The Narrow Door

August 25, 2019


GOSPEL LESSON: Luke 13:22-30 [The Narrow Door]
22 Then Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem. 23 Someone asked him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?”
He said to them, 24 “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. 25 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.’
26 “Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’
27 “But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!’
28 “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. 29 People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. 30 Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last.”

As Jesus was going toward Jerusalem where he would die on the cross to make salvation possible for the people all over the world, someone asked him a question which many people have asked, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?" That is, 'will only a small, limited number of people go to heaven?'

At first, Jesus did not answer about "how many" will be saved, but he answered about "how" to be saved. "Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to." Jesus called for people to make a commitment: that is, a confession of their faith and a living-out of that faith. Or Jesus could have told the person, regardless if there are few or many, make sure that you are in the number of those saved.

Still today people want to know "if will it be just a few or many." This question is really important. We need to know, because it can change our feelings and our actions. "Will only a few be saved" has about 4 meanings.

(1) Will I go to heaven? Am I one of the lucky few? The trouble is, sometimes I am not sure. When I think of my sin and unworthiness, I doubt my salvation. Can God love and forgive me enough? In my sin and ignorance and laziness and stubbornness, am I overlooking the narrow door? Am I trying to enter by the broad, easy way which leads to death? (Matthew 7:13). We may worry that we might be those left outside beating on the door saying "Sir, open the door for us." And we worry that God will say to us, "I don't know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!"

(2) The question sometimes means, "Will my family and loved ones and friends be saved?" Someone said the door is narrow so that we have to enter individually on the basis of our individual faith. No person can save another person by prayer, offerings, or indulgences. I can be sure of my own faith in Jesus, but I don't know the heart of others, but I want to see them again in heaven in the resurrection. In a moment, we will talk about this concern in relation to those family members who are not Christian. Can they go to heaven?

(3) "How few?" might mean that we want it to be small enough to keep out those we hate, like those people we get angry at and tell to go to hell. Will those people who are of a different Christian denomination which we as a denomination have religiously condemned be in heaven? We have to think about our judging others. Will only Lutherans or will Roman Catholics and Baptists also be saved?

And (4), we ask “How narrow is the door?” “How confining is the narrow path?" “How strict is God, how forgiving is God?" This means, "how much can I get away with?” Because like sheep we often stray to taste the green grass on the other side of the fence.

"Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?" There are two, extreme answers that people give: "Yes" and "No;" "Yes, there will be very, very few" and "No, everybody will be saved." That everyone will be eventually saved is called "universalism." Since God loves the world and everyone in it, surely he will save those he loves. Since the blood of Jesus shed on the cross has power to forgive the sins of the world, it surely does forgive everyone and saves all of humanity, even those who don't know Jesus or even those who don't repent of their sin or even those who commit horrible crimes. If this is so, then we do not need to do evangelism: Buddhists, Hindus, Moslems, and even atheists and murders and devil worshipers will go to heaven. If so, then, let's eat, drink and be merry and not worry about tomorrow! God is love. Universalism is very comforting. A lot of people hope it is so, and so live that way. It is also comforting for Christians who have family or loved ones who do not go to church, or who are not Christians, either refusing the faith or not knowing about it. People worry about their loved ones because we want to be together in heaven. So, this "universalism" is a comfort, a hope. Unfortunately, the Bible does not teach this. Jesus does not teach this. Just for your reference, here are five clear Bible passages about this. They say who will and who will not be saved.

• John 3:16-18, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son."

• Acts 4:12, "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."

• Mark 16:16, "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned."

• Romans 10:9-10, "That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved."

• Luke 13:24, "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 opposite of "universalism" is when people think that only a very, very few will be saved. How many? The famous answer of the Jehovah Witnesses is 144,000 which isbased on erroneous calculations of Revelation Chapter 7. Some Christian denominations or sects say that they are the only small group that has the spiritual knowledge or revelation to find the narrow door. There are a lot of religious jokes about this, and a lot of religious fighting about this. Church congregations have been split, denominations have been split, Christianity itself has been split into a thousand splinters. Heretics think that only they and their little group will be saved. Sometimes we call them "sectarians." Will there only be Lutherans in Heaven? Will there only be Roman Catholics?

I personally believe in my heart that the Lutheran Confessions have the best interpretation of Holy Scripture. If I didn't believe that, I could not and would not have been ordained into the ministry of the Lutheran Church. I think it would be great if all Christians could agree with the Small Catechism and the Augsburg Confession of the Lutheran Church. I don't expect that to happen before Christ returns at the end of the world (the "Parousia"). However, it is not the denomination that saves us.

All true Christian denominations do teach that Jesus, the Son of God, died on the cross to forgive our sins and that believers will be saved. Some churches do not explain things very good and some have practices that I do not approve of. But if God can forgive us in the Lutheran Church, he can forgive others, too.

It is not having your name on the membership roster of a certain church that saves you. It is the work of the Holy Spirit that saves us. The Holy Spirit brings faith into our hearts. And in faith we receive the benefits of Jesus' death on the cross, that is, we receive the forgiveness of sin, salvation and eternal life. If you believe in Jesus as your Savior, that faith is the one and only narrow door. It is too narrow to carry our good deeds. It's too narrow to carry our bad deeds. The door is the cross. It is the open door of the tomb of Jesus. And finally, Jesus invites. Luke 11:9, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." And Jesus assures us that there will be many who will come to heaven. All who believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior will be saved. Jesus says, Luke 13:29, "People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God."

Jesus has opened the door for us. Let’s enter with faith and thanksgiving! Amen.

Amen.

Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church


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