Click to hear this sermon  sermon061112

I Corinthians 1: 18-25

The Bible doesn't concern itself much with atheism. In the days that the Bible was written, there were not many people saying that there is no God. In fact, the problem the Bible addresses is that people believe in too many gods. The great religious teachers of the Old Testament had no trouble getting the people of Israel to sacrifice to the God who had delivered them from slavery in Egypt. The people basically said, “Okay, we'll worship that God, but we'll also worship this one and this one and this one.” The Old Testament spends a great deal of time teaching that there is one true God, worthy of worship. But atheism? Not an issue. It was self-evident to just about everybody in the world that there is a spiritual realm beyond what we know, and Somebody (or somebodies) behind the world we live in.

There is a slight shift in the New Testament. The Jewish race into which Jesus was born had grasped the idea that there is only one God worthy of worship. All around them were people who worshipped other gods and ideas. But their peculiar religious genius was the extent to which they understood that one great Deity was behind the universe. Yet even still, they pictured many supernatural beings - demons that could possess people; angels that brought messages from heaven; Satan, trying to disrupt God's plans. Atheism? No way. Most everybody knew that there was a world beyond this one.

So we are a little at a loss to look to the Bible for guidance about how to respond to atheism, because the presence of atheists is a fairly modem situation. Today there is a share of the population - somewhere between 5 and 10% -- who do not believe there is anything beyond the world we know. Not only is it not self-evident that there is a God who created the universe, but, they say, science has outright proven that such a God does not exist. Religion is wrong. This view has established itself among us, and it seems to be making a lot of noise just lately - two books on the best -seller list currently are attacks on religion by atheists, they are featured selections of the Book-of-the-Month club, and award winners. On the more local level, the Post-Standard has featured an atheist column in the last couple weeks, and regularly has letters to the editor from atheist readers.

It is part of our society today. And I think that most religious people would like to dismiss it - either pretend that it doesn't exist, or brand it as something so evil and hateful that we should not even acknowledge it. You certainly don't talk about atheism in church. I think that's a mistake; I think atheism rises out of questions that most all of us ask; I think our young people are going to be asking those questions the more they are exposed to progressive ideas, and I think we should give them something to say when those questions come up. Finally, I think we need to listen to the atheist when he or she challenges religion, because some of what he's saying about the harm that religious people have done is right on target. Religious people have done terrible things in this j world. .

Let me just give an example from one of those best-selling books mentioned. The atheist author makes the charge that religious people have been the most violent people in the world. He mentions some of the passages in the Bible that are gruesome in the descriptions of God's people wiping out the enemy - man, woman, and child - in the name of pleasing God. He mentions centuries of Christian persecution of nonbelievers, or progressive believers, and so on. He gives a long, long list of the number of places where religious people are in conflict with one another today, and Christians are very prominent on that list.

So how should we respond to those charges? At first, I want to go on the offensive. I want to say that a good number of the real monsters of history -- Joseph Stalin and Adolph Hitler and Pol Pot and such - were not religious people.

But then I'm reminded of the Christian evangelist Harry Denman, who was attacked by a woman for all the ways he was supposedly falling short, and who responded with a simple note: "It's all true; pray for me." I think that's probably the best thing we can possibly say in response to charges of Christian violence. The Bible is full of violence. Millions of people have been killed in the name of faith. But all that doesn't prove that God isn't real; it proves that we aren't real. We haven't put into practice what Jesus taught. We choose the violent ways of the world instead of the loving ways of our Lord.

This same author charges that religious people have caused untold suffering by opposing such essential measures like the distribution of condoms in Africa to prevent AIDs, by opposing vital research that could prevent some of the terrible diseases that plague humanity, and by focusing on legalistic issues like gay marriage instead of what Jesus said we should focus on - the feeding of the hungry and good news for the poor.

Again - I don't know how we can deny those charges. We get it wrong, much of the time. But that doesn't prove anything about God; that just shows how infinitely patient God's had to be while human beings try to get real about Jesus and what he taught.

The third charge the atheistic writer makes is that religion, simply put, is illogical. It doesn't make sense in a scientific world. Again, our first impulse is to argue that point, and to come up with reasonable ways to prove what we believe. But the charge is undeniable. Faith is illogical, by definition. In our New Testament reading, the apostle Paul talks about the basic belief of Christian faith - that Jesus Christ died for our sins - and calls it 'foolishness' in human terms. He says, “Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews, and foolishness to Gentiles...” What could we possibly say in response to the atheist other than, “You're right. It never made sense. The Son of God came into this world to suffer and die like a criminal on a cross.” We're going to try to argue that that made sense?

It was never logical. Acts of love don't have to be logical. And in the end love is the only real claim Christians can make. If there is no God then there is no loving purpose behind life. I'm not sure I would want to live in such a world but that's not the point - is it true or not? That's the question the atheist poses. But the atheist not only asks the question, is it true or not? The atheist also wants to say that the only language we can use to answer the question is the language of science and logic and reason. That's like trying to describe the color blue using numbers - it's the wrong language for the job. The apostle Paul was saying that people want to talk about Jesus Christ on the cross in language of human wisdom and logic, when God was speaking the language of love.

I've read the scientific explanations about love; they come from the field of evolutionary psychology. Basically, what they say is that in the evolution of the human race, there was the discovery, by trial and error, that there are times when it is in the best interest of the self to do something that benefits the other. That's called love. I'm sorry, but that is a terribly inadequate description of what I have witnessed about love. And that's the problem that the atheist will always have. In the end, he or she is using the language of the mind to talk about something in the heart that can't be described.

In our Methodist heritage, there is the teaching that there are four ways that we can know the truth - scripture, tradition, experience, and reason. I am glad that reason is there, because I don't know that I could be a Methodist without it. I would never trust a religion that would try to keep us from thinking and asking questions. I do not see science and religion as enemies. I like to think things through.

But I also believe that we can rely too much on the intellect, and that's the trap that the atheist falls into. He says he has no religion; but in fact he or she worships the mind. And the very tragedies of history that the atheist would use against religion show all too clearly that we make a mess of things whenever we worship any human abilities.

The fact is, we can't live this life without divine help. But thank God, we have it. We have a gracious and loving Savior, and, defying all logic, he has continued to speak to hearts over thousands of years, and across every human barrier. When people have paid attention - truly paid attention, and been transformed by the power of love, amazing things have happened. Yes, terrible things have been done in his name; but that doesn't negate the power of his vision, and the transforming possibilities of his love in your life.

Atheism is not going to go away. It will point out very clearly the failings of religious people. But when it comes to the proof of God, things won’t change much: you and I still have before us the same basic choice that has always been there - to listen to the call of love in our hearts or not. And while I wrestle constantly with the questions my mind raises, I realize more and more that what rings true in my life is the path of love walked by Jesus. I have seen what such love can do in people; I have felt what such love can mean in my own heart; so much so that I’ll bet everything on it; it is the most sure thing I’ve ever known; it is the work of God; and against all logic, it proves itself again and again worthy of my worship and devotion.