2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33; John 6:35, 41-51
Tulsa, Oklahoma, 1980, the airport.
Waiting to board my flight, minding my own business … a tall, gangly, smiling, bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, young man comes to me and asks, “Are you saved?”
“Yes, I am!” I say.
His face falls …
He turns quickly and walks away … looking for others, I’m sure, to whom he might pose the question, “Are you saved?”
Are you saved?
Some Christian traditions talk about it all the time … some traditions rarely talk about it, if at all.
Are you saved?
Some years back, interviewing for an interim position, I was asked, “When did you accept Jesus as your LORD and Savior?”
“I never did,” said I. “Jesus accepted me!”
And that’s the gospel truth … for all of us … not just for some, but for everyone!
Salvation is rooted in the unbreakable love of God!
Salvation is permanent, because God’s love is permanent.
Salvation is ours … you are saved, I am saved … the essence of the matter has been worked out by God … it’s application is worked out by us …
God gives us the paints, the brushes, the canvass, and with our very first breath, we begin painting …
God gives us the hammer, the nails, the lumber, and throughout our days, we do the building.
No wonder says Paul, work out your salvation with fear and trembling … with delight, and tireless commitment; it’s a precious gift from the heart of God
Along the way, we make our mistakes, we correct them, or maybe not … the tide comes in, the tide goes out, and God is there, in all of it.
Are you saved?
Evangelical traditions answer the question by soul-searching … a close examination of how we’re doing …
“Do I pray enough, do I believe enough? Do I believe rightly, correctly? Have I gone forward at a revival? Is it real? Am I sincere? How grievous are my sins? Have I been baptized - not just sprinkled, but immersed?”
Talk about a rabbit hole …
My spiritual life is like a roller coaster - with only three wheels!
There are days when my salvation is clear and consistent, courageous and strong, and I’m doing well in matters of faith, hope, and love …
And other days, my soul is depleted, faith crawls along the ground like an inch worm … my mind, a whirlwind of confusion … my soul behaves like a toddler in daycare.
The tide comes in, the tide goes out.
Don’t begin with yourself … never begin with yourself.
Begin with God!
The creator of the heavens and the earth … who says of all that is, It is good.
The covenant God … who touches the heart and soul of an old couple, without children - Abraham and Sarah (wonder if they had cats), and says to them, You’re gonna be the start of a whole new day.
God patiently endures the ups and downs of time and space …
God pays us a visit in a little cradle in Bethlehem, and dies at our hands on Calvary’s cross … in that moment of defeat and agony, God cries out, It is finished!
God saves us all … because God is all love …
Are you saved?
Of course you are …
Not because of your superlative goodness, or whatever, or prayers or piety … you’re saved by the goodness and love of God …
Think about love in your own life …
The love you have for family,
for a pet,
your favorite music …
your happy places …
Multiply that love by infinity, and you’ll have some sense of God’s love … not just for some, but for everyone …
an all-encompassing love,
a love that will not rest until all have been found,
and all have found their place
in the great love of God.
Saved at the first, saved at the last.
Wherever the future, whatever the past.
Why is this important?
To have peace with God!
Ease with God.
One with God.
One with ourselves, one with each other …
To be peacemakers in this world.
To carry the cross of Christ with intelligence and hope.
To be the salt of the earth, the light of the world.
The world needs our witness, even as we need the world …
If we grow silent, if our witness is compromised or distorted, the world suffers loss.
We fail the world, we fail God!
What we do here is supremely important and eternally good!
Are you saved?
Of course you are …
For this life, and for the life to come!
At the end of life, body and soul say goodbye to each other … the body returns to God’s good earth for safe keeping … the soul returns to the heart of God for rest … the tide comes in, the tide goes out.
Body and soul await that “great gettin’ up morning” when the final trumpet sounds …
a new heaven, a new earth …
body and soul reunited like old friends long gone from one another …
Whatever there is of hell, most of it’s right here …
Is there a hell? … it’s all around us … our own foolish behavior and lousy choices …
Economic and social forces that serve the few and leave millions of people beaten and broken …
Is there an eternal hell?
Think of it for a moment: eternal hell - where some will suffer endlessly, forever … billions and billions and billions of years, because in their brief span of their years, 60, 70, 80 years, 20 or 30 years - they didn’t get it right, and now forever, and forever, and forever again, will suffer torment and grief and hideous tortures!
Absolutely not!
God is better than that.
God’s justice isn’t about punishment, but deliverance.
God doesn’t need to punish; God needs to save, and God does that just fine!
At the end - everyone sees God.
EVERYONE!
For those who seek good, who pursue justice, who try their best, who care about life, who give themselves, who love the lonely, and walk with care upon God’s good earth:
It will be a moment of surprise and pleasure, joy and delight … It will be heaven!
For those who suffer much in this life - war, disease, genetic disorder … tragic accidents, loss of dignity and purpose …
there will be deliverance- in the sweet by and by …
For some, the bright light of God’s glory will bring pain and anger … in this life, they turn from God; they find God repulsive, an affront to their own desire to be god - very few do this, but some manage it, and they become the monsters of history … we know their names; they live in infamy, and others, unknown, part of the cruelty of the day, ignorant and violent, profoundly selfish.
For them, God’s love feels like hell.
God will wait … God has all the time in the world … in the end, all will be well … even the monsters will be saved!
I have no inside track on how it works, but God will work it out.
My great grandfather fought in the Civil War … he writes love letters to his dear wife Elizabeth … he tells her to take care of the children, and not to worry about harvesting the potatoes before winter … he writes, again and again, “Dear Elizabeth, if I don’t make it home, I will see you in heaven.”
And that, dear friends, is the gospel truth … from here to eternity!
Amen and Amen!
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