The Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost
August 21, 2016
Luke 13:22-30
Then Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem. Someone asked him, “LORD, are only a few people 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. 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.’ 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!’ 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. People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last.” (NIV1984)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
As I was studying our sermon text for today I was instantly transported back in time. To be more specific (“Specificity required!” as someone likes to say) I was transported back to the summer of 2015. Brenda and I spent two weeks in China visiting our son, Jonathan. It was an amazing two weeks! The sights and the sounds and the smells were very different from what we experience here in the States. The language and the culture and the currency were completely “foreign” to us. But there were two specific things, two specific memories from our trip to China that this text dusted off and brought back into focus for me.
First, Jesus’ picture of a “narrow door” leading into heaven reminded me of walking along the Great Wall of China. Most of the Great Wall is about 15-20 feet wide at the top. But when you get to a guard tower— which always seems to be at the top of a gazillion steps! — the doorway and the passageway leading through the tower were not really designed for a guy my size to make it through easily!
Then there is Jesus’ picture of the “narrow door” being closed and people standing outside “knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’” That picture reminded me of trying to get on the subway in China. Huge crowds of people would be standing on the platform waiting for the train to arrive. Once those train doors opened people would literally shove you out of the way to try and get on that train before those doors closed! While I couldn’t understand what people were saying, from the look on their face I don’t think they were saying, “Excuse me, please.”
Those two memories from our trip to China helped me a great deal in developing our sermon for this morning. As we continue our sermon series on various selections from the Gospel of St. Luke let’s study this portion of God’s Word under the theme: As Disciples of Jesus— We Stay Focused on the Narrow Door! Once again there are two questions we want to address this morning. The first question is, Why does Jesus describe the “door” to heaven as being a “narrow door”? The second question is, What does Jesus say will happen to those who are left “outside” once the “door” to heaven is closed?
It’s important for us to note why Jesus spoke the words that we have before us this morning. Look at what Luke tells us in the opening words of our text. He writes, “Then Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem.” During the three years of Jesus’ public ministry teaching and preaching comprised a main focus of what our Lord did. He traveled from town to town and from village to village teaching as many people as He possibly could. And what did Jesus teach the people? He taught them the Truth of God’s holy Word— especially the glorious message of the Gospel! He taught them that through repentance and through faith in Him as the Promised Messiah there is complete forgiveness for all of their sins! He taught them that because of God’s amazing love the gift of eternal salvation is theirs— absolutely free of charge! That glorious message obviously sank in for one unnamed individual. Luke tells us, “Someone asked him, ‘Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?’” How did our Lord answer this question? Luke tells us, “He (Jesus) 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.’”
Notice, my friends, that Jesus does not answer this person’s question directly. He does not say, “Yes, only two out of ten people will be saved,” or, “Yes only two out of ten thousand people will be saved.” Instead of addressing the specific issue of how many will be saved, Jesus zeroes in on the most important issue of all— how anyone is saved! He does so by painting a picture for us. It is a picture that is very easy for us to visualize. Every sin that every human being commits, no let me re-phrase that, every sin that you and I commit builds a wall, a wall that makes the Great Wall of China look like something a child made out of Lincoln Logs, a wall that separates us from our heavenly Father’s Home. Since this wall only gets bigger and stronger every time we do something that God has commanded us not to do plus every time we don’t do something God has commanded us to do, there is no way for us to get through the Great Wall of Sin that we have built and enter into our heavenly Father’s Home. So what did God do? God made a “door” for us! God made an “entrance” so that we could come into His Home, into His heaven!
Here in our text Jesus very clearly reminds us that there is only one “entrance” into His heavenly Father’s Home. He describes it as “the narrow door.” What is this “narrow door”? What is the only way to enter into heaven? By the grace of God you know the answer, my friends! It is found right there— the cross of Jesus Christ! (Pointing to the cross) Jesus uses a similar picture in John 10:9 when He says, “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.” He emphasizes this truth again when He says in John 14:6, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
There are many people today and there are many churches today who insist on telling the God who created the universe by simply saying, “Let there be… and there was!” that He must make the “door” into His heavenly Home a “wide” door— “wide” enough that pretty much anyone can walk on through— no matter whether they believe in Allah or Buddha or Confucius or nothing at all! God says, “No! Heaven is My Home and I say there is only one way in. It is through faith in My Son and what He has done for you!” (Pointing to the cross)
Picture it this way, my friends. In His grace and in His mercy our heavenly Father has “propped the door to heaven open” with the cross of Jesus Christ. Enter through that “narrow door,” believe in Jesus as your only Savior from sin and you will have the joyous privilege of living in God’s Home for ever and ever! That is the sweet, simple message of salvation as God Himself proclaims it to us on the pages of His holy Word!
But if the message of salvation is so simple— and it is! — then why does Jesus say here in our text, “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to”? The Greek word that is translated here in our text as “make every effort” can also be translated as, “struggle, fight or compete (as in athletic games).” This word is pronounced “agonizomai.” Does that remind you of any English word? We need to “struggle,” we need to “fight,” we need to “compete,” we need to “agonize” to enter through the “narrow door” that leads into heaven because each and every step along the way we have enemies— enemies who are trying trip us up, enemies who are trying to knock us out of the race! The devil is constantly tempting us to sin against God and deny our Savior. The world around us is constantly trying to convince us that the pleasures and the treasures it has to offer us are “better” than what God has given to us. Our own sinful nature is constantly trying to wear us down by saying that it is “too hard” to stay on the straight and narrow road that leads to heaven so we might as well just give up now and just enjoy whatever time we have left here on this earth. Because of these enemies we need to stay focused, my friends! We need to stay focused on the cross; we need to stay focused on “making every effort to enter through the narrow door”!
What does Jesus mean then when He says, “many will try to enter and will not be able to”? A literal translation of the Greek here goes like this, “many will attempt to enter but will not have the resources.” Many people will indeed try to enter heaven and will fail because they have the wrong “resources”! For example, if someone tries to gain entrance into God’s house by showing up with suitcases filled with their own works God tells them to take those “filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6) and go away! If someone tries to enter God’s heaven with a homemade pass that says, “I tried my best,” or, “At least I am not as bad as so-and-so” God turns them away with the words, “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). The only “resources” that are acceptable to the God of heaven are the “resources” that we receive purely by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. When our Brother Jesus is standing by our side, when the Son of God Himself has His arm across our shoulder our entrance into our heavenly Father’s home is guaranteed!
That does not mean, however, that we can just sit back, take it easy and dawdle along the way— which brings us to our second question for today, What does Jesus say will happen to those who are left “outside” once the “door” is closed? Look at verse 25 of our text. The day is most certainly coming when “the owner of the house gets up and closes the door.” Jesus is here talking about either the day of our own death or the day that this world as we know it comes to an end. Once that day arrives, once the “door” to heaven is closed we will either be inside God’s house and will take our place at the “feast in the kingdom of God,” or we will be left outside “knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’” Will the “owner of the house” accept any excuses for not entering through the “narrow door” when we were graciously given the opportunity? Not a chance! Look at verses 26 and 27 of our text, “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!’” There is literally an eternity of difference, my friends, between a superficial outward connection to Jesus and a sincere heartfelt faith and trust in Jesus. Simply having one’s name on the roster of a Christian congregation does not guarantee eternal salvation. “I would have gone to church more often, but the pastor was so boring and I was so tired, Lord,” or, “I would have made more regular use of your holy Word and Sacrament but I was kinda busy, Lord,” are not acceptable excuses. “Away from me!” That is the only thing God will say to those who are left “outside” once the “door” of His heavenly Home is closed.
What will it be like for those who are left outside knocking at the door? Remember the fire that Isaiah talked about in our Old Testament lesson today? (Isaiah 66:18-14) Take that picture and think of it this way: we have all seen footage of the terrible wildfires that rage here in California. As horrible as it would be to get caught in the middle of one of those wildfires with absolutely no way to escape, it will be infinitely more horrible for those who will spend eternity engulfed by the unquenchable fires of hell. That’s why Jesus says in verse 28 of our text, “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.” To be left outside of God’s House once the “door” is closed (due to one’s own rejection of what God’s Son has done for them), to be separated from the Lord of grace and mercy for all of eternity, to endure the fire of God’s perfect justice for ever and ever— well, let’s just say that eternity in hell makes the largest California wildfire seem like smoldering campfire.
Our two week trip to China has left a “mark” on me that will probably last for the rest of my life. Some of you may have experienced similar events that have left similar “marks” on you. Thank God, my friends, that the “mark” which God Himself has left on us at the time of our Christian Baptism, the “mark” which God Himself continues to leave on us as He works in our hearts and in our lives through His powerful Word and Sacraments, that is what gives us the “resources” that are needed to enter through the “narrow door” that is still propped open by the cross of Jesus Christ. Strive by God’s grace to “make every effort to enter through the narrow door”! Strive by God’s grace to stay focused on the cross and what it means for you. Then you will always have the confidence of knowing that whether it is on the day of your death or on the day this world comes to an end you will never find yourself outside knocking on the door but rather, you will find yourself inside your heavenly Father’s home enjoying the eternal wedding feast of the Lamb!
To God be the glory!
Amen