There is an old joke about a man, a good Catholic, who meets St. Peter at the Pearly Gates to be escorted into heaven or the kingdom of God. St. Peter gives the man a brief tour, beginning with a humongous worship facility.
Each spacious room in the building is hosting a worship service that accommodates the religious preferences of the people. Peter first takes the man past the room holding a Catholic Mass and tells him, “You will probably want to come back here later.”
Then he takes the man past a room where Protestants are listening to an old guy preaching a lengthy sermon, as Protestant pastors tend to do. After that, he takes the man past a room where Pentecostals are swinging from the chandeliers and speaking in tongues.
Finally, as they make their way down the hallway, St. Peter turns to the man and says, “When we walk past this next room, be very quiet, because they don’t know we’re here yet. If they ever see the guest list in the kingdom of God, they will be very surprised.”
This is the question we all have, is it not? Who gets in, and who doesn’t? There are generally two mindsets about this. First, there is the mindset that salvation belongs only to a few. This is reflected in the question the person asks Jesus in Luke 13: “Lord, will only a few people be saved?”
It sounds like Jesus affirms this viewpoint when he mentions “the narrow gate,” and that many people will not be “strong enough,” presumably to open the gate. Therefore, many people will be left outside knocking on the door or trying to gain entrance through the Pearly Gates, but without success.
Even those who participated in a faith community in this life, those who “ate and drank” or fellowshipped in a faith community, even those who went so far as to listen to the teachings of their faith, will be left out in the cold.
This is a very harsh scenario. When people peer through the Pearly Gates and see others in the kingdom of God, people they are surprised to see, “there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.”
That’s one mindset. It certainly reflects the mindset of those who might be enjoying the benefits of the kingdom of God at this very moment and have no idea that others are there yet. Even today, many Christians hang on to this notion that the gate to heaven is narrow and/or hard to open. Maybe it makes them feel special to think that they will be one of the few.
On the other hand, there are people who have a different mindset, a more graceful attitude. Even as Jesus seems to affirm the “narrow gate” view, he also opens the door for a wider, more inclusive perspective when he surprisingly tells the questionerthat “people will come from the east and the west and the north and the south and will recline at table in the kingdom of God.”
Does Jesus change his mind here? Does he begin with a “narrow gate philosophy” and then end with a “six-lane highway coming from all directions philosophy”? Does he suddenly remember the words God spoke to Isaiah, saying, “I know their works and their thoughts, and I come to gather nations of every language; they shall come and see my glory.”
As the questioner tries to make sense out of what Jesus is saying to him, Jesus then throws the ultimate curve ball, saying, “some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”
Here’s what he means by that: Those we think are most prepared to get in might be the ones who are least prepared, and those who think they are not worthy enough to get in are probably the ones who are most worthy.
Is he trying to say that we will all be surprised when we see the guest list in the kingdom of God? I think so.
So, then, what about the “narrow gate”? What could this mean? Here’s a possibility: A narrow gate isn’t a closed shut and locked gate. Maybe a “narrow gate” just means that no one gets to rush in, that it takes time, and that everyone needs to be patient and take their turn.
And because “some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last,” the guest list, and in the order in which we arrive through the gates of the kingdom of God will surprise everyone. It will especially surprise those who think they are the only ones there. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment