Welcome Back Sunday Sermon - Proper 16C (3yr), 2010

Asking the Right Question

Luke 13:22-30

Pentectost Proper 16 - C (3yr) 2010

CMU Welcome Back Sunday

Christ The King Lutheran Chapel

Mount Pleasant, Michigan

Pastor Jonathon Bakker

    Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, when someone approaches Jesus and asks him a question in today’s Gospel, that person is looking for an answer that will allow him to ask another question. Think about it. If we ask Jesus whether there are many who will be saved, are we really all that interested in the multitude who will be saved? Don’t misunderstand me – we are all interested in the expansion of God’s heavenly kingdom and we certainly hope that all people would receive eternal life from God – but no matter Jesus’ answer to the question; whether it be ‘yes’ or ‘no,’ would we be satisfied?
    Imagine an eleventh grader living in a small mid-western city. His high school is home to an outstanding baseball team – every year they are in the running for the state-championship. He wants to be a pitcher on that varsity team this year, so he puts in a lot of hours, working hard all winter to prepare for the tryouts in the spring. At those tryouts, he sees that he is just as capable of playing on the team as all the other hopeful pitchers, but only half of them can make the team. On the night before the final day of tryouts, this young man finds himself standing in a slow-moving line at a grocery store right in front of the baseball coach. Now, he might start a conversation with the coach by asking whether there were many good pitchers who would be making the team, but we all know that no answer to that question is going to tell him what he is truly burning to learn. Certainly he hopes that the team will have many good pitchers, and he most definitely hopes that they will be the best pitchers so that they will have the best chance of winning a state championship, but what he really wants to know is if he is among those best pitchers who will be throwing for the team when the season begins. The question the young man asked would merely be the first among other, much more specific questions.
    It is the same for the person asking Jesus whether few would be saved today in the Gospel reading, and it would be the same for any of us if we were in the same situation. Whether Jesus answered ‘yes’ or ‘no’, we would still have more to ask him. What we would really want to know is how likely it is that we would be among those who will be saved.
    Today’s Gospel, however, never gets to those answers because Jesus knows this already, and answers accordingly. Instead of falling for the line of questioning that will end up with the person asking whether or not they are going to heaven, Jesus responds that they are to ‘strive to enter through the narrow gate.’ It’s important to note that Jesus does not say whether or not this person is to be counted among those who will be saved, even though he knows that that is what they really want to hear. Again, think about it. Jesus knows the answer, but he also knows better than simply giving a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer.
    If the coach were to tell that eleventh-grade pitcher that he did not have to worry about making the team before the tryouts were finished, the boy would no longer value or treasure what it cost for him to make the team. He might not even bother to show up for the last tryout, since it would only be a formality anyway. Perhaps worse, what if the coach were to tell him that he didn’t have any chance of making the team before the last tryout? Would he even consider showing up, even though he knew it was for nothing? Would it have been any different for the person in the Gospel? Would it be any different for us?
    The problem here, dear friends, is not that Jesus knows that we will inherit eternal life in heaven on account of his death and resurrection for our sins; nor is it a problem that he knows that we believe in him on account of the faith which he has given to us by the power of the Holy Spirit. The problem is the question. The devil, the world, and our sinful flesh love this question. Will we be saved? A ‘no’ response leaves a person in despair and without hope; it means that sins are not forgiven and that eternal death is all that stands ahead. A ‘yes’ response is even worse because it gives a person false comfort; it means that temptations will never test faith, and soon faith itself becomes obsolete. Our sinful flesh loves this question because ‘yes’ or ‘no’ means we can do whatever we want; the end has already been decided for us. Our fatalistic world loves this question because it means that our existence might as well conform to the image of the world, rather than transforming the world in the image of God. The devil loves this question because it undermines everything that Jesus ever did, and still does for us; this question turns our focus away from God who created all things from nothing, away from God who became flesh in Jesus Christ and lived and died and rose for us, away from God who comes to us in his Word, his Baptism, his absolution, and his Supper to call, gather, enlighten, and sanctify us in the one true faith. The devil, the world, and our sinful flesh love this question because, yes or no, it drives a wedge between the Lord and us.
    So what does Jesus do when faced with this question? He knows the danger of the question, but more importantly he knows what we need to hear. ‘Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able.’ Jesus’ words wander from the scope of the question. The person wanted to learn if few would be saved, and more importantly if they would be saved. Instead, Jesus explained to him the way in which he might be saved. Cyril of Alexandria tells us that, “Jesus is purposely silent to the useless question, and proceeds to speak of what is essential.” ‘Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able.’
    In the rest of the today’s Gospel, Jesus makes the point to the people in the cities and villages on the way to Jerusalem that they cannot expect to be included in the kingdom simply because Jesus came to their town, or because they are they children of Abraham, or because they shared food and drink with him. Even more startling, there would be weeping and gnashing of teeth for them when they saw themselves thrust out of the kingdom while others from the four corners of the world – gentiles – would come and sit down in the kingdom of God. Being born and raised in Israel was no guarantee of passing through the narrow gate. Listening to Jesus while he taught in the streets was likewise no guarantee of passing through the gate. Even sitting down to eat and drink with Jesus when he came through their cities and villages carried no guarantee. Similar warnings could be said to us today. Being born and raised in a Christian home is no guarantee of going through the narrow gate. Coming to church and going through the motions, listening to sermons and singing along with the hymns are not guarantees of eternal life. Not even being hospitable to others and doing good things for them can guarantee safe passage through the gate.
    There is nothing, dear friends; not one thing; that we can carry with us through that narrow gate. There is no room for our heritage, no room for mere politeness toward God and his church, and there is most certainly no room between those gates for our good works. The narrow gate is entered only through faith, and that faith is ours only by God’s grace in his Son through the Holy Spirit. We cannot walk ourselves with all of our baggage through that narrow gate, and that is why it is something we strive for – it is difficult to throw off the baggage that we sinful people accumulate throughout our lives. Our enemies, the devil, the world, and our sinful flesh, all want to load us up with as much as they can to keep us out of the gate. Only Christ our Savior defeats these enemies, and takes our baggage of sin and death away from us and replaces them with faith and eternal life. Jesus is the only way through that narrow gate. It is he who tells us, ‘Come unto me all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke easy, and my burden is light.’
    The Gospel today began with a question, but it certainly does not end that way. For many of us, a new school year is starting [tomorrow] [in these coming weeks]. Parents, teachers, professors, students, confirmands and pastors are all preparing for a year filled with questions and answers. When it comes to eternal life and salvation, however, asking the right question is not about whether many will be saved or whether you’re to be included in that number; those are questions that the devil, the world, and our sinful flesh put in our heads to take our focus away from our Lord and his sacrifice on the cross for our sins. Strive, dear friends, to enter through the narrow gate. Our Father in heaven sent his only Son to live and die for us and to rescue us by the Holy Spirit to eternal life.
    To Christ alone be all the glory, forever and ever, amen. The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus, our Lord, amen.