I was visiting a nursing home in a neighboring community the other
day. I parked my car, and as I started
to get out of the car I noticed a magnet on door of the car beside me. The magnet read: If you died tonight would you be in heaven or
hell?
The magnet reminded me
of an encounter I had with an individual at Riverside Park in La Crosse. The man carried a sign that read:
Repent. Turn or Burn. The implication from the sign was that
if I (or anyone else for that matter) did not turn from my current life to a
new and different life, I would burn for eternity in the flames of hell.
The man carrying that sign approached me me and asked:
If you were to die tonight do you know where you would go? I bit my
tongue and did not say what first came to my mind - "to the funeral
home" but said "Yes. I trust the promise of Jesus."
The man persisted and asked: "How do you
know? When were you saved?"
"About 2000 years ago, on a cross outside of
Jerusalem" I responded. He pressed on: "You know a lot of
people talk the talk but do not walk the walk. Jesus warns us that all
sorts of people say Lord, Lord but end up in the fires of hell."
I let him talk a bit. He told me how his life
has changed from being a person of the bottle to a person of faith. He
then handed me a card and told me I needed to pray the prayer that was on the card
in order to be a true believer. I thanked him for
his witness and wished him God's blessings in 2017.
As I've thought about that encounter and the magnet on
that car, I think it is quite the tidy proposition. We say the right words in
the right way and it makes all things right. We are in the club. We
are on the bus to heaven.
My life has taught me that there is much more to
following Jesus than saying the right words. There is the nitty, gritty,
dirty business of living life with eyes wide open and ears to hear the cries of
the hungry needing to be fed; of kids growing up with parents more concerned
for their own pleasure than their children's well-being; of standing with those
who are oppressed; of speaking for the vulnerable; of showing hospitality for
the stranger.
Loving God and loving neighbor. That is what the
Christian life is about. It's not easy. It's not always safe or
socially acceptable. Choices need to be made. Boundaries need to be
crossed. Jesus was born into this real world. And his message of
love is still our only real hope.
