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"The Riddle of the Narrow Door"
The Gospel for today comes right on the heels of Jesus’ saying
some words that are hard to handle. Jesus journeyed through the
countryside saying He didn’t come to bring peace but the sword,
He called us to repent or perish, He hinted at the judgment day
coming soon, and He said that those who won’t bear fruit will
be cut down. And after these things, a follower approached
Jesus and asked an important question: “Are only a few going
to be saved?”
We sympathize with this guy. Jesus in the last period of time
taught uncomfortable things about the wrath of God, and this
man wanted some assurance that there is still some hope for
those who desire to be saved from destruction. Jesus answered
not with a “yes” or “no” but a story that shows a pretty bleak,
decisive judgment day where there will be many who simply won’t
be saved and will be separated from God forever, even through
they tried to get into heaven. When we hear this story, we get
our hackles up, and get defensive. We ask: What about those
who’ve never heard about Jesus? That’s not fair. I’m no better
than those guys, and am not really any different. What hope do
they have? What hope do I have? And what hope do we have in
entering through the narrow door into heaven?
In reading deeper into the lesson, we don’t get very confident
in answering this question. Jesus says, “Make every effort” to
enter through the narrow door into heaven, because few will
enter. Other translations I like better for “make every effort”
are “strive” and “struggle.” There will be many who try and fail,
and when the master shuts the door, that’s it. Time’s up.
But life is a struggle by its very nature. We struggle against
time and pressures. We struggle to do the best we can to live
good and pleasing fulfilled lives. Jesus says to struggle to
get into heaven, but we know that many of those who don’t know
Jesus try harder than we to live good lives. Many Muslims and
Jews conform to much stricter, zealous lawful lifestyles than
we. If those who are saved will be few, are the pious going
to be the first ones in, leaving the rest of us outside heaven
in the cold and dark emptiness?
Jesus says that not all who hear the words of Jesus will
enter the kingdom. When the door to eternal salvation is
shut, they will pound on the door to heaven and cry out
to Jesus saying, “We ate and drank with you, and you
taught in our streets,” and “Sir, open the door for us,”
to which Jesus will reply “I don’t know you. Away from me,
all you evildoers!”
But wait, aren’t we in church right now? We hear the words
of Jesus even today! And Jesus is saying that not everyone
who hears will enter through the narrow way. How can we be
assured of our place in the kingdom? He says there will only
be a few. Is it that God wants us to try harder to enter the
kingdom? Perhaps it’s only those who heard Jesus and really
tried to do what He commanded that will enter into heaven.
But then, not even all who hear the word will enter the
kingdom. What hope do we even here have?
Jesus also states that the few that do enter the narrow door
will be numbered among Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the prophets
of old. And at this we can really lose hope in our entering
the kingdom. Those guys of the Old Testament that Jesus
mentions are the great patriarchs, the heroes, the really
important people of the Bible. Do Jesus’ requirements for
being among the few who enter into heaven include being a
great hero of the faith? If so, those who enter will be
few indeed, and we average people here have no hope.
We no longer just question why God would exclude those who
never heard Jesus’ words from heaven, we realize what little
chance we have. If our task to get into heaven deals at all
with struggling to stay pure, heeding the laws of God, or
being an important person then no one, from the Muslims of
Africa to the Buddhists in China to the Joe out in the street
in Oviedo to the most zealous Christian here has any assurance
of being one of the few who get into heaven.
But does it have to be this way? When we dig even deeper into
the Gospel lesson we see that things aren’t all they seem at
first glance. Jesus says that the few who get into heaven will
be numbered with the greats of the Bible: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob,
and the prophets. But when we examine the actual lives of these
people, who are already waiting for us there, we see just how
unheroic they acted at times. For example, Abraham prostituted
his wife, Isaac’s family life was a mess because he was a bad
father, and Jacob did just about every dirty trick in the book.
Even many of the prophets either didn’t like being prophets or
tried running from God. Perhaps there’s something about these
patriarchs, heroes of the Bible, other than their actions, that
made them among the few who are saved?
And what about those that heard the words of Jesus, followed
Him around, yet didn’t make the cut of the few who will be
saved? Jesus says He never knew them. But they saw each other
when Jesus lived. And I bet that many of those who are locked
out of heaven tried really hard to impress Jesus by obeying
the laws of God. But Jesus says that even those who heard
Him and tried to zealously impress Him will be excluded
because they were “evildoers.” And the work they did was
not good at all, but the opposite. All the good that they
tried to do will be deemed as useless, evil trash in the
sight of God in heaven. This implies, then, that those
people around the world in every religion who try to
impress God through their actions will not be guaranteed
a place among the few…not even those who heard Jesus Himself
while He walked the earth. Perhaps, then, there is more to
Jesus’ life than instruction on how to live good lives, and
perhaps there’s more to getting into the narrow door than
righteous living.
And when Jesus says to struggle to enter, what does that
really mean? To this point we’ve assumed that, when Jesus
tells us to strive to enter the narrow door, that means He
wants us to try harder, do better, aim higher in our moral
purity or importance in this world. But in light of everything
we’ve talked about, from those already in heaven not being
pure people, to those works we think are good being shown
as evil in the sight of God, what does Jesus mean when He
says: “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door?”
But Jesus reveals the key to understanding this section,
and answering the burning question “Are only a few going
to be saved?” in the final lines of his teaching. Jesus
says: “Indeed there are those who are last who will be
first, and first who will be last.” This is unusual, I
know, and we wonder why Jesus would say this about those
who enter the narrow door. But the key to understanding
the riddle of the narrow door and answering the question
to salvation comes in the revelation that God’s priorities
are not ours.
We assume that when Jesus tells us to struggle to enter
the door that He’s saying that those who try the hardest
to be good will surpass all others in righteousness and
go to heaven first. But Jesus says that the first will be
last and the last will be first. Our struggle to enter the
narrow door is not one of a righteous man fighting his way
to please or impress God the most, but of a humble pilgrim,
walking the path of repentance knowing his station before God.
In our struggle of living humble lives before God we are
shaken by one reality, though: Only those that do live
perfectly, strive for the highest, and live pure, and
completely lawful lives deserve to enter the narrow door.
And only God Himself is perfect, holy, pure, and lawful.
When Jesus says that the last will be first and the first
will be last, He’s not only telling us how to approach
God, He’s also talking about Himself. Jesus, as God, the
highest greatest being in the universe became the least
among us as a humble peasant. He walked the perfect life
of repentance on our behalf for us. And we, humanity, in
our trying to please God by impressing Him with our
righteousness, killed Jesus on the cross so long ago. But
God, out of love, raised Jesus and on His behalf promises
us a place among the few through the narrow door in heaven.
God, the greatest, became least, and now because Jesus has
saved us, we the least are given a free ride to be with God,
the highest, forever in eternity.
Those in the lesson who heard the words of Jesus yet were
not let into the narrow door did not understand that the
least will be the greatest. They thought that they could
impress God by earning a place among the few. But when we
see how imperfect we are and repent before God, Jesus gives
us a free seat in the eternal feast.
And Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the prophets didn’t earn or
deserve a place in heaven among the few. They anticipated
the coming of Jesus, and God has given them a place in heaven
because of Him. And through Jesus, we small, lowly pilgrims
here are also given a place among the few with Jesus through
the narrow door.
So, are only a few going to be saved? We can only answer,
with Jesus, yes. But then we wonder about all those other
people around the world who either have never heard of Jesus
or follow other religions we ask the same question. And we
can answer by saying with the Apostle Peter that God is
patient and wants all to come to repentance, and there
are some things we just don’t know. But we do know that
those who try to get to heaven by impressing God and being
righteous enough to earn salvation are not going to make it.
And this is a hard saying, but is also a motivating one. We
few who have been given salvation and entrance into heaven
by Christ are given a mighty gift. We have been given an
eternal hope and a peace that comes from knowing God has
promised us a way through the narrow door into heaven. Now
we, in assurance of our spot among the few have been given
the mission to make a difference in heaven and show others
the way in through the Cross by the grace of Jesus.
Are only a few people going to be saved? Yes, but we believers
in Christ, who live the pilgrim life of repentance and hope
in Jesus are among the few, and there is always room for more,
so let’s invite them in.
The peace of God that passes all understanding guard your
hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Amen.
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