Inspired by lyrics to “No One Gets to Heaven If Anybody Else Is Left Behind” by Tom Kimmel and Klaus Caprani:
“He said there is a light in the dark when we need it the most.
There is a way through this world if we keep this in mind,
No one gets to heaven if anybody else is left behind.
No one gets to heaven if anyone is lost along the way.
It’s so easy to doubt it, so now let us join hands and pray . . . .
Singin’ ‘No One Gets to Heaven If Anybody Else Is Left Behind,’ . . .
And when we raised up our voices, we sounded like angels on high,
Singin’ ‘No One Gets to Heaven If Anybody Else Is Left Behind.’”
Responsive Reading for Sunday, November 3
Jesus asked His disciple, Peter: “’Who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter said in reply, ‘You are . . . the Son of the living God.’ Jesus said to him in reply, ‘Blessed are you . . . . For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And I say to you . . . upon this rock I build my church” (Mt. 16:14-18).
Our “Church” is the solid faith we share, that God is alive and always everywhere present with us.
The word “heaven” in Jesus’ language means “expansion.” Because Peter suddenly realized that the kingdom of God (heaven), is right here with us and within us, Jesus said to Peter, “I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven’” (Mt. 16:19).
Faith means trusting the Christ within me with an open mind and heart, knowing that all the doors to my good are open, right here and right now.
Some people asked Jesus about what happens to people after this life. He reminded them that in the Book of Genesis, it was written how God told Moses that God is “God of the living” that the most important thing for all of us is to live life loving God and one another. Wherever we are, God will always be. Jesus told them, “I am the door . . . . I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly” (John 10:9-10). “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven” (Luke 6:10).
As I see the doors to my good open wide, I also imagine the same doors open to all others, too. Together, we are making this world a more wonderful place.
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places . . . . where I am, you also may be” (John 14:1-3). “The kingdom of God is among you” (Luke 17:21). “In God we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28).
Now let us join hands and pray, “Thank You, God, that no one is left behind, for we are one in Spirit, and so it is, and so we let it be. Amen.”