"You Guys are Definitely Going to Heaven"

It was a brisk morning down on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. When the chill of autumn starts to set in, our friends at the park get very excited about the warm soup we bring. The soup doesn't last long out there.

As I was pouring a fresh cup to set out on the table, an older Spanish man from the streets came up for his second helping. "You guys are so nice," he said sincerely, "You guys are definitely going to heaven!" I didn't quite know what to say. I thought to myself, "My 'kindness' earns me a right to heaven? No way!" After a brief silence, I said, "Thank you for your kind words, but my kindness is not the reason I'm going to heaven."

He looked up at me as if he was confused. "What do you mean?" he asked. I said, "The only reason I'm going to heaven is because Jesus died to cover my sins and I have trusted in Him to save me."

He chuckled to himself. He didn't seem convinced that a "nice" guy like me would need a Savior. So he retorted, "Are you a criminal?" "I used to be!" I replied. My answer shocked him. I continued, "You're looking at one of the most wicked people on the planet! I'm not good and I definitely need a Savior."

We went on to talk about different sins that he and I had both committed. We shared a common guilt.  I explained what the Bible said about all of us falling short of the glory of God and how we can all be justified by faith. This is the only hope for sinners like us. The One Person who qualified for heaven was Jesus Christ.  We can’t get there on our own merit but solely through His.  The way to do that is to repent and believe in Christ and the all-sufficient atonement that He made on the cross!

It always amazes me the way God gives us these kinds of opportunities to explain the gospel in such a wide variety of circumstances - even over a cup of soup!