All of you know that I try to use deep theological things in my sermons...right? I am sure that you have often sat there.scratching your heads...wondering where in the world I come up with these deep theological concepts and examples. I mean, we have talked about the Three Stooges...the Lone Ranger and Tonto....Andy and Barney...we’ve even used the big green ogre Shrek as an example...but...we haven’t even begun to scratch the surface...today...we’re going to look at an example from a very deep movie...Funny Farm. I’m sure all of you recognize the title...it’s probably in your library right beside all of the Charlton Heston movies.
On the slim chance that you aren’t familiar with this particular movie let me give you a brief rundown of the events in the movie. A city sports reporter, who is played by Chevy Chase, decides to move to the country with his wife to write his first novel. Throughout the movie he has some pretty humorous encounters with his neighbors...particularly with a mailman who refuses to stop at the mailbox...he just flings the mail out the window at 60 mph....but the part we’re going to focus in on is near the beginning of the film where he and his wife are on their way to their new home. They set out in their car and are followed by the moving van. They quickly get ahead of the moving van...but...not to worry...because he has drawn the movers a map. However, while they are on their way and they know where they are going without a map...the movers...they have no idea where the destination is...and when some teenagers decide to cut down some road signs...they quickly get lost and they cannot find this mythical town of Redbud...until they go over a wooden covered bridge that one of them describes as termites holding hands...and when they do get there...they are not pleased at all. There are just some places on this Earth that are hard to find...and apparently Redbud was one of those places.
If you have your Bibles go ahead and open them up to Matthew chapter 7. We’re going to conclude our investigation into heaven and hell by taking a look at the Sermon on the Mount and we’re going to ask one more question. Up to this point we have answered questions of who, what, where, when, and how about heaven and hell....and today we are going to deal with the why question...but before we get to our question...let’s deal with today’s primary text...verses 13 and 14 here in Matthew 7.
Our question for today is simply this....why does Jesus say here that Heaven is so hard to find but Hell is not? Before we go to far into depth I think that we all need to agree that this is what he is talking about here...the narrow gate he is talking about here is our eternal award in Heaven and the broad gate he is talking about is the way to Hell. So, with that understanding...why in the world is Jesus saying that Heaven is so hard to find but hell is not? Or...is that what he is saying...maybe he has something else in mind here....but to the untrained and casual observer it would appear that is what he is saying....so we will start there.
And, once again, we are going to start by taking a look at the original language that Matthew used to write these words...and it will come as no shock to us to learn that the words that were translated here as "broad" and "narrow"...the mean literally those two things. There is no real special meaning that we need to dig out...but...that is not necessarily the case here with the word that was translated as "gate" and "way."
First, let’s deal with the Greek word "pule" (poo-lay) that is translated here as Gate. Now...if we back up here to the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount...we see who Jesus is talking to here. He is talking to a multitude of people...and at the end of chapter four we read that this multitude is not only made up of Galileans...it is also made up of people from Jerusalem.udea...the Decapolis. There are a lot of different people here...and most of them....most of them have been to Jerusalem. They have seen the walls around that city...and they have seen the gates that are used to access that city. They are getting the imagery here from Jesus...they see it in their minds...this word...it literally means a gate that gives ingress and egress from a city....so obviously what Jesus is saying here is that the physical gate to Heaven is a teeny tiny trap door and the one going to Hell is big enough to drive a 747 through...and that would entirely be the case if there wasn’t another meaning to this word...because even though it can literally mean the entrance into a city or a town or the temple...it also has a metaphorical meaning...and that meaning is the access or entrance into any state...and we’re not talking about Kentucky, Tennessee, or California when we say state...we’re talking about a state of mind...a state of behavior...the state of being righteous and being evil...Jesus says that the gate leading to righteousness...the one that you have to go through to get God...it’s like putting a football field on a 121 yard field...it’s a tight fit but it can still be done. He is also saying the gate that leads to hell...it’s like putting a postage stamp on the deck of an aircraft carrier...man...there’s a lot of room to spare. One leaves little margin for error....the other....you don’t even have to aim for it. Keep that in mind as we look at our other word here....
The word in the Greek is hodos...but to us in English...it is the word "way". This is the same Greek word used to refer to the Christians in Acts when Luke calls them members of the "Way" and like "pule"...there are a couple of different meanings here that we got to consider. First...let’s look at the actual physical meaning of the word...and it means a traveled way...a road....it is even translated as highway three times in the New Testament. So, putting the two words together we find that Jesus...he is saying that the road to Hell...man it is broad...a lot of people can fit on that road....and it’s a good thing because there is a gate just as big for the travelers of that road to enter. Hell is open for business and it can accommodate as many people as will come....but look at what he says about the road to Heaven...he calls the way that leads to life...he calls it difficult. The Greek here also has a couple of possible meanings...it’s literal physical meaning...in the way that we would think of a physical road is "narrow straitened and contracted." So, if we are looking at these words of Jesus as being actual physical references...we find him saying that Heaven is indeed hard to find...but Hell...man it is easy. How easy is it to find the interstate but how hard is it to find a one lane rural country road...and which one is more heavily traveled....and really....which one is easier to travel? Which is better maintained...which gives you the least likelihood for flat tires...car problems...getting stuck? Yes...if Jesus was talking about actual physical road here...we could conclude that Heaven is just naturally hard to find...and Hell...it’s easy...and that would bring the question of why would a loving God design it that way....but, thankfully, I don’t think that is what Jesus is saying at all. When you read the Sermon on the Mount you read Jesus’ teachings concerning the beatitudes and here, in chapter 7, immediately preceding the two verses we are looking at...he gives what we have come to call the Golden Rule. Now, do you think that in the midst of all this teaching concerning love and the way to live a Godly life Jesus would stop to talk about an actual physical road and gate? Remember, this is a speech and Jesus is the master speaker...he’s not going to go off on that kind of tangent...so I don’t think Jesus intends for us to conclude that these are physical roads and gates. Oh, I think the word picture is there...he’s wants his audience to get that in their heads....but his point isn’t about the physical roads to each place...and...in fact...heaven is not any harder to find than hell...we just make it that way. Let’s take a look at the true meaning that Jesus is pushing here.
The key to understanding what Jesus is really saying here lies in understanding that each of these words has a metaphorical meaning as well. We’ve already touched on that meaning for gate....it is the access or entrance into any state...and here it is the state of being justified before God or not being justified before God...it’s not so much the actual gates of Heaven or Hell. Now...let’s take a look at the metaphorical meanings of the two other words.
In order for it to be done efficiently we need to consider them both together....the metaphorical meaning of the word "hodos" which is translated here as "way" is "a course of conduct and a way or manner of thinking, feeling, and deciding." Got it? So, way isn’t just a road...it is also how you view the world...how you think...how you feel...and how you decide. And what did Jesus say about this way...he said it was difficult...and the metaphorical meaning of the word that is translated as difficult is "to trouble, afflict, and distress." Having heard that...would you be amazed to also know that this word is used to describe the pressing that is done to grapes? What happens to grapes when they are pressed....they are absolutely and positively squashed, aren’t they? There is nothing left but the juice...and that is exactly what Jesus is saying here about making it to Heaven. If you want to make it to Heaven...then it’s not going to be an easy trip. The Way...the way that you think...feel and view this world is going to be difficult. The other way...the way to hell...it is easy.
Let’s go back to our road analogy. We talked just a minute ago about how the Interstates and Parkways are so much easier to travel upon then some of these one-lane country roads that we have around here. They are wider...they are better paved....and there is more room on them for error...they even give you a big shoulder on the side of the road to use to avoid trouble or to stop on should you have problems....they are so much easier to use...and we get totally get that concept from the history of these roadways.
According to a website called About.com "On July 7, 1919 a young army captain named Dwight David Eisenhower joined 294 other members of the army and departed from Washington D.C. in the military’s first automobile caravan across the country. Due to poor roads and highways, the caravan averaged five miles per hour and took 62 days to reach Union Square in San Francisco.
At the end of World War II, General Dwight David Eisenhower surveyed the war damage to Germany and was impressed by the durability of the Autobahn. While a single bomb could make a train route useless, Germany’s wide and modern highways could often be used immediately after being bombed because it was difficult to destroy such a wide swath of concrete or asphalt.
These two experiences helped show President Eisenhower the importance of efficient highways. In the 1950s, America was frightened of nuclear attack by the Soviet Union (people were even building bomb shelters at home).
It was thought that a modern interstate highway system could provide citizens with evacuation routes from the cities and would also allow the rapid movement of military equipment across the country.
Within a year after Eisenhower became President in 1953, he began to push for a system of interstate highways across the United States."
Kind of makes sense...doesn’t it...if you were fleeing from a nuclear attack or anything else...would you want to do it on an interstate or on a one lane country road...what did we see when Hurricane Katrina struck...even the interstates were full.
Let’s tie this in with the metaphorical meaning of these words that we are looking at...there are two ways to live our lives...there are two ways to view this world...the easy way by traveling on the interstate or the hard way...on the country road. Now we see the word picture that Jesus is giving us and we can apply it to the metaphorical aspects of what he is saying. Now...we can answer this question of "why is it so hard to find Heaven"....and the answer is that isn’t hard.
Wait a minute, Mike...we have spent all this time this morning talking about interstates and country roads...how one is easier and one is hard...how can you say that it isn’t hard? Listen to me for a second...finding the road isn’t what is hard....staying on the road is the tough part. I don’t know of a single person in this world who wanted to seek out Jesus that was unable to find him...but I know of several who have sought him out...found him...and then at one point or another left the way that they started.
Remember how long it took General Eisenhower and his fellow soldiers to get to San Francisco on those "hard" roads? 62 days...how long would that trip take you today? I can tell you that I have made it from Southern California to Russell Springs, Kentucky in about 40 hours. You can go quickly and easily if you want to....so, my friends, the hard part isn’t finding heaven....it’s not hard to find the road...but it is hard to stay on that road...commitment to the journey is hard. Let me give you some statistics:
First, let’s talk about the amount of time...if any is spent at all in the service of the kingdom....according to the Barna research group:
· 2006-27% 2005-26% 2004-24% 2002- 24% 2000- 21% 1996- 21% 1995- 1992- 24% 1991-27%
· Women are more likely to volunteer their time than men. 30% versus 24% respectively. (2006)
We are only talking about one-quarter of the population...why so few? Because the road is hard...it’s so much easier to get on the interstate.
This number gets even more staggering when we consider that, according to Barna...only 47% of Americans attend church...any church...regardless of religion. So, if we do the math...only about 12% of Americans volunteer their time regularly in their church. Also, of those 47% that attend church...just a little over half of them say that they are strongly committed to the Christian faith...that equates to about 27% of Americans...another 30% of Christians say they are moderately committed to walking this way that Jesus says is so difficult.
Do we need any more modern day evidence that Jesus was telling the truth here? So...the question we have to answer is...why is it so hard to stay on the way...we know it’s not hard to find Heaven...why is it so hard to get there once we find the way? We find the answer to that question in the Gospel of John.chapter 15. In verse 18-20 Jesus tells us that:
The reason that it is hard is because it was hard for the one who gave us the chance to walk this way...we can’t expect for us to have it easier than the one who paved the way. Jesus tells us here…they persecuted him…they made life hard for him…so it is naturally going to be hard for us….we cannot be greater than him.
That, my friends, is the ultimate answer to our question….the reason that it is so hard to walk this path…to live the lifestyle that we have to live…to enter the narrow gate…is because as human beings we have a natural aversion to persecution. We prefer to take the path of least resistance and to just go with the flow…and this world…its natural flow isn’t the way to Heaven, is it?
I remember a poster that my sister had in her room in high school….it showed an ictus…and it was swimming the opposite direction from the other fish….an illustration of how we have to live our lives to stay on this way to heaven….we have to go against the current…go against the flow…we have to buck the trend.
But…it’s hard…isn’t it? We have all probably seen people who roll their eyes when we don’t laugh at their jokes…we have all had to flee from the temptations….we have all watched as others attack our faith…our way of life….and really, we have it easier in this country than those who face REAL persecution. The road…the way…the way that we live our lives….it is hard….but as they say…the retirement plan is out of this world.
So, as we wrap our series…as we wrap up our investigation into heaven and hell….I wonder how many questions do you have that we have left unanswered….how far do you need to take this investigation…because we have only scratched the surface. Let me encourage you to do some more follow-ups on your own…think of the questions that I haven’t answered…and attempt to answer them yourselves.
Finally, as we wrap this up…let me ask you…do you find yourself today walking the way that is broad…that maybe your life is just a little bit to easy. That’s not much of a “recruitment” slogan, is it? Come…follow me…take up your cross….but…if we want to reach our destination…it is absolutely necessary. Let me invite you…if you haven’t taken up your cross…then to come and do it today…there is no other way…and the way is hard…but it has been walked before and you won’t walk alone. So, if you need to pick up that cross…then come and do it now.
