends, but what was he supposed to do?
Now, what I find notable about my student for confirmation and his friends is the respect they showed toward each other, and how they all accepted the fact that they believed in different things.
None of them started to preach and convince the others about their religious pursuit being the right one. They accepted their differences and simply wanted to explore both each other, but not least, also themselves.
Because of my student for confirmation’s question and interest my first class with him was about spirituality. I wanted to talk with him about different ways of being religious and the importance of discovering one’s own spirituality.
Because only through discovering one’s own spirituality, one would be able to discover, what he should do:
Not necessarily should he start coming to church every Sunday, he could go on a hike in nature instead if he preferred being religious in such a way.
Not necessarily should he start to go through Lent following dietary guidelines, he could volunteer in organizations or give out donations instead if he preferred being religious in such a way.
Being religious – I told him – is not something you do; it is something you are. And for some, religion makes one do something. But the acts will never be, what religion is.
Lutheranism. By some it is called ‘the cheap faith’. Compared to followers of other religions, its followers’ – just as my student for confirmation experienced – might seem to lack in deeds.
Now, I came to think of this first meeting that I had with my student for confirmation when I was to write my sermon for this Easter, because the reason the Lutheran faith might seem cheap can be explained through the redeeming acts of God that take place during Easter.
And with my student for confirmation in mind, I thought it could be fun to compare the salvation of Lutheranism with salvation found in various other religions.
Not at all something that I would like to do with the purpose of convincing others. Nor with any lack of respect. Solely, it is something
that I thought could be fun to do to make it clear to us – who are already Christians – what we might find so appealing in our faith.
And if I were to start with salvation in Christianity. In short, what we believe in is that Christ descended into hell but rose on the third day by which he granted us the forgiveness of sins and the resurrection of the body. And all we must do is believe in him.
That truly was in short. But let us for now turn to other religions. And let us start with the religions that partly uses the same holy scripture as we as Christians do. Let us turn to Judaism and Islam.
When comparing with these two religions the most notable different is that Jesus came to earth to fulfill all the laws of scripture. The fulfillment of scripture has not taken place in both Judaism and Islam, and because of this the two religions are well known for their many laws that are to be analysed and complied with to achieve salvation.
I truly understand why my student for confirmation comparing himself with friends confessing to these religions, did not think he was as serious a believer.
I told him he was – and I told him that little does it make sense to rank one’s level of belief. Either you believe, or you do not. The difference between us solely is what our faith makes us comply with (if anything at all).
If we turn to eastern religions salvation is not something that is achie-ved during one lifetime alone. Due to incarnation, it requires several lifetimes before one’s mind is set free from its earthly dwelling.
It is like Christianity since it not only takes ones acts into perspective, but one’s thoughts as well. But where one is forgiven through faith in Christianity, you must achieve enlightenment or love of the Gods to be set free from reincarnation in Hinduism.
Turning to another eastern spirituality, Buddhism is a lot harder to compare with. Not least because many Buddhists do not perceive Buddhism as a religion. Which is a valid point since salvation to many Buddhists is not a personal matter. Rather, salvation is a liberation from one’s person.
In the Creed we say that we believe in ‘the resurrection of the body’ – to Christian’s salvation is personal – but with no personal salvation in Buddhism, it sure makes it a totally different kind of ‘salvation’.
As our last comparison we could turn to mythology:
In Nordic mythology salvation is achieved – you are allowed to enter Valhalla – if you lived a noble life. For instance, if you died in battle.
Myths are told about two humans, Sjalfe and Roskva, who are forced to serve the god, Thor, because they break the leg of his calf. As they serve him, they enter Valhalla with him.
This could seem noble, but it is not, since they did not achieve their status in Valhalla. Rather opposite, they are cursed since they will never be able to achieve it. Hence, salvation is something that you achieve.
In Greek mythology it seems very similar. The Gods are living on Mount Olympus. A place where you can only go as a human if you have been pre-approved by the Gods.
In myths, two people tried to sneak their way to the top, Sisyphus and Prometheus, and both are severely punished.
Here ends my comparison. Now, following such a comparison there is one Christian belief that truly stands out as – at least to me – a true wonder. A belief that also is at the centerpiece during each Easter celebration. And that is the incar¬nation: The fact that God became one of us and died all to grant us the forgiveness of sins and the resurrection of the body.
Why does Lutheranism seem cheap to some? Well, it simply is because the redeeming acts that needed to be done have already been done. Not by any human though, but by God himself through his incarnation.
With the incarnation in mind, all my student for confirma¬tion had to say to his friends as they shared their ways of practicing religion was, that he did not do anything because God had already done the most important thing for him.
I understand how this probably would require some explanation since it sounds rather astonishing. But that is what we believe in. Because we do believe in something astonishing. We do believe in a wonder. We believe in the incarnated God who brought salvation through his merciful acts of Easter.
I find Lutheranism very appealing. Not because it can be said to be cheap. No, I find Lutheranism appealing – I believe – because its teachings of salvation is a teaching of a wonder. And I believe the wonder.
Now a lot could be said against the people who calls Lutheranism cheap. For now, I will not get into that though. Instead, I will simply – and for the rest of this Easter – relax in the wonder that occurred through Jesus Christ our Lord. I will relax and give praise.
Truly he is risen.
Amen.