A central aspect of your faith is that you are saved by grace, not works. So a central part of the message is that you don’t need special clothing, you don’t need to pay money, you don’t need to go to a special location, and you don’t need to study to pass a test to enter the Kingdom of God. This means the gospel really is good news. It is available to anyone, anywhere, anytime. Isn’t this what you would expect from a loving God who is not willing that any should perish but that all should enter into eternal life? So does this mean that everyone will be saved?

Are you familiar with the account of me walking through a wall after my resurrection? Obviously this is no mean feat. Have you ever done it? What lesson do you take away from it? Even if you can’t do it literally, can you do it figuratively? Do the four walls of your church constrain you as to who is in and who is out? Have you built other walls in your life that serve as barriers between you and your brothers and sisters? These things that exclude others serve to confine you. You can also build a prison for yourself with walls that are not visible.

Are you familiar with the story of the sheep and the goats? Are you amazed that the criteria for entering the Kingdom of God is how you treat the least of these? For I said that inasmuch as ye had done so unto the least of these, ye had done so unto me. Does this seem like a real ‘stretch’ to you? Consider my arrival in this world. Joseph and Mary were of modest means, far from home, in the most humble of shelters possible. Mary’s pregnancy was under suspect circumstances, and after I was born we became homeless refugees fleeing from those who would kill me.

Are you a work in progress? Would you prefer to be a finished product? That would imply that there is no more room for growth. Do you know anyone that you would describe this way? What qualities do you notice in those who think they have arrived? Arrogance? Self-righteousness? Wouldn’t you rather keep company with those who know that they are still in process? The Pharisees asked me if they were blind also. I said they were because they claimed they could see. If you desire true spiritual maturity be humble enough to leave the door open for mystery and for further understanding.