Is There Ever a Wrong Time to Knock?
Is there ever a wrong time to knock?
Luke 13 says: 23 And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them, 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ 26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ 28 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. 29 And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God. 30 And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”
Apparently so.
Jesus says: I give you the invitation for a specific time. There will be a time when that invitation no longer stands. Why not take Jesus’ invitation to knock seriously?
This is not simply an evangelistic text; there are multiple implications for long-time Christians that I believe should be taken to heart.
(1) Lose some weight
Not really, I mean, it’s good to lose weight, but that won’t get you into Heaven. That narrow door that our Lord wants you to squeeze through has nothing to do with your waistline. Lose some unrighteousness weight. One of the great clues to unlocking Christianity is understanding the need for repentance and how repentance helps shed that weight of unrighteousness because of Jesus through His grace. He takes that extra burden off of us and gives our hearts the opportunity to make choices that lead to further righteous acts and less unrighteous acts, confirming the power of our faiths. Christ wants to confirm our faiths, and every act of repentance, every act of grace from God, and every act of a changed heart lead to insulating our faiths against the possibility of falling away.
Knocking helps us examine the door so that we know what we need to get through it. There are a lot of doors out there; knocking once a year or every ten years can lead to forgetting what door we need to be standing in front of. Regularly responding to the invitation of Jesus means we will remember what door He is standing behind.
(2) Many people treat fellowship with the Lord like a cocktail party
Simply eating and drinking in the presence of Jesus does not a fellowship make. That sounds like a cocktail party where most people don’t know each other and all you do is mingle for a little while for some face time. Worse, it sounds like a group of wedding crashers who were trying to justify their salvation because of their random proximity to our Lord. Wedding crashers don’t worry about knocking or invitations because they weren’t invited. Cocktail party people only knock as a courtesy; they may be a friend of a friend of a friend.
Don’t you remember me at that party..? The better question one should ask themselves is, what was I doing while I was at that party? Cocktail parties fade; it’s the backyard BBQ fellowship that we should be seeking with our Lord.
(3) Beware how you treat the words of the prophets
Prophets usually become martyrs. Maybe not always in the physical sense, but the prophets gave of themselves to God’s cause. They endured the scorn of bearing God’s Word longer than most people in a normal office setting would endure a coworker of the same DNA. Their reputations, health, and family often suffered well beyond normal endurance levels. We desire to look to their words with extravagantly faith-filled eyes, yet still continue to reject their words that transcend time.
God says that His prophets have a seat in the coming Kingdom when many people will not. They are often treated as if they were in last place, yet their reward will be great. Prophets get primo access; they’ve spent their time getting to know the Host of Heaven, and He knows immediately that they belong.
Let us take the time to honor the work and words of the prophets that God has raised up in Holy Scripture, knowing that they are already blessed. May we be blessed by how we regard and remember their worldly sacrifices.
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Take advantage now of the opportunity that God is graciously giving. If you have spent your time well, the Lord knows. Don’t give up. Rally the faithful. Encourage those who need encouraging. Remind everyone of God’s invitation. We never know when it will be rescinded. Amen.
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