He passed through towns and villages, teaching as he went and making his way to Jerusalem. Someone asked him, "Lord, will only a few people be saved?" He answered them, "Strive to enter through the narrow door, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough. After the master of the house has arisen and locked the door, then will you stand outside knocking and saying, 'Lord, open the door for us.' He will say to you in reply, 'I do not know where you are from.' And you will say, 'We ate and drank in your company and you taught in our streets.' Then he will say to you, 'I do not know where [you] are from. Depart from me, all you evildoers!' And there will be wailing and grinding of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God and you yourselves cast out. And people will come from the east and the west and from the north and the south and will recline at table in the kingdom of God. For behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last."
The basic idea I took away from it is that the door you must walk through to be recognized by God, the door to truly joining the righteous community of the faithful and being a good person generally, isn't necessarily easy to walk through. The wider and more easily accessible door is ultimately one that'll tend to leave you out alone in the cold. The more modern-day analogy used by Pastor Robyn was that of a moving walkway, much like the ones you see at airports. And she compared the forward motion of these walkways to the wider door, meaning it's the easier way, the path of least resistance, the way of the world. And why does this door or walkway lead to being cast out? Because this is the way often characterized by evildoing, oppression, and harm, and dominated by institutions of power and control that lead to security and pleasure (at least for those in positions of power and control), perhaps because it's often easier to let ourselves be motivated by greed, anger, and delusion than their counterparts, or else remain complacent out of fear or ignorance. The narrow door, in contrast, is to actively walk in the opposite direction, choosing to act out of nongreed, nonanger, and nondelusion, and to be brave in the face of fear.
One example Pastor Robyn gave is when Jesus drives out the merchants and money changers from the temple and overturns their tables, saying that these people were exploiting the poor who were obligated to make ritual sacrifices at the temple and profiting off of them, that the economics of the temple was harmful to them. But this was a commonly accepted situation, and most went along with it whether they saw it as just or otherwise. And certainly the merchants, money changers, and religious leaders were benefiting from it. So when Jesus overturned their tables and drove them out of the temple, he was striking at the economic heart of his society and religion out of love for the people and walking in the opposite direction of the proverbial moving walkway.
Another example was how most of the professed Christians in Nazi Germany, millions of both Catholics and Protestants, went along with, or even supported, the Third Reich. And some even went so far as to develop their own brand on Christian nationalism that consciously incorporated the racist, white supremacist ideology of the Third Reich into their own theology. It was something supported by both the political and religious leaders of Germany. Some were seduced into believing in the correctness of this ideology. Some saw how they would benefit. And some just followed the walkway because that was the easiest thing to do as they themselves were out of harm's way. But some spoke out. Some worked to undermine the Third Reich. And some tried to save the victims of their policies and intolerance, especially the Jewish targets of their violence. Essentially, the two kinds of doors represent two kinds of Christianity or approaches to religion in general. Pastor Robyn illustrated this with a quote from Fredrick Douglas:
I love the pure, peaceable, and impartial Christianity of Christ; I therefore hate the corrupt, slaveholding, women-whipping, cradle-plundering, partial, and hypocritical Christianity of this land. Indeed, I can see no reason, but the most deceitful one, for calling the religion of this land Christianity. I look upon it as the climax of all misnomers, the boldest of all frauds, and the grossest of all libels.
Pastor Robyn then used as a third example the long history of slavery and racism in the US, which many accepted because they were seduced into believing in the ideology of white supremacy, benefited from it directly, or simply went along with it because it was just the reality of how things were. And many Christians went so far as to take quotes from the Bible to justify it on a religious basis as well as economic and racist ones. But there were also those who spoke out against slavery, and some even willing to help slaves escape to free territories. And while Pastor Robyn focused on racism and the perpetuation of white supremacy within the makeup up of our thought and material structure of our institutions, I think it's possible to extend this idea to the broadest possible struggles against any form of harmful, oppressive, and exploitative ideologies, economic systems, and social institutions. But to go against the flow of the walkway is often difficult and dangerous. For one, you have to put in a lot more energy to walk in the other direction and not be passively carried towards an arguably undesirable destination, which would make you in some sense complicit. And doing so means that you'll likely not share in the comfort or security that simply going with the flow provides. You may stumble and fall and not be accepted by those around you, like Jesus' rejection in his own hometown of Nazareth. And worse, it can be dangerous because it can put you into conflict with worldly powers, and there are many guarding the walkway and willing to protect it and the status quo. Walking in the opposite direction or trying to stop the walkway entirely is to challenge the power and privilege of those on the walkway, and especially those who created and own it, illustrated by Jesus' execution in Jerusalem by the political and religious elites of his time.
Pastor Robyn referenced something Jesus says earlier in Luke, when he's reading a scroll from the prophet Isaiah and essentially summarizing his own spiritual mission, near the end of her homily:
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord."
And she more or less explained that when Jesus says things like "some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last," it can be understood to mean some who are first — i.e., political and religious leaders in positions of power who use that power to exploit, harm, and oppress others — will find themselves last and left outside. Conversely, some who are last — i.e., those who suffer under that exploitation, harm, and oppression or fight against it and are in turn harmed — will find themselves first and reclining at table in the kin-dom of God to the anguish of those who are cast out. There are so many morals and warnings here that I could spend hours reflecting on them, but a big one is that: just because you find yourself in a position of power and privilege doesn't mean that you're worthy of it and in a position to judge others; and just because you find yourself in the position of being poor, marginalized, or oppressed doesn't mean that you deserve it or that you're unworthy of justice or love. And in the words of Pastor Robyn, our duty as followers of Christ is to walk as fast as we can in the opposite direction, holding the hands of others, and being the change Christ came to bring to the world. Which is why being a follower of Christ to me means often being rebellious and radical and standing on the side of the poor, the incarcerated, and the oppressed.
After the service, the person sitting behind me, Gini, introduced herself and asked me what brought me to Spirit of Grace and if it has what I'm looking for. I said that I wasn't sure yet as it was only my second time visiting and that some of the things I'm looking for aren't typical. She asked what those were, and I mentioned that the church seems great but I also have a very contemplative aspect to my spirituality that isn't as prevalent in most places I visit, whereupon she proceeded to explain she's a teacher of centering prayer and has been deeply involved with it since learning it from the modern-day pioneers like Bede Griffiths and Thomas Keating, and there are others here who have a similar interest in contemplation. It was kind of a crazy coincidence and did seem a little like fate or the holy spirit at work. I also spent a bit of time talking to Rachel a little more and met a few other members/visitors before heading home. It definitely feels like I'm being called to spend more time here.
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