Lord of the Streets, Houston
May 3, 2026
5 Easter
Acts 2:42-47
Psalm 23
John 10:1-10
When Homer Simpson became a missionary in the 11th season of The Simpsons, he went to some far away people on some small far away island, and he knew almost nothing about Jesus, or Jebus, as Homer called him. Back in Springfield, Homer had spent years faithfully sleeping through almost all of Reverend Lovejoy’s sermons, so when it came time for Homer to teach the people of this island about Jesus, he instead taught them what he knew, the joys of beer and gambling. They made a casino, and the people quickly fell to ruin as all they did was get drunk and fight.
So, Homer decided he needed to do real missionary work and actually teach the people about Jebus. He told them something or other about Jesus, had them build a church, and when they finished, they were so proud of the church building they had made. Two of the people looked up at their beautiful building, and one asked the other, “How many times must we go to church to avoid Hell?” “Every Sunday for the rest of our lives.” “Hahaha – no, seriously.”
They thought they were following Jesus, but they pretty quickly found a stumbling block. They had a really bad missionary. Sorry Homer, but he was a really bad missionary, and he left them with even worse theology. You gotta go to church every Sunday to avoid Hell. That’s ridiculous. Everyone knows you gotta go to church at least two times a week to avoid Hell.
Well, as we know, drinking to numb anxiety and emotion is a fairly common trauma response. As it turns out, Homer wasn’t a bad missionary just because he had slept through Reverend Lovejoy’s sermons. The parts of Reverend Lovejoy’s teachings that had gotten through were a stumbling block to Homer being able to find anything good and healing about following Jesus. That bad theology had then turned Homer into a stumbling block for the people he was being a missionary to. Thinking that the point of believing in Jesus is to avoid eternal torture, that’s a stumbling block. That’s trauma wrapped up as religion.
“I am the way, and the truth, and the life,” Jesus said, “No one comes to the Father except through me.” That’s wildly different than saying, ‘If you don’t believe in me, you’re going to be tortured forever.’ Jesus did talk about judgment and punishment for the ways that we are horrible to one another. He talked about God bringing justice. Thank God for that. What Jesus didn’t do was give the very clear formula that so many preachers offer of “believe in Jesus, or go to Hell.”
In Matthew 25, Jesus told of people being welcomed into God’s kingdom not because of anything they believed, but because they took care of one another when they were in need. People took care of one another, which is the way of Jesus, and so Jesus welcomed them into God’s kingdom. They came to the Father through Jesus by following in the way of Jesus, without even knowing Jesus.
That was at the end of the ages, and Jesus also talked about the kingdom of God and living that kingdom of God here on earth in this life. Jesus talked about how loving and caring for one another is how we live in God’s kingdom. Loving and caring for one another is how we enter into God’s kingdom.
“I am the way, and the truth, and the life,” Jesus said. You want to walk in the ways of loving and caring for one another, you want to walk into God’s kingdom? Then follow me, Jesus was saying.
“Like newborn infants,” Peter wrote, “long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.” Grow into salvation. Not get out of torture free when you die. Grow into salvation.
What is salvation? Walking in the ways of Jesus. Bit by bit. Slowly learning to trust. Grow into a life that is trusting and following the teachings and ways of Jesus. For one thing we trust and follow Jesus’ teachings and ways by meditating on them day and night, as Psalm 1 teaches us. That’s a little thing, just a daily practice of prayer and scripture.
How about another practice, another little one from 1 Peter. “Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that in due time he may exalt you. Cast all your anxieties on him, for he cares about you.” Rather than drink away your anxieties or drug away your anxieties, rather than take all your anxieties out on everyone around you, give them over to God.
Spiritual milk, slowly learning to trust in God and as we do, growing into salvation, into a life lived in love and joy.
How about Jesus’ teaching about not seeking revenge against your enemy? Rather than get revenge, “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,” Jesus taught to “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” Everyone may not be ready for that one yet. You first have to have tasted that the Lord is good to trust that one.
A spiritual baby starts trusting Jesus slowly, bit by bit. Then as we grow, we learn to trust Jesus more and more, because we keep tasting that the Lord is good. We keep learning to trust, finding that we have greater peace when we do. Even when bad things happen, and Jesus promised bad things will still happen to us, we find those bad things easier to handle with a heart full of love and forgiveness than a heart full of anger and hate.
Finding peace amidst the storms of life, that is salvation. Trusting in the goodness of God, even amidst the horrors of humanity, that is salvation. Seeing those who harm others as also being broken, and harmed, and in need of healing, that is salvation.
Trusting in Jesus is salvation because by trusting in him, we get to walk in his ways, and we find our heats healed as a result. Unlike the trauma and fear preached by the Reverend Lovejoys of the world, trusting in Jesus gives us healing in this life and greater compassion for others. Even if all you’ve got is just a little bit of trust right now, that’s enough. Keep drinking the spiritual milk of that trust, bit by bit, slowing growing into salvation, growing into following Jesus as the way, and the truth, and the life. Keep drinking the spiritual milk of trusting in Jesus, slowing being led to a salvation that is so much greater than avoiding eternal torture once we die. Keep drinking the spiritual milk of trusting in Jesus, slowing being led to a salvation that is peace and love in this life, and peace and love that continues on after this life and into eternity.
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