Posted on 08/21/2016 6:56:59 AM PDT by Salvation
In the readings today the Lord describes a danger: our tendency to make light of judgment and not be sober that one day we must account for our actions. In the first reading the Lord sets forth His desire to save us, but we must understand that our will, our yes, is essential to our salvation. In the second reading (from the Letter to the Hebrews) Our Lord sets forth a plan whereby, having accepting Jesus, we can make a daily walk with Him in a kind of delivering discipline. Lets take a detailed look at the todays readings, hear the urgent warnings, and soberly lay hold of the solutions offered.
I. The Danger that is Described – Lord, will only a few people be saved? He answered them, Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough (Lk 13:22-30).
There is a similar text in Matthews Gospel, in which the Lord says, Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy, that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few (Mat 7:13-14).
Todays Gospel is a call to sobriety and away from an unbiblical way of thinking (also antithetical to the long testimony of sacred tradition). Many people today assume a kind of universalism that presumes that most, if not the vast majority, will go to Heaven. But as we have reviewed many times on this blog before, that is not what scripture says. Indeed, scripture says the exact opposite.
And while no percentages given, no exact numbers, we ought not to interpret the text such that Jesus use of the words many and few come to mean nothing, or the opposite of what He says. Jesus is teaching us a sober truth: given the tendency of the human heart toward hardness, stubbornness, and obtuseness, many are on a path that rejects His offer of a saving relationship, rejects His offer of the Kingdom and its values.
And though many today wish to consider the teaching on judgment and the existence of eternal Hell untenable, this is largely due to the modern tendency to refashion God and the faith according to modern preferences rather than to cling to what is true and revealed.
In doing so, God is reduced to an affirmer, an enricher, a facilitator, or merely one who takes care of us. (These are all true descriptions, but they only partially describe Him.) Absent from these descriptions is the true essence of God as absolutely holy, just, pure, and undefiled; and as the one who must ultimately purify His faithful, with their consent, to reflect His utter purity and glory. Those who attempt to refashion God into a more palatable version are the ones to whom the Lord says, I do not know where you are from.
Those who set aside Hell also attempt to refashion human freedom, which God has given us as our dignity so that we can freely love Him and what He values in a covenant relationship, rather than serving Him as slaves. I have written more on this topic here: Hell has to Be.
For now, let it be said that the reality of Hell is taught clearly and consistently in Scripture. It is taught to us in love as an urgent warning about the seriousness of our choices, which build to a final decision. No one loves you more than does Jesus Christ, yet no one spoke of judgment and Hell more than He did.
Some today also object to any fear-based argument related to the faith. But this is not a reasonable posture to adopt when dealing with human beings. The fact is that we require and respond to a variety of different types of appeals. And while an appeal to fear may not be rooted in the highest goals, it remains an important appeal rooted in well-ordered self love.
Jesus certainly saw fit to appeal to the fear of punishment, loss, and Hell. In fact, one could argue that this was His primary approach and that one would struggle to find many texts in which Jesus appealed more to perfect contrition and a purely holy fear rooted in love alone. In dozens of passages and parables, Jesus warns of punishment and exclusion from the Kingdom for unrepented sin and for the refusal to be ready. Here are just a few examples:
Now the goal in all these appeals, fear-based or not, is not to be scared per se, but to be sober, to develop a sense of urgency in following the call of God, and to summon others to saving faith. Sinner, please dont let this harvest pass, and die and lose your soul at last.
The text says that salvation is not attained by everyone, that some are not strong enough, that many are on a road that does not lead to glory. The text urges us to be awake, sober, and urgent in securing salvation for everyone we meet.
Many today think of Hell as a place only for the extremely wicked (murderers, genocidal maniacs, serial rapists, etc.). But as the texts quoted above teach, there are many other paths that also lead away from Heaven (and toward hell): lack of forgiveness, preoccupation with cares of the world, and unrepented sexual sins such as fornication, homosexual acts, and adultery. Wealth also create difficulties that make it hard to enter the kingdom. Still others cannot and will not endure persecutions, trials, or setbacks related to the faith and instead choose to deny Christ before others.
The fact of the matter is, many people just arent all that interested in Heaven; they reject many of its values such as forgiveness, chastity, and generosity. They arent strong in their desire. They arent strong enough to make the journey.
Thus Jesus describes in this passage a danger about which we must be sober.
II. The Divine Desire – Todays first reading (from Isaiah) assures us that God wants to save us all. If there is resistance to Heaven and being in relationship with God forever, it comes from our side, not Gods. I come to gather nations of every language; they shall come and see my glory. that have never heard of my fame, or seen my glory; and they shall proclaim my glory among the nations. Some of these I will take as priests and Levites, says the LORD (Is 66:18-21).
Other texts in Scripture also speak of Gods desire to save us all and of His extending the offer of saving love to all:
God is not our adversary in salvation; He is our only way. He wants to save us, but He respects our choice.
III. The Discipline that Delivers If, then, we are stubborn and stiff-necked (and we are) and yet God still wants to save us, how is this to be accomplished? The first step, of course, is to accept the Lords offer of His Son Jesus, who alone can save us. We do this through faith and baptism as well as through the daily renewal of our yes, by Gods grace.
The second reading (from Hebrew) also spells out for us a way in which God, by His grace, works to draw us deeper into His saving love and path:
My son, do not disdain the discipline of the Lord or lose heart when reproved by him; for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines; he scourges every son he acknowledges. Endure your trials as discipline; God treats you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? At the time, all discipline seems a cause not for joy but for pain, yet later it brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who are trained by it (Heb 12:5-7).
In these words is a kind of five-point plan for remaining in Gods saving love:
Thus today we have a sober teaching from the Lord, who describes a danger about which we must be sober. And while the readings also describe His divine desire to save us, there is also a need for a discipline that delivers us.
We ought to be sober about what the Lord teaches. There are too many today who are not sober that many are going to be lost. Because of this, they often do not attend to their own souls let alone the souls of others.
But if Jesus is sober and He suffered so, why not us? If your children or grandchildren are away from the Church, not praying, not receiving the sacraments, awash in sinful habits, and likely locked in serious and unrepented mortal sin, do not take this lightly. The Lord warns and warns and warns. Do not brush this off or take refuge in false and unbiblical claims that presume nearly universal salvation.
The Lord demands from us a sober and biblical zeal for souls, rooted in a sober comprehension that we humans tend to stray and that we mysteriously do not seem to want what God offers. Being sober helps us to be urgent, and urgency makes us evangelical enough to go to those we love and say, Sinner dont let this harvest pass, and die and lose your soul at last!
Monsignor Pope Ping!
I thought he was writing about you :-) I’ll have to read it after church
No, not about me.
Amen!
My favorite book about hell is The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis. A grey place and when people do go up to Heaven on the bus, the grass and the light hurts their feet and if they had the will to get off the bus most get right back on. One of the most telling is when the author tells the angel how big hell is and he is shown the teeny tiny crack in the floor of heaven that the bus came through.
The fact of the matter is, many people just arent all that interested in Heaven; they reject many of its values such as forgiveness, chastity, and generosity.
It reminded me about the thread about his recent article about modestly (starting from the point of teensy beach-volleyball outfits), and another about salvation. Both threads ran to 100 post or more, most of them very forceful.
It occurred to me that the latter thread, about salvation, was characterized by meaningful theological differences (Catholic/non-Catholic, in this case). Another element was the firm adherence to preconceptions and the deployment of strawman arguments. The same was true about the former thread, which did not, on its face, seem to be about differences in dogma.
I think this evidence (among other data) indicates that, in arguments about modesty, we really are dealing with serious differences in religious dogma. The Sexual Revolution, in which women's availability for visual sexual stimulus is a point of faith, is a religion. Just as the difference between Catholic and non-Catholic is one of deeply-hold dogma, the difference between Catholic and Sex-Religion (for lack of a better term) is one of deeply-held dogma.
It's not just an issue of details (Latin, English, or Spanish Mass?) or personal taste (a capella chant, organ, or piano?) The rejection of chastity (of which modesty is an a-priori subtopic) is dogmatic.
I'm interested in your thoughts. This analysis just occurred to me in the last couple of days: I'm open to objections, expansions, and whatever else you might come up with.
Thank you for taking time to share this. Very thought provoking and sobering.
Of ALL the English translations, only the NABRE version says "will not be strong enough". ALL the others say, "will not be able", "will not succeed" or "will fail". The Amplified version even translates this verse:
Strive to enter through the narrow door [force aside unbelief and the attractions of sin]; for many, I tell you, will try to enter [by their own works] and will not be able.
The narrow gate is Jesus Christ and it is faith in Him and not our own works, merit, deeds or righteousness that gets us in.
I have a hard time reconciling the author’s words, “God is not our adversary in salvation; He is our only way. He wants to save us, but He respects our choice.” with his quote from Matthew 22:14 “For many are called, but few are chosen”.
Who is calling? Who is chosing whom?
The narrow gate is Jesus Christ
Exactly what my pastor said.
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