I was licensed to preach in September of 1957, just before my 17th birthday. That's a long time ago! And the strangest thing ever? In the whole time? A conversation, about half-way through the journey:
A man I didn't know had died, and we were preparing for his funeral. The wonderful woman who was leading the Worship Committee asked me: "Shall we use white or purple paraments on the altar today?" No one had ever asked that.
So, I asked her: "What is the difference? What do the colors mean?"
Her reply: "Well, the former pastor said we were to use white for a saved person, purple for one not saved."
Puzzled: "How did you know?" She: "The pastor knew, and he told me."
We agreed in that moment to use white (since no one knows) from that point forward, and the simple expression of relief in her face has stayed with me! For me, it was one strange moment; for her, the end of a strange recurrence that had shaped the previous several years!
No one knows! Point one in funeral preparation! Question: how do you preach the Gospel when the remembered one is saved? It's the same Gospel when one is NOT, and no matter how much one may prepare by learning the Gospel, there is no way to know inside another's faith. The Gospel is about God and His grace and love. No one of us knows inside any other one's deep heart, whether there was a life-long trust in Jesus, or a newly discovered trust in Jesus worked by the Holy Spirit in the latter moments.
No one knows. And I am totally sure that I do not know. God, however, is not confused! He loves us all, whether we trust Him or not, and he is eternally hopeful. That, after all, is the meaning of GRACE, and the foundation of FAITH. I'm sure I won't be saved or lost based on the results of a survey among my friends, but only by the loving opinion of my Heavenly Father. And THAT is consolation enough for any of us.
Conclusion? Take heart! You are loved!
No comments:
Post a Comment