Some of you might identify with this. An elderly man had hearing problems, so he went to the doctor who fitted him with a set of hearing aids that allowed the gentleman to hear 100%. The man went back a month later to the doctor who told him, "Your hearing is perfect. Your family must be really pleased that you can hear again." The man replied, "Oh, I haven't told my family yet. I just sit around and listen to their conversations. So far, I've changed my will three times!" (This story has no bearing on my sermon. I just enjoyed it and passed it along to you.April Fools!)

         You're driving along a highway in a rural area, in Colorado or Nebraska, and nearby you see another road, an older road that's been replaced by the one you're on. It's a narrow road, crumbling in small segment, a piece of it showing up here and there. Ever wondered about that old road, where it went, who drove on it? It's a road that goes nowhere and builders of the new road left it there, and now it's a reminder of the past. In southeastern New Mexico there are small roads that lead to nowhere, jeep trails that lead to nothing of interest, no mining site, no impressive view, just tracks made by people having fun. Someone drove that way, others followed to investigate, and all found the roads went nowhere.

          There are millions of people today on a road to nowhere. They have no belief in God and are wandering aimlessly, following this human whim or that idea, sure the next one will be one they can follow, one to give them purpose and meaning in life. Some claim there is a god, but it's the wrong one. Others claim there is only one generic god, but that all religious roads lead to him. Still others make up their own god, shaped in the form of power or possessions or pleasure. They are carving their own god, changing its shape into whatever suits them. All of these people are on the road to nowhere but hell and eternal separation from the only true God.

         The Bible says there is only one true God, and it also says there's only one road to Him. That road is through Jesus, and His road takes us to heaven. All other religions are roads to perdition, and that road has ruts that can damage us forever.

         Christianity is exclusive. It is not inclusive. Inclusiveness is the human doctrine saying we must accept all ways to God, that no one is better or worse than the other. But the Christian faith is exclusive. It says there is but one way to heaven, through faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus said in John 14:6, "I am the way the truth and the life; no one comes to the father except through me." That's exclusive. Jesus leaves no room for other ways.

         Being inclusive may be okay with human customs, but not with God. Inclusiveness can be interesting, for it shows us how others live and act. But in matters of faith, it is hollow, empty, and gives us nothing solid to stand on. St. Peter told the religious leaders of his day in Acts 4:12, "Salvation is found in no one else [than Jesus], for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved."

         So let's be perfectly clear, all roads do not lead to heaven. Only one does, and it's through faith in Jesus Christ. I once said this to a group of old folks and one lady came up to me afterwards and said, "Pastor, do you mean my Muslim friends won't be in heaven? How about my Jewish friends? Oh pastor, you've ruined my day." Truth is truth, and denying it won't change it.

         Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the day we now call Palm Sunday. His disciples had warned Him not to go. Several times He'd told them He had to do it, to fulfill the scriptures. Luke tells us that one way Jesus wept for the city. He knew Jerusalem was doomed to be destroyed totally, no stone left unturned. The Romans did it in 70 AD, but it started long before among those who turned God's covenant inside out. Abraham's covenant of faith, affirmed by Jacob and his sons, and re-affirmed by Moses and David, had been lost. In its place were rules of behavior.

         The Gospel had been replaced by the Law, and when Jesus came into the city, the time had come to save His chosen people and the people of the world. Jesus wept for the city, because its people had gone astray. Its power and beauty had overshadowed its trust in God. Jesus knew of the horrible days to come, and He wept for those who would experience it.

         Jesus wept for the city, but He also went there as the Lamb of God, the one who takes away the sins of the world. Jesus would fulfill the prophesy of John the Baptist who said of Him in John 1:29, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!"

         Remember the Exodus? Centuries before the Lamb was killed, and its blood, smeared on the doorposts of the houses, saved the people from the Angel of Death. Recall how God saved His Chosen People from the flood waters of the Red Sea, while consuming their enemies.

         Recall how God gave them the Promised Land. But also recall how, once in the Promised Land, they turned their backs on God, and followed after false gods. They, too, took roads to nowhere, in spite of all God had done for them.

         Jesus is the new Lamb of God. His blood was shed on the cross to save all people from our slavery to Sin. Not just Israelites, but all people of all ages, are blessed by His death and resurrection. The Lamb of God was sacrificed for us, and all who trust in Him are saved.

         We know a lot of what happened to Jesus during His last days in the city. He overturned the tables of the money changers in the temple. He cursed the fig tree for not producing fruit. He visited Mary, Martha and Lazarus in Bethany and uttered some of His most memorable parables. And He gave us Holy Communion in the upper room.

         A few days after entering Jerusalem, Jesus was arrested. That's what His disciples feared would happen, but that's also why He had come. This was no sightseeing trip, no vacation to the big city. It was a journey to the cross. The soldiers arrested Him, but His friends ran away. It was not a good night for Jesus or anyone who knew Him.

         After a long night of betrayal and denial, of mockery and beatings, Jesus was sentenced to death. He was nailed to the cross at 9:00 AM and hung there six hours, until 3:00, the ninth hour. That Friday was also the day of the Passover, and the custom in the Temple on this annual holy day was to sacrifice a perfect lamb at precisely 3:00 PM. This sacrifice was to atone for the sins of the Jews, and it vividly recalled the death of the Passover lamb.

         The Bible says at the ninth hour, 3:00 PM, Jesus cried out with a loud voice and then died. 3:00, the exact time that the high priest in the Temple drew the knife across the throat of the sacrificial lamb, shedding its blood for the sins of the people. And at that precise moment, Jesus of Nazareth, the Lamb of God, took away the sins of the world. Not only the perfect animal died, but also the perfect Savior. At that moment, the Exodus was complete. God fully delivered humanity from its slavery to sin, by the shed blood of the Lamb of God. By faith in Jesus Christ, God now passes over our sins and delivers us from our slavery to them.

         But though we are forgiven, yet still we live each day with the reality of sin. We are at the same time forgiven and in need of forgiveness. We are saint and sinner, and we live with that tension all through life. Christ is our Lord, end we never cease needing Him. Only in heaven will we no longer need forgiveness, for we live in the presence of the Holy One of God.

         There is never a time in life when we won't need Jesus. That's why we still fall to the temptation, or take the wrong road in life. Other roads look so inviting! They entice us to go that way and tempt us to see what's down that road. But they lead to nowhere.

         Years ago the Fuller Brush man, new to the area, stopped by our farm and asked my Dad for directions to the Olson farm. Dad told him to "go a half mile east, a mile south, a mile west, then ¾ mile back north." When he left, Mother said, "Ed, you told him to drive in a circle. Why didn't you tell him they live just a half mile west of us?" Dad said, "Oh, I don't know. Guess I just wanted him to get acquainted with the roads."

         We, too, need to be acquainted with the roads - especially the right one. American poet Robert Frost once wrote his famous lines, "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference." If we depend on ourselves, we truly cannot get there from here. We must take the right road. Jesus once said, "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." (Matthew 7:13-14) There are two roads, and taking the right road will make all the difference.

         Dear friends, be not the one who thinks all roads lead to God, for they do not. And be not the one who takes the wide road, the popular road, the attractive road, the road of lies. It is the road to nowhere. Rather, take the narrow road, the road to Christ, that leads to the heavenly Kingdom.

         Today we are continually warned about the things we must fear: Global Warming, Water Shortage, Obesity, Identity Theft, Illegal Aliens, Overpopulation, Failure of Social Security, Energy Shortage, Islam fascism, Sexual Predators, War, Computer Virus, and, of course, the really big one, Transfats! Jay Leno had it right when he said, "With hurricanes, tornados, fires, mud slides, floods, bird flu and storms tearing up the country, are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?" Whatever happens, may God grant us faith in Christ always. Amen

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  Epiphany logo designed and provided by Dale Bargmann at daleb@ecentral.com