Are You Doing Your best?

Luke 13:22-30

“Did you do your best?” It got to be a bit of a family joke in our family when my kids were growing up, because when my kids would get home from school, when it was report card day, they’d bring in their report card, and without opening it, without looking at it, I would ask, “Did you do your best?” And then we’d have a little discussion, you know, if you got an A, but you didn’t work at it at all, is that really anything to be proud of? On the other hand, if you got a C and you worked your tail off at it, you should be very proud of that, because God has never called us to be who we aren’t; rather, He wants us to do the very best with the gifts we have. God does not expect me to be an NBA superstar. I do not have those gifts, but He does anticipate that I will be the very best pastor that I can be, because He has gifted me with that responsibility. Makes sense? So as the kids got older, of course, “Did you do your best?” “Yes, Dad, I did my best.” And it got to be kind of a family joke, kind of, because even now when my kids are adults, and I ask them, “Well, how’s it going?” “Dad, I’m doing my best.” One good principle instilled, thank you, God. This text takes place while Jesus is traveling to Jerusalem. A couple of chapters earlier, we read that Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. That idea, or that verse, the Greek of that text has the idea that He set His face like a stone. In other words, He was rock solid, locked in, that Jerusalem was where He was going, and nothing was going to get in His way. Makes sense? Or to put it a little differently, Jesus was doing His best. Makes sense? And as He was going, it wasn’t like He was taking the most direct route to Jerusalem; rather, He was traveling kind of all over the place, the route He needed to go to touch as many people as possible. He was stopping at villages to teach, and there was probably a crowd who went with Him as He was traveling, and somewhere along that timeframe, someone pipes up and asks Him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?” That is a question that Jesus refuses to answer. Because no matter what He would answer it, what would our sinful self do? We’d misuse it. If Jesus said, “No, it’s not gonna be just a few people, it’s gonna be all kinds of people, lots of people,” our sinful self would go, “Oh, okay, then I don’t have to put any effort into spiritual things, because if there’s lots of people going, surely I’m one of them, right?” On the other hand, if Jesus said, “Yep, it’s only gonna be a very few people are gonna be saved,” then our sinful self would perhaps be fearful and worried. “Can I get in? Is there any chance for me?” And we might even panic. So Jesus rejects that question and instead gives an answer that’s far better for each one of us. Make every effort to enter the narrow door. Because many will try to and will not be able to enter. Now, let’s be clear, Jesus is not talking about salvation or trying to earn salvation. When Jesus said on the cross, “It is finished,” He meant that, that indeed salvation was finished for every single individual, every man, woman, or child who has ever lived and will ever live. And it is by grace you are saved through faith in this, not from yourselves; it is a gift of God. So Jesus is not here talking about our salvation, but what He is talking about is our life of spirituality or our focus on Jesus, or our word of God life. And what does He say? Remember, this is Jesus talking, not your stupid preacher. Jesus says, “Make every effort to enter into the kingdom of God.” And the Greek word make every effort, it’s that same one we talked about last week; it’s from the Greek word agon, which we get our word agony from. In other words, Jesus is saying to you and me, “Are you working so hard at your own spiritual well-being? Are you working so hard at your own spiritual health that you’re getting worn out by it? That there is a sense of tiredness, of even agony, as if you were training for a 10K, there would be a degree of agony in that training, wouldn’t there be?” Well, there would be for me. I shouldn’t talk for all of you. Tyler Poston might be all right, I don’t remember, I don’t know where Tyler went, but for the rest of us, there might be a degree of agony involved in that. And that’s what Jesus is saying to us about our religious life, our spiritual life, our life with him. “Make every effort to enter into that kingdom of God.” Then he steps it up, and he makes a comparison. He compares it to a homeowner, and apparently, this is like a estate kind of a thing, where the homeowner has, at the end of the day, locked the gates, locked the door, and some people come to him and knock on the door and want to be granted entry. And Jesus says to them, “I don’t know you,” or the householder says to them, “I don’t know you or who you are.” And this is really strong, because the Greek word that’s translated to know is the Greek word that often has the nuance of to know intellectually. In other words, Jesus is saying to them, “I don’t even know who you are, but Lord, we ate and drank with you, and you taught in your streets.” And Jesus will once again say, “I don’t even know who you are or where you come from.” Could there be anything more horrible for Jesus to say to us at the last day? I can’t imagine anything that could possibly be more horrible than for Jesus to say to me or to you, “I don’t know you or who you are.” And then Jesus steps it up even a touch further. Did you catch it? He said, “There’ll be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out.” And the NIV does us a happy favor there by translating the word you yourselves, because the word you in the Greek has the emphasis. In other words, Jesus seems to be saying to some of those very people who he’s talking to you, “Some of you are on the way to hell.” No, not because I’m not gonna die for you. I’m going to, I’m gonna die for everybody. But you’re on your way to hell because you are treating spiritual matters lackadaisically. You are teaching spiritual matters as a secondary third, fourth, fifth, or even last place position. And because of that, your faith is in jeopardy, or is dying, or even has died. Ooh. Ooh. What would Jesus say to you and to me if you were here today? Would he have compliments for me? (audience member sighs) But if he were speaking to us as a congregation, would he have compliments for us? Or would he have to give us a bit of an angry look at my devotional life? How often I let it slip. Focus on worship, focus on Bible study. Family devotions, prayer time. Are those the number one priorities in your life? My life? Or would Jesus have to warn us when you yourselves are thrown out? I don’t know about you, but I’m not willing to take that risk. I would suggest that our spiritual life deserves our best. Amen? Oh, that was a week, amen. I think our spiritual life deserves our best, amen? In fact, may I go so far as to say, only a fool would fail to make their spiritual life, their eternal life, their religious life, their word of God life, their top priority? Because if I end up in hell, billions and billions and billions of years later, I’m not gonna be thinking, man, I’m sure glad I didn’t take that time for worship or Bible study or family devotions or home devotions. Am I? After I’ve been in heaven for billions and billions or been in hell for billions and billions and billions of years suffering, where their worm will not die and the fire will not be quenched, Isaiah ends up. Ooh, what’s at stake here is everything. If I’ve been in hell for billions and billions and billions of years, I’m not gonna be thinking, but man, those Packer games were outstanding, and man, it was sure good to sleep in on Sunday morning. Am I? No, I’m not. But when I’ve been in heaven for billions and billions and billions of years, I will sure say, thank you God for doing your best for me that you went to Jerusalem, that you laid down your life and paid for my sins. Thank you, God, for connecting me to the word of God. Thank you, God, for being faithful to me by bringing me into your family through baptism, by feeding me with your supper, by keeping me connected to the word of God. Oh, does that sound worth it? Does it sound like it’s worth it to make every effort to enter into the kingdom of God? Amen? – Amen. – And then Jesus concludes with a word of warning and a word of promise. For I tell you, many will come from the east and the west and the north and the south and will take their place at the feast in the kingdom of God. I tell you, those who are last will be first and first who will be last. Perhaps at the beginning of the text, you did a double clutch when Jesus said, the door is narrow. Jesus makes it clear that there is one way to heaven, and that is it, believing in Jesus. There is no other way. Buddhism, Islam, and the other religions are not going to work. Being a good person is not going to work. Being spiritual but not religious, that’s one of those garbage statements, is not going to work. Doing community work, advancing humanity. Kind of funny this last week, I’m trying to get to heaven by making peace deals. Not going to work. There is one way to heaven. And perhaps our sinful side bucks at that and says, that’s not fair, there should be many ways to heaven, but wait a minute, who does heaven belong to? God. Is God obligated to open up heaven to anyone? No. And particularly not to sinful people who have sinned against him, right? So the incredible thing isn’t that the door to heaven is narrow; the incredible thing is that there is a door that God has opened up a way to heaven. That is the incredible thing that Jesus has opened the door to heaven for you with his life, his death, his resurrection. Thank God there’s a door. And yes, well, that door is at one side or in one way narrow because Jesus is it. It is on the other way of thinking about it, miles wide. Because where are people going to come from? The North, the South and the East, and the West. People are gonna come from every tribe and language and nation, they’re gonna come from every culture and race, and there is room in heaven for every culture, every nation, every language, every race that has ever existed or will ever exist, which means there’s room in heaven for you and for me. Why? Because Jesus did his best. Did his best for you. And wouldn’t it make sense, my brothers and sisters, that out of thanks for what Jesus did, recognizing that the stakes are the highest, recognizing that the end of the day, heaven is all that matters. Wouldn’t it make sense that we would do our very best for God? Amen. And amen.