"Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother."

Someone once made a startling confession to me. She said that after all these years of being a Christian, she realized that what she believed didn’t matter at all against what she had lived. She said that after a lifetime of saying the right words and singing the right songs, she had to admit that nothing compared with doing the right deeds.

Pure works righteousness!

Heresy, plain and simple.

I should have turned her in right then to the Bishop.

Only that’s what I believe as well.

Believe...it is such a misunderstood word, anyway. Surely to believe something is much more than just spoken words or a written vow. It is a way of life. In the way in which we go about our business, in the way in which we serve our neighbor, love our family, forgive our enemies...this is how we discover what we really believe.

"Whoever does the will of God..."

Not whoever says they do but whoever does.

There is something else to note here. Something that may be problematic for those convinced that words and titles are more important actions.

"Whoever..."

Not just Middle-Eastern Jews. Not just Twenty-first Century Christians.

Whoever.

The man with his doubts and his disbelief. The woman raised in a different religious tradition and the child raised in none at all.

Whoever.

How dare we presume upon these holy words of Jesus. How dare we develop sanctimonious standards for who is saved and who is not.

Jesus says, "Whoever does the will of God..." and for me that includes the Buddhist kneeling at the bedside of a sick and dying man. It includes the Muslim and the Jew struggling to find a way to peace in their homeland. It includes the agnostic, even the atheist, who offers that cool drink of water to those dying of thirst.

Whoever.