Luke 13:22-30
Striving through the Narrow Door
Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost/Proper 16C
August 21, 2016
Do you ever wonder about who will be in heaven? When people die, and when this world comes to an end, how many will make it into heaven? How many will end up in hell? And on what basis? Sure we believe that we are saved by grace alone through faith in Christ alone, but what about people who did the best they could? What about people who never heard the Gospel? Will they get in? If they don’t, how is that fair? What kind of a God would send anybody to hell anyway? That doesn’t sound very loving, just mean. If that’s the God of the Bible, then I don’t want to believe in him.” You see where these questions lead.
Like it or not, these are the sorts of questions that many people have. Maybe you have wondered about this as well. Or maybe you’ve had someone ask you these types of questions. It’s not the easiest thing to be put in the spotlight when it comes to these questions. Often times people want to decide on their own if God is being fair. They want to put God on trial. And if they don’t like the answers to their questions, then they feel they can reject the message, reject the Bible, reject the Church. This is their way of keeping the message of repentance and faith at arm’s length, so as to not let it get too close to home.
Jesus was faced with this sort of a question in our Gospel reading today. He’s making His way to Jerusalem to be crucified, teaching as He goes when someone from the crowd asks him the question, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” Jesus doesn’t take the bait. Speculative questions about whether others will be saved avoid the uncomfortable questions about one’s own spiritual life. Jesus will not let a questioner examine others without examining himself. These are the questions that we should be asking ourselves: “Am I saved?” The answer is “I am baptized, so yes.” “Am I forgiven? The Word declares I am through faith in Christ.” “Is my faith strong enough? The body and blood of Christ strengthens and preserves me in body and soul to life everlasting.”
And now, Jesus tells us to strive through the narrow door. This is where Jesus uses some pretty strong language. The word “to strive” is the same used in ancient athletic contests where athletes push themselves in training, exerting themselves towards the goal. Think about the Olympics and the training that the athletes undergo in order to compete at that level. In this same way, Jesus’s words address the baptized who are already saved, calling them to take seriously the gift received, and to earnestly engage the task of sanctification. But here’s the thing: that is never separate from our justification through faith in Christ.
The command to strive doesn’t mean to make good moral effort to enter the kingdom of God. Jesus isn’t your coach leading you try harder, to train longer. Rather, the striving through which one enters into the Kingdom of God is daily repentance, which is a work of God in our lives. When the Word of God calls one to repent and trust in Christ our sinful nature strives against us in doing just that. The Old Man rears up to fight against Christ. This is resolved as the Old Man is put to death by the Law and the New Man through faith in Christ is raised to new life by the power of the Gospel. This ongoing, lifelong struggle characterizes the lives of all who are baptized into Christ. Entering through the narrow door is gained by those who repent and believe in Jesus as the Christ.
When it doesn’t seem like there is much joy in the world, hold on tight to Jesus. When the whole slams its doors in your face, hold on tight to Jesus. When you stand face to face against your sin, hold on tight to Jesus. And when you death comes knocking, hold on tight to Jesus. And though you fail to hold on tight to Jesus, He holds on tight to you. You need not fear or despair or exhaust yourself attempting to get through the door or to push someone else through before it’s too late. A person passes through the door of the kingdom of God purely by God’s grace as the Holy Spirit uses the means of the Word and Sacraments to call, gather, and enlighten the whole Christian Church on earth.
The door may be narrow, but God has flung it wide open. Through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus the kingdom of heaven is open to all who believe in Him. But it is wide open so that “people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at the table in the kingdom of God.” Our doors are wide open. The doors to Zion Lutheran Church, School, and Daycare are wide open to all to hear the Good News of Christ.
Because there are two ways, one of life and one of death (The Didache). For those who ignore this open door that is Christ it will be too late to enter when the final feast arrives at His return. The master of the house reiterates that they had not true communion with Him during this life, and to these He will say, “Depart from me, all you workers of evil.” They are workers of evil because they did not receive the goodness that comes through faith in Christ. They have travelled the unrighteous way and rejected the Righteous One who opens the narrow door.
For those who choose the way of death by rejecting Jesus there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. This may seem like a harsh reality to some, but a perfectly just and holy God demands perfect justice and holiness for His people and He provides that freely through Jesus. If you worry about a family member of friend, don’t wait. God tell them about Jesus and the Holy Spirit will work through the Word of God you share. Our doors open not just for people to come in, but for to go out. And tell everyone what you have heard and received in Christ.
For those who hear the Word of God and respond in repentance and faith in Christ will be welcomed into the eternal feast at the table of the Lord. For now, Jesus is still present to teach through His Word and to serve guests at His table. Come, the door is open wide. The table is prepared. The Lord, Jesus the Christ, is present in His Word and by means of His body and blood in this Sacrament. Come, you made worthy through faith in Christ and in His Word, enjoy the foretaste of the feast to come in the Kingdom of God.