Just Call on His Name (1st Sunday of Lent)
18.2.18Romans 10:8-13 (Morning Prayer)
I was speaking with a person of another faith. “Why aren't those who share your faith active in telling others about it? We Christians try to do this all the time.”
Her reply was simple. She said they had no hope of salvation to share about. Their faith is about proclaiming God’s judgment and how sinful we all are. “We are in fear all the time and our religion is about escaping or lessening our punishment. We have no good news to share.”
This reminded me again of how wonderful the gift of the gospel is. As St Paul says here:
It is near us.
It is in our mouth.
It is in out hearts.
Confess and believe and you will be saved.
Everyone can.
Those of us who have been Christians for a long time often take this relatively easy accessibility for granted. We have a tendency to embellish it and wrap so much religion around the Gospel that her simplicity is concealed, her light dimmed. To just “call on His name” seems too simple. Doesn’t the person need to understand the uniqueness of Christ - how he is both human and divine? What about the importance of church? What about baptism? What about his moral life?
But what this passage is saying is simply this: Just call on His name.
I have family members whose worldview is so far removed from my Christian one. Some do not have conceptual resevoirs to figure out the doctrinal issues. I find it comforting to know, that all they need to do is to call out to Jesus to find their way back to God. Even as I write this, I recall the simple but genuine faith my late mother had. She was not very well educated but this did not stop her from living gloriously as His child in the last 15 years of her life.
So, share about Jesus when you have the opportunity. One day, in a moment of need, the person may just call on Him.
But what this passage is saying is simply this: Just call on His name.
I have family members whose worldview is so far removed from my Christian one. Some do not have conceptual resevoirs to figure out the doctrinal issues. I find it comforting to know, that all they need to do is to call out to Jesus to find their way back to God. Even as I write this, I recall the simple but genuine faith my late mother had. She was not very well educated but this did not stop her from living gloriously as His child in the last 15 years of her life.
So, share about Jesus when you have the opportunity. One day, in a moment of need, the person may just call on Him.
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