This saying of Jesus comes from the 13th chapter of Luke’s Gospel. If we look at this chapter we find that Jesus has been dealing with a series of people who somehow believe that they are more special than other people. He talks about some people who were victims of tragedy and notes that they were not worse sinners than anyone else. Next comes the parable of the unfruitful fig tree. Jesus says let it alone and give me a chance to put on some fertilizer and tend to it and then we will see if it can’t become fruitful. Then he was upbraided by a Pharisee for healing a bent woman on the sabbath. He remarked that we feed and water our livestock on the sabbath, so why shouldn’t he heal a child of God on the sabbath. He then compared his Father’s kingdom to the mustard tree that grows from a small seed, and to the loaf of bread that becomes leavened completely through by just a small amount of yeast. Following that we have the reading that will be our Gospel for this Sunday that is printed above. The thread running through all of this is that God’s kingdom is is at the same time very ordinary and very special.
Strive to enter through the narrow door. That saying means that we need to be careful how we live. Many people in Jesus’ day were banking on their Jewish heritage to form the basis for their place in heaven. They were figuring that they knew what was important to God and that they were actually doing all of the right things to be on the good side of God when His kingdom comes. But still the question remains, where and what is the narrow door? Is a strict observance of the sabbath the narrow door? Is tending to a bent and broken old woman on the sabbath the narrow door?
Perhaps today in the 21st century we can ask: is “not drinking” the narrow door? Is tithing the narrow door? Is feeding poor people at Thanksgiving the narrow door? Is being honest, upright, and decent human beings the narrow door? How do we know what is and what is not the narrow door? How are we to act? How are we to know? How can we make the proper choices so that at the end we will be among the first and not among the last? Aren’t we responsible for our own choices? How are we to know?
All of those things are in the bible. God has told us in many ways the things that are important to Him. And yet, still we are not certain how we are to live. At least, we shouldn’t be so certain. This is not a new problem for the children of Israel. The Prophet Isaiah spoke of that problem when he wrote:
Isa 55:6-9
6 “Seek the Lord while he may be found;
call upon him while he is near;
7 let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him,
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
ESV
The one thing that we are assured of throughout all of scripture and all of God’s history with mankind is that we human beings are going to mess it up. No matter what it is. No matter how good we try to be. No matter how well motivated we are. We are going to mess it up..” For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord” and if there was ever a verse of scripture that should be memorized, that’s it.
So, back to the question. The first and the last. I am confident that if I am really lucky, on my own I might be able to succeed at being neither first or last. Maybe, if I am really good, I can wind up being so-so. That’s the best I can hope for on my own. But, much to my relief, there is one. One who has the mind of God. One who knows what is first. And who knows what is last. And that guy – that amazing guy is my redeemer. I don’t have to worry about all of the rules, and how I am going to be first, and how I can avoid being last, because I am going to mess all of that up. But He won’t. He loves me. He has me in the palm of His hand. My Faith. My Hope lies in the One who has God as His Father.
Now does that mean that I am going to stop trying? Absolutely not. I am going to try. I am going to be the best I can possibly be. But that is not so that I can be first or avoid being last. It is because I love Jesus, and even though I make a mess of so many things, He loves that I try in my own messed up way. And so I will keep trying and I will get better and I will make Jesus the center of my life.