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I've asked in sermons, "What did Jesus really do to save us? I mean, what act did he perform to become our savior?" After much pondering and a few wrong answers, the truth finally dawns on people's faces. Jesus died. A very human thing to do! You don't have to be a God to die. You don't have to be a hero, or some kind of a super man type of person. You don't even have to be overly good. To die is to give up, let go, cease to struggle.
Jesus put it his way, "Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me." I received the following article from one of our parishioners and I have to say the little kids got it right.
HOW TO GET TO HEAVEN:
By Small Children!
"If I sold my house and my car, had a big garage sale, and gave all my money to the church, would that get me into heaven?" I asked the children in my Sunday school class.
"No!" the children all answered.
"If I cleaned the church every day, mowed the yard, and kept everything neat and tidy, would that get me into heaven?"
Once more they all answered, "No!"
"Well, then, of I was kind to animals and gave candy to all children and loved my wife, would that get me into heaven?" I asked them again.
Once more they all answered, "NO!"
"Well," I continued, thinking they were a good bit more theologically sophisticated than I had given them credit for, "then how can I get into heaven?"
A five year old boy shouted out, "YOU GOTTA BE DEAD!"
Being Jesus doesn't take some artificially high perfection. Rather, it takes the willingness to die. I wonder if we could begin a new trend among Christians? Perhaps the new "in" thing could be a simple phrase reminding us how very human it is to participate in salvation. "Are we dead yet?" Have I died to pride? Have I died to protecting the big "ME" within? Have I left behind selfishness, self-centeredness and self-glorification? Lord, am I dead yet? Or, am I still trying to live like the pagans? What do you think? Thank you for listening. And, I will see you in Heaven.
PASTOR MARK
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