Intro: I have really enjoyed reading the many sermons that are responses to the Da Vinci Code novel. As one elder said years ago in a service, some people spend their lives looking for a reason, some people spend their lives looking for an excuse. After reading the many sermons it is quite clear that anyone who wants to reject Christianity from the reading of this novel, probably aren’t looking for a reason, but looking for an excuse.
Da Vinci Code
(looking for a reason, looking for an excuse)
Romans 1:20-so that they are without excuse
· Jesus—(Son of God) if you are looking for a reason, if you are living by faith, you like that Jesus is not just a man, but is God’s Son sent here to give His life for sin. You take joy in knowing that your sins are forgiven, that Jesus can take away the guilt and shame, and replace it with joy and peace. If you are standing on the promises, you like that He walks on water, calms the storms of life, and defeated the devil on every turn. But if you can’t handle that He demands a Holy life, that you must surrender your all and follow Him, then it is easy to understand, you are looking for an excuse.
** Every heresy, every falsehood that has ever been invented has come about on the same line, a lack of willingness to submit to the Truth of God. To the Jew a stumblingblock, to the Greek foolishness, but to us who are saved, the wisdom of God, and the power of God. This novel hasn’t revealed a new discovery, but identified an old revelation that man has spent 2000 years trying to by-pass the only way to eternal life. I’ll bet the Gnostic gospel doesn’t include that Jesus is the Way, The Truth and The Life, no man comes to the Father, except by Him. I’m not against Mary, Martha, or any other women of God, but it is at the name of Jesus that every knee shall bow and tongue confess, that He is Lord to the glory of the Father.
· The Bible is the Word of God—if you are looking for a reason, you gladly say, there is no book like this book. It is so inspired that a preacher can speak out of this Word, and lives can be changed forever. It is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the Truth, and the Truth has set us free. You can’t find one line, one jot or one dot, that isn’t inspired, and if you live by it, it will take you to heaven. In times of sickness, it brings healing, in times of weakness it brings strength, in times of sorrow it brings joy, in times of discouragement it brings hope. It is alive, it is a lamp unto our feet, it is a light unto our path. Heaven and earth will pass away, but this Word will never pass away.
*** But if you don’t like what it says, if you think it is too demanding, that it really cramps your style, then you will look for an excuse. It takes great faith to stand on it, and live by it, it doesn’t take anything to deny it. Those that love God’s Word see it as a way in, those who simply deny it, are looking for a way out. But if you don’t accept Christ or the teaching of the Word, what do you accept, a novel with a mysterious discovery found in some ancient art and reveal through a secret order. I like the old time religion and it’s good enough for me. It will take us all to heaven, and it’s good enough for me.
· I believe in the real Church of Jesus Christ—Matthew 16:18 I know that Christianity and religion have gotten so blended in some places that the real church sometimes is hard to find. But I believe Jesus is building a church and the gates of hell will not stand against it. I believe those who have a faith like a rock in the saving power of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary, belong to the church that will never end. I believe Jesus built the church, not Constantine, I’m one who is looking for a reason, not looking for an excuse. No novel, nothing on the six o’clock news, is going to shake my faith or move my foundation. In the last days many will be deceived, but it won’t be those who are holding onto Truth, but those who will be running after error.
**** if you are looking for an excuse, maybe you don’t like being under any authority in your life, maybe you hate any accountability, maybe being part of the church is too demanding, or you have found a few hypocrites in your experiences in life so you have decided that it is nothing more than man made religion. If that is your attitude than it is easy to see why Constantine is an easy choice because it frees from any responsibility of serving God and knowing God. But not choosing God or walking away from it all, doesn’t make God any less God or you any less responsible. I don’t go to church because it is perfect, I see some political stuff from time to time, but the alternative is me being a religion to myself, and I don’t think that religion will be good enough to get me to heaven.
· I like Father God over Mother Goddess—I like to think Jesus left the authority of the church to Peter, John, Paul and other disciples. My reason is because the history of the early church is very well documented and these leaders brought the church forward in the 1st century and in no way does this minimize the efforts of the women of God of the early church. If the Bible said our Mother who art in Heaven, if the early church was led by Martha, Mary and Elizabeth, I would give myself fully to those laws of God. But Jesus appointed these disciples, and I would rather follow the documents of the Bible and church, than to follow a conspiracy theory for my eternal existence. Choices have consequences and I will take 2000 years of church documentation over a novel any day.
*** I suspect that anyone who has ever been hurt by a man or been treated unfairly in a male dominated system, would polarize toward a feminine Deity whose leadership would all be women. I guess a novel that would promote a conspiracy against Mary Magdalene as the true leader of the church would identify with anyone who has ever been treated unfairly based on gender. But let me assure you that God is a good Father, and Jesus is a wonderful Lord who elevated women in a way the Jewish society had never seen before He arrived. God won’t hurt you, Jesus won’t abandon you, He will never leave you or forsake you.
Close: I know this isn’t very deep or theological, but my country fried commentary will be coming out in a few years and it doesn’t get any deeper than this. As a pastor for 20 years, with 30 years of ministry experience, I have seen a lot of people who have walked away from church, religion, and what they consider spiritual politics. People have been hurt in so many different church settings and carried offense, bitterness, an inability to forgive in their spirit. I guess a book denouncing it all would seem very attractive if you have that all in your heart. But let me assure you of this: a wrong spirit within us will cause us to follow the wrong spirit around us. So don’t be pulled in by a so called new discovery that the Church of Jesus Christ is a fraud.
Here is one final thought: if the devil can get you constantly running after excuses instead of looking for reasons your life will be a life on the run. Looking for excuses get people out of their marriages, looking for excuses get people to quit jobs, quit school, give up on dreams, goals and visions. Every day you get up, you can either find a reason or an excuse. Every Christmas you see this sign: but this year when you see this sign, remember this sermon, it says, “Jesus is the reason for the season.” Amen
