TAKE YOUR PLACE IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD
Luke 13:22-30
Pastor Jeremy Mattek – August 21, 2016
If you could ask God one question, and know that he’s going to give you the answer, what question would you ask him? Each school year in my first Catechism class with the 8th graders, I ask them to write down their answer to that question. This year, some of their answers were: “What was it like before creation?” “Can I see a video clip of the day you divided the Red Sea?” “Why did you make the world if you knew there was going to be sin?” “How do the Trinity and other confusing things work?” “Is every man made from dirt?” “Why did you let all the killings happen?” “Are the babies that were aborted in heaven?” Most of these questions I’ve heard from other classes before. But there was one question a student had this year that no one had asked ever before. When asked what one question she would ask God if she could ask him anything, she responded, “Can I get a hug?” She wasn’t really curious about any information. She just wanted to know if she could be close to him.
When I take adults through membership class, I’ve also begun asking them what they would ask God. And the most common answer I receive, the most common question adults have is actually very close to “Can I get a hug?” But instead of asking if they can get a hug, the vast majority would like to know if they will. They don’t say it exactly that way. The way it’s most often said is, “Am I going to end up in heaven?” And that might surprise some people. Some might be surprised that the question of whether or not they’ll end up in heaven is more important to them than the question of how to deal with the crime, division, and hostility currently in Milwaukee; more important than healing broken families; more important than helping children grow up to be good and productive citizens. But really, the question of what’s going to happen in the future is exactly the one that needs to be asked in order to best address all of those other things that are happening in the present. Because what a person thinks is going to happen in their future has quite a bit to do with how they live in the present.
Consider the weather. This year’s Farmer’s Almanac just came out, and it is predicting a horribly cold and frigid winter. Because many believe the Farmer’s Almanac gives an accurate prediction of the future, I am sure there are many who are presently considering a move to Florida. Or Consider Ryan Lochte. He is an Olympic swimmer. Last week he said that he and some other swimmers were held up at gunpoint while they were in Rio. Eventually, it was discovered that he was lying. He made it up in order to cover up some dumb decisions he made while he was drunk. The police in Rio ordered that his passport be seized so they could question him. But when the police started looking for him, Ryan Lochte was already back home in the United States; likely because he had a pretty good idea of what was going to happen in the future if he stayed in Rio. He knew he would be found out, questioned, possibly fined, indicted, or thrown in prison. His fear about the future compelled him to lie and to run. If he were not afraid of the future, all of the world would still be celebrating him as an incredibly accomplished Olympian. But we’re not.
Do you think it’s possible that, one of the main reasons we presently find so many individuals whose lives we are not celebrating, who seem more compelled to lie, run, and cause all sorts of destruction, is because they simply do not believe there is a good future waiting for them? I was visiting with a friend this week. We were talking about what to do about everything that’s happening. He said, “The average kid in Milwaukee wakes up every morning expecting there’s a good chance they won’t live past 25. What kind of life is that to wake up to?” We both agreed - It’s a life that needs to see what kind of future God has prepared for them.
22 Then Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem.23 Someone asked him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?” He said to them,24 “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to.25 Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’ “But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’26 “Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’27 “But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!’28 “There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out.29 People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God.30 Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last.”
There are a couple basic facts Jesus shares in this section about the future, simple truths every person ought to know about heaven and whether or not they will one day get in. 1) Heaven is open and available to everyone. Jesus said that “people will come from the east and west and north and south” – from every direction.
2) Everyone in heaven will be at rest. When Jesus said they “will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God,” he literally said, “they will be made to lie down in the kingdom of God.” That makes me think of Psalm 23, the Good Shepherd psalm: “He makes me lie down in green pastures.” A fun fact about sheep is that they will only lie down if they are completely at ease and entirely free from worry. A good shepherd knows how to do that. Our Good Shepherd promises that he will do that for all the sheep who end up in heaven.
3) Not everyone is going to end up in heaven. In fact, “Many,” Jesus said, will want to get in but won’t be able to. In other words, just because a person wants to be in heaven doesn’t mean they will be in heaven. And just because a person knows who Jesus is, knows what he did, and even listened to what he teaches doesn’t mean they’ll be in heaven. “We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets,” some will say – some who will not be allowed in.
4) Those who don’t get into heaven will be in horrible pain. Jesus describes the alternative to heaven as a place where there will be “weeping … and gnashing of teeth.” Weeping is what happens when someone is in deep, deep pain. Gnashing of teeth makes me think of some movies I’ve seen. In some movies, when someone has to have a bullet pulled out of their arm, they’re often given something to bite down on to help them get through the horrible pain they’re going to feel when someone takes some blunt, rusty tool and digs it into their skin. The gnashing of the teeth around whatever they’re biting down on is what I think of there. But there will be another pain in hell – the pain of regret. “You will see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out.” In other words, those in hell will see what they could have had, but they will never be able to have it.
Those are four basic truths the bible emphasizes in many places and in many ways. But there is one more truth in this section that almost doesn’t sound like it’s possible; the truth that God will not recognize those who are not allowed into heaven. They will all hear God say the same thing: “I don’t know you or where you come from.” It’s true that God made everyone. It’s true that each person exists only because God designed them in their mother’s womb. But it’s also true that God will be so convinced that a person does not belong in heaven that he will not even recognize the face he created when that life began. Those who have loved ones affected by Alzheimer’s know how painful a moment like that is; a moment that is coming for those who are not allowed into heaven.
And all of that leads to the obvious question that the man in our sermon text, as well as many who take our membership classes, want to know the answer to. How does a person know that God will recognize them? And maybe a good place to start is by asking whether or not you recognize yourself as someone who will end up in heaven. If so, then what’s your basis for that? Remember that you can’t say you’ll be in heaven because you know who Jesus is, know what he did, or spent time listening to what he was teaching. Maybe a good place to start would be to ask yourself if God would recognize you as someone who belongs among the 300 men in Gideon’s army who took down the 145,000 men from Midian? There were two criteria God used to shrink Gideon’s army from 32,000 to 300.
First, he eliminated those who were afraid. And it’s not like they were afraid of anything – like snakes or spiders. They were afraid of something in particular. They were afraid their weakness was going to be exposed if they went into battle. So the question to ask yourself is: Do you have any weaknesses you are afraid to let other people see? Are there mistakes you’ve made in the past you try to keep hidden? Are you afraid of what people would think if they knew the types of things you do when no one is looking? Is there a particular temptation you’re hoping doesn’t engage you in battle because, based on previous experience, you’re pretty certain you’re going to give in? The first group God eliminated was those who were afraid that their weakness was going to be exposed.
Secondly, he divided those who lapped water like a dog from those who didn’t. Today’s equivalent of those who lap water like a dog might be those who drink water straight from the faucet. What this really means is that God was dividing those who were a little rough around the edges from those who a bit more polished in the way they did things. Do you ever try to answer the question of whether or not you’ll be in heaven by asking how polished you are as a Christian? Are you a polished Christian? Is your life pure? Do you have the whole godly husband thing figured out? Are you a respectful wife – all the time, not just when he’s really nice? Are you patient with the immature? Kind when you talk about those who irritate you and get under your skin? Envious of no one? Never boastful about, or seeking attention for, the good things you’ve done? Are you polished in your faith, or do you struggle with it? If you struggle with it, I want you to know what that means.
You might know about the horrible flooding taking place in Louisiana right now. Some houses were filled with 8 feet of water within just two hours. It’s caused a lot of pain, a lot of destruction, and has killed more than a dozen. Josh Pettit lives in Baton Rouge. This past Tuesday he was on a boat making his way through the deep waters of the city when he saw a bush that was shaking. As he got closer, he saw what was causing the bush to shake. It was a dog trapped under the bush, whose eyes and nose were barely above the water. It was trying to tread water. When Josh pulled her out of the water and into the boat, it collapsed on his lap from exhaustion, and started crying. Josh didn’t know how long the dog had been struggling to stay above water. It was obviously a long time. But we know what it would have meant if the dog had stopped struggling. It would have meant that it had given up hope of any good future ever happening. A struggle is a good thing. A struggle is a sign of hope.
Just like your struggle is. In verse 24, Jesus said, “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door.” The phrase, “make every effort” literally means to “struggle.” Jesus wants you to struggle. He expects you to struggle. Because your struggling in your life of faith means something. It means you still have hope that a good future will happen. If someone does not struggle anymore against sin or temptation, if they live in the present like they believe there is no good future waiting for them, then there is one important thing that is missing from their life. They’re missing hope.
And the best way to give this world hope is not to tell them to do a better job loving the God they have no hope in. It’s to show them the God who came to earth and was not afraid to face any temptation, who had no reason to feel any shame, whose life was not rough around the edges at all, but a picture of pure and holy perfection; who chose to struggle for his life on a cross under a greater weight of sin than any of us could ever imaginejust so that we, who fail in our faith so easily, could be forgiven of all the struggles that make us ashamed to stand in front of him, and so we could see him rise from the bed of death those sins madeto go prepare a place for everyone from the north, south, east, and west in heaven.
Did that happen? Did Jesus die? Were your sins forgiven? Did he rise from the dead and return to heaven? Did everything that we confess in the Apostle’s Creed really happen? Then notice – that the best way to answer the question of whether or not you will be in heaven is to not look at you at all. If you shine the spotlight on you – on how much you believe, how good you are, how far you’ve come, how hard you work, or how much better you are than anyone – you’ll be so full of yourself that you’ll never fit through the narrow door of heaven. But if we shine the spotlight on Jesus, on who he is and what he did, then you will see yourself as someone God not only recognizes, but has already chosen. Because at the cross of Jesus we clearly see God choosing to stay by your side through any struggle, any pain, or anything, no matter how dark the skies may ever be around you or him. That’s what God wanted Gideon and his men to see when he shrunk their army. The 300 who ended up fighting weren’t the most polished of all the men. They were the ones who were a bit rough around the edges. They had flaws. They struggled. And God told them why he chose them. It was so that “they would not boast that their own strength has saved them.” But that God’s did. He wanted them to see that if God is by your side, there’s always hope. And do you know who knows that?
Our 8th graders do. I not only asked them what one question they would ask God if they could ask anything. I also told them to finish this sentence: “One thing churches should do that would greatly help the community is …” There are 20 students in this year’s 8th Grade class. About 2/3 of them gave the same answer: Teach them about Jesus. Invite them to church. Teach them the Word. That’s what they believe is the most important thing we could ever do. And do you know who agrees with them? Jesus does. What was Jesus doing when this man asked him this question about who was going to end up in heaven? He was going through all the towns and villages teaching. He was teaching about what he intended to do in Jerusalem. He was intending to give us a future that allows us all to live at peace in the present.
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