Roomates?
Thursday, June 2nd : Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. One could say that the corollary to this is that not everyone who wouldn’t caught dead saying “Lord, Lord” will be damned. For some that is upsetting. For some, the joy of heaven is being there without those others. I think with God’s view of heaven we need to all learn to get along now, we might be roommates later.
posted by Dan at 10:55 AM
2 Comments:
OK, this is a passage that I always have questions about. Pastor Dan, I know that you are busy with ELCA Synod Assembly this weekend, so I understand if you don't respond to this one, but maybe some others in the congregation can help me, too. My first question is, what is the will of the Father? There seems to be a lot of controversy about this. I would think that most of us do what we believe the Father's will is. I must admit that a lot of what I do, although it may seem altruistic or "God's will", could just as likely be fun or "Nick's will." I wish there was a clear way of discerning God's will and avoiding our own delusions. Interestingly, and maybe proof of your point, I have a friend who does not believe in God. Yet he has volunteered more time and done more in terms of getting our church broadcast up and running than I have. Perhaps having fun and doing the will of God are not mutually exclusive.
The second question I have about this passage is that it seems to directly contradict Joel 2:32 "And everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved; . . ." Jesus seems to be indicating that not everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. So which is it? (The apostles appear to agree with Joel. See Acts 2:21 and Romans 10:13.)
The will of the Father is to love one another and let them know they are loved by God. It is not always our will, but it always leads us and others to God and God's love. Not everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved is talking about those who use the name of God as justification for doing thier own will only. Throughout history there have been horiffic examples of individuals or groups perpetuating horrific evils and death upon others in the name of God. I am sure that those who are doing the rapeing and killing in Sudan today feel God is on thier side. Killing and rape does not seem to fit into the love one another calling of God.
Post a Comment
<< Home