This past Sunday I was starting my usual afternoon Pastoral nap when there was a knock at the door.  I got up to answer the door and I find it is two of my neighbors.  These neighbors happen to be Jehovah’s Witnesses.  They have stopped by a number of times to introduce themselves and to talk with me about who they are and what they believe.  Even though they know that I am a pastor they are not deterred from sharing their beliefs with me.  Perhaps it is because I am a Pastor they have feel like they have an audience to talk about their beliefs because I do have a strong understanding of my faith and the Bible.

They were sharing with me articles from their latest magazine surrounding the Kingdom of God.  However, our conversation quickly turned into thoughts about salvation.  They were telling me all the things I needed to be doing to ensure my salvation.  Now, I am not afraid to talk with someone about the end times and what that means to me as a Lutheran Christian but in my mind there is a set time and a place for that.  When I encounter someone and we start to talk about God, especially when it is someone who I do not know; I am not warning them about their potential to go to hell, I am talking with them about a God who loves them, who cares for them and who will do anything for them. I tell them about Jesus – the one who preached God’s kingdom and embodied God’s love, the one who suffered and died on the cross and was raised again all because of his love for them and all humankind.  But Alice and Geoff have a different approach and that was quite clear.

After they shared with me I told them about my sermon earlier that day, I preached about Jacob seeing God for the first time and how we are called to see God as well, not only in the church but in the world as well.  I preached about how God comes to us to help us like according to the spirit instead of according to the flesh.  I said that this is all about a God who loves us, who cares for us.  They said that they do believe in the love of God, but it was also important to point out to people that if they do something wrong, then Jehovah is going to punish them.

This is where we do not agree.

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There are two men standing at the gates of heaven to get in.

The first man James grew up in a tough neighborhood, his father left him when he was young and his mother worked three jobs just to get by.  Eventually he got caught up in the wrong crowd.  Instead of playing basketball, or football, instead of going to the library to study he was on the street corner with his “buddies.”  This led to many nights away from home, and his mother was constantly worried about him and his safety.  However, there was little that she could do, she felt like she already lost him and she was right.  On his 18th birthday he was told that had to pull a robbery with some of the new recruits.  This would solidify his membership in the gang.  This was the night that changed his life.  The robbery turned bad and he got caught.  He was brought to trial as an adult and sentenced to six years in jail.

_____

The other man standing at the gates of heaven was Tony.  Now Tony grew up on the other side of town.  He had anything and everything he could ever ask for. However, he yearned for his family.  His father was an executive who worked all the time and his mother was a successful photographer who traveled a lot.  He knew his nanny better than his parents.

Christmas was a special time for Tony because his parents made sure they were home.  They hosted lots of parties so they could see all of their friends.  But they also had family time.  They went to church Christmas Eve and at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church then they went home and opened up presents while drinking hot chocolate.  Tony loved going to church because it was there that he experienced the kind of family that he always wanted.  He saw people who cared for one another, he had strangers come up to him with smiles on their face wishing him a Merry Christmas.  During church he watched as the children did a Christmas play about the birth of Jesus, he heard the words from the pastor that night telling him the wonders of Jesus’ birth and how that birth was important in the world because that child would grow up to change the world.  Each year Tony left church uplifted and hopeful and happy.  When Tony left church that Christmas night after he turned 18 his life was changed.  He knew he was going to college soon and he might not experience this feeling again.  So Tony left that night determined to change the world and to learn more about Jesus and his love.

Who would you consider a child of the wheat a child of the weeds? James or Tony?
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