Isaiah 66:18-21 / Hebrews 12:5-7, 11-13 / Luke 13:22-30
It is a basic human desire to yearn for a better life. That is why human beings strive to develop and progress so that life can be better.
With development and progress the result will be an affluent lifestyle. But an affluent lifestyle and an affluent society have its challenges.
There is this picture of some tribal men, bare-bodied and getting ready for hunting. And the bottom of the picture there are these words:
No stress, no bombs, no homeless, no poverty, no junk food, no pollution. And some people call them … PRIMITIVE.
It is such a contradiction, isn’t it? We call ourselves an affluent and a civilized society and we have stress, wars, pollution, inflation, etc.
And that is one more thing. As we become an affluent society, we also become lazy.
And then the health issues begin to appear: high blood, high cholesterol, high blood sugar. And with all that scoring high that is also an added problem. Needless to say it is a heavy weight problem.
With expanding waistlines it is not easy to fit into our clothes and we become heavy and cumbersome. And of course, that is also not very healthy.
And there is no denying it, that we envy those slim and trim and healthy looking people.
In the gospel we heard of someone asking Jesus a rather strange question: Sir, will there be only a few saved?
Putting that question in another way, it is like asking how many good people will be saved? Or how many good people will go to heaven?
The presumption here is that the so-called good people are those who keep the rules, be in the right place at the right time and say the right thing.
Obviously the one asking the question is also presuming that he is one of those “right” people and so he wanted to know how many there are of these “right” people, since he thinks that he is also one of them.
Jesus addressed that question but not with a direct answer. He says, “Try your best to enter by the narrow door, because I tell you, many will try to enter and will not succeed.”
And we might be thinking. So those who do evil, those who are not good, those who don’t do the right thing, those who are bloated and heavy with the things of the world, the rich, the affluent, those who are overweight, they can’t go through that narrow door.
But before we go on speculating further, Jesus goes on to say this:
“Once the master of the house has got up and locked the door, you may find yourself knocking on the door, saying, “Lord, open to us” but he will answer, “I do not know where you come from.” Then you will find yourself saying, “We once ate and drank in your company; you taught in our streets” but he will reply, “I do not know where you come from. Away from me, all you wicked men!”
And we might be thinking: Hey, those are the so-called “right” people. They were in the right place and at the right time and said the right thing. But why did this happen to them?
Today’s Gospel sets us thinking. Jesus tells us that it is the narrow door, and many will try to enter and will not succeed.
It is said that if we want to go fast we go alone. If we want to go far then we go together.
But if we want to go fast, we might just end up last. The narrow door becomes narrower, and it maybe even closed for those who want to go in alone.
But if we want to go through that narrow door, then we have to go together. For where two or three go together, the Lord will open the door wider.
So the teaching point here is this - that we have to help each other on the road to heaven.
And we who are strong ought to journey with those who are weak.
Let us remember that the salvation of many depends on the sacrifice of a few.
With that sacrifice the door to heaven will be opened wide for those who want to go in together with the others.