7 Pentecost, Year A

Proper 13 -- Genesis 32:22-31; Psalm 17:1–7,16; Romans 9:1-5; Matthew 14:13-21

A homily by Fr. Gene Tucker, given at Trinity Church, Mt. Vernon, Illinois, on Sunday, July 31, 2011.

“ARE YOU SAVED ?”
(Homily texts: Romans 9: 1 – 5 & 10: 1)

“Are you saved?”

Perhaps we have occupied ourselves with this question at one time or another….Hopefully, we have!

Perhaps we’ve been asked this question by a friend or family member at some point in our lives.

The question has everything to do with our relationship to God.

In essence, it is a question that has to do with our acceptability to God, and our place in God’s plans, not only in this world and in this life, but in the world and the life which is to come.

The question of salvation is at the heart of St. Paul’s anguished comments, heard in our epistle reading for today. He says, “I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart….” Reading on a bit, we learn that the ones he is concerned about are his own people, the Jews.

And if we skip ahead to Romans 10:1, we find there the reason for Paul’s concerns: “Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them (the Jews) is that they may be saved.”

Paul’s great concern, the purpose of his four missionary journeys, was to make the saving power of Jesus Christ known to the entire world of the first century.

So, perhaps we can agree that the matter of “being saved” is central to an assessment of our relationship to God. It’s one of the main reasons why the Church itself exists in the first place: to bring people into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. (I must add, however, that bringing people to the point of making a profession of faith in Jesus’ saving power isn’t the only reason why the Church exists.)

If we can agree that the business of “saving” people is basic to all that we do, then what does the process of “being saved” look like?

Is a person saved once, at a specific time, date and place?

Or is there an ongoing nature to the business of being saved?

With these questions in mind, let’s explore the business of “being saved”.

We can begin by affirming what Christians generally hold to be truths concerning the saving process:

• God’s grace is necessary for a person to be convinced of the need for being saved in the first place. The Holy Spirit prepares the heart and mind for this step. Indeed, most Christians would say that, absent the Holy Spirit’s workings, we are unable on our own to turn to God and ask for His saving grace to come into our lives.

• The saving act of Jesus Christ, whose shed blood on the cross atones for sin, makes it possible for us to be justified in the sight of God. Essentially (and in line with Old Testament views of the atoning sacrifices of that era), it works like this: When God sees us as redeemed persons, He sees Christ’s righteousness, instead of our sinfulness. Christ’s blood atones (the Hebrew word for atones means to “cover over”) for our sins.

• Christ does the work of redeeming, saving us, and we accept His free gift by faith, becoming new creations in the process (see II Corinthians 5: 17)

Now, let’s look more closely at two common views of the salvation process.

We will begin with the views of evangelical, born-again Christians, for – oftentimes – it is they who focus most on this question of being saved:

Some Christians firmly believe that being saved is a one-time event that happens at some point in a person’s life. Often, these Christians are more firmly convinced that a person is saved if they can identify a specific time, date and occasion when a prayer of conversion was offered to God. Furthermore, such Christians often dismiss declarations of faith which are made at a very early age (before what is known as the “age of discretion”).

Though it is risky to broadly describe the views of Christians who insist that a declaration of faith is essential for a person to be saved, nonetheless, there is some validity in assessing their view of being saved as being a one-time, historical event. They may say something like, “I was saved on such-and-such a date at _____ church.”

Christians who focus on a “born again” experience firmly connect the salvation experience with future rewards in heaven with God.

So it seems fair to say that, among evangelical, born-again Christians, the focus is on the event of being saved itself primarily, and on the promises of God, which will be fulfilled in heaven, secondarily.

Being “saved” is seen as a done-deal, an historical event.

But are there other views of the saving process that Christians affirm?

The answer is “Yes”, there are.

Many Christians affirm a threefold process of salvation, viewing the process as one of:

• Justification: Having accepted Christ’s atoning sacrifice for sin, the new Christian is justified in the sight of God. The process can begin at baptism, which is normally followed by a mature expression of faith (the rite of Confirmation by a Bishop). Or, it can occur as a conversion experience which takes place after the age of discretion. This the aspect of being saved is the beginning point, an historical event (or realization).

• Sanctification: This is the process of being transformed into the image and likeness of Christ. For most Christians, this is a life-long process, which is marked by positive steps forward, but also by failings, as well. The Holy Spirit’s presence and guidance is mandatory for this process to unfold. The Church’s role, too, is critical, for the Church becomes a sort-of “spiritual laboratory” where we see God at work in each other’s lives, a process that enables us to see God at work in our own lives in similar ways.

• Glorification: When this life is done, then it is time to accept God’s promises for His children. It is then that we can claim God’s assurances, made in Christ, that where He (Jesus Christ) is, there we will be, as well.

This three-fold, lifelong process of salvation is framed quite well by the Roman Catholic apologist James Akin, who describes it this way:

“I have been saved, I am being saved, and I shall be saved.”

We cannot come into the Lord’s family as Christians if we do not engage the question “Am I saved?”, for this question is the beginning point of our new life in Christ.

We begin with our need to admit our own unworthiness before God, we accept Christ’s work of salvation, and we are saved.

Then, the work of salvation continues as we are shaped and molded into the Lord’s image, one day at a time.

Finally, we will enter into God’s promises, made in Christ Jesus, and we will see Him face-to-face, and not as a stranger.

Thanks be to God for His saving power and mercies!

AMEN.