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THE FOURTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST August 24/25, 2013 Luke 13:22-30 LOVE SPEAKS PRECISELY: ENTER THE NARROW DOOR I. Amidst great confusion II. The door is narrow 1 Luke 13:22-30 Grace, mercy and peace are yours, from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ! Amen. THINK about that for a minute. Grace, mercy and peace are ours. Why? It’s not because of us – because we are so good and great. It is because of our Lord Jesus Christ. He loves us. He died for us. His love changes us. It gives us purpose. His love gives our life meaning. His love is our calling as it were. Today we are starting a series of worship services revolving around our synod’s “Christ’s Love, Our Calling” stewardship theme. Week after week for six-seven weeks we will be pondering Christ’s love and our calling, especially focusing on how it is so very natural for love to speak – not in veiled words or misleading ones – ones that can be easily misunderstood; but very precisely – very clearly because LOVE SPEAKS PRECISELY as Jesus does when He says: “ENTER THE NARROW DOOR.” Here in our text, we find Jesus headed for Jerusalem one last time. He was going there to die for your sins and my sins and the sins of the whole world. And yet – He took the time to reach out in love to those in the various towns and villages along the way. He went “teaching as His made His way to Jerusalem.” He took the time to reach out to people in love to clear up some of the confusion that existed then and now as to how one enters into the Kingdom of heaven. There aren’t lots of different ways. There is only one way – and that is through faith in Jesus Christ alone, which is why Jesus says “make every effort to enter through the narrow door.” Who is He talking to? Jesus is talking to you. He is talking to me. He basically is saying DON’T think about the multitudes for a few minutes. Think about yourself. Make it personal. YOU - “make every effort to enter through the narrow door” … because there are plenty of people who think they are in but will find themselves outside when the door to heaven closes. That’s a scary thought, isn’t it because there are so many people who just don’t get it? Lots of people are confused about who is going to enter that narrow door and how they will be able to do so. Think for example of the verses prior to our text. There was 2 that crippled woman whom every one must have figured was a worthless sinner – and yet Jesus identified her as a “child of Abraham.” Then there was that synagogue ruler whom everyone thought had it all together; but he really didn’t know what Jesus’ love and His reason for being here was all about. While the people were scratching their heads with their minds spinning, someone asked Jesus “Are only a few going to be saved?” What was he really asking? He was obviously concerned about the number. In answering Jesus shifted the emphasis to the word “saved.” Looking at His answer, it is quite obvious that they didn’t understand what that word meant. Sadly, there are all too many today who still don’t, which is why we need to speak precisely and clearly on how a person is saved. It is only through faith – complete trust – in Jesus Christ alone. Look at Jesus’ answer. He says that there will be those in the judgment saying, “We’re saved, Jesus. We’ve been baptized. We’re communicant members of one of Your churches. We talk about You. We hung out with You. We have Your teachings here in our church.” And yet, Jesus will tell them – here in our text – not once, but twice - “I never knew you.” He will call what they had been doing “evil,” saying that they never had a relationship with Him. In Jesus’ day, it was the Pharisees and the ones like them who did all the religious activity without trust, without realizing what that word “saved” really meant. In our day, we see the same thing on two extreme ends of the spectrum – those who might be described as being “spiritual without being religious” and those who might be described as being “religious without being spiritual.” The ones who might be thought of as being “spiritual without being religious” are those who claim to have an inner spirituality, but they foolishly don’t think they need to spend any time in God’s Word or worship because it is all about this feeling they have. And sure, it sounds good to be spiritual, and it is easy to get caught up agreeing instead of calling them on their lie because there is a shred of truth that being saved is not about the formalities of church but about a personal relationship with God. 3 The problem is that just calling yourself spiritual doesn’t really mean anything without God’s Word. And those that are “religious but not spiritual” are the ones who just go through the motions. They do what appears to be good. They follow all the rules – and sometimes even make some more up along the way. They also don’t understand and appreciate the word “saved,” because like the first group they don’t really see their need for it. It’s also hard to speak precisely to them because what they are doing looks pretty good. No one ever said that speaking the truth in love was going to be easy. It’s not; but Jesus says it is vital. It is vital because it is almost as if people are enjoying life thinking that they are lying on a sandy beach; when in reality they are lying on quicksand that is swallowing them up. They tell themselves that they are out for a cool, relaxing swim, when in reality they are swimming in shark infested waters Or it is like those life rings you see on the wall at a motel pool or on the deck of a ship. They make for nice decorations and you think nothing of them until you are the one thrashing in the water, gasping for air, arms flailing and you can’t do anything to keep the water from filling your lungs and taking your life. Then, all of a sudden, you would rather have that life ring and someone pulling you up by it than all the money or popularity or religiosity in the world. That is when you clearly understand the word “saved.” Your salvation is not about a decision you made on a certain day when you “got saved.” It is simply your total reliance on your life ring, on your Savior, Jesus, Who died on a cross to rescue you from hell and rose to give you heaven. That is why Jesus speaks so precisely to each one of us “YOU make every effort to enter the narrow door.” Why is that so vital today? It is vital because that same Pharisaical problem of Jesus’ day can easily overtake us as we get caught up in maintenance projects, bylaws, and budgets instead of narrow door efforts. And then also the life ring of Christ can easily become a decoration by the side of a pool, or a piece of jewelry worn around our neck or art on a wall, even when we so desperately need Him for a personal, proper, vital relationship with God. 4 There aren’t many different ways into heaven. There is only one. Jesus is that one Way. He is the “Gate” as He calls Himself. This is why we sang. “You are the Way; through You alone Can we the Father find; In You, O Christ, has God revealed, His heart and will and mind.” Or we could go to one of the hymns in the Christian Worship Supplement: “In Christ alone my hope is found … In Christ alone – Who took on flesh, fullness of God in helpless Babe. This gift of love and righteousness, scorned by the ones He came to save. Till on that cross, as Jesus died, the wrath of God was satisfied.” (CWS 752) Jesus paid our way into heaven. Today Jesus invites us to enter through the narrow door standing open in the Means of Grace, through the waters of baptism and this precious book, through the bread and wine together with His body and blood which was given and poured for us for the forgiveness of sins. Through these Means of Grace He still invites us to come and see Him as Christ, our Savior, and learn more of how He has saved us. We are back to that word “saved” again which takes us back to that question “are only a few going to be saved, Lord?” Again notice Jesus avoids the question of number. “People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the Kingdom of God.” Regardless of the number, saved sinners are going to come from all over – from every background and every nation – so there is not a single person to whom we will not want to point them to the narrow door and to speak precisely to them about how they can enter it – the only way they or anyone can enter it. “He who believes and is baptized will be saved. He who does not believe will be condemned.” It is easy to become judgmental as we go about carrying out this loving task. Jesus says we shouldn’t do it. We dare not try to judge by appearances to whom we speak precisely about Jesus’ love. Why not? It is because “there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last.” Some of those who appear to have it all together like that synagogue ruler, who seem like they would be the first ones in, may just find themselves on the outside. And some of those who we might think don’t have a chance of getting through the narrow door, like that crippled woman, by the miracle of God’s grace, will be first. Entering 5 through the narrow door is not about who we are or what we do. It is about what our God has done for us in Christ Jesus. He sent us His Son to be the Propitiation for all our sins. HE’S our Ticket in – a free ticket mind you because HE did what was necessary to save us. We need to hear that message proclaimed to us just as precisely and clearly as it can be proclaimed, and then we also need to share it with others in the same precise and clear way. The stakes have never been higher. There is a well traveled and popular road wide open and filled with lots of confusion about what the church is all about and plenty of misunderstanding about what God expects of us. And there is also a narrow door which we are to “make every effort” to enter. It is a door we are privileged to see and to enter. Today that door is open, and every time we enter through one of those two glass doors down in the entry way or this wooden door coming in from the back of church, our eyes get focused on the all important truth that alone can clear up so much confusion - the door of the cross where Jesus suffered and died to pay for all our sins; the door of the baptismal font where God put His name on us as He adopted us into His family of believers; the door of His holy, precious Word, which proclaims so clearly that Jesus is the one and only Lord and Savior from sin; and also to this door or that one where with bread and wine, body and blood which was given and poured out for us for the forgiveness of all our sins. All four of them so clearly and precisely focus our eyes on Jesus as the One and Only Way, the Narrow Door that leads to heaven and home. May God bless each of you as you persist in your fight against all the distractions and confusion of this world, and enter through Him! And then when you leave here today, let your love speak precisely of the Way, the Truth, and the Life so that others may join us in entering through the narrow door into heaven. And then come back next week when we will hear how our love is to speak confidently about Christ’s love which is our calling. Amen. 6 HYMNS SATURDAY 570 356 562 SUNDAY 544 356 570 562 7