From last Sunday’s Gospel: “Whoever comes to me I will never cast out” (John 6:37).
“Whoever” That’s a comforting word, because it includes you and me, but “whoever” is also a stiff challenge to us who are church-goers. “Whoever” includes the person who has walked away from the institutional church. “Whoever” includes the person who sits in a jail cell, the human sex trafficker, the addict, the pirate on the high seas. “Whoever” includes Planned Parenthood and ISIS. We should throw open the outreach of the church to these people? “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” (Mark 2:16). “Whoever” challenges us.
“Whoever comes to me” warns us not all roads lead to heaven, not every lifestyle is pleasing to God, and even your life may be taking a direction that leads to unending separation from God and His goodness. “No one comes to the Father except through me,” Jesus declares, period (John 14:6). “…to me.” The criterion is Jesus, not being religious, not being a good church member. It’s Jesus. He’s the “stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense” (1 Peter 2:8). “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16)
“I will never cast out.” That’s a promise; Jesus will not reject those who come to Him. “Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child… And he took them in his arms and blessed them” (Mark 10:15-16). “He will gather the lambs in his arms” (Isaiah 40:11). His is not just another human promise, easily broken. “If we are faithless, he remains faithful—for he cannot deny himself” (2 Timothy 2:13). Faithful, He prays that we will always be with Him. “Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world” (John 17:24).
“Whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” Does anyone see the challenge to the way the institutional church does its business?
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