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“The Journey of Salvation” (Membership Caring Month #3) 

I want to start with something funny that I found on an internet site: A man dies and goes to heaven. Of course, St. Peter meets him at the Pearly Gates. St. Peter says, “Here’s how it works. You need 100 points to make it into heaven. You tell me all the good things you’ve done, and I give you a certain number of points for each item, depending on how good it was. When you reach 100 points, you get in.”

“Okay,” the man says, “I was married to the same woman for 50 years and never cheated on her, even in my heart.” That’s wonderful,” says St. Peter, “that’s worth three points!” Three points?” he says. “Well, I attended church all my life and supported its ministry with my tithe and service.” “Terrific!” says St. Peter. “That’s certainly worth a point.” “One point?!!” I started a soup kitchen in my city and worked in a shelter for homeless veterans.” “Fantastic, that’s good for two points,” he says. “Two points!??” Exasperated, the man cries. “At this rate the only way I’ll get into heaven is by the grace of God.” “Bingo, 100 points! Come on in!”

Today, I want to talk about “how God’s grace and salvation work” as the third part of my membership sermon series. You may wonder how this relates to membership and God’s grace and salvation. Allow me to offer an example. Some of you may know that I enjoy playing ping-pong on Mondays, and have been doing so since the fall of 2019. Monday mornings find me at the Webster Community Center, engaging in ping-pong. Most members of the ping-pong club are quite skilled, as they play three times a week. Our usual game is doubles, involving four people at once. There is much joy and cheerful shouting during our games.

However, to emerge victorious, competition is, of course, a factor. At times, I jokingly tell the opposing team, “Your mistake is our blessing and fortune.” This is because the more mistakes they make, the more points our team gains. In our matches, each team competes, and the mistakes of the opposing team become our team’s fortune. This rule is common in the competitive world we live in. However, our ping-pong group does not solely focus on competition or the desire to win, but rather on fellowship within the group.

Therefore, the mistakes of the opposing team are not merely our fortune; they are opportunities for everyone to come together with cheerful shouts. This camaraderie forms the basis of our group’s identity: a family united in love and care, where membership means sharing the same mindset of love and care for one another. This, I believe, is grace in action within our ping-pong community.

Today’s scripture will give us more insights into “how to work with grace and salvation” within a Christian family. The parable story in today’s scripture goes like this: A father has two sons; the younger son asked for his inheritance while his father was still alive. It was not right to request his father’s inheritance before his father passed away. However, his father granted his request. Upon receiving his inheritance, the younger son left home and spent all the money he had been given. Soon after, a famine struck in that whole country, and he found himself unable to sustain his life. He ended up working for a person who owned pigs, and he was so hungry that he even ate the food meant for the pigs. He deeply missed his home and his father, who had an abundance of food and a comfortable home to offer. Realizing the mistakes he had made, he felt regret and repented for his actions. He decided to return to his father’s house. His father had been waiting for his return every day. When he finally saw his son coming, he ran to him, welcomed him back home, and arranged a celebration in his honor.

However, the older son, who had always stayed with his father and worked in his field, became upset with his father for celebrating his brother’s return. The father then said to his older son, “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.”

The founder of Methodism, John Wesley, explained the way of salvation with the steps of grace; prevenient grace, justifying grace, and sanctifying grace. We can understand God’s grace and salvation, as John Wesley explained, through this parable story. The Father may be compared to God and the two sons to us. For the prevenient grace, grace is given to everyone from birth, whether they know about God or not. It is as if the two sons have lived in their father’s house since birth, surrounded by his abundant grace and love. However, they have the choice to stay in his father’s house or leave.

The father sometimes grants his sons’ requests even if they are wrong, because freewill is allowed for all humankinds. Yet, the father always waits for his sons’ return with repentance. Prevenient grace is God’s love and caring for all humans until they return to Him. This grace is fair to both Christians and non-Christians, as God can “cause his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matthew 5:45). It is as if Jesus Christ died for all humans even though we are yet sinners.

However, justifying grace is something very few people receive, as seen when the second son returns to his father with regret and repentance. Justifying grace is God’s grace when sinners come back to God, and God accepts them as His sons and daughters with forgiveness and love. It is as if God says, “You are my beloved son,” as He did when Jesus was baptized. It is like when we are baptized, when we are confirmed in faith, and when we repent for our sins; God is pleased and celebrates in heaven, just as the father did when his second son returned in the story.

Regarding sanctifying grace, it isn’t full explained in the story. However, we can observe the attitude of the first son toward his father and brother. We might consider the first son as representing a Christian who remains in God’s house, actively involved in church ministry like us. If Christians fail to grasp God’s grace and love, they might find fault with God for accepting sinners with forgiveness and love, and may even judge their brother as a sinner still.

Sanctifying grace involves growing in God’s grace; it means embracing others who are different from us by loving our neighbors, sharing generously what God has given us through mission work, and actively engaging in God’s ministry to expand His kingdom. Even though we don’t witness how the two sons grow in God’s grace in the story, we learn one important lesson: we should accept and love the second son as our brother, just as God continues to love him.

Do you know which step of grace you are on? No one is perfect. We learn and grow in God’s grace day by day. We cannot judge anyone, but we should love everyone as God loves us. We are a family in Jesus Christ. A Christian’s duty is to love God and love our neighbors. Therefore, as we observe March as Membership Caring Month, we need take care of those who have lost their faith and help them find their way back to God. Let’s reach out to our family members who have lost their faith in God and encourage them to return. This is the way we live in the sanctifying grace of God. Thanks be to God. Amen!

 

 

Posted in Sermons