Luke 13:22-30 

Through towns and villages Jesus went teaching, making his way to Jerusalem. Someone said to him, ‘Sir, will there be only a few saved?’ He said to them, ‘Try your best to enter by the narrow door, because, I tell you, many will try to enter and will not succeed.

‘Once the master of the house has got up and locked the door, you may find yourself knocking on the door, saying, “Lord, open to us” but he will answer, “I do not know where you come from.” Then you will find yourself saying, “We once ate and drank in your company; you taught in our streets” but he will reply, “I do not know where you come from. Away from me, all you wicked men!”

‘Then there will be weeping and grinding of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves turned outside. And men from east and west, from north and south, will come to take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God.

‘Yes, there are those now last who will be first, and those now first who will be last.’

 Reflection

A narrow door restricts what can go through it. Perhaps the narrow door Jesus refers to is only wide enough for a person in simple fitting clothes, not for someone with a big padded jacket or carrying a backpack or a suitcase. It is also only wide enough for one person to go through not several at a time. 

The things that won’t fit through the narrow door may be regarded as essentials, but in fact they may be mostly about comfort and creating an image. Clothes, makeup, tech toys, careers, cars, etc won’t fit through the narrow door at the end of life, no matter how essential they seem now. 

Last week when substantial earthquakes rattled central New Zealand, as they had done two years ago in Christchurch, the real priorities surfaced. Getting to a place of physical safety, contacting loved ones, getting home, seeking security and reassurance in one another’s company all became top priorities in the space of a few minutes. The priorities of most people at 2.32pm on Friday 16 August were not the same as they had been just five minutes earlier. 

It is very easy to let desires, ambitions and distractions obscure the relative simplicity of what is needed to sustain human life – food and water, warmth, shelter, safety, other people. Needs are easily buried by wants, and hidden in the wants there may be negative forces such as pride, ambition, and over-indulgence. The wants can hide us from ourselves. 

Hold fast to the lessons of the earthquakes.