The Three Rs of Our Salvation Narrative

One of the goals of evangelization is to simplify—without making simplistic—the central message of the Gospel so that it is accessible to all. A person shouldn’t have to be a theologian to understand or share the Good News! With that in mind, I like to summarize our salvation narrative in three words: rescue, restoration, and reassurance. This is the heart of the kerygma—the primary proclamation of the Gospel. Through the life, teachings, miracles, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension of Jesus Christ, we are rescued, restored, and reassured. 

Rescue

The greatest myth perpetrated upon humankind by the forces of evil is that we can be self-reliant. This was the sin of Adam and Eve. It was not just about disobeying; it was about their decision to eat fruit that would make them “like God” or, in other words, completely self-reliant.

Now, of course, self-reliance is a virtue when it comes to everyday tasks, and we seek to teach our children how to become self-reliant. On the spiritual level, however, there is no such thing as self-reliance. At our deepest level, we are incapable of sustaining ourselves. We are creatures, not Creator. People dealing with addictions and working through a twelve-step program understand this: in order for healing to take place, they need to admit that they are powerless over the addiction and must rely on a higher power.

When it comes to sin, we human beings are addicted, which means that we possess an inability to stop engaging in certain behaviors that we know are wrong (as described by St. Paul in Romans 7:15: “I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate”). We are in need of an intervention. And that intervention is Jesus Christ!

Jesus Christ is much more than good guy, a swell fella, a wise philosopher, or a smart teacher. He is our Savior! By his Cross and Resurrection, we have been saved. Why? Because he defeated sin and death and lives with us so that we can rely on his grace to overcome sin.

Rescue is one of the “threads” of Sacred Scripture, since the entire story, beginning with God’s rescue of the enslaved Jewish people and leading up to the Death and Resurrection of Jesus, is a story of rescue.

It’s interesting to note that pop songs about love often include references to being rescued. In the love story that is the Bible, God continually rescues his people, and God continues to rescue his people today from despair, physical pain, the pain of rejection, anxiety, financial problems, relationship struggles, abuse, addictions, natural disasters, depression, homelessness, and sickness. God accomplishes this through members of his “rescue team,” disciples of his Son, Jesus Christ. Each of us can reflect on those people in our lives who have assisted God in rescuing us from problematic and even painful circumstances. We, in turn, are called to serve as members of God’s rescue team, reaching out to those in need and serving as God’s “first responders,” who bring God’s mercy to others.

Restoration

In my book, Under the Influence of Jesus, I share that, “In essence, God does only two things, but he does them really, really well! Creating and redeeming are the primary functions of God in relation to human beings. God gives life, and God restores meaning to life.”

Restoration is at the heart of the story of our salvation history. Since the sin of Adam and Eve, humankind has been in need of restoration. God’s covenant with Abraham was intended to restore what was lost in the Garden of Eden. The Exodus event was intended to restore the Jewish people to their rightful place as God’s Chosen People. The Ten Commandments were given to restore the relationship between God and his people. After the fall of the kingdoms of Israel and the Exile, the Jewish people looked to God to restore them and to restore the kingdom.

Jesus Christ is the embodiment of God’s promise of restoration. In and through Jesus, we are restored to an intimate relationship with God. Jesus exemplified this by performing miracles of restoration: he restored sight, hearing, speech, strength, health, calm, and even life!

Restoration is part and parcel of the Gospel. The world is in need of restorative justice—justice that does not seek to punish but to heal, reconcile, and restore. In my book, Living the Sacraments, I share these thoughts about restorative justice:

Just as good physical health is more than the absence of sickness and injury, true spiritual health is more than the avoidance of sinful acts; it also entails acts of virtue that hit the mark. Because our sinful acts cause disruption in relationships, reconciliation actively seeks to restore such relationships. Establishing and maintaining peace requires hard work that is focused on healing and making amends. Reconciliation is not just a private act of self-improvement but a communal effort to be a reconciling people working toward a just world. Too often, our understanding of justice is one that is punitive. Scriptural justice—the justice of God—is primarily restorative: the focus is not so much on the punishment of the perpetrator but on the restoration of the victim and the perpetrator to right relationship.

It is for this reason that the priest assigns a penance in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The penance is a symbolic action on our part to restore that which has been broken. Therefore, it makes sense for parishes to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation for groups of people who are about to engage in service projects and works of mercy; the sacrament can help us see our works of mercy as part of God’s plan for restorative justice and admit that we ourselves have contributed, either directly or indirectly, to the injustice we are seeking to remedy.

When we engage in restoring or repairing things, we are usually working for someone who will benefit from such restoration, whether that be ourselves or someone else. Sometimes, however, we need to do much more than restore objects that belong to another person. At such times, we may need to help restore lives that are broken. And we all know that too many people’s lives are broken because of unemployment, sickness, homelessness, abuse, incarceration, mental health issues, substance abuse, loss of loved ones, injury, and broken relationships. In response to this brokenness, we are called to emulate God and to initiate repairs to bring about restoration.

In Christian tradition, these repairs are called works of mercy. Through the Corporal Works of Mercy, we seek to restore the physical brokenness of people’s lives. We do this by feeding those who are hungry, giving drink to those who are thirsty, sheltering those who have been made homeless, visiting and caring for those who are sick, visiting those who are imprisoned, burying the dead, and giving alms.

Through the Spiritual Works of Mercy, we seek to restore the spiritual brokenness of people’s lives. We do this by counseling those in doubt and despair, instructing those who do not yet know the joy of the Gospel, admonishing those whose actions are hurting others, comforting those who are in sorrow, forgiving those who have hurt us, bearing wrongs patiently, and praying for the living and the dead.

Likewise, participating in social justice efforts—bringing about major restoration to the structures of society that are causing harm in people’s lives—is one of the ways that we emulate God. God’s most significant saving act in the Old Testament was one of social justice: bringing about an end to the economic system in Egypt that was built on the backs of enslaved Jewish people. Moses and Aaron were social justice activists, who did not let up until they saw the collapse of an unjust system and the restoration of the Jewish people to their proper place in the human family.

Perhaps the most accurate litmus test to determine if someone is filled with the Holy Spirit and living as a disciple of Jesus is whether a person is consumed with and actively involved in restoring lives, because that’s what God does.

Reassurance

When children are frightened by a storm, they run to their parents for reassurance that they are safe and that everything is going to be OK. Let’s face it, the world we live in can be a very scary place, not just for little children, but also for us adults. Like children frightened by a storm, we all need reassurance. Whenever we reassure someone who is experiencing fear, anxiety, or despair, we are acting in the divine image. Throughout salvation history, God has continually reassured his people that he is in their midst and that they will have a future. 

It’s no secret that one of the most often-repeated lines in Scripture is, “Do not be afraid,” or some variation. Reassurance is one of the benefits of accompaniment. Sometimes, people just don’t want to be alone. When we accompany others through difficult times, we don’t have to have all the answers. We only need to assure them that they are not alone and that they are going to be OK (while noting that, for some, that OK-ness will be eventual, not immediate). One of the reasons we proclaim the Gospel is to reassure people of the nearness of God and of God’s saving grace. Like a parent calming a child in the midst of a storm, we need to reassure those experiencing turbulence in their lives that Jesus Christ is with them!

Not only does Jesus rescue us from sin and restore us to wholeness in relationship with our Father, he reassures us of his ongoing presence, as captured in the last words he spoke before ascending into heaven: “And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20) And Jesus sent the Holy Spirit so that we can always be assured of God’s presence in our lives. The Spirit, in turn, provides us with the gift of fortitude, a disposition of courage and strength grounded in the confidence of Christ’s victory over all that threatens to harm us. Jesus also gave us the Eucharist so that we can physically encounter him in our earthly life. Remember that Jesus’ “nickname,” Emmanuel, means “God with us,” so we are not alone.