August 25, 2013 at Calvary
Evangelical Lutheran Church – Mechanicsburg, PA
“But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you came from.
Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ In that place there will be weeping
and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the
prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out.”
There’s going to be a grand
gathering of people. That’s at the heart of the Scripture Readings for this
day. Isaiah brings that message to the people of Israel. It wasn’t the only
message that he brings. No, they had heard some disturbing things from the
prophet’s mouth. He had spoken of the Lord’s
wrath and anger directed against the people’s impiety and faithlessness. The
prophet even disclosed the forthcoming exile that the Israelites would suffer
at the hands of the Assyrians, as well as the Babylonian army that would
overrun the Judahites.
But a message of redemption and
restoration is strewn throughout Isaiah’s prophecy. His divinely given
statements conclude with promises about what the Lord would send to His people. The Lord’s Servant would arise. He would bring salvation to the Lord’s people. This promised Messiah
would usher in a new era, even the arrival of a new heaven and a new earth. And
the promise of the Lord’s work for
the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is disclosed: “And they shall bring all your brothers from all the nations as an
offering to the Lord, on horses
and in chariots and in litters and on mules and on dromedaries, to My holy
mountain Jerusalem, says the Lord,
just as the Israelites bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the
house of the Lord. And some of
them also I will take for priests and for Levites, says the Lord.”
Those words echoed in the people’s
ears as they went off to exile. They echoed in their ears as they returned
again. But the Lord’s promise of a
grand gathering still had yet to be fulfilled. The restoration of Israel and
the rebuilding of the Temple were incomplete fulfillments. More was to occur.
The promised Messiah had yet to arrive. Until He did, the Lord’s promise would remain partially
unmet. But the arrival of that Messiah would bring what Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob and the prophets all had looked for. It would lead to the grand gathering
that the Lord had said would take
place.
That’s the background of Jesus’
words in today’s Gospel Reading. Jesus speaks about the Lord’s promised grand gathering. But Jesus’ statement
includes some sharp points: He doesn’t only talk about the people gathered
together; He mentions those who will be left out. His words are spoken in
response to a question He receives: “Lord,
will those who are saved be few?” His answer is somewhat non-responsive:
Jesus does not disclose the total number of the saved. But He does plainly
state that not all people will be in the kingdom of God: “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will
seek to enter and will not be able.”
Why does Jesus speak this way?
What drives that statement? It has to do with the response that He has received—or
not received. The Gospel Writer notes what Jesus is doing: “He went on His way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying
toward Jerusalem.” Jesus is headed to fulfill the prophetic statements made
about the Messiah. He has been disclosing His identity by what He says and
does. But how many have heard and believed? Remember how Jesus sent the
Seventy-Two out with a message that the kingdom of God was present. Many of
them were not believed. Remember the incidents where Jesus teaches in the
synagogue or sits at table with Pharisees or makes public statements in the
streets: not all of these incidents were met with great approval.
But Jesus still appears in those
towns. He reveals His identity as the Messiah. He heads to Jerusalem to die and
rise again. All along the way, Jesus speaks for the descendants of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob to hear: “I am the Christ. I am the Promised One. I am the One
sent from the Father in heaven. I am the One that your forefathers longed to
see. I am ushering in the kingdom of God, so that you can be part of it. Hear
and receive Me, so that you may have the benefits that I bring.” But those
words strike some ears that will not hear and some hearts that will not
believe.
So when that question is posed
to Jesus—“Lord, will those who are saved
be few?”—His answer indicates that it not all will be saved. He gives out
the warning: “Strive to enter through the
narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.”
Jesus points out the truly sad result that will take place after He completes His
work and begins the grand gathering promised by the Lord: “When once
the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand
outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will
answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ Then you will begin to say, ‘We
ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ But he will
say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you
workers of evil!’ In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth,
when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of
God but you yourselves cast out.”
Jesus’
words are statements meant for more than the ancient, physical descendants of
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob so that they would not miss what Jesus was bringing
to the world. But they also stand as a warning to you, just as they warned the
people of First Century Palestine. What He says also applies to this day and
age. You have the testimony of Jesus’ words and works, the description of His
activity as the Messiah. He says that you are meant to have a part in the grand
gathering: “People will come from east
and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God.
And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be
last.”
Jesus
invites you to benefit from the work that He has completed. The fulfilled
promises are for you, the people from the nations who have been given to know
the glory of God revealed in Jesus’ actions. The words of the Epistle Reading
are a description of what has happened for you, about what awaits you because
of the acts of redemption that Jesus has completed: “You have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the
heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the
assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of
all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the
mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better
word than the blood of Abel.” This is your birthright, the destiny that you
are meant to have a share in.
But
the warning is given: “Strive to
enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and
will not be able.” Access to the kingdom of God is given through
Jesus. Entry into it comes in the ways that He has established: receiving the
Gospel in its various ways—hearing it, being bathed in it, eating it. That is
how you become part of the kingdom of God and preserve your spot in it:
believing with the heart, confessing with the mouth, and living out your
identity as Jesus’ disciples. His words drive you away from thinking that you
will have entry into the kingdom through any other way. That is why the author
of the Epistle Reading includes the warning that echoes Jesus’ words: “See that you do not refuse Him who is
speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on
earth, much less will we escape if we reject Him who warns from heaven.”
Jesus’ statement is not spoken
to you to drive you away from Him. The description about individuals not being
able to enter through the narrow door is not to make you hopeless. It directs
your hearts and minds to Him, the One who does give you entry into the kingdom
of heaven. But having your hearts and minds set on Jesus is more than just
thinking about Him or knowing some things about what He did or memorizing a few
words of wisdom that He spoke or placing your name on the parish register. It
is to have Him as the object of your faith, the One whom you trust, the One
from whom you expect all good things.
That is what it means to have
your faith in Jesus, to be His disciples, to enter through the narrow door into
the kingdom of God. This faith includes following the way of life that Jesus
establishes for you. Again, the exhortation is given in the Epistle Reading: “Therefore let us be grateful for receiving
a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable
worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.” Or you
can listen to the Lord’s address
to His people in the Psalm: “Offer to God
a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and perform your vows to the Most High, and call upon
Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.” That
is what belief in the Lord and His
Covenant leads to. Your reliance on Him is made evident in your thanksgiving
and in your calling upon Him in trouble. Your allegiance to Him is shown by
performing your vows, doing what is expected of His disciples. It is what you
do because the Lord has made you His priests and Levites, incorporating you
into His holy nation.
Right now, you are doing what
the Epistle Reading and the Psalm exhorts. You are listening again to the
Covenant that the Lord has made
with you. You will confess your belief in Him. Your turning to Him for
forgiveness of sins displays your reliance on God for the eternal benefit of
your body and soul. Praying to be led by the Word and Spirit to the feast for
the Eternal Son reveals your desire to have what Jesus offers. As you eat and
drink according to Jesus’ command, you are again given His pledge of salvation
and a preview of the grand gathering that you are called to. And as you leave
here and go into the world, you are guided to love God and love your neighbor.
This is all part of your
striving to enter through the narrow door, since all these acts have faith in
the Lord as their foundation. Each
of them reveals what you believe concerning Jesus identity as the Messiah, what
His words and works showed. Led by that belief in Jesus, you are part of that
grand gathering that will occur at the Last Day. You will have your place in
the kingdom, recognized by the Master of the House, along with all the
patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and disciples. It is meant for you. May you
desire and receive it as the Lord
wills.
+ In the name of the Father and
of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
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