Not too long ago the Home Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Council announced that something like 46% of the people in one state were not going to go to heaven or conversely, they were going to go to hell.  This statistic was based on subtracting the number of registered Southern Baptists from the general population and then applying a formula based on similarity of religious beliefs. 
    Older Catholics can remember when our church took a similar stand in the way we interpreted the teaching that there was no salvation outside of the church.  Today's gospel speaks eloquently to this position.  All of us stand in need of conversion.  It is possible that a once-in-a-lifetime experience of Jesus as our personal savior may be the beginning of our walk with the Lord, but that alone does not guarantee our salvation.  Membership in this or that congregation cannot guarantee our salvation.  Jesus reminds us today that the Father invites all people to enter his kingdom.  Some of us say, "yes." but never get around to actually entering the kingdom.  Others at first respond, "no," but later enter into the love of the Father. 
    Perhaps it is in our human nature to seek some outward sign of our place in the kingdom.  Paul puts it beautifully in his letter to the Philippians, "let all parties think humbly of others as superior to themselves, each of you looking to others' interests rather than his own."  Paul goes on to say our attitude must be like Christ who emptied himself for the sake of us all. 
    What a disappointment it must be for the Lord to observe the way our different Christian denominations attack each other.  Even in our own congregation we can find ourselves in opposition to one another over trivialities.  This day the Lord reminds us that no one of us holds exclusive title to the truth.  Rather as we affirm the truth and beauty in each other, we affirm the Christ in ourselves and one another.