WEBVTT 00:00:00.170 --> 00:00:03.790 Back in 2013 I flew off to China to become a 00:00:03.790 --> 00:00:06.190 teacher and when I was there we had our opening 00:00:06.190 --> 00:00:09.970 day our orientation at the main EF school in 00:00:09.970 --> 00:00:12.650 Shanghai I was in there and everything was going 00:00:12.650 --> 00:00:15.009 well. We were learning how everything was going 00:00:15.009 --> 00:00:18.289 to work It was time for us to go to a different 00:00:18.289 --> 00:00:21.710 room. So I started walking toward the door and 00:00:21.710 --> 00:00:25.629 BAM All of a sudden the doorway would not let 00:00:25.629 --> 00:00:30.230 me through I was stunned There was this doorway 00:00:30.230 --> 00:00:33.350 in front of me, and I couldn't seem to get through 00:00:33.350 --> 00:00:37.530 it. What is going on? I felt blood on the side 00:00:37.530 --> 00:00:40.689 of my eyebrow. I realized I just walked face 00:00:40.689 --> 00:00:44.270 first into a giant plate glass window. To this 00:00:44.270 --> 00:00:47.049 day, there's a little scar right here where the 00:00:47.049 --> 00:00:50.829 hair doesn't quite grow in that eyebrow. It turns 00:00:50.829 --> 00:00:53.229 out the cleaning ladies there in Shanghai did 00:00:53.229 --> 00:00:56.950 their job so immaculately that the windows were 00:00:56.950 --> 00:01:00.369 spotless. Not a smear, not a smudge, not even 00:01:00.369 --> 00:01:04.290 a fingerprint. Completely invisible until my 00:01:04.290 --> 00:01:08.469 head hit it. That moment sticks with me even 00:01:08.469 --> 00:01:12.390 more than the scar because I thought I was walking 00:01:12.390 --> 00:01:15.790 through the door only to find out there was no 00:01:15.790 --> 00:01:19.689 door at all. What looked like the way forward 00:01:20.030 --> 00:01:24.329 was really a wall in my way. And that's a picture 00:01:24.329 --> 00:01:27.790 of what Jesus gives us today in our passage. 00:01:28.129 --> 00:01:31.129 There is a true door, a way into the kingdom 00:01:31.129 --> 00:01:33.930 of God, but not everything that looks like a 00:01:33.930 --> 00:01:38.530 door is really a door. Some ways lead nowhere 00:01:38.530 --> 00:01:43.469 but pain and injury. But there is one doorway 00:01:43.469 --> 00:01:48.670 that opens and Jesus tells us it's narrow. See, 00:01:48.670 --> 00:01:50.430 that's the kind of picture Jesus gives us in 00:01:50.430 --> 00:01:53.469 today's reading. There is a door to God's kingdom. 00:01:53.930 --> 00:01:56.629 It's not wide, it's not obvious, like one may 00:01:56.629 --> 00:02:00.950 expect. It's narrow. Just because something looks 00:02:00.950 --> 00:02:06.090 like the way in doesn't mean it really is. Jesus 00:02:06.090 --> 00:02:09.050 says, make every effort to enter through the 00:02:09.050 --> 00:02:12.469 narrow door because many, I tell you, will try 00:02:12.469 --> 00:02:15.860 to enter and will not be able to. And he gives 00:02:15.860 --> 00:02:20.180 this sobering image, people standing outside, 00:02:20.639 --> 00:02:25.080 knocking, pleading, saying, but we ate and drank 00:02:25.080 --> 00:02:27.939 with you. You taught in our streets. And the 00:02:27.939 --> 00:02:31.379 master of the house says, I don't know you or 00:02:31.379 --> 00:02:36.580 where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers. 00:02:37.580 --> 00:02:39.819 He's not talking about people who never knew 00:02:39.819 --> 00:02:42.879 him. These are not strangers who had never heard 00:02:42.879 --> 00:02:45.659 the gospel. These are people who were around 00:02:45.659 --> 00:02:48.800 it all the time. They ate at the table. They 00:02:48.800 --> 00:02:51.719 heard His teaching. They were in the crowd. These 00:02:51.719 --> 00:02:53.719 were the people who may have been smiling and 00:02:53.719 --> 00:02:56.719 laughing at His terrible jokes. And we see this 00:02:56.719 --> 00:02:59.979 today, don't we? People who grew up in church. 00:03:00.719 --> 00:03:03.139 People who can tell the Bible stories by heart. 00:03:03.539 --> 00:03:05.699 People who sang in the choir. Went on the mission 00:03:05.699 --> 00:03:08.500 trips. Even taught the Sunday School. They can 00:03:08.500 --> 00:03:11.080 talk about what it meant to them once upon a 00:03:11.080 --> 00:03:15.199 time. Yet, somehow along the way, they turned 00:03:15.199 --> 00:03:19.599 and said, it's not really who I am anymore. Some 00:03:19.599 --> 00:03:22.740 walked away quietly. Some chased after other 00:03:22.740 --> 00:03:26.840 philosophies or religions, spirituality. Some 00:03:26.840 --> 00:03:30.180 decided to believe only what they could see and 00:03:30.180 --> 00:03:33.240 measure, and maybe some just never truly came 00:03:33.240 --> 00:03:38.039 to faith anyway. When you hear Jesus' words, 00:03:38.500 --> 00:03:43.599 I don't know you. It's chilling. Because you 00:03:43.599 --> 00:03:46.060 realize that knowing about Him is not the same 00:03:46.060 --> 00:03:51.840 as being known by Him. But aren't we all baptized 00:03:51.840 --> 00:03:54.919 into Christ and thereby certain of our future? 00:03:55.840 --> 00:04:00.159 For some, baptism though becomes a family heirloom. 00:04:00.560 --> 00:04:03.219 It's like grandma's silver in the china cabinet. 00:04:03.659 --> 00:04:05.759 It's like all the dishes that your great aunt 00:04:05.759 --> 00:04:07.960 wanted you to keep because she doesn't want them 00:04:07.960 --> 00:04:10.449 in storage anymore. It's something that proves 00:04:10.449 --> 00:04:13.229 you're part of the family, a cultural label, 00:04:13.349 --> 00:04:17.170 a family tradition, a frame on the wall. Something 00:04:17.170 --> 00:04:20.290 that says, this is who we are, but not always 00:04:20.290 --> 00:04:23.850 with the living faith behind it. That's not a 00:04:23.850 --> 00:04:26.790 new problem, though. The church fathers, they 00:04:26.790 --> 00:04:29.430 already saw it back in the day. Tertullian, in 00:04:29.430 --> 00:04:31.629 the second century, worried about parents bringing 00:04:31.629 --> 00:04:34.689 their infants to baptism as if it were just a 00:04:34.689 --> 00:04:37.670 cultural mark. Something that might be claimed 00:04:37.670 --> 00:04:40.189 without the child ever growing into the responsibility 00:04:40.189 --> 00:04:44.509 of faith. Augustine, on the other hand, defended 00:04:44.509 --> 00:04:47.550 the baptism of infants, but he also said, just 00:04:47.550 --> 00:04:51.589 because you were washed in water once doesn't 00:04:51.589 --> 00:04:56.209 mean you can live faithlessly forever. Baptism 00:04:56.209 --> 00:04:59.529 demands a lifelong turning back to Christ. Martin 00:04:59.529 --> 00:05:02.670 Luther wrestled with it too. In his large catechism, 00:05:02.790 --> 00:05:05.230 he warns about people who reject their baptism. 00:05:05.569 --> 00:05:10.329 To reject baptism is to despise God's word, His 00:05:10.329 --> 00:05:13.189 covenant, indeed His entire work of salvation. 00:05:13.949 --> 00:05:18.449 He reminds us, our baptism abides forever, but 00:05:18.449 --> 00:05:22.209 it profits only those who keep faith and cling 00:05:22.209 --> 00:05:26.430 to Christ. Luther knew well that plenty of baptized 00:05:26.430 --> 00:05:30.379 people drift away. Treating baptism like a certificate 00:05:30.379 --> 00:05:34.319 in the drawer, a magical insurance policy, but 00:05:34.319 --> 00:05:37.439 not like a living promise. And that's exactly 00:05:37.439 --> 00:05:39.800 what the writer of Hebrews is warning us about 00:05:39.800 --> 00:05:43.379 through the story of Esau. Esau had the inheritance 00:05:43.379 --> 00:05:46.100 of the firstborn, the blessing, the promises 00:05:46.100 --> 00:05:48.980 of God handed down through Abraham and Isaac, 00:05:49.279 --> 00:05:51.639 but he treated it as though it were nothing more 00:05:51.639 --> 00:05:56.240 than a bowl of soup. He gave up something eternal 00:05:56.240 --> 00:05:59.629 for something temporary. Something sacred for 00:05:59.629 --> 00:06:02.930 something that could never satisfy. Something 00:06:02.930 --> 00:06:06.129 that He allowed His brother to have and gave 00:06:06.129 --> 00:06:08.050 away all the blessings that were intended for 00:06:08.050 --> 00:06:11.889 Him. In the same way, how many today have taken 00:06:11.889 --> 00:06:15.629 the inheritance in baptism, our faith, our following 00:06:15.629 --> 00:06:19.110 of Christ Jesus, and traded it away for comfort, 00:06:20.310 --> 00:06:25.870 normalcy, success, self -made identity, or just 00:06:25.870 --> 00:06:29.660 the freedom to do life? however we wish. Like 00:06:29.660 --> 00:06:32.959 Esau, they may one day look back with regret, 00:06:33.180 --> 00:06:36.819 but the warning is clear. Don't despise what 00:06:36.819 --> 00:06:40.980 God has given you. Don't sell your birthright 00:06:40.980 --> 00:06:44.620 in Christ for the sake of things that do not 00:06:44.620 --> 00:06:50.019 last. But isn't that what we see today? Some 00:06:50.019 --> 00:06:52.160 people will tell you about the pastor who baptized 00:06:52.160 --> 00:06:54.699 them, the building they grew up in, maybe even 00:06:54.699 --> 00:06:58.360 the water that they felt. They could even say, 00:06:58.560 --> 00:07:00.500 we ate and drank in your presence and we enjoyed 00:07:00.500 --> 00:07:05.459 the chili cook -off too. But now, how many have 00:07:05.459 --> 00:07:08.759 walked away? They've taken the inheritance, a 00:07:08.759 --> 00:07:12.959 cultural model, a piece of identity, but forgotten 00:07:12.959 --> 00:07:16.060 the living, saving faith. And that's the danger 00:07:16.060 --> 00:07:18.379 Jesus is warning about. He isn't speaking to 00:07:18.379 --> 00:07:20.560 people on the outside. He's speaking to those 00:07:20.560 --> 00:07:23.060 who were there with Him, who thought they were 00:07:23.060 --> 00:07:27.300 in just by being there. and hearing a good message, 00:07:27.439 --> 00:07:30.600 but in the end may hear, I don't know you or 00:07:30.600 --> 00:07:34.220 where you come from. But what does it mean for 00:07:34.220 --> 00:07:37.699 us? The narrow door is not just a call to try 00:07:37.699 --> 00:07:40.439 harder, to measure up, to outperform the world 00:07:40.439 --> 00:07:42.959 around us. You're not doing good enough, all 00:07:42.959 --> 00:07:46.199 you. If that were the case, none of us would 00:07:46.199 --> 00:07:48.939 ever make it. It's not as if we can do something 00:07:48.939 --> 00:07:51.579 so great and amazing that it undoes all of our 00:07:51.579 --> 00:07:53.860 sins and corruption and gets us into heaven. 00:07:54.279 --> 00:07:57.660 The truth is, we've all done things that cry 00:07:57.660 --> 00:08:02.079 out against us, hurtful things, spiteful words, 00:08:02.199 --> 00:08:05.879 broken promises, even sins we've wrapped in religious 00:08:05.879 --> 00:08:09.819 packaging and excused in the name of Jesus, though 00:08:09.819 --> 00:08:11.819 we know full well he would never have approved 00:08:11.819 --> 00:08:16.300 of them. But the door is not closed. The writer 00:08:16.300 --> 00:08:19.519 of Hebrews gives us a powerful image, two voices 00:08:19.519 --> 00:08:23.589 of blood. The blood of Abel shed in the very 00:08:23.589 --> 00:08:27.430 first murder cried out for vengeance. But the 00:08:27.430 --> 00:08:30.490 blood of Jesus cries out something very different. 00:08:31.430 --> 00:08:35.750 Mercy. Forgiveness. Reconciliation. A new life 00:08:35.750 --> 00:08:39.950 that is completely one for us. Augustine noted 00:08:39.950 --> 00:08:43.330 that baptism and Christ's blood are gifts that 00:08:43.330 --> 00:08:46.700 are freely given, not things we earn. but the 00:08:46.700 --> 00:08:49.820 means by which God draws us into his life. Tertullian 00:08:49.820 --> 00:08:53.100 and Cyprian similarly emphasize that even infants 00:08:53.100 --> 00:08:57.039 baptized in faith yet cannot express it receive 00:08:57.039 --> 00:09:00.000 this gift because it's God's work and not ours. 00:09:00.600 --> 00:09:03.100 Martin Luther picked it up saying our baptism 00:09:03.100 --> 00:09:05.820 abides forever but it profits only those who 00:09:05.820 --> 00:09:08.240 keep faith and cling to Christ because he was 00:09:08.240 --> 00:09:11.240 trying to point out that it's not about performance. 00:09:12.419 --> 00:09:14.820 It's not about striving to make ourselves acceptable. 00:09:15.789 --> 00:09:19.610 It's about receiving, living in, and walking 00:09:19.610 --> 00:09:23.549 daily in the reality of Christ's mercy, that 00:09:23.549 --> 00:09:27.129 He has given us freely, without our own efforts. 00:09:28.070 --> 00:09:34.009 And that's why the door is Christ Himself. It's 00:09:34.009 --> 00:09:36.509 not asking you to perform your way in, to prove 00:09:36.509 --> 00:09:39.370 yourself worthy, or somehow live a Christian 00:09:39.370 --> 00:09:42.269 life that's good enough to qualify. He's the 00:09:42.269 --> 00:09:44.799 one who's already walked through death. risen 00:09:44.799 --> 00:09:48.539 again, so that you may walk in Him. So the question 00:09:48.539 --> 00:09:50.980 is, no longer have I done enough, the question 00:09:50.980 --> 00:09:55.720 is, am I living in Him? It's not about striving 00:09:55.720 --> 00:10:00.000 to earn, but receiving what was won. Not trying 00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:02.899 to become something better so God might accept 00:10:02.899 --> 00:10:05.759 us, but realizing we're already accepted in Christ. 00:10:06.500 --> 00:10:08.659 So we live in that faith instead of walking away 00:10:08.659 --> 00:10:12.679 from it. So now, let's ask something a little 00:10:12.679 --> 00:10:15.580 more practical. If the door is Christ, if His 00:10:15.580 --> 00:10:17.879 blood has already spoken mercy and life over 00:10:17.879 --> 00:10:21.440 us, how do we live into that? How do we respond 00:10:21.440 --> 00:10:24.639 to the inheritance we have in our baptism? First, 00:10:24.840 --> 00:10:29.000 it's not about performance. We're meant to walk 00:10:29.000 --> 00:10:33.360 in the gift, not performance. Baptism is not 00:10:33.360 --> 00:10:36.580 a checklist, starting gun. It's a gift of new 00:10:36.580 --> 00:10:39.720 life. It's a promise God has claimed us, washed 00:10:39.720 --> 00:10:42.799 us, buried us in Christ that we might rise with 00:10:42.799 --> 00:10:45.740 Him. The work's been done, but what's remaining 00:10:45.740 --> 00:10:50.179 is not the earning, but walking in the reality. 00:10:51.759 --> 00:10:56.759 Second, we discern the door in our daily choices, 00:10:57.179 --> 00:11:00.399 not just once a week when we're expected to for 00:11:00.399 --> 00:11:03.759 an hour, but each and every day. The narrow door 00:11:03.759 --> 00:11:07.019 reminds us that Christ himself defines the way. 00:11:07.860 --> 00:11:11.159 We don't follow vague ideas or cultural Christian 00:11:11.159 --> 00:11:17.230 values, we follow Jesus, who He is, all that 00:11:17.230 --> 00:11:21.029 He has said and done, asking, who is Christ calling 00:11:21.029 --> 00:11:24.149 me to be today? How does His mercy shape my relationships, 00:11:24.309 --> 00:11:28.289 my work, my family, my community? In these daily 00:11:28.289 --> 00:11:32.090 acts of obedience, we live out the baptismal 00:11:32.090 --> 00:11:35.590 promise. Third, we're supposed to turn from what 00:11:35.590 --> 00:11:40.230 keeps us outside. Don't keep walking into the 00:11:40.230 --> 00:11:44.840 wrong door. It's not a door. Hebrews reminds 00:11:44.840 --> 00:11:46.860 us that God disciplines like a loving father, 00:11:46.980 --> 00:11:50.259 guiding us away from paths that would harm us 00:11:50.259 --> 00:11:52.639 or lead us away from his presence. Sometimes 00:11:52.639 --> 00:11:57.179 it means we need to say no. No to the habits. 00:11:58.019 --> 00:12:00.440 No to the patterns. No to the relationships that 00:12:00.440 --> 00:12:03.080 pull us from Christ. And if we're having trouble 00:12:03.080 --> 00:12:07.519 with that, find those who can help you. Sometimes 00:12:07.519 --> 00:12:10.059 it means enduring difficult seasons with patience 00:12:10.059 --> 00:12:13.080 and hope, but it always means the discipline 00:12:13.080 --> 00:12:17.080 of God is a sign that we're invited into life, 00:12:17.620 --> 00:12:22.820 not condemned. And finally, the community nurtures 00:12:22.820 --> 00:12:26.600 our faith. We don't live faithfully by ourselves. 00:12:27.100 --> 00:12:30.019 Doesn't work very well that way. Just as the 00:12:30.019 --> 00:12:32.580 early church fathers emphasized, as we were hearing 00:12:32.580 --> 00:12:36.220 today, faith is nurtured amongst God's people. 00:12:37.080 --> 00:12:39.559 Our inheritance in Christ calls us to live as 00:12:39.559 --> 00:12:43.960 a body, together, to encourage and correct and 00:12:43.960 --> 00:12:46.840 support one another, so that the narrow door 00:12:46.840 --> 00:12:50.539 is not a solitary struggle, but a path that we 00:12:50.539 --> 00:12:54.259 walk together in mercy and grace. So living faithfully 00:12:54.259 --> 00:12:57.399 after baptism, it's not a matter of proving ourselves. 00:12:58.409 --> 00:13:02.769 But do we receive the gift freely given, follow 00:13:02.769 --> 00:13:06.590 the narrow way, and live in the reality of Christ's 00:13:06.590 --> 00:13:11.149 blood? As we consider that though, we need to 00:13:11.149 --> 00:13:14.570 remember something. It's not always easy, and 00:13:14.570 --> 00:13:19.149 it doesn't always feel fair. Sometimes we encounter 00:13:19.149 --> 00:13:23.470 hardship, suffering, challenges that make us 00:13:23.470 --> 00:13:27.269 wonder, God, what did we do wrong? What did I 00:13:27.269 --> 00:13:31.570 do wrong? Why do I feel cast out? Do you even 00:13:31.570 --> 00:13:35.529 love me? And Hebrews gives us a very clear picture. 00:13:35.750 --> 00:13:40.429 The Lord disciplines the one He loves, chastises 00:13:40.429 --> 00:13:43.830 every son He receives. Because discipline is 00:13:43.830 --> 00:13:49.409 not rejection. Discipline is a part of love. 00:13:50.710 --> 00:13:53.509 It's a sign of God's love. It's saying, I care 00:13:53.509 --> 00:13:56.700 enough to redirect you. I care enough to keep 00:13:56.700 --> 00:14:00.120 you on the path that leads to life. There are 00:14:00.120 --> 00:14:02.360 three things that we oftentimes see and wonder 00:14:02.360 --> 00:14:05.940 about. Sometimes God may have to have direct 00:14:05.940 --> 00:14:09.379 correction with us. He sometimes has to bring 00:14:09.379 --> 00:14:12.120 situations into our lives to get our attention. 00:14:13.139 --> 00:14:15.320 To show us that we need to turn, to rethink, 00:14:15.460 --> 00:14:18.559 to change direction. His direction is like a 00:14:18.559 --> 00:14:23.250 loving nudge. It's firm. But it's meant to protect 00:14:23.250 --> 00:14:26.450 us and guide us toward the narrow way But then 00:14:26.450 --> 00:14:29.289 there are times where it's just natural consequences 00:14:29.289 --> 00:14:33.850 God sometimes just lets things play out as our 00:14:33.850 --> 00:14:38.009 choices unfold It's not about punishment. It's 00:14:38.009 --> 00:14:42.289 a reality check He sometimes just allows reality 00:14:42.289 --> 00:14:44.889 help us understand the impact of our actions 00:14:44.889 --> 00:14:47.590 And the wisdom of living according to his ways 00:14:47.590 --> 00:14:52.710 instead of ours but third It's about refined 00:14:52.710 --> 00:14:56.830 trust. Because sometimes hardship is simply to 00:14:56.830 --> 00:15:00.350 draw us closer to Him. Even when nothing outward 00:15:00.350 --> 00:15:03.629 changes, the seasons teach us to cling to God. 00:15:04.509 --> 00:15:06.990 To trust His sovereignty and to recognize that 00:15:06.990 --> 00:15:10.730 He is at work even when we cannot see the full 00:15:10.730 --> 00:15:14.190 picture. See, what I didn't realize until I was 00:15:14.190 --> 00:15:16.230 in China is that I had a lot of trouble going 00:15:16.230 --> 00:15:19.590 through doors. While I was there, I was trying 00:15:19.590 --> 00:15:23.330 to show a class how to play a game Duck Duck 00:15:23.330 --> 00:15:27.350 Goose and so as I saw all these grown -ups sitting 00:15:27.350 --> 00:15:32.169 in their seats and I went Duck Duck Goose and 00:15:32.169 --> 00:15:36.070 I ran as you're supposed to with the game but 00:15:36.070 --> 00:15:38.190 I was trying to get their attention and interact 00:15:38.190 --> 00:15:41.570 with them but I ran so hard through the doorway 00:15:41.570 --> 00:15:45.029 swung my leg out just a little too far the one 00:15:45.029 --> 00:15:48.279 that sticks out a little to the side kicked the 00:15:48.279 --> 00:15:52.620 edge of the doorway and broke my big toe. Snap. 00:15:54.460 --> 00:15:57.139 You know, pain makes you cry, but so much pain 00:15:57.139 --> 00:16:00.559 that you just laugh and you start scaring people? 00:16:01.220 --> 00:16:05.259 One of those days. I spent the last three months 00:16:05.259 --> 00:16:07.820 of my time in China hobbling around on crutches, 00:16:08.500 --> 00:16:10.840 asking myself, what's going on here? What did 00:16:10.840 --> 00:16:14.740 I do wrong, God? Am I on the wrong path? Was 00:16:14.740 --> 00:16:17.379 my mom completely right to be afraid of me going 00:16:17.379 --> 00:16:20.879 to China and managing to get myself hurt? And 00:16:20.879 --> 00:16:23.659 there I was, in the midst of the vulnerability, 00:16:24.860 --> 00:16:27.000 but realizing that God was still providing for 00:16:27.000 --> 00:16:31.039 me. See, sometimes life just happens. And it's 00:16:31.039 --> 00:16:33.840 just meant to be a reminder to slow down, to 00:16:33.840 --> 00:16:36.879 pay attention, and to trust God's care, even 00:16:36.879 --> 00:16:39.980 when life doesn't go as we expect. In all these 00:16:39.980 --> 00:16:42.360 cases, the Lord's discipline is not condemnation. 00:16:42.730 --> 00:16:46.409 It's mercy. It's guidance. It's the loving hand 00:16:46.409 --> 00:16:49.909 of the Father inviting us to walk through the 00:16:49.909 --> 00:16:55.429 narrow door. Not around. Not against. Through. 00:16:56.389 --> 00:16:58.669 To live faithfully in Christ. To embrace our 00:16:58.669 --> 00:17:02.190 inheritance. To embrace our baptism. Remember 00:17:02.190 --> 00:17:05.390 that glass door in China? At first, I thought 00:17:05.390 --> 00:17:08.190 it was the way forward. Everything looked clear. 00:17:08.519 --> 00:17:11.359 Everything looked perfect. Everything appeared 00:17:11.359 --> 00:17:15.200 to be right in my eyes. But I ran straight at 00:17:15.200 --> 00:17:17.880 it only to discover it wasn't a door at all. 00:17:18.859 --> 00:17:22.259 It was a plate glass window and I bled and I 00:17:22.259 --> 00:17:26.180 stumbled and I broke my face. Yet the actual 00:17:26.180 --> 00:17:30.579 doorway, the real way through, was still wide 00:17:30.579 --> 00:17:35.720 open. It may be a narrow door, but it's more 00:17:35.720 --> 00:17:39.119 than wide enough for us. Anyone could have gone 00:17:39.119 --> 00:17:41.539 through it. And the fact that I ran into the 00:17:41.539 --> 00:17:44.319 window didn't mean there was anything wrong with 00:17:44.319 --> 00:17:47.339 the path. It meant I needed to slow down to pay 00:17:47.339 --> 00:17:49.619 attention and to go the right way. And that's 00:17:49.619 --> 00:17:53.000 exactly what Jesus is showing us today. The narrow 00:17:53.000 --> 00:17:55.279 door is not about excluding us or making life 00:17:55.279 --> 00:17:59.519 harder. It's about safeguarding us. Making a 00:17:59.519 --> 00:18:01.359 way to make sure we're not hurting ourselves 00:18:01.359 --> 00:18:04.680 down the wrong path. A way to keep us from harming 00:18:04.680 --> 00:18:08.109 or making worse. Christ wants us to get through. 00:18:08.430 --> 00:18:11.369 He's made the way. He opened the door by shedding 00:18:11.369 --> 00:18:14.329 His own blood. It wasn't my blood that could 00:18:14.329 --> 00:18:17.230 open a doorway. How often is it that our blood, 00:18:17.470 --> 00:18:20.670 our efforts, our struggles do absolutely nothing 00:18:20.670 --> 00:18:24.329 to make the way open? We just bleed on everything. 00:18:25.609 --> 00:18:28.089 None of our mistakes, our efforts, our struggles 00:18:28.089 --> 00:18:32.869 can ever make a way. It's only His. As much as 00:18:32.869 --> 00:18:35.700 we may bleed, for the windows that we want to 00:18:35.700 --> 00:18:39.440 push open. It's not our way that ever opens the 00:18:39.440 --> 00:18:42.059 door. The only way through the path is the one 00:18:42.059 --> 00:18:45.460 that He's already prepared. So just as God allows 00:18:45.460 --> 00:18:48.599 discipline in our lives, the hardships, the corrections, 00:18:48.799 --> 00:18:52.140 the natural consequences, let us remember that 00:18:52.140 --> 00:18:54.880 it's not to harm us, but to guide us. To keep 00:18:54.880 --> 00:18:57.500 us on the path of life, to the inheritance we've 00:18:57.500 --> 00:19:00.299 been given, to the mercy that Christ's blood 00:19:00.299 --> 00:19:04.230 speaks as a better word. Because today the door 00:19:04.230 --> 00:19:09.869 is open. Christ is waiting. Will you go through? 00:19:11.269 --> 00:19:11.950 Thanks be to God.