Twenty first Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle C

LUKE 13:22-30
I READ AN ARTICLE RECENTLY IN WHICH THE AUTHOR SAID THAT MOST PEOPLE DON’T BELIEVE IN GOD. HE SAID THIS HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH WHETHER OR NOT THERE WAS A GOD, IT WAS AN OBSERVATION THAT WAS EASILY PROVEN. IF YOU ARE DRIVING ALONG A ROAD AND SEE A SIGN THAT SAYS “BRIDGE OUT” YOU DON’T KEEP BARRELING ALONG; YOU BELIEVE THE SIGN, YOU STOP YOUR CAR, YOU CHANGE YOUR BEHAVIOR. BUT IF GOD SAYS FOR YOU TO DO SOMETHING OR NOT TO DO IT, MOST PEOPLE DON’T PAY MUCH ATTENTION. THAT DOESN’T MEAN WE ARE ALL NOTORIOUS SINNERS, ALTHOUGH WE CERTAINLY ARE SINNERS, BUT IT DOES MEAN THAT MOST OF US AREN’T MAKING ANY ATTEMPT TO CHANGE OURSELVES IN RESPONSE TO THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS. DOES THAT MEAN WE DON’T BELIEVE IN GOD? WHAT DO YOU THINK?
TODAY JESUS IS ASKED A QUESTION: “LORD, WILL ONLY A FEW PEOPLE BE SAVED?” AND HE DOES NOT ANSWER THE QUESTION. RATHER, HE PAINTS A PICTURE, A PICTURE MUCH MORE FAMILIAR TO HIS HEARERS THAN TO US. BUT LET ME SPEAK ABOUT TWO OTHER GOSPEL PASSAGES FOR A SECOND. IN MATTHEW, AT THE END OF THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT, JESUS TELLS HIS HEARERS TO “ENTER THROUGH THE NARROW GATE, BECAUSE WIDE IS THE GATE AND BROAD THE ROAD THAT LEADS TO DESTRUCTION”. AND IN LUKE, ONLY A FEW SUNDAYS AGO, JESUS TOLD THE PARABLE OF THE PERSISTENT NEIGHBOR WHO KNOCKED ON THE DOOR UNTIL THE HOUSEHOLDER GOT UP TO GET HIM THE BREAD HE HAD REQUESTED. IN TODAY’S GOSPEL PASSAGE, IT SEEMS AS THOUGH JESUS MAY BE CONTRADICTING HIMSELF; HERE THE PEOPLE ARE KNOCKING, AND THEY ARE BEING DENIED ENTRANCE, WHILE OTHERS ARE STREAMING INTO THE BANQUET – THE PATRIARCHS AND THE PROPHETS AND PEOPLE FROM ALL OVER.
TOWNS AND CITIES IN PALESTINE HAD WALLS AROUND THEM. USUALLY THERE WERE ONE OR MORE “GATES” WHICH WERE OPENED IN THE DAY AND CLOSED AT NIGHT. THESE WERE THE WIDE GATES. DURING THE DAY, GUARDS STOOD AT ATTENTION, READY TO CLOSE THE GATES IF THERE WAS A THREAT. BUT THERE WERE OTHER ENTRANCES INTO THE CITY WHICH WERE NARROW; SOMETIMES YOU HAD TO WORK YOUR WAY IN SIDEWAYS, OR STOOP VERY LOW, AND COULD ONLY GET IN ONE AT A TIME. IF YOU WANTED TO GET IN THROUGH A NARROW GATE, NOT ONLY WAS IT A STRUGGLE, BUT YOU HAD TO HAVE SOMEONE ON THE INSIDE WHO WOULD KNOW YOU WERE COMING, OR YOU TOOK A CHANCE THAT YOU WOULD BE HIT WITH A CLUB OR RUN THROUGH WITH A SPEAR.
AND THAT’S THE POINT. THE PEOPLE STANDING ON THE OUTSIDE SAYING THAT THEY HAVE EATEN AND DRUNK IN THE COMPANY OF THE LORD, AND THAT HE HAS TAUGHT IN THEIR STREETS, ARE APPEALING TO THE ONE ON THE INSIDE TO LET THEM IN, TO GIVE THEM SAFE PASSAGE. BUT NOTICE THAT THEY DON’T SAY THEY LEARNED ANYTHING THAT JESUS TAUGHT; THEY PRESUME THAT HE KNOWS THEM BECAUSE HE MOVED AMONG THEM. IT’S NOT OBVIOUS THAT THEY’VE MADE ANY CHANGE IN THEMSELVES. AND JESUS SAYS “I DO NOT KNOW WHERE YOU ARE FROM; DEPART FROM ME, YOU EVILDOERS.” JESUS DOES NOT RECOGNIZE THEM, AND CONSIDERS THEM FOREIGNERS, AND WILL NOT ADMIT THEM TO THE BANQUET.
AND THEY STAY OUTSIDE, FRUSTRATED AND ANGRY, BUT HELPLESS TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT THEIR PREDICAMENT. BUT THE STORY ENDS ON A HOPEFUL NOTE: “FOR BEHOLD, SOME ARE LAST WHO WILL BE FIRST, AND SOME ARE FIRST WHO WILL BE LAST.”
SO KNOCKING WORKS, AS IN THE CASE OF THE PERSISTENT NEIGHBOR, WHEN YOU KNOW THE ONE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE GATE. IT DOESN’T WORK WHEN HE DOESN’T RECOGNIZE YOU, WHEN THERE IS NO RELATIONSHIP.
SO WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS? FIRST, WHEN WE TAKE THIS GOSPEL STORY AND THE SECTION FROM ISAIAH THAT WE HEARD EARLIER, IT’S OBVIOUS THAT GOD WANTS EVERYONE TO COME TO HIS BANQUET. SECOND, YOU CAN’T GET THERE THROUGH THE WIDE GATE. THE WIDE GATE, THE EASY PASSAGE, MIGHT GET YOU INTO THE CITY, BUT THAT ONLY GETS YOU A LITTLE CLOSER TO THE BANQUET. THERE IS NO WAY TO GET INTO THE HALL WITHOUT SOMEONE TO LEAD YOU THERE THROUGH THE NARROW GATE. THIRD, GETTING THROUGH THE NARROW GATE REQUIRES STRIVING – IT’S NOT EASY. THE GREEK WORD FOR STRIVING IS RELATED TO THE ENGLISH WORD “AGONY”. IT’S NOT EASY BECAUSE IT REQUIRES BELIEVING IN GOD, JUST LIKE YOU BELIEVE THE SIGN THAT SAYS THE BRIDGE IS OUT. IT REQUIRES MORE THAN COMING TO CHURCH ON SUNDAY, MORE THAN WISHES; IT REQUIRES A STRUGGLE, TO LEARN WHAT GOD WANTS FOR YOU, AND THEN TO DO IT. THIS MEANS LISTENING TO THE CHURCH, READING THE WORD OF GOD, AND EXAMINING OURSELVES TO SEE WHERE WE CAN CHANGE SO AS TO BE MORE LIKE JESUS CHRIST. THEN JESUS WILL RECOGNIZE US WHEN WE DO GOD’S WILL – AS HE SAID, “THE ONE WHO DOES THE WILL OF THE FATHER IS MY BROTHER AND SISTER AND MOTHER AS WELL”. AND HE WILL HELP US THROUGH THE NARROW GATE, INTO THE BANQUET WHERE PEOPLE WILL STREAM FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD. IF WE AREN’T RECOGNIZED, WELL, WE HAVE TO GO TO THE BACK OF THE LINE AND START OVER AGAIN; SOME WHO ARE FIRST WILL BE LAST. MAYBE WE WILL HAVE ANOTHER CHANCE, OR TWO, OR THREE. BUT MAYBE WE ONLY HAVE ONE CHANCE, ONE OPPORTUNITY TO BE RECOGNIZED BY OUR FRIEND ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE NARROW GATE.