21st Sunday – Cycle C August 22, 2010 A man wanted to be buried with his money. On his death bed, he called his pastor, his doctor and his lawyer to his bedside. “Here’s $30,000to be held by each of you. I trust you to put this in my coffin when I die so I can take all my money with me.”
At the funeral, each man put an envelope in the coffin. While riding back, the pastor suddenly broke into tears and confessed, “I put only $20,000 into the envelope because I needed $10,000 to repair the roof of the church.”
“Well, since we’re confiding in each other,” said the doctor, “I put only $10,000 in the envelope because we needed a new CAT scan machine for the pediatric ward at the hospital, and we were $20,000 short.” The lawyer was aghast. “I’m ashamed of both of you,” he exclaimed. “I want it known that when I put my envelope in that coffin, I enclosed a check for the full $30,000.” Thus I saved thirty thousand dollars for myself. I am not going to talk to you about how to save money but saving our lives. In the gospel passage, the disciples asked Jesus, “Will only a few people be saved?” (Luke 13:23) That is a good question. Who will be saved? Jesus gives no direct answer to this question. The Bible itself has no one single answer. In Matthew 25: 31-46, acceptance into the Kingdom or rejection from it depends on the “feeding, clothing, or caring for the least.” Those who cared about the least will be welcomed into the kingdom. The rest will go off to eternal punishment. In the beatitudes, the poor in spirit, the meek, the peacemakers, the ones who mourn, the persecuted are the ones to whom the Kingdom is promised (Mt 5: 1-12). In both these places there is no indication those who are saved have to be believers. On the other hand, there are other scripture passages, which seem to suggest that the only way to be saved is to have explicit faith in Jesus. For example, in the gospel of John, Jesus says, “No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). In the letter to Romans, St Paul says, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe with your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Rom 10:9). In the Act of the apostles it is even easier. Acts 2:21 says, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” While scriptures seem to give various answers to the question about who will be saved, it is very clear in its message that not everyone who believes in Jesus will be saved. This is amply clear on today’s gospel passage. Jesus suggests that not everyone who simply believes in the Lord will enter the kingdom; that even some of them who ate and drank with the Lord, will not be saved. In another place he says, "Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the kingdom of heaven – only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. On that day, many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, and in your name cast out demons and do many powerful deeds?’ Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you. Go away from me, you lawbreakers’” (Matt 7:21-23).
This is the bottom line. There is no indication is the Bible that all will be saved. On the contrary, there is ample indication that not all will be saved and that includes some to who called on the name of the Lord and thought that they surely would be saved.
We come back, then, to original question of the disciples, “Lord, will only a few be saved?” Who will be saved? Are you and I going to be part of those who will be saved? My three practical implications today are an answer to this question. The answer is taken directly from today’s readings.
First, We are called to strive. we must understand the metaphor of the “two ways,” or the “two gates” – the narrow gate and the wide gate. The “two ways” metaphor was common in pagan religions as well as in the Old Testament. The choice in the Old Testament was clear: God said to the people of Israel, “Here, then, I set before your life and prosperity, death and doom. If you obey the commandments of the Lord, your God… loving him and walking in his ways… you will live…. If however, you turn away… I tell you now that you will certainly perish” (Deut 30:15-18). That is why, the first word that come from Jesus’ mouth in answer to the question, “Lord, will only a few be saved?” is “Strive….” In other words, no one is just going to laze into the kingdom or even walk in to the kingdom. People will only “strive” into the kingdom. There are choices to be made. There are decisions to be taken. So, are you finding forgiveness difficult? Are you finding being clean of heart difficult? Are you finding keeping the peace difficult? Are you finding keeping the faith difficult? But more importantly, are you “striving?” As long as we are striving, we are on the narrow road. And that is the key!
Second, Jesus’ answer to the question, “Will only a few be saved?” was “Strive to enter through the narrow gate…” What is the “narrow gate?” Who are the people who enter through the “narrow gate?” Luke imagines the door of a house. This door is narrow. The narrow door is entered by those who hear the words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount and do them; the wide door is entered by those who hear those words and do not do them.
To enter the narrow gate involves making the choice to be poor/poor in spirit, to be peacemakers, persecuted, etc; it means being salt of the earth and light to the world consistently; it means following Jesus’ radical teaching about murder/anger, adultery/lust, divorce, truth-telling, mercy over revenge, loving enemies. And it involves doing good deeds for the right reasons; it involves pursuing the kingdom and God’s justice instead of fortunes and fame; and it involves not damning the others and trusting that God is good. That is the “narrow gate.” As I said earlier, there are choices to be made. There are decisions to be taken.
Third is discipline - how do we get to the “narrow gate?” The second reading, taken from the letter to the Hebrews is a continuation of last Sunday’s reading. It had said last Sunday, “In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood” (Heb 12:4). And then in continuation today’s reading says, “My son, do not disdain the discipline of the Lord or lose heart when reproved by him, for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines.” And those of you who are parents will surely understand this: “for what “son” is there whom his father does not discipline.” Well, who, then, will be saved? The answer is: those who accept the discipline of the Lord. Jesus’ teachings and his values is his discipline. If we discipline ourselves based ourselves on the word of God, we will be saved. I conclude with the words from the letter to the Hebrews. “So strengthen your drooping hands and your weak knees. Make straight paths for your feet… Amen.
