The Narrow Road

Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it."
~Matthew 7:13

I used to think this verse was some kind of trick God's playing on us--an indication that only a few people would win the God-lottery. It looked to me like predestination (the idea that when you're born you're already destined for salvation or damnation) which was scary. Or else it looked like we could be saved by works, which (without even being really Lutheran) I was always thought was a terrible heresy.

Reading this verse this morning, it has a very different meaning. I'm much less concerned about "heaven" in the traditional sense these days. It seems to me that my own personal salvation from the guilt of sin so that I can go to heaven when I die is just not that important. I mean it's nice and all (I'm glad that I don't have to wallow in that guilt!) but I'm convinced that that's not all that Jesus was about.

I think that Jesus is talking about a way of life--a "road--that "lead's to life" in this world. Not just for me, but for all my neighbors--for everyone. I mean real, joyful life together, where we can bring each other joy, ease each other's pain, laugh and dance and sing and make beautiful things happen together. Thing is though, that's a hard road. If I'm going to really follow Jesus in loving my neighbor, I can't hang on to all my extra stuff when there are people without clothes or food or beds. It'll require me to face pain that I'd rather ignore. It requires--if I'm really following Jesus here-- bieng ready to die, just as he did, for a love that breaks the rules.

whoa.

That's a hard road. That's why grace is so great-- I'm bound to screw up. It's a narrow road, but not so narrow, I think, that we couldn't fit a couple of friends alongside.