Proclaimed on March 6, 2004

It was the Second World War. The German armies were in almost every country of Europe. One weak nation, a nation with very limited power, was standing firm in its freedom. This nation was Denmark and its monarch, King Christian, was quite aware that his country was of pigmy size compared to the Nazi giant to the south. King Christian knew that his Danish armies would be no match in battle with the mighty German military machine. But he remained steadfast in his purpose. He would lead his Danish house into a valiant and intense moral struggle. It began on a particular day when he saw a Nazi flag flying above one of his public buildings. He reminded the Nazi commander that this action was contrary to the treaty that had been signed between the two countries. Courageously the king told the German commander that the flag must be removed before 12 o'clock or he would send a soldier to remove it. At five minutes before twelve the flag was still flying and the king called the commander once again to warn the commander that he was sending a soldier to take down the flag. The Nazi commander arrogantly replied that the soldier would be shot. Then King Christian responded, “I think I should tell you, Sir, that I am that soldier!” Needless to say, the flag was lowered, but not without risk, and not without an intense struggle.

These are the same sort of issues being addressed to us today in our Gospel lesson. Here we find Jesus, like this King of Denmark, with a steadfast purpose. Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, his final journey to this hallowed city of the Jews. The question is asked, “Did he really have to go, especially when it would mean certain death?!”

The answer is revealed when Jesus was asked by some who heard him, “Who is going to be saved?!” It's a question that even today we often hear in various religious and political discussions. Who will be saved? Who is going to be in? Who is going to be out? The answer of Jesus was simple, but confusing, “Strive to enter, strive to enter in by the narrow door.” What did he mean?

The word used for “strive” is the same word we derive our English word “agony.” What Jesus meant was that the way of salvation was a way of intense struggle. It is not simply a matter of nationality, as some of the Jews who questioned Jesus thought, nor is it simply a matter of belief or behavior. It is rather, going to where God is in order to stand in for God. This is why Jesus was going to Jerusalem, for like King Christian of Denmark, he was going to look directly into the eyes of evil in order to stand in for God.

M. Scott Peck, writer of the best seller The Road Less Traveled, a book about striving and spiritual health, wrote a second book, The People of the Lie, this one about facing real evil in the world. His premise in this book was a shocking and controversial one. Evil is not to be found in bad actions, but in our moral laziness. It is found when supposedly good people refuse to confront or take a stand against bad things, not so much because they are scared, but simply because they are taking the easy way out. I have to admit that this is certainly a temptation of mine, for it is simply far easier to ignore bad things.

However, is this not how our society has gotten to where it is? Is this not why the Episcopal Church made some of its decisions at General Convention this past summer? For the last thirty or more years good people have backed down from bad behavior, refusing to stand in for God. Why? Because they didn’t have time for the struggle. They just wanted to get on with life. Perhaps it is a matter of simple laziness.

When Jesus faced the same facets on his journey to Jerusalem, he said to those about him, “How often have I longed to gather you, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you refused! So be it! Your house will be left to you!” A strange statement, “Your house will be left to you!”

Perhaps it can be explained this way. There is the story of a woman who in this world had every comfort and luxury. When she died, she being a good woman, arrived in heaven. There, an angel who was sent to conduct her to her house greeted her. They passed by many a fine mansion, and each one the woman thought must belong to her. Then they came to the suburbs where the houses became smaller and much simpler. At last, they arrived at a little hut. “This is your house!” said the angel. “What!” said the woman, “That?!” “I'm sorry,” said the angel, “but this seemed to be all the closer you wanted to live by God, and that house is all that we could build for you with the materials you provided!”

Perhaps it is difficult to be like a brood of chicks being hustled under the wings of Christ where it sometimes seems to be dark, where we may face an intense struggle, where it is risky, where we may have to stand with God! We now face the same challenges as King Christian of Denmark. We face the same journey of Jesus to go to Jerusalem. To Jerusalem where they kill the prophets, where our Lord Jesus was killed, and where we too could also die, but in so doing, defeating evil, and in the process winning a new and purposeful life!