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Listen – One and All. Salvation is a gift. There are no first or
second-class citizens in the kingdom of God. We are all God’s children
and God loves us all the same. And isn’t that the way it ought to be?
There are enough ways of measuring status in this world without having
first and second-class citizens in the world to come.
Every society, from the poorest to the richest, has some way of
measuring status. Back in the days when the stagecoach was the
primary means of transportation in the American West, one sign of
status was the class of stagecoach ticket you bought.
It was common for a stagecoach to breakdown, or to get stuck on a
rocky or muddy path. Passengers with a third-class ticket were required
to get the stagecoach going again. They removed the rocks or tree limbs
that blocked the path, they cleared the mud from around the wagon
wheels, they unloaded the heavier items from the stagecoach. If the
stagecoach load was too heavy for the horses to pull up the hill, second-
class passengers had to disembark and walk up the hill. First-class passengers were not expected to do any work. No matter how messy the
situation was, no matter how stuck the stagecoach was, a passenger with
a first class ticket was under no obligation to help on the journey. He or
she simply benefited from the work of others.
Friend, forget such distinctions in the Kingdom. God plays no
favorites. And that’s good. It would be my luck to go into the Kingdom
right behind Mother Teresa or Billy Graham. But, here’s the good news,
it won’t matter at all. My robe will be just as white as Mother Teresa’s,
because it has been washed in the blood of Jesus Christ. And my crown
will be radiant – though it may slip off a little to the side. Whether
we’ve served seventy years or seven minutes in the fellowship of Christ,
the reward is the same – the presence, and power of perfect love. We
shall see Christ face to face.
There’s an old story told about a little church west of Winchester,
Virginia. One Sunday morning their minister was rather preoccupied.
His sermon did not make as much sense as it usually did. As the
congregation listened, they became concerned about him. At the close of the service, before he pronounced the benediction, he said, “You know that my wife and I have a daughter that we haven’t
seen in awhile: She was leading another kind of lifestyle, one that we
didn’t exactly approve of. She left  home and we hadn’t seen her….
“Until we found her the other day. She was in apartment with no
heat, no warm water, and no electricity. We also found her with our
grandson, three months old. We asked her if she wanted to come home,
and she said that, yes, she would.
“Many of you in our congregation will not approve of someone
like that living in your parsonage. But she’s our daughter and we love
her.
“There are two doors to our church. I feel that some of you won’t
be able to shake my hand this morning. And that’s okay. I’ll
understand.” And with that, he went to the back of the church,
pronounced the benediction, and waited.
You know how it is on Sunday. For one reason or another, people
are always slipping out the other door so that they can get away quickly.
But, that Sunday morning, every member of that church went out the front door to shake the minister’s hand. And it went further than a handshake. The people opened their
loving arms wide, and accepted the young mother and child in their
congregation. Clothes seemed to materialize out of nowhere. A job was
found so that the young lady could make her own way. Babysitters just
seemed to appear out of the congregation so she could go to work. In
short, this congregation began to take the Lord Jesus Christ’s message of
forgiveness seriously.
There were those in the community who began to talk. “Did you
hear about the minister’s daughter who is going to church now? And
they are letting her in! Sinners worship in that church!”
Yes, sinners did worship in that church. In fact there were people
who were members of that church who had not been seen in years, but
now began to attend services. They had not felt good enough to attend
before. But now they realized that not being good enough was exactly
the reason they ought to attend. And attend they did. A church and
community were changed forever when a lost daughter and her child came home.
I close with this. I wonder how the people in this community think about this church? Do they see this as a place of grace? Or do they see
us as a people who play the same kind of meaningless games that the
world outside plays. I hope they see this place as more than that
cathedral on Church Street in Monterey. I hope they see us as a place
that welcomes sinners in the same way that Christ welcomes sinners. I
hope they know that regardless of where their feet may have traveled
through the years –even if — no, especially if they have wandered, there
is a home for them here. Hear this one more time and pass it on – to at
least one more person today – this week. It makes no difference if you
came to Christ seventy years ago, or if you come to Christ today. He
loves you just the same. Do you know anyone who needs to come
home? To this home? Let them know they are welcome here!