2013-08-22 Daniel Daring 2013 articles 2012 articles
21st
Sunday: Irrelevant
Question
Isaiah
66:18-21; Hebrews 12:5-7, 11-13; Luke 13:22-30
“Someone
asked him [Jesus], ‘Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?’” (Luke
13:22). According to my mother, every person is driven by two emotions: fear and
guilt. She has in mind that existential fear that springs from awareness of
one’s own sinfulness and makes us terrified at the thought of our fate after
death. Guilt driven people usually hold to any doctrine that will assure their
salvation. Catholic Christians find consolation in their belief in purgatory,
which is understood as the place of terrible suffering, but with assurance that
at the end all ‘souls in purgatory’ will enter heaven. Reformers have built
their doctrine around the article of ‘justification by faith,’ which could
be explained with that famous phrase, ‘don’t worry, be happy,’ since
Christ has already taken care of everything. And Evangelical Christians greet
themselves with a question - ‘Brother/ sister! When have you been saved?’
– asking about the precise date of acknowledging Jesus as Lord and Savior of
their lives. Yet, despite all those efforts to appease ourselves, the
existential fear persists and we continue asking, “Lord, are only a few people
going to be saved?” And then thinking: ‘Will I be among them?’
In
3rd century C.E., Origen proposed the doctrine about the universal
restoration of all things, known as apocatastasis.
In its strong version, the doctrine claims that at the end of times all
rational creatures will be reconciled with God, including Satan and all demons.
This claim is rejected by majority of Christian churches. However, the doctrine
has also its weak version that speaks about reconciliation only between God and
all human beings. This version of apocatastasis
has strong support of the Bible. God “desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth”
and Jesus ‘gave himself a ransom for all,”
wrote the author of 1 Timothy (2:4,6). “Consequently, just as the result of
one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of
righteousness was justification that brings life for all men” Paul wrote in
Romans (5:18). And in 1 Corinthians (15:22), we read: “For as in Adam all die,
so in Christ all will be made alive.” ‘Will it make hell empty?’ Someone
asked. Well. Some of us dare to hope. However, the Gospel of John seems to be
holding an opposing view then the one of Paul: “For the hour is coming when
all who are in their graves will hear his [the Son of Man] voice and will come
out – those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who
have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation” (John 5:28-29). Thus,
salvation of humanity remains God’s unfathomed mystery: “God has mercy on
whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden” (Romans
9:18).
Stop
asking; act
Jesus
disregards the question about how many will be saved and directs us to commit
ourselves towards concrete actions: “Make every effort to enter through the
narrow door” (Luke 13:24). According to J.D. Crossan there is a difference
between theology and faith: the first one is mind speculation; the second calls
for a life commitment to a program. ‘The narrow door’ should be understood
as Jesus’ call to follow Him. It means to embrace His principles and put them
into action in ever changing context of one’s life. Speculating, about hell
being empty or not, can only lead to another doctrinal split among Christians -
as it did in the past – in the name of never clearly defined orthodoxy.
Orthopraxis, on the other, states clearly: “Whoever claims to live in him must
walk as Jesus did” (1 John 2:6). Jesus’ way of life, as presented to us in
the Gospels, is the guiding principle of our way of life.
The
Church of Brethren founded nearly 300 years ago in Germany in such a way
presents its mission statement: “we subscribe to no formal “creed” or set
of rules. We simply try to do what Jesus did. Jesus brought a message of life,
love, and hope. But he offered much more than inspiring words: He understood
that people’s spiritual needs also include day-to-day human ones — food,
health, rest, comfort, friendship, and unconditional acceptance. “I am the
way,” he told his followers. He showed them how to trust, how to care, and how
to help. Steadily, lovingly, even radically, Jesus went about saving the world
— by serving its people. Because we believe his message, we seek to do the
same.” It could not be described better.
Conclusion
Make
every effort, strain yourself, do everything possible in order to follow Him. Do
not be concern with a question that cannot be answered. Try to bring peace, joy,
friendship, and material help to the people around you instead. And then, one
day, to your own surprise, the question that bothered you for so long will cease
to be relevant.