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Message for August 3, 2008
Posted on 04-09-08 |
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Series: Spiritual Training Camp.
MCC: 08.03.08
Text: Luke 13.22-30
Focus: The way is narrow, the time is short, the consequences are serious in order to enter the k ingdom of God.
copyright, Timothy M. Brokaw. Permission granted to reproduce for non-commercial purposes.
Who Makes the Cut?
Intro) A) Football Training Camps got started last week. We’ve used those football training camps the past several weeks as a paradigm for our own Spiritual Training Camp as we make our way through chapters thirteen through fifteen of the gospel of Luke, the third book of the New Testament.
B) One of the things that happens at Football Training Camp is that the coaches figure out who they want on the team. Some players make the team while others get cut. The question is, “Who makes the cut?”
1) Every National Football League team has a coach who is assigned to tell the players who are being cut from the team. He’s called, “The Turk.”
2) I’ve heard NFL players talk about how, on cut day, everyone holds their breath when “The Turk” walks past him.
C) The only time that I ever tried out for an athletic team was when I tried out for the 5th Grade Basketball Team at Mary Evelyn Castle Elementary School. On the day that the team was posted, I remember going down to the gym door to see if I had made the cut. I hadn’t. The coach was obviously biased. He was biased against short and slow players.
D) Maybe you were never into athletics but you still know what it is to go and see the list of those who made the cut. Perhaps you tried out for the school choir, or for a play. Maybe you’ve tried for a promotion at work or applied for another job. When you received the letter, you found out if you had made the cut or if you hadn’t. The question is: “Who makes the cut?”
E) In verses 22-23 of chapter thirteen, Luke tells us that Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem when someone from the crowd speaks up and asks a question: 22Then Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem. 23Someone asked him, "Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?"
1) In the gospel of Luke, people are constantly shouting out questions to Jesus. Here, an anonymous voice from the crowd speaks up and asks, "Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?"
2) You get the question, right? The question is, “Who makes the cut?” Who’s saved and who isn’t? Who’s making God’s team and who isn’t? This was a big question for the people of Jesus’ day and time, especially Jesus’ own people, the Jewish people. They were God’s chosen people and they were really concerned about how to define their group. Was the group of people being saved the entire nation of Israel or only a small remnant?
F) As we continue, we’ll see that Jesus really doesn’t answer the question directly. Instead, he says in verses 24-30: He said to them, 24"Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. 25Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, 'Sir, open the door for us.' "But he will answer, 'I don't know you or where you come from.' 26"Then you will say, 'We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.' 27"But he will reply, 'I don't know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!' 28"There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out. 29People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. 30Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last."
Trans) This morning, I want to at two things that Jesus does in his answer to the question: “Who makes the cut?” When you read his answer, you’ll see that
I) Jesus Surprises Us
Jesus says that we’ll be surprised by
A) Who Doesn’t Make the Cut.
1) When you go to the door to see who the coach posted as making the basketball team, or you go to see who made the play or to see who got the promotion, you have a pretty good idea who made it. The six foot nine guy who can dunk the basketball usually makes the basketball team. The best singer usually makes the choir. The boss’ favorite usually gets the promotion.
2) So, the people of Jesus’ day assumed that they knew who would be saved. The Jewish people assumed that they would be the ones being saved. They were, after all, God’s chosen people. They were the boss’ favorites. They were the religious people of their day. In the same way, we assume that the religious people of our day are the ones getting into heaven.
3) Yet, Jesus paints a portrait of a big banquet which was the way that the people of his day portrayed the kingdom of God. He says that a bunch of people are going to come to a banquet. And when they get there, they’re going to realize that they don’t have a ticket to get in.
4) He says in verses 25-26: you will stand outside knocking and pleading, 'Sir, open the door for us.' "But he will answer, 'I don't know you or where you come from.' 26"Then you will say, 'We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.'
5) You get it, don’t you? The folks who expect to get in to the banquet, don’t. The people who expect to make the cut, don’t. The people expected to be saved, aren’t.
6) The owner of the house (and Jesus is the owner of the whole universe) goes so far as to say in verse 27: 27"But he will reply, 'I don't know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!' Whoa. “Evil doers.” That is the last thing that we religious folk think we are.
7) It gets worse than that because Jesus says to his listeners in verse 28: 28"There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out. These folks took great pride in being descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And Jesus says, “You’re going to get to the heavenly banquet expecting to get in. Instead, they’re going to keep you out and you’re going to end up pressing your nose to the glass and watching Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in heaven while you stay outside.
Trans) Jesus says that we’ll be surprised by Who Doesn’t Make the Cut. We’ll also be surprised by
B) Who Does Make the Cut.
1) He concludes in verses 29-30: 29People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. 30Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last."
2) You’ve heard the expression, “the four corners of the world.” This is what Jesus is talking about here. He says that people from all over the world will make it into the kingdom of God.
3) If you’re one of Jesus’ original hearers, this makes you a little queasy. Many of Jesus’ people thought of themselves as an exclusive little club. You know, they thought that they were the only ones getting in.
4) A Jewish writing about the time of Jesus, 4 Ezra, put it this way: The Most High made this world for the sake of many, but the world to come for the sake of few. The religious people of Jesus’ day thought that only a few would get in to heaven.
5) It reminds me of the story that I heard many years ago which I’ve told a time or two. I heard it first about a denomination which will remain nameless but it starts with a “B.” But I’ll tell it about Christian Churches because I know people like this in our churches. The man went to heaven and when he got there, St. Peter took him on a tour. They went down a long hallway and there were people sitting there quietly and St. Peter said, “Those are the Quakers.” They went down another hall way and there was a room of people singing enthusiastically and St. Peter said, “They’re Pentecostal.” Another room found a group of people playing “Bingo.” Any one want to guess? Catholic. And on it went until they started walking down a long hallway. At the end of the hallway, they walked down a long stair case, then another hallway and another stair case. At the end of the last hall, St. Peter had the two strongest men in heaven open these huge steel doors. There was a group of people worshipping and St. Peter said, “Shh. That’s the Christian Church. They think that they’re the only ones here.”
6) Jesus says that we will be surprised when we get to heaven and discover that there are people from every country, of every race, and color, and most likely of every denomination. We’ll be surprised at who makes the cut.
Trans) You may have noticed how Jesus skirts the question, “How many are being saved?” The real issue for Jesus isn’t how many are being saved. The issue for Jesus, “Are you going to be saved?” Jesus not only surprises us in his answer,
II) Jesus Challenges Us
Listen, again, to what Jesus says in verse 24: 24"Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. The word translated “make every effort” is the word agonizomai from which we get our English word “agonize.” Its basic meaning was to engage in a contest, contend for a prize (Friberg Analytical Lexicon of the New Testament) such as an athlete contending for a prize at the Olympic games.
It’s an appropriate word to discuss since the Summer Olympics in Beijing are starting this Friday. Jesus challenges us to contend for salvation in the same way that an athlete contends for a prize at the Olympic games. Luke Timothy Johnson writes that “Jesus turns the question into a personal challenge: ‘Act in such a way as to be one who is being saved’ ” (Luke Timothy Johnson, The Gospel of Luke. Sacra Pagina 3 (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1991), 216). There are three aspects to this challenge of Jesus. First,
A) The Way is Narrow
1) Jesus says, Make every effort to enter through the narrow door.
2) Unlike many religions, Jesus doesn’t teach that there are many ways to God. There is a Bahai Temple near Chicago. It’s a beautiful building with nine doors, each representing the major belief systems of the world. The idea is that you can still approach God, it doesn’t matter which door you enter (David Dykes, sermoncentral.com, “Have You Found Heaven’s Narrow Door?”).
3) Jesus says that there aren’t many doors to God, there is only a narrow door. In John 14.6, Jesus is even more specific. He says, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
4) I know that for Jesus to talk about being THE way and THE truth and THE life goes totally against conventional wisdom. In fact, the Barna Research organization reported that 54% of all adults surveyed believe that if a person is generally good, or does enough good things for others during their life, they will earn a place in Heaven.
5) But Jesus says that the way is narrow. He says that “he is the way, the truth and the life and that no one comes to the Father except through him.”
6) We can choose to not believe that what Jesus said is true. But we cannot ignore what he says. We cannot kid ourselves and think that Jesus was ambivalent about this topic. No. Jesus challenges us to make a choice, to either ignore what he says or to accept his challenge and Make every effort to enter through the narrow door. The way is narrow. Also,
B) The Time is Short
1) Jesus says (verses 24-25), 24"Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. 25Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, 'Sir, open the door for us.' "But he will answer, 'I don't know you or where you come from.'
2) Not only do we need to make a choice regarding the door that we go through, we don’t have forever to make the choice. Jesus paints a picture of people showing up too late for the party. Once the opportunity is gone, it’s gone. No matter how much they knock on the door and plead, the owner won’t open the door.
3) It’s a bit like the current commercials for a wireless telephone company. In the most recent, a girl’s telephone picks up. The girl is a huge fan of Michaal Phelps, the Olympic swimmer. She wears a T-shirt with Phelps Phan (with “fan” spelled with a “Ph.”). She has Michael Phelps posters on her wall and is watching Michael Phelps on television, obviously enamored with him. And the phone tells us that because she doesn’t have the particular wireless telephone company, she has no signal and can’t get the call with the information that Michael Phelps is just down the street signing autographs and telling funny stories. The opportunity is lost. The time is short.
4) Jesus challenges us to recognize that the time is short. We need to make a decision. To not make a decision is to risk being left out of the kingdom of God. It’s to miss the opportunity, never to have the opportunity to choose to follow Jesus again. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 6.2: “See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation!”
Trans) Jesus challenges us because the way is narrow, the time is short, and
C) The consequences are serious.
1) One of my favorite Far Side Cartoons is that of an astronaut who shows up where the lunar module had been. In the distance is the spaceship flying off in space. The astronaut is left reading a note which says, “Dear Bill, we waited and waited but when you didn’t come…”
2) In the same way, if we choose to not enter the narrow way to life which is Jesus, or if we so delay that we miss the opportunity, then the consequences are serious.
3) Verses 27-28 say, 27"But he will reply, 'I don't know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!' 28"There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out.
4) Jesus doesn’t pull any punches. There are serious consequences if we choose to not follow him, to not enter through the narrow door.
5) Here, judgment is described as a place where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. Elsewhere, Jesus describes hell as the place where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched. The writer of Hebrews warns us, For if we willfully persist in sin after having received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 10:27 but a fearful prospect of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.
Conc)A) Jesus answers the question, “Who Makes the Cut?”, “Who is being saved?” by challenging us because the way is narrow, the time is short, and the consequences are serious. These are serious words. But as we conclude, we need to see once again how this passage begins. It’s easy to overlook, but Luke reminds us in verse 22 22Then Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem.
1) Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem. There in Jerusalem, he will be crucified on the cross to provide us the way to God.
2) Jesus calls us to enter the narrow door but as George Buttrick writes, “For Jesus the (door) was as narrow as the cross.” Jesus provides the door for us by dying on the cross.
B) There’s an old Russian fable about a cat and a fox. The fox bragged to the cat about how clever he was. He claimed he had hundreds of ways of escaping from the hunters who chased him. He could hide in a hole, or backtrack in a creek, or lie flat in the tall grass. He was proud of his bag of tricks. The cat replied she only had one way of escape–but that seemed to work. At that moment they heard the sounds of the hounds coming toward them. The cat scampered up the tree and hid herself among the leaves. She said to the fox, “This is my plan. What are you going to do?” The fox first thought of one plan, then of another. While he was debating the best plan, the hounds came closer. At last, in his confusion, the fox was caught by hounds and soon killed by the hunters. The cat witnessed the whole scene and provides the moral of the story: “Better one safe way than a hundred by which you cannot be sure” (David Dykes, sermoncentral.com, “Have You Found Heaven’s Narrow Door?”).
C) The way is narrow, the time is short, and the consequences are serious but you can be sure of this: There is a safe way to have eternal life and his name is Jesus. Of that, you can be sure.
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