Subject: Is John 3:16 for real? |
Bible Note: Emmaus, Dan K, Jensen: Further to this discussion...and to this passage ["Although in ways known to himself God can lead those who, through no fault of their own, are ignorant of the Gospel, to that faith without which it is impossible to please him, the Church still has the obligation and also the sacred right to evangelize all men." Hebrews 11:6; 1Cor 9:16 ]...it has been my experience to come to realize that all of us are fairly much where we are "supposed" to be. (I'm finding this mildly difficult to put into words.) That is, we are constantly inundated with God's grace...always faced with the "fundamental option" or choice of accepting salvation (i.e., Jesus aka Salvation aka Holy Spirit aka God the Parent/Father/Mother/Source/Authority/Word/Life/...). Surely, if God is nothing else, God will be (was and always has been) fair. As a child, having one parent an Irish Catholic and one parent born Buddhist-convertedCatholic-disillusioned-withUnChristian-behaviors-of-people-who-"should"-have-known-better-etc-, I spent a good deal of time worrying and praying for the salvation of both. In my "ignorance" I spent hours and hours bidding God to let my parents into heaven and please not send either to hell for non-conformance to whatever standard current at that time (50 years ago). So, on a very practical level, I can appreciate Dan K's question re whether John 3:16 is worthy of belief. Although through personal prayer comes revelation to the heart the peace of salvation, we the people of God (i.e., the Church without name) must "evangelize" sometimes without words but with acts of loving kindness. We are gift; we are grace. And we cannot KNOW how God will do what God will do. Until I became a parent, I had no clue the size to which one's heart could grow. Once when my oldest child was two (who turned 19 yesterday) had committed some minor transgression, I put him in the corner. A minute or two later, I looked in on him. He had his head down, hands folded, obviously praying. I asked, "What are you doing?" "I'm praying an in-the-corner prayer," he meekly replied. My curiosity prompted me to inquire, "What does a person say in an in-the-corner prayer?" In his simplicity he enlightened me with, "You say, 'Please, God, don't let me stay here forever.' " Knowing that I was my child's prototype for God and knowing that I was also God's delegate and couldn't let Him down, I said, "Oh, I see." A few seconds later, I called from the next room, "You can come out now." Grace is ALWAYS working. (I realize that this is neither exegetical nor Aristotelean.) P.S. Thanks to Emmaus and Searcher re help with Daniel 3, Song of Praise (12/25/01). A Blessed 2002 to you all |