Luke 13:22-30 * September 2, 2007 * Pentecost 14 * Pastor Pagels
In the name of Christ Jesus, dear friends:
See if you can solve the following riddle: You approach two
talking doors. One door leads to the City of
Here is one possible answer: You ask either door: “If I asked you which door leads to the city of truth before, which door would you have told me?” (negative and negative = positive, positive and positive = positive), and you choose the door that you are directed to.
Perhaps that brain teaser required a little too much thinking so early on a Sunday morning. The good news is that there are no riddles in the sermon text for today. This morning Jesus speaks to us about one particular door, the narrow door that leads to heaven, and what he has to say is not in the least bit confusing.
As the son of a carpenter Jesus probably knew a thing or two about doors. He knew how to measure them. He knew how to construct them. He knew how to hang them. And using this common every day object we all come into contact with dozens of times each day, Jesus engages us in a deeply spiritual, deeply personal conversation that could be called…
STRAIGHT TALK ABOUT THE NARROW DOOR
I. An admonition
II. A warning
III. A promise
We meet up with Jesus on the final stretch of his earthly
ministry. He had his sights set on
In one of those unnamed places an unnamed person raised his/her voice above the crowd and asked Jesus a question: “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved” (23)? We don’t know who asked the question. We can only guess why this person asked this question. But Jesus took it seriously, and therefore so should we.
Instead of addressing the original question: “Who is going
to be saved?,” Jesus forced the people to ask themselves a different question:
“How can I be sure that I am going to be saved?” He said to them: “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I
tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to” (24).
These words of Jesus don’t sound all that Lutheran, do they? It sounds like Jesus is saying that salvation takes effort. It sounds like Jesus is saying that if we want to get to heaven, we have to strive and strain and force our way through the narrow door that leads there.
And that goes against everything confessional Lutherans believe. The very idea contradicts at least two of the three “solas” (“by grace alone” and “by faith alone”), not to mention a handful of Bible passages that describe salvation as a gift (Romans 3:20-28, Ephesians 2:8,9, Titus 3:3-7 to name a few).
So if Jesus isn’t promoting an alternative path to heaven
(which he isn’t), then what is he saying?
What is Jesus telling us when he admonishes us to “make every effort to enter through the narrow door?”
He gives us a hint when in the next breath he says that many will try and fail. In fact, people have been unsuccessfully trying to please and appease the gods for thousands of years. Some of them slit their wrists. Others sacrificed their children. Today people are a little more sophisticated, but the end result is the same. People try to be “good people.” They are good neighbors, good citizens, and they contribute generously to good causes. But nothing a person does, no amount of good things you do can make you good in the eyes of God.
Before sinner people can please God we must acknowledge that we can’t please God. Before sinners can walk through the narrow door that leads to heaven we need to understand that the only way we can pass through that doorway is on our knees.
Martin Luther had come to an understanding of that biblical
truth when he nailed a collection of spiritual statements on another door, the
door of the
If you are puffed up by sinful pride, if you think that your good deeds or your good looks will be enough on Judgment Day, you won’t fit through the door. If you think that your sins don’t amount to much, especially when you compare yourself to other people, you won’t fit through the door. If you’ve bought into the idea that God is a God of love and he couldn’t possibly leave you out in the cold, you won’t fit through the door.
Only people who are have been stripped of their self-righteousness, only people who have shed their burden of sin and guilt will be able to get through. And the only way to do that is through repentance.
Sounds pretty simple, doesn’t it? You don’t have to earn a certain amount of points to gain admittance into heaven. You don’t have to earn God’s favor to pass through the narrow door. You don’t have to do anything but trust in Jesus for forgiveness, and God even gives you the faith to believe.
The problem is that sinful people are more likely to rebel than repent. The problem is that the ancient serpent is still trying to convince people that they can make it on their own. The problem is that the world is tempting us 24/7 to trade eternal glory for temporary gratification. That is why Jesus’ admonition is appropriate. That is why Jesus’ admonition is necessary. And that is why he follows it up with a stern warning.
Jesus continues: “Once
the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside
knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’ “But he will answer, ‘I don't know you or
where you come from’” (25).
If it feels like you have heard this story before it’s because you probably have. Jesus spoke about a door and people who were left on the outside looking in in the Parable of the Ten Virgins (Matthew 25:1-13). While the details of these two accounts vary the point is the same: The Lord is extremely patient, but even his patience has limits. If you reject God, if you forget about God, if you put other things in your life ahead of God, the time will come when your time of grace runs out. And then it will be too late.
“Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’ But he will reply, ‘I don't know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers’” 26,27). If doesn’t matter if you are related to Jesus by blood. It doesn’t matter if you have known Jesus from birth. God doesn’t care if your great-great-grandfather laid the foundation of this church. He won’t accept any excuses. He won’t recognize anyone who refuses to repent. And he won’t hesitate to banish those “evildoers” from his presence forever.
Those were some pretty strong words. Jesus had given the people a strong warning, but he wasn’t finished yet. He continued: “There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out” (28).
On certain level I feel for these poor people. What began as the simple question of one person turned into a stinging indictment of an entire people. Jesus’ threats had exposed them. Jesus’ warnings had exposed their sin. And I am guessing that Jesus’ talk about weeping and gnashing of teeth made them feel extremely uncomfortable.
Jesus didn’t take any pleasure in hammering them with God’s law again and again and again. So why did he? Why did he come on so strong? Because he wanted them (and us) to appreciate what was at stake. Because he wanted them (and us) to understand that our relationship with God is not a game. Our souls are at stake. Our eternal destiny is hanging in the balance. And our Lord doesn’t want us to be on the wrong side of the door when it is slammed shut.
Will we make it? Can anyone make
it? Do we have any reason to be hopeful
about the future? The answer is “Yes,”
but you don’t have to take my word for it.
Instead listen to Jesus’ promise: “People
will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at
the feast in the
The believers in that crowd could appreciate those words, but probably not as much as you and me. Jewish believers can take comfort in those words, but not as much as Gentile Christians like you and me. You see, Jesus’ promise was not just written for us. It’s a prophecy about us.
Many Christians, the vast majority of Christians, are not Jewish. We come from all over the world, from north and south and east and west. We speak different languages. We wear different clothes. We eat different foods. But we have the same Savior. We worship the same triune God, and that makes every believer (Jew or Gentile) a child of Abraham.
And as a result you and I will not be party crashers at the feast God has prepared in heaven. God has invited you to be his guest, to celebrate with him, to worship him, to thank him and praise him. You don’t have to make a reservation because God has prepared a special place just for you. You don’t have to do anything because God’s Son has done everything already. He lived a perfect life for you. He died on the cross for you. He rose from the dead and ascended into heaven and now he is eagerly waiting for the day when you will take your place at the eternal banquet in heaven.
The text concludes: “Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last” (30). This verse doesn’t fit neatly into the category of an admonition or a warning or a promise. It might be most accurate to call it a combination of all three.
Luther called these words “enough to frighten the greatest saints.” If you think you are standing firm, if you think you have everything under control, be careful so that you don’t fall (I Corinthians 10:12). That’s an admonition, or even stronger, a warning that demands the attention of everyone who claims to be a follower of Jesus.
“There are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last” (30). As scary as that statement can be, behind the threat lies an amazing promise. We were last. We were separated from God. We were enemies of God. But God didn’t close the door on us. Instead he loved us. He saved us. And thanks be to God that the One who has engaged us in some straight talk about the narrow door has also revealed himself to us as the one and only Way to heaven. Amen.