Jesus said,
“…as I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all to myself.”
- John 12:32
The theologian and philosopher Peter Rollins shares a story written by his friend, Phil, upon Phil’s exit from the church. It is, as Rollins calls it, “Phil’s ‘Exit Parable.’"
Phil said: “I dreamt that I died and went to heaven, and St. Peter was there at the gate to welcome me.
‘Ah, Phil—great to see you,’ said [St. Peter].
“I was just about to step into heaven when I noticed that some of my friends were there—some atheists, some Buddhists, some… God knows what.
“So I said, ‘Peter, what about my friends?’”
“Peter replied, ‘Well, you know the rules. You know the rules.’
“Then I thought of my reference point—Jesus: the outsider, the drunkard, the bastard, the friend of sinners. Jesus—the one who always stayed with those who were oppressed.
“And I said, ‘You know what? I’ll just stay out here with them.’
“With that a big smile came over St. Peters face and he said, ‘At last… at last you understand.’”
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Peter Rollins (and his friend, Phil) tell a good story. It sounds so nice and inspirational when it’s a parable. But what happens when the parable takes shape in the life of someone we know personally?
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She was a first year confirmation student at one of the congregations where I served as pastor. She had become disillusioned, even angry at the church and I didn’t know why. Finally I got her parents to fill me in. You see this nascent confirmand (with an old soul) had asked of her confirmation teachers the question that mattered to her the most. “What about my friends? My friend who is agnostic? What about my classmate who is Hindu? And my best friends? One is Jewish and one Muslim? What about them? They get to go to heaven too, right? And her confirmation instructors had said, ‘Well, you know the rules. You know the rules.’
I wish I had been able to convince her otherwise, but the orthodoxy espoused by a majority of the church, or I should say, the faith that is taught as orthodoxy in many a congregation, leaves little room for exceptions or concessions. And, she just couldn’t worship a God like the one her confirmation instructors defended.
Little did this wise confirmand know, she was closer to the Commonwealth of God than she realized. Because, as Peter Rollins’ friend, Phil, points out, the one we follow, the one we worship, Jesus, isn’t tucked away in some heavenly gated community. Jesus is loose in the world. Jesus, that one described as the “outsider, the drunkard, the bastard, the friend of sinners. Jesus, the one who always stayed with those who were oppressed.” Jesus, the outsider who never drew a circle or a line to separate or exclude people. Jesus came to draw all creation into an expansive, boundless, community of love for all without exception.
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The Best Supper © Jan Richardson, janrichardsonimages.com. Account # 1282.
Scripture from the Tree of Life version
Story as told by Peter Rollins viewable HERE ON YouTube:
