The Narrow Door

Sunday’s sermon at The Church at Mill Run (xalt service) was on this passage.

22 Then Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem. 23 Someone asked him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?”
He said to them, 24 “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. 25 Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’
“But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’
26 “Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’
27 “But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!’
28 “There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out.
Luke 13:22-28 NIV

The pastor described ‘narrow door’ not as a teeny tiny door that you need to grease yourself up for, or squeeze through (example he gave of things it was not were: the mousehole from Tom & Jerry and the kid-sized door to those square Little Tikes plastic forts with the slide). Rather, the door was the one door, the only door, the fancy, ornate, main entrance. The big deal.

Then the pastor moved on to other points.

Which left me wondering – if it’s the big fancy main door, why is it translated as ‘narrow’? That didn’t make any sense at all. I whispered my question to a friend sitting next to me, who answered with his hypothesis: Maybe it’s the door that only a few chosen people are allowed through? Which, he mused, casts a whole new meaning on this passage.

Which got me thinking, the way it first seems to read is that you have a physically hard time fitting through. Similar to fitting a Camel through the eye of a needle. But this potentially new interpretation seems to point that it’s an interpersonal difficulty to enter, not a physical. In human terms, you need to be a dignitary, nobility, or other ‘special person’ to be allowed to use the main entrance. Everyone else is relegated to the non-important side doors of the city. Translate that to christian terms, we need to be granted permission by God (through God’s Grace and Jesus’ sacrifice – not by our own merit) to use the main entrance.

So which is it?
The term in Greek is ‘Stenos’ translated ‘narrow’ and ‘strait’ in KJV and ‘small’1 That’s the only translation I can find. I can’t seem to find ANYTHING to suggest that ‘narrow door’ actually meant the main, elegant door. No idea where the pastor got that. However, in the course of my search, I uncovered this gem of a commentary from bible.org. The author goes further into these and other points in the article, but I’ve listed them here for easy reference:

(1) Jesus is speaking to Israelites.
(2) The expression “make every effort” (“strive,” NASB) is the rendering of an athletic term, used to speak of competition in the athletic games.
(3) One is to strive to enter a particular door.
(4) The door through which the Israelites were urged to pass was one through which they had not yet passed.
(5) The door which one is to strive to enter is Christ Himself.
(6) The door that one is to strive to enter is narrow.
(7) The door through which the Israelites were urged to pass was soon to close.

Holy Spirit as a Seal

A phrase from Ephesians was brought up Monday night in Bible Study, and one person’s comment on it intrigued me, as I had never heard it described that way before, and, while it made sense to me, I wanted to dig a little myself for its accuracy.

And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.
Ephesians 1:13-14, NIV

13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.
Ephesians 1:13-14 NKJV

The comment made on Monday was that, once sealed, we (or more precisely our salvation) wouldn’t be opened (aka, couldn’t be taken away) until it reached its intended recipient (aka, God/Jesus at the end of time).

First off, Paul always talked in rambling sentences, almost always I have to sit down and put the sentence in chronological order, before I can start figuring out what he’s trying to say.

NIV:
1st. You heard the message of the truth (gospel)
2nd. You were included in Christ

1st. You believed
2nd. You were marked in Him with a seal (seal = the promised Holy Spirit)
Holy Spirit = deposit guaranteeing our inheritance for a period of time
the period of time ends with the redemption of those who are God’s possession

NKJV:
1st. You heard the word of truth (gospel)
2nd. You trusted in Him

1st. You believed
2nd. You were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise
Holy Spirit = guarantee of our inheritance for a period of time, ending with
the redemption of the purchased possession
purchased possession = those marked with the seal; aka, believers

From these two translations alone, this seal seems to be:
–a mark of ownership on a purchased possession (similar to writing your name on the inside cover of a book you just bought).
–a guarantee of our inheritance (a written promise)
–a deposit (similar to a down payment that reserves your spot)

OK… now to take a look at what other Christians have to say.

[side note, : I would like it noted (as I'm chuckling to myself at my own inefficiency, that everything I've typed above was BEFORE I came across this sermon by George Toews on logos.com. It seems I've just reinvented the wheel... again, heehee. Well, at least I know I'm on the right track. ps. I don't really know who this George Toews is, other than the info gleaned from Logos.com - he's from Winnepeg and has posted 180 sermons. But what I read in this one sermon is comprable to what I've read by other reputable theologins and the bible text itself.[End side note]

I think Toews sums up what I’ve found in other places the best:

Legal seals are still used today even though we may not see them very often. When the Bible was written, seals were quite common. They were used by merchants, by government officials and by those involved in legal situations. They were usually images or symbols carved into a ring, which was called a signet ring or some other item. When a document or a container was to be sealed, a drop of wax or a piece of soft clay was attached to it and the signet ring was used to make an impression on the wax or the clay. When it cooled or dried it formed a mark which only the person who had the seal had the right to open. Such seals protected wills, containers with precious items in them and other legal documents. Such seals indicated ownership, authenticity and offered a level of security.

Verse 13 indicates that there is a seal on each of us who belongs to God. Irwin Penner writes that “The seal indicates at least three things…” ownership – we are owned by God; authenticity – we are a genuine masterpiece from the creative hand of God; and security – we are protected for final salvation by the authority and power of God.”

The way the verb is expressed tells us that at a point in time, God did this to us. We did not seal ourselves, but God sealed us and did so by giving us the Holy Spirit.

In my limited knowledge of seals gives me to understand was that a letter sealed in wax with a signet ring gave the intended recipient a secure knowledge that the document hadn’t been tampered with from the time it was sealed to the time it was delivered into the correct hands, and that the seal was a sign that it was authentic, and not a fraud sent from an impersonator.

George Toews seems to think that it also means it isn’t opened except by the person owning the signet. Which makes sense in the case of a will, perhaps, but not in the case of a letter to be delivered. However, it would make sense that this passage was meant to be understood in legal terminology (since so many other passages are described using legal terms, rather than in every day correspondence.

Ok. I think a simple question has been answered in WAY too long of a rant. I’m stopping now.

Pulpit Plagiarism?

An interesting Note on preaching other pastor’s sermons:
Pulpit Plagiarism Article

Birthday Pictures: One Year Old

Copyright ©2011 Olan Mills, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

John the Baptist

John Testifies About Jesus
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.”

32 Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. 33 And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.” John 1:29-34

I love this mini God-story. I’m not sure how I missed the significance of it in John’s life until now. I’m sure it ranks even higher than my butterfly story, and had even more of an impact on John’s life. In Katie-paraphrase, God spoke to John, in his prayer time, or his daily devotionals, or whatever, and told him to go baptize people, and as he was baptizing people, to watch for this dove-thingy. It’ll only happen once, and when it does, you’ll know that person is special. reeeaaallly special. like, epic special. So I can only imagine John doing what God told him to: dunking people in the river, day in and day out. My arms would be aching after the first hour of that. And then there’s anticipation. Is this going to be the person? no… sigh… Next! Will this be the person? no… sigh… It’s enough to stress anyone out. I can imagine him worrying that he somehow missed the person, or what if the person doesn’t know to come to him? or doesn’t want to be dunked? Or worse, what if he wanted to be, and one of John’s disciples turns him away? He didn’t dare let that happen – no matter how unlikely the prospect….

John himself says he didn’t recognize Jesus – AS THE ANNOINTED ONE – their paths must have crossed on many occasions over the years, I am sure. I mean, Mary went and stayed with John’s mother when they were both pregnant. They’re family friends. (Family, even? need to check on that one…) And even if they weren’t close friends, the Jewish community wasn’t big. Not the way modern day communities are these days. So John isn’t saying that he didn’t know Jesus as in they had never met before. He’s saying that he didn’t recognize him (‘know him’) as the Chosen One by God. BUT… there it was, that dove-thingy-just like God said it would be. After all that anticipation and letdown and fear and aching arms…. it was all worth it. And now, every time he sees Jesus, that’s all he can think about, talk about. ‘Look! There he is! That’s him! That’s the guy I was telling you about!’

David, a man after God’s own heart

Tags

asias hope, big dave, dave bomparte, nicolle bomparte, washington post

With thousands upon thousands of others, my prayers are with Nicolle Bompart and her family as they remember ‘Big Dave’. He was an integral part of a hospital in Haiti where several of my friends volunteered at in the days and months after the earthquake. I think John McCollum put it very eloquently… and even he was lost for words. Director of Asia’s Hope on Big Dave’s passing

Part of a Washington Post article especially caught my eye :

“Bompart, known as “Big Dave,” simply showed up at Project Medishare’s field hospital at the Port-au-Prince airport 10 days after the earthquake, Green said.

“He was as big as one of our tents and he said, ‘Can I help?’” Green said. “He had extraordinary organizational and leadership skills, and within a short amount of time he was working for us.”

read the full Washington Post Article

For years, Big Dave was a living example of what can happen when someone allows God to have free reign of their talents and time. In his last struggle, he and his wife are a beacon of hope and faith that the world cannot ignore, the devil cannot suppress, even death cannot extinguish.

Genesis 50:20 “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”