Enter heaven in Christ, the narrow door.

 

Sermon for Pentecost 11, August 24, 2025

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  He gave himself for our sins to rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father—to whom be the glory forever and ever.  Amen.

Luke 13:22-30  ²²He went on his way from one town and village to another, teaching, and making his way to Jerusalem.  ²³Someone said to him, “Lord, are only a few going to be saved?”  He said to them, ²⁴“Strive to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able.  ²⁵Once the master of the house gets up and shuts the door, you will begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying, ‘Lord, open for us!’  He will tell you in reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’  ²⁶Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’  ²⁷And he will say, ‘I don’t know where you come from.  Depart from me, all you evildoers.’  ²⁸There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown outside.  ²⁹People will come from east and west, from north and south, and will recline at the table in the kingdom of God.  ³⁰And note this: Some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.” (EHV)

Enter heaven in Christ, the narrow door.

Dear fellow redeemed,

            “Lord, are only a few going to be saved?”  The underlying assumption that man made was that only a few people, presumably the most pious and dedicated descendants of Abraham, will be worthy of entering heaven.  Even today, that might seem like a reasonable conclusion, and much of the world has a similar guess.  Of course, few people in our times would assume that only the Jews will enter heaven.  The prejudices against the Jewish people for the last two thousand years likely judges them to be lost for sure.  Yet, many, many people really hope that they and their loved ones are good enough to enter into heaven just the way they are.  How sad and false an assumption that is!

Jesus answered the man’s false assumption by telling him, “Strive to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able.”  To understand this, we must concede that many, many people are truly trying to do good works, and many people put copious amounts of effort toward pleasing whatever god they worship.  Indeed, Jesus says, “Strive to enter.”  Doesn’t that sound like we have to work our way into heaven?

Oh, the sinister way our fallen nature misleads us.  Natural man recognizes that there is a God and that we have sinned against Him.  Yet, by nature we have no knowledge of who the true God really is, but we know there must be someone in charge, someone who made the world.  We know that internally, at least until culture, school, and the foolish imaginations of men pull us away from even that indwelling truth.  Yet, even the person who has chosen to believe that God doesn’t exist or isn’t involved in the world’s operation feels compelled to do certain things to be good, whether good in his own eyes, or in his standing in society.  Thus, at the end of the day, even those who do not hold to the true Christian faith cling to a slim hope that they have done enough good things to merit eternal peace.

Again, how sad and false an assumption that is.  No one is good enough to enter heaven on his own merit.  Summarizing various passages of scripture, St. Paul wrote, “There is no one who is righteous, not even one.  There is no one who understands.  There is no one who searches for God.  They all turned away; together they became useless.  There is no one who does what is good; there is not even one.” (Romans 3:10-12)  The corruption that is in us by natural inheritance makes us unworthy to enter into God’s heavenly home, and there is nothing we can do in ourselves to change that.  On our own, we stand condemned to an eternal punishment in the depths of hell for the multitude sins we have committed.

Yet, we then again hear Jesus say, “Strive to enter through the narrow door.”  This is where the narrative gets deep yet freeing.  Jesus does not mean we must merit our entrance into His heaven.  Rather, He means that we must give up striving through the ways of the world and receive His gracious invitation.  Again, we need to remember so many other things Jesus said to bring us into His kingdom: “I am the door.  Whoever enters through me will be saved.” (John 10:9)  “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life.  No one comes to the Father, except through me.” (John 14:6)  “Do not let your heart be troubled.  Believe in God; believe also in me.  In my Father’s house are many mansions.  If it were not so, I would have told you.  I am going to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to be with me, so that you may also be where I am.” (John 14:1-3)  “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)  Finally, through His evangelist, the Lord tells us, “God, because he is rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in trespasses.  It is by grace you have been saved!  He also raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:4-6)  In other words, God graciously invites us to Enter heaven in Christ, the narrow door.

Jesus’ answer to that man comes down to this: there is a Judgment Day coming after which no one will be able to enter heaven.  There is only one way that anyone might enter heaven and that is through faith in Jesus who became our entrance to heaven by His life and death on our behalf.  There will be many who strive to achieve a place in God’s kingdom who will fail miserably because God doesn’t recognize them as His children, because they reject Jesus as Savior and God.

Jesus told the man, “Once the master of the house gets up and shuts the door, you will begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying, ‘Lord, open for us!’  He will tell you in reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’”  Time after time, Jesus drew pictures explaining that our time of grace is limited to our time here in this life on earth.  It is here and now that we must learn of Jesus and His great love and sacrifice on our behalf.  To make that happen, our Lord has given us prophets, apostles, evangelists, pastors, and teachers, bringing us God’s message of mercy and salvation through the Scriptures the Holy Spirit provided through those certain men, and through the Gospel of His work for us and the Sacraments Jesus instituted to work saving faith in us.

When our time to stand before the Judge of the world comes, people can plead all they want about their own efforts, but what we do apart from faith in Christ counts for nothing in God’s eyes.  Even simply knowing that Jesus lived, preached, taught, suffered, and died isn’t enough.  We must know and believe that He gave His life for you and me personally, and that faith can only be ours through the gift of the Holy Spirit as He works in the Gospel and Sacraments.  Then, those who believe in Jesus as their Savior and Redeemer will be welcomed as they Enter heaven in Christ, the narrow door.

At the same time, Jesus paints a terrifying picture for those who do not believe in Him.  He told His opposition, “There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown outside.”  Jesus pointedly taught that man that the patriarchs they honored will be in heaven, but by rejecting the Christ those men had so eagerly looked forward to knowing, the self-righteous ones questioning Jesus would dwell in eternal suffering, all the while able to see, but never experience, the glory of life in God’s eternal kingdom. 

This is a warning also for us today.  We dare never rely on our own merit or worthiness to enter God’s heaven.  We dare never rely on our heritage or the faith of our fathers.  Each person will be judged on the merit of Christ Jesus.  If we have been brought to believe in Him and brought into connection with Jesus by faith through the hearing of the Word and Baptism, Jesus Himself will welcome us into the eternal bliss and glory of heaven for His righteousness will be our shield and our holy dress.  On the other hand, if we choose to boast in ourselves, we will be among that crowd, who tried so hard to work their way into God’s favor while rejecting His kindness and mercy that they receive only banishment into the outer darkness of hell.

Jesus had a final thought for us in His answer to the man’s question.  “People will come from east and west, from north and south, and will recline at the table in the kingdom of God.  And note this: Some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”  Those men who so vigorously opposed Jesus as He walked the dusty roads of Galilee and Judea thought themselves to be doers of righteousness and worthy members of God’s chosen people, but in reality, they were caught in the devil’s lies. 

On the other hand, our Lord Jesus sacrificed Himself to pay the penalty our sins deserved, bearing the full weight of the guilt of the world, so that He might pay for it all.  Then, on the third day after His sacrifice, Jesus rose from the grave triumphant over sin and death so that connected to Him by Baptism and faith, we too will be raised to live forever with Him in glory, not because of any worthiness in us, but because Jesus has accomplished all good for us.

Now, in our daily lives, we know there is much was can and should do to serve our Lord.  Just as Jesus labored and sacrificed to save sinners, so we too as His disciples and friends, must work to bring His forgiveness and salvation to the world.  Just as Jesus worked to help and befriend His neighbor, so we can and should do the same.  Just as Jesus diligently labored in His Father’s creation and His eternal kingdom, it is good and right for us to take up our cross and follow Him. 

However, we do all of this out of love for Jesus, out of thankfulness to His Father in heaven, and for the good of those who surround us in this troubled world.  We know that none of our service merits eternal reward for even when we do our duty faithfully, we are only doing what is our due service to our Master.  Yet, we do so confident in the grace that is ours through faith in Jesus, that because He lives we will live also.  That because He has won our forgiveness, life, and salvation, and has granted to us to share in it, we come to that heavenly door in humble confidence that because Jesus has loved us, the Father in heaven also welcomes us with open arms.  May God in His mercy and grace keep us ever trusting in Jesus for forgiveness, life, and salvation that we will with certainty Enter heaven in Christ, the narrow door.  Amen.

How blessed is everyone who fears the LORD, everyone who is walking in his ways.  Amen.