August 21, 2016

FOURTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

The Rev. J.D. McQueen, II - All Saints’ Episcopal Church, San Diego, CA

In today’s gospel lesson, someone asks Jesus point blank, “Lord, will those who are saved be few,” which is the deepest concern of our hearts as well. Jesus answers, “Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.”

v Now, to hear that many who think they’re in will be shut out can be extremely unsettling, because of course, it forces us to wonder, “Could that be me?”

v And that’s exactly the right question, because in all honesty, yes, it could be – but it doesn’t have to be.

Let’s start with what went wrong here.

v Jesus summarizes the whole law and all the prophets by telling us to love God with everything we are and everything we have, and to love our neighbors as ourselves.

v So our whole purpose is relationship; first with God and then, through God, with our neighbors.

v Now, we can see that those who get shut out have some sense of that; that’s why they think that they’re in.

v Right away they point to a connection.

They say, “We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets,” which is kind of like saying, “We had the most amazing street tacos while your band was playing at CityFest.”

Clearly that’s not the kind of relationship Jesus is looking for.

v He doesn’t want to teach in your streets – he is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

v He wants us come and follow him, to keep his commandments and abide in his love.

Jesus doesn’t want you to just eat and drink in his presence – he is the Bread of Life.

v He tells us that those who eat his flesh and drink his blood abide in him, and he in them.

v He invites us to take him and make him a part of us, to thirst for him the way he thirsts for us.

What we really need to see, though, is that they don’t have a relationship with Jesus because they don’t want one.

v Just look at how the whole parable starts: “When once the householder has risen up and shut the door, you will begin to stand outside and to knock at the door…”

o You can’t shut a door that’s already closed, and you can’t rise up if you’re guarding the door.

v So it’s as if the householder has just been sitting inside, waiting to receive people through the open door, which means if you’re not in, it’s because you weren’t trying to enter.

v And Jesus says that they don’t even begin to stand outside and knock until the door is shut.

So to return our original question, “Could that be me? Could I be shut out of the kingdom of God?”, I think the answer is, “It’s up to you.”

v Paul writes to Timothy, that God desires that we all be saved and come to know the truth.

v We have to strive and struggle because the door is narrow, but it’s open.

v The question is, “Do we want to go through it?” If so, here are some ways to do it.

I think the big thing to keep in mind is the kind of relationship Jesus describes.

v By virtue of our baptism we are members of his own body, and that’s not symbolic or poetic, it’s literal.

v Jesus has spiritually united himself to us so that he is as present to our every moment as our hands and feet, our lungs and our heart.

v So what we really need to be concerned with is growing in our awareness of that reality and living into it.

You can do that by taking time to pray every day, asking Jesus to make you aware of his presence and then giving him the opportunity.

v It might help to think of the gaze of Jesus, like in his reaction to the rich young ruler, that “looking at him, he loved him.”

v Or imagine yourself in the place of John, the Beloved Disciple, at the Last Supper; resting your head on Jesus’ chest and listening to his heart beat for you.

v That might seem strange or even uncomfortable, but don’t be afraid to get close to Jesus.

v He wants you to know that He is a real, living, divine person and that he wants you to share the deepest possible friendship with him.

This is important because it’s our friendship with Jesus that will encourage us to keep striving, instead of getting careless about our relationship.

v We’ll avoid sin and the things that lead us to it because what wounds Jesus will wound us.

v When we’re prompted by the Holy Spirit to do something, we’ll respond generously because we love Jesus and it makes him happy.

v When we stumble and fall, we’ll be quick to admit our sin and repent because we know how much He loves us and we’ll want to make things right.

Again, we do have to strive and struggle because real love is not easy.

v But Jesus is the happiness and love that is deepest desire of every human heart, and the door to him is narrow, but it’s open.

v And so, as Jesus says at the end of today’s gospel lesson, they will come to him from east and west, and from north and south, to sit with him at table in kingdom of God.

v Could that be you? Yes, it could be, so keep striving.