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A Thought for the Lenten Season - February 2009
Early one morning a cruise ship was making its way into port. A storm was
rising and, because of the heavy seas, the regular gangway could not be used to
disembark the passengers. Instead, a narrow gangway was substituted. It was so
narrow that it could accommodate only one passenger at a time.
The going was treacherous as the swells caused the ship to sway and lurch.
Nevertheless, each passenger in turn slowly and cautiously made his or her way
down the ramp. Finally, a woman in her late seventies appeared at the top of the
gangplank. Crew members stood motionless as she slowly edged her way down and,
to everyone's relief, stepped safely onto the dock.
Whereupon she looked back up and called out, "It's okay mother, you can come
down now."
When Jesus calls us into His Kingdom, He warns us that we must enter through a
narrow passageway. Enter by the "narrow gate and a hard road that leads to
life," He says (Mt. 7:14).
When we hear this passage it is likely that our thoughts will turn to the
sacrificial side of being a Christian. If we want to follow Jesus there are
risks to be taken. There are things in life that we must do without. We think of
the need to put certain restraints on our activities. We think of the need to
adhere to certain disciplines. And, all the while, the rest of the world goes on
its merry way.
There is abundant truth in this, of course, "Enter through the narrow gate. For
wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter
through it. (Mt. 7:13). But the road is hard that leads to life.
To the early Christians, the road was very hard indeed. Yet, the New Testament
writers tell us, time and time again, that the early Christians were a people of
joy. Oppression, persecution, imprisonment, martyrdom, it's all there in the
story of the early Church. But, in the midst of all that, there is a spirit of
exalted joy, St. Peter has written. "Rejoice, rejoice" was the dominate theme.
What does all of this mean to us? Can we somehow identify with it? Did those
first Christians know something we do not know?
Jesus said many things to shed light on this tremendous secret. In Matthew's
Gospel, for example, having said that the way is hard that leads to life, Jesus
assured the crowds who were following Him, "Come to Me, all you who labor and
are heavily burdened and I will give you rest. Shoulder My yoke and learn from
Me ... and you will find rest for your souls. Yes, My yoke is easy and My burden
is light" (Mt. 11:28-30). In those words of Jesus lies the secret of the early
Christians who put on the yoke of Christ and rejoiced in it. The secret is
simple -- and oh so beautiful. The secret Jesus spells out for us through His
life and ministry is that God is with us through it all and is never closer to
us than when we feel God is absent. The Lord never loves us more than when we
feel unloved. Christ is never more present to us than in those dark hours, when
we feel abandoned.
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