St. Luke’s Evangelical Lutheran Church – Watertown, WI
Pastor Mark Gartner
Sermon for Pentecost 14 -- September 6^th and 9^th, 2001

Dear Children of God who have been led to see Jesus as our only Savior, Amen

How many of you are familiar with the movie, "Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory?" Do you remember this scene from the movie? Willy Wonka himself had led the five winners and their guests into the entryway of the Chocolate Factory. They were then led down a hallway that ended up with a very tiny door. The people were all afraid as the crouched down and looked at the door. They told Willy Wonka that they wouldn’t be able to go through that door. It was too small. It must be the wrong door. He was tricking them. Many of them wanted to turn around and find another door. They had all kinds of excuse for not wanting to follow Willy Wonka through that small door. Much to their amazement Willy Wonka opened that door for them and on the other side of that small door was his magnificent Candy Gardens with the chocolate river and plants made of candy and suckers. Through that small door was found a great candy treasure. Just think what they would have missed if they had decided to not enter through the gate.

This morning as we let God guide us with this text from the Gospel of Luke, we will want to take a look a place with one narrow door by which we can enter. It is a picture of a beautiful mansion, which has one small door as its entrance. Do we all have this picture in our heads. It is very important to keep this picture firmly in our hearts and minds this morning, because with this picture Jesus is describing a very special home. He is talking about the eternal home, which is heaven. He is also talking about how we can enter through this gate through the gift that the Holy Spirit has worked in our hearts, namely faith. The narrow door to this home is faith in Christ Jesus as our only Savior from sin. Having set the background for this text let's meditate on the theme.

Jesus spoke the words of our text in response to a man's question. Jesus was asked, "Are only a few people going to be saved?" We don't really know the motive behind this question, but Jesus took this question and turned it into a beautiful message talking about our lives on this earth and what will happen when we leave this earth. Jesus gets us pointed in the right direction with the words of v.24, "Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able." Enter through the narrow door. The first thing Jesus wants to impress on us is that there is a door to heaven – only one door. Make no mistake! This door is open for all. This is very important as we try to share God’s love with people. He hasn't closed the door to some and let others in. The door to salvation was opened for all people by his perfect life and perfect death on the cross for the sins of the whole world. God tells us that "he wants all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth." This beautiful message is out there for the whole world to grab on to. People don’t go to hell, because God didn’t offer a way to save them. God is not the problem. God is the answer

Let’s look closer at what it means to enter through the narrow door. There is only one way that we can enter into the mansion that God has prepared for us. That way is by the gift of faith that the Holy Spirit has worked in our hearts through the Word and Sacraments. Our faith leads us to trust that Jesus has won heaven for us There is no other way into heaven, no matter what people might tell us. There are no back doors or side doors to enter into this eternal home.

With this in mind, what does Jesus mean when he says, "Make every effort to enter through the narrow door?" Isn’t this telling us to work our way through this door? It sounds like God wants us to make it all happen. Jesus is telling us that with God’s help we will need to work very hard at living for Jesus. It will not be easy to be a Christian. There will be many things leading us the wrong direction. This is a vivid description of our Christian lives on this earth. There will be the "Terrible Three" -- The Devil, The World and our Sinful Nature trying to lead us to try other doors. Satan is hiding behind every corner, telling us that he knows of a different door to try. The way to heaven will not be easy, but instead it will be a daily struggle in which we will need to look often to God for the strength and guidance as we follow Jesus as our Savior.

The road through that narrow door is a difficult road, but we also know that God has not left us on our own. God has sent his Son to die on the cross for our sins and for the sins of the whole world. This changes our outlook drastically. Even though we know that troubles wait ahead, we know that in the end God will lead us through the narrow door to his eternal mansion in heaven. We realize that we have the blood of Christ with us each and every step of the way. We can be assured the even though we are sinners, God has given us his promise that we will be able to stand before him on the Last Day, and our sins will not be counted against us. God will look at us and see only the blood of his Son Jesus Christ. That is a comfort that we can only find in Christ and his Gospel message. This is exactly what God's gift to mankind is meant to accomplish. It is the door to our eternal happiness.

Why is this road so difficult? It is because of our sin. As God’s Law pounds down on us we realize that we are sinners and that we don’t deserve to be invited through the narrow door. God shows us this by giving us his Holy Law. That is exactly what God's Law is for: "To Show us our sins." With this knowledge of our sinfulness in us, and the realization that we are condemned to die eternal because of these sins, we see the utter hopelessness that we as sinners have. The Law breaks us down to the lowest point we can go, and it is at this point that God has led us to see that we need God’s help to lead us through the narrow door. We have seen how we have failed so miserably at keeping God's commands. We know that our only hope is in a Savior, and God sent that Savior in the person of His Son. Without Christ and faith in Christ we would not be able to enjoy the blessings that God has offered to all which is eternity in heaven..

It sounds so simple. Faith in Christ is all that is needed to enter through the narrow door. However that leads us to see the other side of the coin. Jesus has shed his blood for all, and he has given to those who believe the promise of eternal life in heaven. But he tells us in our text this morning that many do not enter through the narrow door. This is something that many people have trouble explaining in our world of logical thinking. How can God who is love and wants all to be saved, condemn some to a place like hell? When we are confronted with this thinking we need to remember exactly what Jesus tells us in our text. Jesus has not destined them to hell. He has not hidden the door from them. It is those who have rejected him and cut themselves off from him who will not enter through the narrow door. For whatever reason they have tried to find different doors, or they thought they had a better way to heaven, or even worse they didn't think they needed to look to God for help at all. But Jesus points out what happens when people do not enter through the narrow door.

One of the first things we need to remember is that the door will not be open forever. There is going to come a time when Jesus comes and closes the door, and when that occurs the door is closed forever -- never to be opened again. This happens when God ends our life on this earth through death or Judgment Day. This is the day when Jesus in all his power and majesty will judge all people. The picture of the door closing permanently is a vivid reminder of what will happen on this day of Judgment. Either you are in hell or heaven. Either you have entered or you are on the outside wishing you could get in. There is nothing in between. Jesus in our text describes this, "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." They will also say, "We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets."

This is the sad reminder of what sin has brought into this world. Not all will enter through the narrow door. People will suddenly be on the outside suffering the full torments of hell. They will have missed out. Then the excuses will begin to roll. We know how people like to make excuses to cover a mistake. Imagine the excuses when people realize they were wrong about their eternal future. But no matter how good the excuse sounds, the answer will always be the same, "I do not know you away from me you evil doers." But isn't it true that most of people’s excuses have already started while they are on this earth? How many people are more worried about what happens to them in everyday life, rather than focusing on their eternal future? How often haven't we heard people say I will come to Jesus later, I got things I want to do now? Their present life is more important than their eternal future.

Many do not listen to God's warning that he will return one day to judge all people. How many people think that a little knowledge about God is sufficient to enter through the narrow door? It has happened many times that a person has been confirmed and then falls away. Is it enough to be confirmed and know all the doctrines of the bible, but to have tossed them all away to chase after the things of this world? There are those who think that the key thing ids to have their membership with a certain Church and think that this is enough to enter through the door. Others rely on there "good" lives to carry them into the heavenly mansion. Titus describes these people very well when he writes, "They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him." God judges on what is in the heart -- Not on excuses and outward actions.

We know what will happen to these people who are on the outside looking in. They will suffer in the fires of hell where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. There is a hell, and it is not going to be some limbo zone for those who didn't get into heaven. It is going to be an eternal suffering so great that we cannot even comprehend it. We have been given a great gift, do not let us hand it over to Satan and his evil forces. Do not be caught on the outside looking in, because then it is too late. Let these words guide our lives. We know that we have been blessed with this wonderful gift of faith, but hopefully that is not where it stops. Sure we can have the confidence that our sins are forgiven, but God has not told us to live as we please. It is not true that once a person is saved he is always saved. We cannot sit back and rest on the laurels of our past life. We cannot become lazy in our faith, taking everything we have been given from God for granted. We know all that God has promised to us, and do not let us despise these many blessings, but let the love of Christ work daily in our hearts and lives. Let the message of our salvation and the gift of heaven fill our hearts with eternal joy. The Holy Spirit has worked faith in our hearts. He has given us the gift of life through faith in Christ Jesus, which is our door to heaven. Let each day of our lives be filled with joy and strength, as we strive with God’s strength and help to enter through the narrow door. Amen.