Genesis 28:10-19
“The One Stairway to Heaven”
By: Rev. Kenneth E. Sauer, Pastor of Parkview United Methodist Church, Newport News, VA
“There’s a lady who’s sure all that glitters is gold and she’s buying a stairway to heaven.
When she gets there she knows, if the stores are all closed, with a word she can get what she came for.”
These are the opening lyrics to the number 1 most requested rock and roll song of all time by the rock
group Led Zeppelin.
The name of the song is, of course, Stairway to Heaven.
In our lesson for this morning, Jacob--who had deceitfully stolen Isaac’s blessing from his brother Esau
was now on the run from his brother who had determined to kill Jacob.
This was an unsettling time for Jacob. He had left home as a fugitive, and when he reached Bethel he was
tired.
So, he lay down to go to sleep and while asleep he had a prophetic dream.
“He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the
angels of God were ascending and descending on it. There above it stood the Lord, and he said: ‘I am the Lord, the
God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac....”
.... “When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, ‘Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of
it.”
Have you ever been on the run, or in an unsettling situation?
Maybe you were having trouble with your faith...
...maybe you were going through a time when you thought to yourself, “I have gone too far...
....I have sinned too much....
.....surely God is not with me...”
Then suddenly, God made Himself known to you...and you saw that indeed...God was right there with you
all along...ready to forgive you and love you!
“Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.”
This is God with us!
This is Emmanuel!
This is Jesus Christ!
The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob has promised, “I am with you...I will not leave you....”.....
....and this is a promise we can all bank on!
Unlike the gods of the pagan religions of Jacob’s time, in which the gods were merely local deities who
gave protection only within their own territories....
....the One true God assured Jacob that He would always be with him wherever he went.
Recently one of the major denominations met in Columbus, Ohio to debate, of all things, whether or not
Jesus Christ is the One true Savior of the world!
Is He the universal Savior or are there several?
What about the other world religions and their claims?
Some people wonder if perhaps there are not many ways to God.
If we were to ask the average American today what the difference is between the major world religions,
many people might mumble something about all religions being pretty much the same.
People assume that all religions have nearly the same moral teachings and ideals.
They might have different names for God, but it is the same God.
These religions, many people believe, may travel different roads, but they all lead to God.
As long as you believe in something, as long as you believe in God, it really doesn’t matter what form
your belief takes.
In fact, these religions are all very different and even contradict each other at crucial points.
All religions are not the same...all roads do not lead to the same end....in fact there is only one way to
heaven!
There is only One Stairway to heaven, and this Stairway can neither be bought nor sold!
Jacob’s dream was an offer from God--the Lord offered to be Jacob’s God.
And this is what God does for us through Jesus Christ.
In John chapter 1:51 Jesus tells Nathanael: “I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of
God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
Sound familiar?
Jesus Christ is the Stairway to Heaven that Jacob dreamed about.
Jesus Christ is our only access into the very presence of God: Jesus is the Door to heaven through whom
we must enter.
In John 14:6, Jesus declares: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except
through me.”
And in 1st Timothy 2:5 the Bible makes it clear: “For there is one God and one mediator between God and
men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men.”
There is only One God--not the many gods of the many world religions, and there is only one way to
God...
...there is only one way to reach Him...
...there is only one way to be saved!
But what about Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism?
Buddhism is basically an atheistic religion.
Most Buddhists do not believe in the concept of an ultimate God.
In fact, Buddhism is not about finding God or even finding His will at all.
Buddhism’s central teaching is how to arrive at the ideal state where there is no longer any craving, in fact,
where there is no longer
any kind of desire or feeling at all.
That state is called Nirvana.
It is the state of disinterest toward all that is around you.
In a nutshell, the way to avoid unhappiness and suffering is not to care or feel anything.
You form no earthly attachments.
Now, instead of withdrawing from life and any emotional attachment to it, Jesus taught that we are to
enter into life in the fullest sense!
We are not to escape from life, but to take it on with enthusiasm because, as difficult as it may be, He
is with us!
There are many people who are practical Buddhists.
They withdraw and shield themselves to protect themselves from emotional attachments and others so they
will not be hurt.
But Jesus taught us to even love our enemies, and to do good to those who despiteful use us--and these
are the people who have the power to hurt us the most!
Salvation for the Buddhist is not salvation from sin, but salvation from suffering.
But without salvation from sin--there is only death!
What about Hinduism?
In seminary I took a course on Hinduism, and although a few branches of Hinduism are atheistic....
....most branches of it have thousands of gods.
According to Hinduism, there is no One God whose creation is separate from Himself.
In fact, everything is a god; we can all be a god.
Hindu gods like Krishna and Shiva are depicted as violent and erotic.
Shiva is usually represented with having several arms and legs, his fierce image wears a necklace of skulls,
displays sexual imagery, and is surrounded by demons.
This is hardly the same deity as Jesus Christ!
Hinduism promotes the caste system which says that people are predetermined to live in either luxury or
poverty according to their karma--and nothing can change this.
In fact, it would be detrimental to ease the suffering of others.
This belief system has held India in poverty and bondage for hundreds of years!
How about Islam?
Islam is the religion which is practiced largely in the Arab world....but it is gaining converts in America at
alarming rates.
Islam has its roots in Judaism....
...since they both see their patriarch as Abraham.
The Arab world traces its lineage to the firstborn son of Abraham, Ishmael.
The Jews trace their lineage to Isaac, the son of Abraham and Sarah who had been promised by God.
The war in the Middle East today can be traced back to this biblical story of who really is the rightful son
of Abraham.
For Muslims, salvation is something which must be earned.
It is not graciously given by Allah.
Islam does have a high standard of morality which must be strictly kept.
Women are thought of as possible temptations which could lead men astray, so women must be veiled
and wear clothing that completely covers them.
One sure way of earning salvation is to die as a martyr for the faith.
They believe that--just as Mohammed was whisked immediately to heaven and given several
maidens--the same will happen to them who die for the cause of Islam.
The people who flew planes into the World Trade Center and have been involved in other acts of
terrorism were acting in full accord with the tenets of Islam.
The followers of Mohammed have been the most violent people in the history of the world, and
continue to be.
But Jesus teaches that we are to love the sinner.
Mohammed taught that the infidel must be killed if they refuse to convert.
What about Judaism?
It’s the mother of Christianity.
Our God is the same God.
Our history is the same history.
The Jewish Scriptures are part of our Bible, we have the same moral code and commandments.
We see history and the world through the same eyes.
The only difference is that orthodox Jews are still waiting for the Messiah to come....
....We believe that He has already come in the person of Jesus Christ!
Many Jewish people are fascinated by Jesus, and within the Christian Church we have many Jewish
persons who see themselves as completed Jews--who have found new life in Christ!
There are many voices shouting at us from many different directions today.
Therefore, it is important to know something about them in order to be able to discern one shout from
another....
.....because there is only One Stairway to Heaven.
There is only One Mediator between God and people, and we must have this Mediator in order to be
saved.
God Himself has to handle our sin, condemnation and death.
God Himself has to conquer sin.
God Himself became the Ideal and Perfect Man.....in the form of Jesus Christ....our Mediator.
If we really believe and trust that the death of Jesus Christ is for us....
....God accepts us as being free from the guilt and condemnation of sin....
...because Jesus has already paid the price for sin and death!
And how did Jesus pay the price?
He paid the price by the shedding of His blood, and the Bible says: “without the shedding of blood
there is no forgiveness.”
Jacob had sinned. He had deceived his brother....
....he was on the run for his life....
....he was scared....
....he was unsettled....
....Then he saw the Stairway to Heaven, and everything changed!
“Surely the Lord is in this place--and I was not aware of it...
....How awesome is this place! This is non e other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.”
How many of us can say that this morning?
