Pearly Gates Entrance Exam
Preaching
Lions And Cows Dining Together
And 111 Other Sermon Ideas
Object:
Purpose Statement: What does it take to get into heaven?
There are a multitude of jokes concerning recently deceased persons meeting Saint Peter at the Pearly Gates hoping to get in. (Did Peter get to be the gatekeeper because Jesus gave Peter the "keys to the kingdom"?) Once three good friends died at the same time. By happenstance each was a member of a different denomination. Peter told them they only had to answer one question correctly to get in. To the Lutheran he asked, "Can you spell dog?" The Lutheran responded, "d-o-g." "Correct," said Peter, "You may enter." To the Presbyterian, Peter asked if she could spell cat, which she did and she was admitted. The Methodist thought, "How easy this is." He stepped up for his question and Peter said, "Spell eschatological." There is a significant emphasis placed on getting into heaven by the Christian faith. Conservative Christians make getting saved prominent in their preaching, the New Testament is concerned with the subject and it is uppermost in the thinking of many Christians. What would it look like using the analogy of college entrance exams?
a. What would the test be like? Is the test on:
1. Predestination? Paul seems, on occasion, to think salvation is predestined (Romans 8:29-30) and even used the term (in some translations). Many Christians have long since dismissed any predestination. We believe in our free will, and God's respecting of our freedom to choose good or bad. It would be uncharacteristic of the God, Jesus revealed to us, to create anyone who did not have a chance for the same eternal life as others have. This can't be the right answer.
2. Works? Everyone says we can never "earn our way" into heaven, as doing good to others for the sake of our own personal salvation is simply selfish. Good works must result from an honest concern or love for others. Even though Revelation 20:12 seems to hint at salvation by works, this is the wrong answer, also.
3. Faith? While Jesus gives greater emphasis to a life of works, Paul stresses salvation by faith as the sole criteria. Then there is the book of James. It is in James 2:14-26 that we find the powerful idea that if faith is real and works are unselfish, they are absolutely inseparable .
4. None of the above? As totally indispensable as faith and works are to the Christian, perhaps when it comes to salvation God is far more merciful than we ever give God credit with our beliefs.
b. How is it graded? It could be viewed as more of a "placement" test. Instead of determining if we make it or not, it may be more like "at what level do you enter: freshman, sophomore, junior, or senior?" Instead of either/or, it could be a matter of where -- where on the spiritual plane we enter heaven. To change our analogy, it may be like taking our religious temperature. Our spiritual life may be warm or cool or any degree in between. Our spiritual status may dictate the placement of our soul in heaven. We enter eternal life at the level of our faith maturity. Everyone makes it, it is simply a matter of where you come on board and start your spiritual journey in the new spiritual world. This has the merit of God's never losing a single soul in defeat, and certainly synchronizes perfectly with God's ultimate love.
c. How do we prepare for it? Clues from the teachings of Jesus indicate that we actually don't prepare; at least in the sense of "trying to get to heaven" or living in such a way as to be sure we will be saved. "If we seek to save our life, we lose it" (Matthew 10:39). We do serve for the sake of serving and for the sake of others. The great judgment (Matthew 25:31-46) is a wonderful parable where the "saved" seemed to not have been aware of the process. They just simply loved and served with abandonment and were surprised later to be told of their salvation. Their intentions didn't seem to be to get to heaven or save themselves. They didn't let their "right hand know what the left was doing." They were not self-conscious about their faith or their works. The message of Jesus seems to be to love and serve others because you know you should and don't worry about heaven.
There are a multitude of jokes concerning recently deceased persons meeting Saint Peter at the Pearly Gates hoping to get in. (Did Peter get to be the gatekeeper because Jesus gave Peter the "keys to the kingdom"?) Once three good friends died at the same time. By happenstance each was a member of a different denomination. Peter told them they only had to answer one question correctly to get in. To the Lutheran he asked, "Can you spell dog?" The Lutheran responded, "d-o-g." "Correct," said Peter, "You may enter." To the Presbyterian, Peter asked if she could spell cat, which she did and she was admitted. The Methodist thought, "How easy this is." He stepped up for his question and Peter said, "Spell eschatological." There is a significant emphasis placed on getting into heaven by the Christian faith. Conservative Christians make getting saved prominent in their preaching, the New Testament is concerned with the subject and it is uppermost in the thinking of many Christians. What would it look like using the analogy of college entrance exams?
a. What would the test be like? Is the test on:
1. Predestination? Paul seems, on occasion, to think salvation is predestined (Romans 8:29-30) and even used the term (in some translations). Many Christians have long since dismissed any predestination. We believe in our free will, and God's respecting of our freedom to choose good or bad. It would be uncharacteristic of the God, Jesus revealed to us, to create anyone who did not have a chance for the same eternal life as others have. This can't be the right answer.
2. Works? Everyone says we can never "earn our way" into heaven, as doing good to others for the sake of our own personal salvation is simply selfish. Good works must result from an honest concern or love for others. Even though Revelation 20:12 seems to hint at salvation by works, this is the wrong answer, also.
3. Faith? While Jesus gives greater emphasis to a life of works, Paul stresses salvation by faith as the sole criteria. Then there is the book of James. It is in James 2:14-26 that we find the powerful idea that if faith is real and works are unselfish, they are absolutely inseparable .
4. None of the above? As totally indispensable as faith and works are to the Christian, perhaps when it comes to salvation God is far more merciful than we ever give God credit with our beliefs.
b. How is it graded? It could be viewed as more of a "placement" test. Instead of determining if we make it or not, it may be more like "at what level do you enter: freshman, sophomore, junior, or senior?" Instead of either/or, it could be a matter of where -- where on the spiritual plane we enter heaven. To change our analogy, it may be like taking our religious temperature. Our spiritual life may be warm or cool or any degree in between. Our spiritual status may dictate the placement of our soul in heaven. We enter eternal life at the level of our faith maturity. Everyone makes it, it is simply a matter of where you come on board and start your spiritual journey in the new spiritual world. This has the merit of God's never losing a single soul in defeat, and certainly synchronizes perfectly with God's ultimate love.
c. How do we prepare for it? Clues from the teachings of Jesus indicate that we actually don't prepare; at least in the sense of "trying to get to heaven" or living in such a way as to be sure we will be saved. "If we seek to save our life, we lose it" (Matthew 10:39). We do serve for the sake of serving and for the sake of others. The great judgment (Matthew 25:31-46) is a wonderful parable where the "saved" seemed to not have been aware of the process. They just simply loved and served with abandonment and were surprised later to be told of their salvation. Their intentions didn't seem to be to get to heaven or save themselves. They didn't let their "right hand know what the left was doing." They were not self-conscious about their faith or their works. The message of Jesus seems to be to love and serve others because you know you should and don't worry about heaven.
