The Way

Pastor Page, February 13, 2008

The Christian life is variously symbolized as a way, a path, a walk . . . Jesus used the symbolism himself: “Enter through the narrow gate,” he said, “for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14) And though we automatically think destruction equals hell and life equals heaven, we shouldn’t be so hasty. In fact, the context of these verses—Jesus is talking about how we treat others in life and following after false prophets—shows that he’s not talking about the after-life, but what goes on here and now in this one.

The way of integrity, of treating your neighbors as you would like to be treated, of not running after false profits, is a narrow way . . . we have something within us, something that seems to be passed down from person to person, something that our forebears in the faith posited as an “original sin” that makes that way difficult at best. Paul put it well: “I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.” (Romans 7:15). For Paul, sin was a thing, a force, an entity that lived within us like some ravening beast, a dark force that warred within us with the Spirit of life.

In addition to that which is within us are those things that are without—our entire culture, what Paul would call “the flesh” (no, it doesn’t refer primarily to sex), is stacked against our following the way of life. Far from doing to others as we would have them do to us (Matthew 7:12), the siren song of wealth and power says it’s ok to beat others out of their livelihood in the name of the free market, in the name of some warped version of evolution called survival of the fittest . . . and every message we’re sent by the media reinforces that viewpoint. The gate is indeed wide, and there are many who take it, that leads to the destruction of relationships, of families, of lives. Our culture sees to that.

But Jesus says “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10), and this abundant life is ours if we enter through that ol’ narrow gate . . . but how do we do it? What constitutes “entering through the narrow gate?” Well, elsewhere in John he says “Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.” (John 15:4). It’s this “abiding in him” that is the narrow way, the way to life. And it’s the bearing of fruit, what Paul would call “fruits of the Spirit” (Galatians 5) that is this abundant life.

Here at Lent, we’re encouraged to explore this “abiding in Jesus” more thoroughly . . . the spiritual practices we recommend and encourage at this time are nothing more (or less) than ways to abide in him as he abides in us. As we study scripture, pray and listen quietly for God’s voice, we go further down that narrow way, the way that few are able to travel, that leads to life.