The text this morning is from the Gospel according to Luke, the thirteenth chapter:
He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them, “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God. And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”
Thus far the text.
My dear friends in Christ,
I hate that it has to be said, but I suppose in this day and age it must, racism is just abhorrent to the Gospel. Really, racism is, in the forms we’ve seen here in America over the last three hundred years or so, is fairly new. It wasn’t until the rise of industrialism that it really came into view, and certainly, by the time Darwin published his ‘Origin of the Species,’ which promoted the idea that white-skinned people were more “evolved” than people with other colors of skin, racism had taken root in much of the Western world. Today, we see it coming up again and again, promoted by the left and the right alike, placing one race over another, like the far right does, or denigrating people based on their skin color, like the left does.
But, racism is wrong. It doesn’t belong in Christianity. For nearly 1500 years, racism wasn’t an issue. In fact, one of the greatest theologians the Church has ever had, Augustine, hailed from Africa. White and black, red and yellow, we’ve never had an issue until recently. So, we must condemn it, as Christians, in all its forms. This congregation is wonderful in that so many people from so many different backgrounds have worshipped here. It is a joy to see Christian brotherhood in a very true form exist in this place. We must confront that evil when we see it out in the world; it’s a joy that we have a physical place to direct people back to, showing them that racism has no place in this church.
But, that’s not really what the apostles are asking Jesus about here. In our texts today, we get the impression that Jesus is inviting people from all over the world to worship Him. And that’s no surprise; He died for them all. Jesus went to the cross as a human being, spilling human blood, and covered all of humanity in it. There is none for whom Christ did not die. Racism wasn’t foremost in the apostles’ minds. But, nationalities perhaps were. In the ancient world, different countries would have different gods. The Romans had theirs, the Greeks had theirs, the Babylonians had theirs. And the Jews stood alone. They alone, out of all the world religions worshipped a single God. There was none other. So, when they asked if those who saved would be few, they were asking a most important question: is what we believe and teach and confess true? Is there only one way, one God?
And the answer, of course, is yes. They were also asking, is it just us? And the answer, of course, is no. Jumping to the end of Jesus’ answer today, people will come from the east and the west, the north and the south, and there recline in the Kingdom of God. People from all over the world would flock to Jerusalem to worship their God. It’s a picture of the deity of the nations. The true God would be found in one place, Israel. This isn’t to say that in the end, in the eternity which is to come, we all will live in Israel, but to say that Israel, that nation that taught the one true God, will be spread out over all of the earth. There will be no nations, for the only nation that will last is the true one, the one that sought out the Lord.
Please don’t think this has to do with man-made boundaries of nations, but that this is really a description of the Church. The Church, which was found in the nation of Israel before the Messiah came, and now is found in the Gospel of Christ after His life, death, and resurrection, is the only “nation” that will last into eternity. All other nations will pass away, but the bride of Christ, the Church, will remain.
Knowing that, what of the rest of the text? Jesus implies that His way, the true way, is a narrow door. Many will seek to enter, but aren’t able. That narrow door isn’t just a way of saying that it’s really hard to get in. A narrow door is a door that is protected. In the night, the gate of the city or a palatial estate is locked. You can’t get in. People who come in the night can’t be trusted. Are they good or evil? Are they spies for a coming army or are they really weary travellers? But, there is usually a door that is able to be opened through the night, staffed so people can enter in who need to enter in. That door is small. It’s easier to defend a small opening than a wide gate. You can’t get an army in to take it over; you can only pass through one by one. And you can’t bring anything with you: sword, gear, animals. You only can get through the door.
So, the picture Jesus gives is of a house that has such a door. This is the Church. People will come all through the night trying to get into the Church. This is a picture of the end of time. People will come with all their worries, all their cares, all their own self-righteousness, all their possessions, and they will try to get into the only safe place that’s left. Everything else has been wiped out. Imagine the world, plunged into darkness. There’s nothing. No mountains. No water. No stars. Nothing. All you can see is a lonely house, lit up against a backdrop of utter blackness. All the hordes want to get in to be safe, to be saved. But, they refuse to leave behind that which they’ve brought. When they find the house, they are overjoyed, and try to get in. It’s lit through the night. You can smell the fires burning in the fireplaces. You can smell the roasted meat over the spit. You can hear the fountains of water from the courtyards. They think they’ve found, not just a safe place, but an oasis.
They knock on the door with all that they own and they try to force their way in. To their surprise, it’s not some rinky-dink guard at the door, but the master himself. He alone has the ultimate power to welcome people in or turn them away. They recognize the master; after all, they’ve heard about him, they’ve seen him walking the streets, they’ve eaten in the same houses and restaurants as him. They joy only grows at their familiarity. But the master refuses to let them in. He doesn’t know them. They can’t fit through the door anyway, with all that they have, all that they refuse to let go. So, he sends them away, because, rightly, he assumes they are allied with the darkness. The darkness wants to get into the house, but he won’t let it. He sends them away to wail in the place of darkness, to weep, to grind their teeth to the gums. Others are welcomes, they have been welcomed, and they come with nothing in hand. Not these.
Again, this is a picture of the Church. The Lord Jesus is the master. He opens the door to those whom He knows. He closes it to those who have rejected Him. He welcomes in those who seek Him and what He’s offered to them. He rejects those who try to bring their own to His kingdom. It doesn’t matter where they’ve come from. All that matters is that they believe this Jesus’ promises that, to the one who hates his life, to the one who leaves behind all that he has to seek after Him, He will welcome them into safety, into salvation. Jesus isn’t messing around.
Perhaps this seems unkind, but the offer has been there for all. Jesus died for you, to win for you everything. Imagine that forgiveness, life, and salvation are the light, the meat, and the water of the house. Do you need to bring anything for that? You can’t. You can’t add anything. Jesus welcomes you to a feast of Kobe beef, and you’d bring jerky? Nah, Jesus isn’t interested. He wants you in His Kingdom; He doesn’t want your junk. It’s like He took all the junk in your life and pulled it off you and put it far away from you on a distant mountain, and your whole life has been a journey to where He put it, to get it back. It’s an insult for all He’s done, that you would want to bring what you have to offer. He’s given you the best of everything, and you want to bring pure dreck.
But, you have realized this. There is nothing we can bring to God. There is nothing He wants from us. Even the faith that we have, the faith we grasp onto, for it grasps onto the promises of God, even that is a gift from Him. We didn’t create it; it’s not ours. He has given us everything. And so we have left behind our griefs, our cares, our sorrows, our sins, our self-righteousness, even forsaking this world and its pleasures, coming with nothing more than a loin cloth of modesty. And there, He welcomes you into His mansion, His Church, and puts on you the finest robe, puts on you the best sandals, gives you the finest food and drink. Why would I want my junk when I can have the richest of riches?
The world doesn’t want that. They want what they see, what they experience. They want their false gods, their false idols. They want the world as they see it. They want their false agendas, their racism, their infighting, their exclusions. But the Lord calls us from the east and the west, from the north and south, and there, in the Kingdom of God, do we all recline together, in safety. There, in the Kingdom of God, do we dwell securely. There, in the Kingdom of God, in the Church, in this congregation, are we fed with bread from heaven, with wine overflowing. There, in the Kingdom of God, are we washed with the purest water. There, in the Kingdom of God, are we given the light of the world. There in the Kingdom of God, are we forgiven of all our sins, having had them cast from us as far as the east is from the west. There in the Kingdom of God, are we washed from all our sins by the Blood of Jesus. There in the Kingdom of God, are we fed with the Body and Blood of the suffering Christ.
In the Kingdom of God, which is His Church now, and the Church which is to come, the Church which shall reign with Christ over the whole world, are we given forgiveness, life, and salvation. It is true that those who saved will be few, for most will insist on their own way. But, for those who will be saved, whether we have come to the Truth from the Old Church, from Old Israel, like Adam and Abraham, David and Jacob, or have come to it in the New Church, from Peter and Paul, Luther and Augustine, we will be welcomed into life eternal, a life of safety, a life when we are given all we need, for we have come with nothing in our hands. Nothing in our hands we bring, simply to His cross we cling. Simply cling to Him, to what He offers through His life, death, and resurrection. There, you will find safety forever in the Master’s house, His Church, this place, and the congregations of the Word around the World. You will have life, and you will have it abundantly. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Now may the peace of God which passes all human understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord! Amen.
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