"Strive to enter through the narrow gate"
Luke 13: 22-30
Last Sunday we heard of a fire Jesus desires to cast upon the earth not for peace but for division. This Sunday we hear that our Lord challenges us to walk through a narrow gate and about "wailing and grinding of teeth" and about "evil doers." What is our Lord up to? That discipleship means something. That to follow Christ demands a certain level of determination and single mindedness.
So, the context of our Gospel this Sunday is Jesus’ answer to a
question from an interested follower but a Jew speaking to a Jew, a respected
teacher (Rabbi) and wonder worker, about salvation: “Lord, will only a few people be saved?” In the context of Jewish understanding and
culture, only the chosen people, the Jews, would be saved and all else will be
lost.
Jesus’ answer is fundamental to understanding the heart of God
as compared to our limited human vision. It concerns privilege and entitlement
not as a social or economic condition but as one of faith. The thinking may go
like this: “Because I am among the chosen, following all the prescripts of the
Law, I will be saved. For those who are
not, they will be lost. It is my
inheritance; my entitlement.”
So, someone from the crowd asks: “Lord, will only a few people
be saved?” We understand salvation to be right with God and with our neighbor;
to put our faith in Jesus as savior and redeemer and to then be rewarded with
eternal life – i.e. salvation.
Yet, the question of the bystander implies that some will not
be saved. Maybe the one who asked felt
very justified in their right living or was concerned about his/her own
possible salvation. Am I among the few
who will be saved? This question of
salvation and who’s in and who is out continues to be a subject of debate,
especially in Christian circles.
But Jesus’ answer takes us well beyond restrictions and it does
cause us to question our sense of reward or even justice. Our Lord says: “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will
attempt to enter but will not be strong enough.” Does this imply that only
the skinny and strong will make the mark?
What if I can’t fit through that “narrow” gate? Obviously, Jesus speaks in analogy yet his
implication is clear. The road to salvation is not about privilege or
entitlement; it is about the mercy of God for those who will accept it – the
call to conversion. The road to discipleship.
There was a popular game show on television in which
contestants are asked to make a choice between three doors: “Door #1, Door #2, Door #3” shouts the game
host. Behind only one of those doors is
the grand prize. Maybe a new car or
complete bedroom furniture set or some such expensive prize.
The obvious point of the game is to make the winning choice; to
win the biggest prize. Yet, Jesus’
analogy is not about having to choose between three equal doors with only
different numbers as a distinction. It is about a specific gate that is
distinctively narrow. He tells us which
one to choose. No worry about the prize behind – salvation – our only concern
is about getting through. He implies that getting through it will not be easy: “. . . many, I tell you, will attempt to
enter but will not be strong enough.”
Yet, aren’t the arms of Christ wide open for all like the
statue of Christ the Redeemer above the city of Rio de Janeiro? Why not just
walk in? What makes this door so “narrow?” In this case “narrow” is specific about
choice.
God in sending his Son offers an invitation to humankind - a
proposal as it were. God invites
everyone to come to know Christ; to hear his call to forgiveness and mercy; to
become like a child in our faith; to open our hearts to those on the margins
and to become Christ-like in our way of living to love, forgive and show mercy
ourselves with compassion and humble service to others.
Yet, such a call to conversion is not always our first
choice. We’d rather choose the larger
more colorful door than to try and fit through the narrow gate. Everyone is invited to follow the way Christ
shows us but it means to put aside our own expectations and to think as God
thinks.
Yet, what about the good, well-meaning non-Christian who lives
a life style, according to their religious belief, that is compatible with
Christianity? As the Church of the
Second Vatican Council states clearly that those “who through no fault of their
own” do not know Christ yet follow a life that seeks the common good indeed can
be saved. For God desires that all be
saved, as our Lord clearly implies in his answer today.
So, I think anyone of us could justify ourselves based upon our
behavior. I can hear myself asking the similar question of Jesus: “Lord, I’m
doing my best, won’t I be saved?” In other words, where do I stand on the
question of my own righteousness? I’m a
good Catholic. I treat others with charity.
I try to forgive rather than hold a grudge. I attend Mass regularly and
know they place other flowers in Church besides poinsettias and lilies. As a
priest, I do my best to remain faithful to what God has called me for his
service recognizing my own failings and human weakness.
In the end we simply don’t know who is where after death. While the Church clearly explains the
afterlife consists of three “levels:” heaven, purgatory and hell, we still
don’t’ know who is where, a truth known only to God. The formally canonized
Saints among us we know are with God in heaven, yet the vast majority of
humanity who has died, literally only God truly knows. So we rely on the mercy
and promise Christ has revealed to us and live a life compatible with the good
Christ has revealed.
So when I come to know the Son of God and I accept the
invitation to follow Christ then I place myself in the position of always
having to choose him and the way of the Gospel above other ways – the “narrow
gate.” We come to know him not on our terms but on his.
Our first reading from Isaiah this Sunday reminds those returned
from the Babylonian exile who are rebuilding the nation of Israel. God has restored them but they must begin to
see things in a new way. God will add to
them a greater population; to “gather nations of every language.” Those who have “never heard of my fame or
seen my glory; and they shall proclaim my glory among the nations.”
So the answer to the initial question: “Lord will only a few be
saved?” Hears, “No, all are invited but
those you may consider undeserving or not worth the time, may ultimately be the
ones who embrace the invitation far more than the self-righteous or those who
may feel they are entitled to it.”
“For behold, some are last
who will be first, and some are first who will be last.” No
matter where we feel we stand in line, let’s get on about our Christian
responsibility to do far more than just show up or rest on our spiritual
laurels. Sharing the Gospel is more than
just words. It is faith in action with a humble and self-sacrificing heart
after the example of Jesus himself.
O God, who cause the minds of the faithful
to unite in a single purpose,
grant your people to love what you command
and to desire what you promise,
that, amid the uncertainties of this world,
our hearts may be fixed on that place
where true gladness is found.
(Collect of Mass)
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