Wednesday, February 24, 2016 Someone asked [Jesus], “Lord, will only a few be saved?” He said to them, “Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able. … There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrown out. Then people will come from east and west, from north and south, and will eat in the kingdom of God. Indeed, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.” Luke 13:23, 28-31
23
Someone asked Jesus, "Lord, will only a few be saved?"
Like those days of Jesus, the world has many examples of the world going to hell in a hand basket. It makes a body wonder if there were a list of the ten worst places to be, it would include where you were standing. Goodness is a light of hope and an indicator of God’s favor, isn’t it? So if you see so little goodness around you it has to beg the question, "Lord, will only a few be saved?" What is Lent like? What is it like to see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God and be ourselves thrown out? Lent is noticing that those named as in the kingdom are flawed characters who put their hand to doing what the Lord called them to do. What happens when you hear that the Kingdom comes and you might be left out? I hope that it changes things. You begin to see the Kingdom as what we do in the moment, right now, to be the goodness and mercy that is graced upon us by the Lord. Being saved seems less about finding a correct door to open and step in, and more about our doing what we can, where we are, adding grace and mercy to our bit of the world. In the end, Jesus announces that the saved will be many. From everywhere. And who we thought would be at the head of the line will be near the last. And who we thought would not be in the line at all will be at the head of the line. Not my opinion. Not your decision. It is the Lord’s doing.
Inspire in me, my Lord Jesus, the confidence that I am of the many who come into your Kingdom. Inspire in me the confidence that I live for good when I live mercy and grace in your name. Amen. -Zeke Hanford