The Thirteenth Sunday After Pentecost

August 26, 2007

Proper 16 C

The Rev'd Lloyd Prator

New York City

Proper 16C

26 August 2007

St. John's in the Village

New York City

Today's gospel passage is set out on four layers. Four layers of Jesus' sayings, each one with a significant meaning. Someone asks Jesus how hard it will be to be saved. And he answers them:

Strive to enter the narrow door. Don't take the easy path. And then, he goes onto say that time is running out, there is only a limited time to respond. And then he says that just being acquainted with God is not enough. And finally if you are lucky enough to get into the kingdom, you will be surprised who is there and who is not. Those four things: (Repeat)

At one time, Christians occupied themselves greatly with discussion about who was saved. If we even bother to discuss things like that these days, we tend either not to care very much about the answer, or to brush it off and say that everyone is going to be saved and it does not matter what you believe.

But, if you want to understand the passage, I think you need to take the story apart and apply the parts separately.

I believe that this passage is actually a reflection of several different types of people speaking to Jesus in the gospels. For the sake of editorial simplicity and brevity, Luke lumped them all in one and had Jesus answer all at one time. But, I think there were different people talking to Jesus in this story. I can't prove it from the language in the gospels, and if you want to dispute me on the matter, all I can do is grin hopefully and invite you to offer your own thesis.

I think Jesus was moving about, and in one place, as he was leaving a synagogue, or getting up from table, or pushing through a crowd in a market, a cluster of people came up to him. And what we see Jesus doing here is answering different questions, each one applicable to certain people in the crowd.

To the first person the one who asked if many would be saved, or few, he turned and saw a self-satisfied religious person, confident of his position in the chosen people of God. IN today's terms, he saw perhaps a committed Christian. A churchgoer. A vestry member. Maybe a priest. And so he said to that person, “You think you have it made, and I m glad to have you with the program, but don't think you can give up striving after the kingdom. There is no such thing as having it made. Striving, struggling, will do something good for you. Like a championship wrestler, striving will improve your muscle tone and sharpen your concentration. You need that. And as long as we are at it, don't get too self satisfied. I don't like smug disciples.” That would be his words to the first person keep on pushing, don't get smug.

Then, Jesus turns to a second person, the person who has been thinking over his commitment to God. And what Jesus says is something like this, “There will be a time when there is no more time. There will be a time when the door is shut and no one will let you in. Time counts. History counts. God is vitally concerned about what we do on this moral stage. God cares about history and wants us to engage ourselves in the work of the kingdom right here in the midst of history. So, to the second person, he says, “Careful, time is running out.” Get about the business of making a commitment now Take your part in the drama of Gods kingdom right here on this stage. Be about doing those things which God cares about inhuman history: Standing up for human freedom , being willing to fight for the right cause, care for the suffering. Time may be running out.

Then he turns to the third person and this is a person who is on the fringes of faith. Yes, he comes to get his children baptized, and if there is something going on around Easter or Christmas, he might be there. If there is a parish cookout, he might help. But he prefers to keep his commitment casual. Like a woman I once knew in California, he considers himself a “free agent.” When he thinks about church, he thinks about that cute little Episcopal Church on the corner, but he doesn't think enough about it to remember its exact name. Jesus words to this man are words demanding commitment. Like the second person, this third person needs to know that time is running out.

What about the fourth person? Actually, Jesus is turning once again to the first person, the committed person whom he encouraged to keep up the discipline. If you are in the kingdom of God, you may be surprised who is sitting beside you. Some of the last may be first, some of the first last, some of the expected people maybe at the banquet table, and some people you did not think would be there may be right at your elbow. It is better not even to speculate about who may be in the kingdom and who may not be, because such speculations reek of self-righteousness. Those of us who find ourselves in the household of faith would be far better off striving for the kingdom rather speculating about its members.

Our vocation is to be the cornerstone of the house which god is building here in the midst of the ambiguities of human history. His words should echo in our souls: Don't take a census of the kingdom of God . Build the kingdom. Begin now . There will not always be time.