| August 26, 2001 Jeremiah 1:4-10 + Hebrews 12:18-29 + Luke 13:10-17 |
| Coming back from Tulsa last night, a car whipped in front of me, frantic to save five minutes on the drive by blasting out of stretch that was narrowed for repairs. I caught sight of a bumper sticker that said. “Jesus Is The Only Fire Escape.” Now whether or not that is true, it said more to me about the driver than about Jesus.Most of us in this part of the country who are Catholics have been asked a time or two if we are saved. And again, the question rarely asked for the sake of gathering information usually tells us more about the person who inquires than it does anything about salvation. |
| When the question arises on the way to Jerusalem in Luke’s Gospel, Jesus does not respond. He never answers, you notice, the question about the number to saved. He simply launches into that talk about trying to make it through the narrow door which we immediately decide means admission to heaven. It is answer directed to behavior not to behavior’s consequence. |
| Saved is the disciple of Jesus, the virtue we ponder on this week’s pause in the Journey; and the discussion of Jesus with those along the way raises the issue for our reflection and study Obviously from what is said in the dialogue, just knowing Jesus is not enough for salvation. It is not enough to be baptized. It is not enough to share rituals and receive sacraments. It is not enough to receive communion if we do not try to achieve it. A thousand communions are not enough if hated lurks in our hearts. It is not enough to take this bread which is Christ’s body ifwe do not break bread to feed the hungry members of Christ’sbody It is not enough to seek comfort, forgiveness and love if we have not given comfort, forgiveness and love. |
| There was an ancient french custom ofbuilding one’s coffin from the wood of the table that had been used to feed the poor The custom gives evidence of an understanding that a disciple must be more than a passive receiver of God’s gifts and grace. The disciple of Jesus will have plenty of wood for their coffin. They will never think that simply because they are members of the community they will gain the Kingdom. They know that this is a matter in the hands of God. |
| The question about the “few” to be saved comes from a world which saw reality as limited. For most people of the first century there was only so much to go around including salvation. Competition was endemic to the religious as well as the economic sphere. In fact, the word “struggle” is almost symbolic of the era. In those times, there were the “elite” how were saved, and the “others.” The image of God held by these people springs out of this ancient thinking; and it is just exactly this that Jesus comes to confront. What sort of God would permit only a “few” to |
| be saved? The God reveled by Jesus is a God very inclusive with his table fellowship. Remember that Jesus does not answer the questions in these verses, but urges us to take the path of disciplined faith, not the easy way It is the narrow door that he recommends. |
| In our language, the words “salvation” is linked to the word “salve” as a healing ointment. Those are saved, are those who are healed, suggests the language.Salvation comes as Liberation, yet many might feel in our days and in our culture that we are free, in fact, we talk of freedom and guard our ch01ces at every tum regardless of the consequences. Yet, we are in bondage to an economic system that feeds off the poor, a military system that divides human kind into victors and victims. We are trapped by our pre occupation with ourselves and our own well being. If we are saved, we would be free of that.Salvation comes too as reconciliation. The oldest biblical image of salvation is the return of God’s people from their exile. That image is central to the story of faith. Exiled from Paradise; exiled from the Holy Land; exiled from God, the saved are a people coming home once more in the loving gaze of God. |
| Saved disciples of Jesus Christ live at home in the presence of God and the company of God’s people. They sit at the table and take the bread because they have given the bread. They reap the fruits of loving sacrifice, for they have been the victims for each other They know the comfort of forgiveness because they have forgiven each other and themselves. |
| Saved disciples are healed from all that holds them back from seeking the fulfillment of the Kingdom of God. They know that there are no reserved tables in the Kingdom of Heaven, and that while always open, the door is narrow and all would-be-guests will welcome others as brothers and sisters who also have been touch, healed and saved. |