The other day I was asked about a recent Sunday reading from Matthew. In it Jesus says that the kingdom of heaven is like a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. Those who were originally invited “made light of it” and refused to come, so the king had his servants go out into the streets and bring passersby in. Someone showed up without the proper attire, however, and the king threw him out. Jesus ends with, “For many are called, but few are chosen.” (Mt 22:14) That’s the verse that bothered my friend. Why does God call many but only choose a few?
My response was that God does indeed call many. In fact, I would say that God calls everyone, that God desires the reconciliation of everyone to himself and to one another. What is also necessary, however, is our response to that call. Only if we respond will we be chosen.
I believe that it is God who makes the first move. We cannot save ourselves through our own self-will. Yet we do have a choice. We can choose what leads to life, or what leads to death. We can respond to the call, or we can make light of it. God’s grace helps us with that decision, but grace is not irresistible, in the Reformed sense that the elect will be chosen by God no matter what. I would dearly love to believe in universal salvation, that our choices ultimately have no effect on whether or not we enter the kingdom of heaven. Unfortunately, I can’t reconcile that with what I read in the Bible. It is clear, however, that it’s none of our business to try to figure out who is allowed into the wedding feast and who gets thrown out. That’s for God to decide.
Monday, October 27, 2008
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4 comments:
Well said.
'That it may please thee to have mercy upon all mankind,
We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord."
Like you, I am convinced that the Call extends to everyone, but universal salvation cannot be easily reconciled with Scripture. Passages such as the one you addressed would be problematic (at the least) for such a notion – not only the guest without his wedding garment, but those originally invited who “made light of it.”
The petition from the Litany is where I am on the issue. I do not see any clear promise that God might “have mercy upon all mankind,” even those who willfully scorn his grace. But that does not keep me from praying for it, and not just me, but Holy Mother Church uniting in this prayer and others of similar effect:
Kyrie eleison.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi: miserere nobis.
As it says at the end of the Litany:
. . . grant that those things which we have asked faithfully according to thy will, may be obtained effectually, to the relief of our necessity, and to the setting forth of thy glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Thanks for the comment on the passage, and thanks for the blog. Look forward to this!
Donald Bloesch, an evangelical theologian who would never say that everyone is saved regardless of what they do, nevertheless has an interesting twist on the idea of universal salvation. He suggests that everyone has an encounter with Christ, and at that point is given the choice of whether to follow or not. That encounter may be after death, but through the mercy of God, God ensures that all have the opportunity to choose eternal life or eternal death. As for why some would choose death, C.S. Lewis eloquently showed us that in The Great Divorce.
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