Rest in peace, Uncle John, but sorry, there's no handicapped parking in Heaven

My father informed me via email that my uncle John Modine passed away around 10 PM, December 30, which would have been about 2 PM on New Year's Eve for me. He had been battling multiple sclerosis for many years, and as those who are familiar with this horrid disease know it was an increasingly losing fight. But Dad did go on to say that Uncle John had become a Christian some time ago through the efforts of a pastor visiting the nursing home where he lived. Thanks be to God for that.

I just added the second part of the title of this post under a flash of inspiration: "but, sorry, there's no handicapped parking in heaven." I realize it is a quite sappy phrase, but I can be allowed a bit of sap in the aftermath of the passing of family. See, Uncle John had been confined to a wheelchair for the last few years of his life. I saw him last probably 5 years or so ago and even then he was not looking very good. He was a rather active person before the disease attacked him, and so I am sure he is active again now in heaven with his Lord.

Whenever I think of people getting saved later in life, and especially near death, as in Uncle John's case, my mind immediately goes back to the parable of the brothers, what is usually called the parable of the prodigal son, in Luke 15. A much overlooked point of this parable, in the midst of the wonderful news of even someone who has actively rejected the father's house (=salvation) being joyfully received upon returning, is the conversation between the father and the older brother while the party is going on. The older son complains that he has always been faithful, he has always done his work, and papa never even threw a small party for him and his friends. "But THIS SON of yours," and I am sure the emphasis was just like that, coming out of the older brother's resentment and desire not to have further relations with the prodigal. The father says to him, "Everything I have ever had is yours. But we had to celebrate, for THIS BROTHER of yours was dead and is alive again." Once again, I think that the emphasis was just like this. Have a relationship with your brother as I have with my son, says the father. That part of interpreting the parable is left open, because there is no more to the story.

I link it up with the parable of the workers in the vineyard in Matthew 20. There, the slackers who work only an hour get paid the same that the people who worked all day, and that makes the latter decidedly unhappy. But the point of the parable is that the landowner does what is considered right, so go your way. If the day's wage is equated with salvation, and I think it's legitimate to do so (even though we should recognize the danger we face in coming close to works righteousness), then those who have been around forever do not have any extra bonus compared with those who came along only very late in the day. So also, those who have been Christians their entire lives have the same gift as those who confess their sins and trust in God for salvation only at the very end of life. Incidentally, this is the problem I have with the contemporary chorus often sung in evangelical churches like mine nowadays, "Come, now is the time to worship." The offending line is this:

One day every tongue will confess you are God,
one day every knee will bow.
Still the greatest treasure remains for those
who gladly choose you now.

This is so wrong that I refuse to sing it when this chorus is sung in church services that I attend. It seems to be exactly against things like Luke 15 and Matthew 20. While the eschatological vision of every tongue confessing the lordship of God is correct, it is heinous to suggest that those who choose him now, however gladly, can expect a greater treasure than those who wait. By contrast, deathbed confessions and the stories of them that are told afterward are very powerful parts of Christian literature. This is precisely because even those who rejected God and Christ for many years, either by refusing to heed the call (Matthew 20) or by actively turning their backs on faith (Luke 15), can be redeemed and will be redeemed when they finally come and answer the call of faith. While Uncle John did not confess Christ is Lord at the very hour of his death, but rather some time before, nevertheless he has the same gift that I do after being a Christian for 22 of my 34 years.

And that, my friends, is NOT sappy.