Brief synopsis of the readings: In the gospel Jesus answers the question of who will be saved by advising the people to “enter by the narrow door.” He goes on to say that once the master has locked the door he will not open it again, even for those who claim to know him. He says that there will be great wailing and gnashing of teeth and that the last shall be first and the first shall be last.

There was a scene in the 1982 movie Gandhi that always reminds me of this Gospel. In 1915 Gandhi sailed from South Africa to Bombay and was on the same ship as the incoming British Military Governor. A ship this large has several gangplanks and the Governor came down the main gangplank to a military reception complete with an honor guard and a band. Meanwhile toward the stern (back) of the boat, there was a much smaller gangplank where Mr. Gandhi (as a 3rd class passenger) departed.

If we think about these two gangplanks, the wide and fancy one; the small simple one, I think most of us want to see ourselves on the fancy gangplank. It was certainly true in this scene in the movie: while everyone on the 3rd class gangway was aware of the 1st class gangway, it was not the other way around. To the people on the fancy gangway, the simple gangway didn’t exist. I also think that for the people who used the fancy gangplank, they would have found it a great insult to have to use the simple one. Had the Military Governor chosen to debark with Mr. Gandhi, it would have been seen as unacceptable.

The funny thing is that they both go to the same place and it really makes no difference which one they take. We do this gospel a disservice if we reduce this to “not many people get through because it’s narrow.” While it is a basic law of physics that you can move less fluid through a smaller tube, that’s not the point. Salvation isn’t a matter of being strong enough to push other aside and there is no quota. The gate isn’t narrow to limit the number of people who get through.

I believe the gate is narrow because only those who recognize the need for God will see it. There are lots of forces on us to fight for our position. How many of us have gotten advice that we can’t do what we think is right because it will cost us in “social currency”? How many of us worry about how we are perceived by those around us and don’t worry about how our actions look in the eyes of God?

I believe the heart of this gospel is found in its last line: “For behold, some are last who will be first, and some who are first will be last.” If Jesus had a mission statement, this would be it.

I don’t mean this as some kind of a Communist Manifesto. I don’t think that this reversal will empower the poor to get revenge on the rich. But on a basic level I think it means that there is a dichotomy.

What is the dichotomy? If we imagine all of us, yes all of us as passengers on the same ship, some of us will decide that our salvation demands that we pay attention to those who are on the 3rd Class gangway. Those who are comfortable on the 1st Class gangway and have no desire to recognize even the existence of the 3rd Class gangway will pay the price for their blindness, only because they don’t acknowledge the need for all of us to get off the boat.

I think Jesus is telling all of us that the path to salvation isn’t necessarily the one we choose. Only by choosing the 3rd class gangplank, do we recognize that there is more than one gangplank. Think about this: of the people who demand a place on the 1st class gangplank, how many of them will be comfortable being with those who departed on the 3rd class gangplank? If one of the perks of the 1st class gangplank is the ability to ignore the others we shared the ship with, how does that work with Jesus’ demand that we call for even the least of his people?

Going back to the image of the narrow gate, perhaps Jesus is telling us to look to the narrow gate because it is only from that vantage point that we can see everyone. Only if all of us look to the narrow gate can all of see all of us, and only this way all can be saved.