21^st Sunday Ordinary
Time (Cycle C)

The tie in between today’s readings: The Many, the Some, and the Few

Psalm 117:1-2, Isaiah 66:18-21, Hebrews 12:5-7; 11-13, Luke 13:22-30

The richest Man in the world and his Son shared a love for people and it pained them to see humanity’s suffering nature and inevitable disastrous end.  They decided to take action. “Just bringing them to live with us here at Mansion House won’t work,” said the Son.

“You’re right.  A change in environment isn’t the answer,” the Father agreed, “The heart of man is deceitful and desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9). Let us come up with a way to change their hearts, then we can bring them here to live.”

They agreed upon a plan: The House System.

The House System was a very unique approach in curing the human condition.  Agents go all over the world telling people of the love of the rich Man and his Son and invite them to come to the Houses (Isaiah 66:18-21). Many people ridiculed their message and methods, but there were some who did come. Houses were built all over the world for them with a variety of designs and sizes. The one thing they all had in common, though, was a special way of entering the House for the first time.  Whether a moat to swim, a river to cross, a waterfall, pool, or sprinkler, no one got in in unless they got wet! After that, they were called believers and used the front door.

All believers are told that they can belong to the House until the day the helicopters comes to take them to the grand Mansion House to live forever. Believers can come and go as they please. Some, (usually House personnel), live on the grounds. Most have their own places close by. Once a week, everyone gathers at the Great Hall. They read from the rich Man’s bestselling book and share a common meal of bread and wine to remember the love of the rich Man and his Son, who gave everything so that believers could go to Mansion House one day. Believers also meet in the Great Hall to rejoice in the rich Man’s Son’s birthday, get married, or celebrate someone who died and now lives in Mansion House in spirit. Off to the side of every Great Hall, there is a narrow door with a sign above it that reads: ADOPTIONS. It opens to a small room with an spiritual agent inside who will guide you in becoming a truly adopted child of the rich Man and share a relationship with His Son. Even though this is the main thrust of the House System, it is hardly noticed or talked about among the believers. The few who do go through the adoption process are known as the twice born.

They are often considered strange by other believers and that would be enough, except that they upset everyone with the notion that the rich Man will be angry with anyone who doesn’t join His adopted family. To avoid this unpleasantness, many of the general managers of the House, with their diplomas and flowing robes, will calm the believers down by saying that they became the rich Man’s child when they passed through the water. They argue that it would be out of character for someone so loving and generous as the rich Man to be angry with anyone and the helicopters will take all to the Grand Mansion as long as they obey the House rules. This usually is enough to quiet the situation.

Life in the House changes when you become the rich Man’s adopted kid. You are more than a guest in the House as the believers are.  You are in His family now. The rich Man disciplines you so that you will mature into the character of His only begotten Son (Hebrews 12:5-13). It’s not always a pleasant process. You take on the servant duties of the House. You could become an agent, yourself, and endure the challenges of inviting others to become believers and hopefully adopted.  When asked, you tell others that you do it because you love the rich Man. Most don’t understand why you would want to take on those responsibilities when you could just gather weekly and wait for the helicopters. These believers are careless and clueless. They like it that way.

The long predicted worldwide Last Day finally comes. Everything closes down. The agents are recalled. It’s over! Helicopters arrive at Houses all over the world to ferry everyone to Mansion House, the only place left intact.  The rich Man has issued a passenger manifest and you notice that the twice born are separated from the others. When asked why, the pilots and crew only answer, “Orders.” There is some uneasiness as families and friends are parted from each other. They promise to meet up when they get there. You take off and join a growing fleet all heading to their one common destination. After some time it appears over the horizon: Mansion House!

It is fantastically large and beautiful; grander than anything imaginable. You lose your breath as you look down and see only a fraction of the jeweled estate guarded by a great wall that stretches to the horizon in either direction. On the grounds you see the rich Man’s Son along with other famous twice-borns, who have previously died, all waiting at a large banquet table. The sky roars with the sound of hovering copters and the first are given permission to land. Their passengers disembark and, with great joy and excitement, pass through the large pearly gates. Curiously, after a while, the large pearl gates start closing even as the first of the helicopters touches down OUTSIDE the wall.

Frantic and frightened believers disembark and look at each other in confusion. Hysteria is rampant! The people begin rushing the gates in futile attempts to climb them. As the ranks swell, masses of humanity pile on top of each other in panicked waves as they try to scale the wall. Reluctant passengers are forcefully ejected by the crew. People swamping the copters on the ground are thrown back in flashes and sparks as the pilots electrify the hulls.  Desperate shouts of “Let us in!” rise above the din of the engines. Believers, that have not yet landed, clamp the seats in front of them with white knuckles, feverishly praying that their ship stays in the air. The crew restrains some of the other passengers from dropping rescue ladders to their loved ones on the ground. Everything is fear and panic and chaos! Finally, the last of the helicopters discharges its humanity and flies away. Then countless large close circuit TV screens slowly rise up from within the wall for as far as the eye can see. The rich Man appears. A mixed cacophony of angry self justifying demands and fearful pleas for mercy erupts.

“Silence!” the Lord of the Mansion House booms and all is instantly quiet. He begins. “Dear people, I told you that this day would come. I warned you every week as you sat in My Houses and read My book. Now, you stand there, frightened, confused, and wondering why you are on the outside. The reason is that you never wanted a relationship with Me.  When I told you about the wages of sin, you scoffed. When I asked you to allow Me to help you to give up your self-destructive nature, you said, ‘No.”! You never trusted Me. You believed facts about Me, but you never believed Me. You always had to live YOUR life YOUR way! You feared losing control of your unseen future and never accepted that My love would cast out all your fears.”

“You say you love me,” He continues, “You love Me like you love ice cream. Whenever you did sacrifice for Me, you only focused on what you gave up and wore it as a token of your own virtue. You never saw it as a chance to let more of Me into your life. Your weekly gatherings were more like club meetings than opportunities to worship and draw near to Me. You were always so close…yet so far. You always left unchanged. You ignored the deeper things of becoming My child. You never sought adoption! From the beginning, you were never in love with Me. I would have gathered you like a hen gathers her chicks, but you would not come. Even now, as you desperately clamor to enter My House, it’s not because you want to be with Me! You just don’t want to be out there! My twice born know Me. They love Me. They are My children! That is why I now welcome them all to enter into My joy, where I will wipe away all of their tears! To the rest of you ‘believers’, I say, BE GONE!!!”

The screens went black and retracted back into the wall. A glorious melody of a new song rose up from the banqueters and overtook the hopeless wailings of those on the outside as they wandered away into the darkness to endure the consequences of their own making.

Dear friends, I wanted to present a disturbing story that underscores the question of today’s reading in Luke 13:22-30: Will only a few be saved? Many of those left on the outside of the wall will be church goers. God is all about your relationship with Him: in prayer, communion, living life, loving,…everything. Just going through the motions on Sundays will not cut it. The Bible encourages us to examine ourselves to see if we are really in faith, if we really love Him, and to make our calling an election sure (2 Peter 1:10).

In closing, the underlying message is that your relationship with the Almighty needs to be developed, grown, and valued. Now is the time to seek the Lord with all your heart. Don’t neglect His great salvation through Jesus Christ (Hebrews 2:3). Don’t be left on the outside looking in. One of my postings in the Insights section of this blog “A Sacramental Illustration of Saving Faith,” may help further explain what I mean. Remember, no man knows the day or the hour of His coming. No one knows when they will leave this world to meet Him in death. Deal with this now! You may not have tomorrow.