Enter the Gate

Acts 2: 42-47
John 10:1-10

Picture in your mind a very tall fence with a gate, one that is meant to keep people out of whatever it is protecting. Shape it in your mind, is it built in such a way that everyone can see what is inside or does it protect the place from prying eyes as well? Is it made of wood or concrete or steel? Are there spikes on the top of it or barbed wire or perhaps an electrical current to really shock people away? Now picture the Gate’s door. Does it open up by swinging outward or does it swing inward? Do people only come in or only go out?

Many Christians believe in a heaven that is exclusive. It is exclusive because we believe only a certain kind of person gets into those heavenly gates. We tend to think of those people as good, honest, kind and generous. Those are the kind of people in heaven, the people that no one would ever say a bad word against. We reassure ourselves that Aunt Mabel and Grandpa Jack have to be in heaven because they were the greatest people on earth. The longer they have been gone, the greater they seem to us in retrospect.

Yes, heaven is an exclusive place where only the best of the best get in. The ones who tithe their 10% or even more, they are on all the church committees and help at the local SPCA. They are the ones that go to every ballgame and ballet their kids ever had and knew how to do the puzzling Algebra problems when their children asked for help with their homework.

There’s just one thing I have to say about this idea so many of us have about Heaven. I don’t think there is anyone in heaven if that is what is required for us to get there. You see, the problem with all of us thinking about heaven as the place where the good people go, is that none of us are good people. Oh, I know, we like to tell ourselves we’re good people. We tell ourselves that all this hard work we have been doing will earn us brownie points with God. All that time I’ve spent helping the homeless and giving money to poor people has to endear me to God eventually, right? No, not right.

None of us are good enough for heaven. By thinking only good people go to heaven, we put all of our trust in ourselves rather than in God for our eternal life. We put all of our eggs into the basket marked with our name rather than Jesus’ name. The truth is that none of us are going to get to heaven if Jesus is not accompanying us to those heavenly gates. It doesn’t matter how big the gate is or what it is made of or how it opens up because if Jesus is not by our side, there will be no admittance. You will be turned away and told that no one knows you there if Jesus isn’t accompanying you. So it doesn’t matter if you’re a good person because the only thing that matters is whose company you’ve been keeping.

This is great news. Oh, I know some of you are thinking, “Pastor Audra, this is terrible news. I’m worried about Aunt Mabel and Grandpa Jack and now about myself too!” The reason this is great news is because you are no longer in charge of whether you get to heaven or not. The weight and worry has been lifted! The only way you get to heaven is if you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Jesus tells us in John 10 that the only way to enter that gate is through Him because he is that gate. All those who enter through Jesus will be saved. They will come in and go out and find a home waiting for them.

So who are Jesus’ sheep? Who are the lucky ones who get to enter the gate and be accepted into heaven? Are Jesus’ followers just the good people? I sure hope not because the good people I talked about earlier are very, very rare. Has no one ever spoken bad about you or been mad at you? Have you never said an angry word to anyone or lied to someone you cared about? Do you always tithe your 10% and tirelessly help the homeless? Well, even if these questions can be answered in a positive way, we need to remember it is not by our deeds that we get to heaven, it is Jesus’ actions that save us. It is Jesus’ faithfulness and belief in God that save his followers, and their faith is a byproduct of Jesus’ faith.

All of these things I’ve mentioned are noble and wonderful deeds that we do, but they do not pay your way to heaven. Only Jesus can do that. And he has paid the way for his followers; those who are willing to love him and be loved by him will find the gates opened to them.

We are back to who are Jesus’ sheep? Who are the ones that get to walk through that narrow gate? Let’s take a look at Mark 2 where the Pharisees are incensed that Jesus was eating with certain people. “While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

The people that have been called to follow Jesus are not just the righteous, but the sinners. He has come for those who have a less than sterling character according to society. Jesus’ three years of ministry were filled with moments where he ate, slept and laughed with the outcasts of society. These were the people no one wanted to associate with; they were the ones that the good people wouldn’t be caught dead laughing, eating, and sleeping with. But Jesus called these social pariahs his friends. These were the people who Jesus wanted to save.

Take heart, brothers and sisters. Jesus came not for those who were pure and good, but for those who were weak and downtrodden. Jesus came not for the mythical good people, but for the reality of who we really are as human beings. God did not send Jesus to save the perfect humanitarian, but for those people who always fall short of perfection without Jesus by their side. Jesus came for you, and he came for me.

Do not try to be perfect because it isn’t possible. Do not try to always have the answers because only God has all of them. Do not worry about your life or the life of your family. Make sure they know who Jesus is, make sure you know who Jesus is so that when you hear his voice, like the sheep in the parable, you will follow only him. Because Jesus will come one day and escort you through those heavenly gates, as long as you are a sinner who has known God’s perfect love – in other words, as long as you know Jesus Christ. Amen.