Wednesday: The Way, Which They Call a Sect
WEEK 29
WEDNESDAY
THE WAY, WHICH THEY CALL A SECT
Matthew 5:17-20
We have seen that the kingdom is the Way. When people got hold of this, it got hold of them. It gave them a mastery over alternatives; there was no other way than the Way!
Note the passages in Acts where the Way is used: “if he found persons who belonged to the Way” (9:2); “publicly slandered the Way” (19:9); “a great disturbance erupted about the Way” (19:23); “I harassed those who followed this Way to their death” (22:4); “This I admit to you, that according to the Way, which they call a sect, I worship . . . God” (24:14 RSV); “Felix, who had an accurate understanding of the Way” (24:22).
This adoption of the Way to describe the Christian way was amazing. It meant that they had cut down through the jungle of rival claims and had climbed out to a clear way, which turned out to be the Way. All alternatives were gone—they were certain with an invincible certainty.
Now note “according to the Way, which they call a sect” (24:14 RSV). A sect is a section of life, something cut off, not the whole. They called it a sect; Paul called it the Way—the Whole, Reality. From that day to this we have been doing just what Paul’s contemporaries did; we make the Way into a sect by making it a way to heaven, a way to save our souls, a way to keep well, a way to success, a way of social custom. Or we make the Way synonymous with our denomination or even synonymous with the church. But the Way is the Way—the way to do everything—all else is Not-the-Way.
Many Christians, and practically all non-Christians, make the Way into a sect by making it a religion—alongside other religions—maybe a little better, but still a religion. But Jesus never used the word religion, nor did he conceive of himself setting one religion alongside other religions. He came to set the gospel over against all human need, whether in this religion, that religion, or no religion. He came to set the Way over against ways.
And when you entered this kingdom, you knew instinctively that this was the Way. The quest was over.
O Christ, when our wandering feet touch the Way, there is the thrill of being conscious that this is the thing for which we were born. This is It. We thank you. Amen.
AFFIRMATION FOR THE DAY: I shall not turn the Way into a sect; it shall be the whole—the whole of my life.