Who can be saved?

They [the disciples] were greatly astounded and said to one another, “Then who can be saved?” (Mk 10:26) This deeply important question is asked in this week’s Gospel. But there’s a problem. What does it mean to be saved?

There’s a lot of opinions about who will be saved in our modern day but one through line is that is is a postmortem phenomenon. “Do you know where you’ll spend eternity?” is a question I have been asked more times than I care to recall. I’ve been asked “What happens when we die?” by children and adults. But I think making salvation totally an after death issue takes our eye off of what salvations means and the power of answering that question can have.

First, salvation in the Bible is primarily on this side of the grave. People in the Bible are saved from poverty, war, famine, disease, evil spirits, hardness of heart, bondage, and all kinds of other dangers. All of these are pre-death and have no impact on “eternity”. We see time and again that salvation is for meeting our needs today. Is what happens to us after death important? Yes. Beyond loving God and loving my neighbor is there much I can do about it? No. God, as the One in whom we live and move and have our being, is the One in charge of my postmortem fate. I trust that no matter what, when I die, God will love and care for me just as much as God has loved and cared for me before death.

So what is the power in there in addressing salvation as a “today thing”? If salvation is purely imagined as post-death, we have no power nor need to help others in this day and time. What would the point be? If this life is solely a waystation before the next, truer thing then who cares about the climate or poverty or curable disease? But if on the other hand, salvation is about answering suffering today, then we are required to act with all our strength.

As we sit in the aftermath of two major hurricanes in two weeks, it’s worth wondering what our role is in God’s plan of salvation is. Are we to sit back, think and believe the right things, and wait for the Blessed Life after this one? Or are we to participate in meeting the immediate needs of those who are suffering now and then fight for solutions to end suffering as best we can in the long term? God is asking us to participate in the salvation of the world. God has the souls of all taken care of. Let’s work with God to take care of their bodies in this life today.

Who can be saved? Everyone. When we work together in honesty and justice, all can be saved.