Glory to Jesus Christ!  Glory forever!

In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

As our Lord God and Saviour Jesus Christ, Whose Nativity looms before us, was “journeying towards Jerusalem,” He is asked a particular question.  Now mind you, He goes towards Jerusalem with a very particular purpose in mind, namely, His Great and Holy Passion.  Perhaps it is odd that on this Saturday before Nativity we would be hearing this, but let me remind you of the icon of our Lord’s Nativity according to the Flesh and how as a Babe He is wrapped in what appears to be very much burial linens.  The swaddling cloths of His Birth become for Him His garments in Death.  In a succinct and poignant way, the icon of His Nativity reminds us of our Lord’s words to Pontius Pilate when Pilate asked Him if He were a king, “’You say rightly that I am a King.  For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, . . . .’” (Jn. 18:37).  The Kingship of our Lord, if you recall, becomes the crux of His Crucifixion.  It is the King of the Jews that the Magi come looking for, bearing gifts fit for royalty (Mt. 2:1-12).  The placard nailed by Pilate at his insistence to the Cross identifies this Jesus unmistakably as “This is the King of the Jews” (Mt. 27:37; Mk. 15:26; Lk. 23:38; Jn. 19:19-22).  Jesus asserts, however, that His Kingdom – a real and true Kingdom, indeed, the Kingdom above all kingdoms – is not of this world (Jn. 18:36).  It is of the world to come whose presence penetrates and pierces even this world.  It is in the world, but certainly not of it (Jn. 17:14, 16).     

It is of this Kingdom of which our Lord speaks this morning as He is “journeying towards Jerusalem” and someone asks a rather natural question with a sort of odd twist.  “Then one said unto Him, ‘Lord, are there few who are saved?’”  It is quite natural to wonder about salvation: what it is, how it comes about, and who may be saved.  However, what was behind the inquiry asking if “’few’” would be saved?  In our day and age when salvation isn’t seemingly limited or denied anyone, except to the likes of the unwoke or perverse diabolical dictators, salvation is taken for granted.  It is a given, the default position – all dogs go the Heaven – unless you happen to be among the unwoke or one of those murderous diabolical dictators.  Many will be saved and few not. 

But, in this case, the anonymous inquirer seems to assume that few will be . . . . . might be saved.  Could it be what Jesus has said elsewhere in the Gospels might have led to this question?  Someone has picked up on the notion that salvation is far more than just “getting saved,” saying the sinner’s prayer so that you can go to Heaven when you die (to do what in eternity is rather murky and unclear).  And, salvation goes beyond God simply declaring you forgiven all the while leaving you in your unescapable sin. 

But, instead of answering the question put to Him, our Lord answers another question not put to Him.  “’Strive to enter in at the strait [narrow] gate,’” He says.  Instead of answering right away if many will be lost and a few saved, Jesus offers the hope of salvation to all who yearn for it.  “’Strive to enter in,’” He says.  We certainly are saved or are being saved by the grace of God through faith, and it is not of us, that is, of our own doing but rather it is the gift of God to us (Ep. 2:4-10). 

And yet, we are not passive recipients either.  Note well, beloved, nowhere does Sacred Scripture teach us that our salvation is by faith alone.  We did not hear it in today’s Epistle quoting the Prophet Habakkuk (Ga. 3:8-12).  That is an addition read into the Scriptures by the Protestant Reformer, Martin Luther, which then became a staple of all Protestantism.  We must appropriate what God has done for us once-and-for-all to ourselves.  We must “’strive to enter in,’” just as our Lord says or to “work out our own salvation with fear and trembling” (Pp. 2:12-13).  Elsewhere our Lord reminds us that we must press into the Kingdom of God (Lk. 16:16) and that the Kingdom of Heaven is taken by force (Mt. 11:12). 

Of such, then, is the Kingdom of God.  Many will, in fact, be attracted and try to enter in, says our Lord, but “’will not be able to’” for various and sundry reasons.  All we need do is recall our Lord’s parable of the sower and the four different types of soil, three-fourths of which failed to be productive in the end even though each had received the seed (Mt. 13:1-23; Mk. 4:1-20; Lk. 8:4-15).  So, not everyone who says, “’Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven’” (Mt. 7:21).  Familiarity with Jesus doesn’t guarantee anything.  It’s not the magic key that opens the door, just as the five foolish virgins discovered and were left out in the cold at the unexpected coming of the Bridegroom (Mt. 25:1-13).  A quaint and casual working knowledge of Jesus doesn’t secure our seat at the table in the Kingdom around which the Patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will gather, along with all the Prophets and Apostles, and all the souls gathered from the east and west, north and south.  Our feelings can blind us and betray us.  Those who were outside will find themselves inside, while those who thought themselves in, will, in fact, be out.    Nothing can be assumed.  Only those who do the will of the Father in Heaven (Mt. 7:21-23), who know the Lord personally and deeply in the hearing of His words and in the doing of all He says (Lk. 6:46). 

This is precisely what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ in the Kingdom of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit: a disciple is one who has been baptized in the Name of the thrice-holy Trinity, and catechized apostolically to “’observe all things commanded’” by Jesus the Son of God (Mt. 28:16-20).  For, “’If you love Me,’” says our Lord God and Saviour Jesus Christ, “’keep My commandments’” (Jn. 14:15; 1 Jn. 5:3).  “’And behold, there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last’” (Lk. 13:30).

“’Strive,’” beloved, “’to enter in at the strait [narrow] gate, . . . .’” and take nothing for granted until the Master says to us, “’Well done, thou good and faithful servant. . . . Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord . . . prepared from the foundation of the world’” (Mt. 7:13-14; 25:21, 23, 34).  

Through the prayers of our holy Fathers, O Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us.  Amen.

          Glory to Jesus Christ!  Glory forever!

PROPERS:

Ga. 3:8-12

Lk. 13:18-29