We have so enjoyed watching the Olympics this last week. In our family, we particularly enjoy the swimming and the gymnastics. As we watched the U.S. men’s and women’s gymnastics teams in competition this past week, we found ourselves beginning to sound a little like the T.V. commentators. “Oh gee, she didn’t stick that landing. That’s a tenth of a point reduction on what had been a stellar routine.” But then we reminded ourselves that while we were beginning to watch each routine with such a critical eye, none of us Billingslea’s could actually even walk on a balance beam much less do a summersault on it and we’d be lucky to even to get up on the uneven bars much less swing from one to the other.

Even so, armchair coaches that we are, what we are in awe of over and over again is the discipline and training that all of these young men and women have undertaken to reach the top of their chosen sport. Years of practicing hours and hours a day. Months of weight training and conditioning. Weekly practice in skill work and mental preparation. Daily discipline in regard to diet and nutrition. These athletes make being best in their sport their number one priority. They choose excellence and in doing so, they know that excellence requires the right perspective, fierce determination and physical effort, all practiced as daily disciplines.

In today’s gospel, Jesus uses the analogy of a narrow door to teach us that God’s saving way requires the right perspective, fierce determination and spiritual effort, all practiced as daily disciplines. It seems to me that as we look at this passage from Luke’s gospel, there are a couple of issues to work through, beginning with our having the right perspective. From Jesus’ point of view, which therefore is a perspective we should share, being outwardly religious is no guarantee of entrance into God’s kingdom. He is very clear that we can’t assume entrance into the kingdom based on some kind of special privilege or past experience.

His little parable of the owner of the house makes that point perfectly. “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, and you yourselves thrown out.” As Jesus makes clear so many times throughout the gospels, the outward appearance of religious practice doesn’t count. That’s why he gets so mad at the Pharisees. The only thing that counts is the attitude and inclination of our hearts. God can read us from the inside out, and it is the inside that he judges before he looks at our outward actions.

The second issue is that we can’t assume to know who is going to gain entrance into the kingdom. “Then people will come from east and west, from north and south, and will eat in the kingdom of God. Indeed, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.” Over and over again in the gospels, we are surprised by seemingly sinful folks who instinctively find their way to Jesus; outcasts, lepers, tax collectors, adulterers. We have an incredible capacity to judge others, maybe especially when it comes to religious matters. We have an unerring capacity to create our own running list of who’s deserving and who’s not; who’s definitely in and who’s definitely out, who’s going to heaven and who’s going to hell. Basically, Jesus tells us to get over it. That’s God’s business, not ours.

Which leaves us with the third issue, and the one that kind of sums up the other two. “Strive to enter through the narrow door, for many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able.” Now although we learn throughout the New Testament that we can’t earn our way into God’s kingdom and that salvation is God’s gift to us, graciously given for the asking, we also learn that with the gift of salvation comes the challenge to live new lives, to embrace God’s ideals, to put into practice in our own lives the vision and values of Jesus.

And it’s that perspective of the narrow door that requires our fierce determination and spiritual effort, practiced as daily disciplines. What would it be like, if we made - not sports like the Olympic athletes - but life as Christians our number one priority? What would our training look like? How might we have to re-order our lives in order to practice our faith day in and day out? What might we have to give up or begin, in order to be spiritually fit? What daily disciplines would help us to get spiritually fit, keep us spiritually healthy, and help us grow into the likeness of Christ who is without doubt our spiritual coach?

There are three spiritual practices that are critical to the growth of Christian souls like you and I. The first is daily prayer. How can we hope to be spiritually fit, reflecting the mind and heart of Christ, if we are not in the habit of daily prayer? The method of prayer doesn’t matter – we can pray in silence, in our own words, we can write our prayers, we can use the prayers written by others. Prayer helps and strengthens us, comforts and challenges us, nurtures and sustains us. Prayer connects us to God. Prayer is conversation with God. He talks, we listen. We talk, He listens. To pray is not hard; what is hard for us is taking and making the time to do so.

The second spiritual practice is regular study. How can we hope to be spiritually fit, reflecting the mind and heart of Christ, if we are not in the habit of regular study – whether it is The Good Book itself or any number of other good Christian books? It is in scripture that we learn the story of God and God’s people, and it is through scripture that we begin to discern our own part in that story. You don’t have to be a scholar to read the Bible. Pick a letter in the New Testament, pick a gospel, pick a psalm – start somewhere. Ask God to teach you what he needs you to understand. He will. Devotional books, theology books, pamphlets like Forward Day by Day – God speaks to us through our study.

The third spiritual practice is participating in Holy Eucharist as often as possible, preferably on a weekly basis. It is in the Holy Eucharist, in this most special sacrament, that Christ comes to be with us in the most intimate and personal way possible. In communion, we are fed by him, strengthened by him, and made holy through him. In communion, we receive Christ bodily. It is the ultimate gift he gives us – his very self.
Three spiritual practices: daily prayer, daily study, and weekly worship. These three practices should be our first priority – they are to our souls what food and exercise are to our bodies. Think of daily prayer and study, and weekly worship as a spiritual workout for your soul. It has been a long time since this church used the word “obligation” in anything having to do with membership. But I think it’s time to bring that word back in vogue. Therefore, I will state clearly that, as members of this church, it is our obligation to pray, study and worship. And I would go on to say that those three things come first – before any other ways in which we choose to be involved in the church.

As we all strive to enter through the narrow gate, we find that through the disciplined practice of prayer, study and worship we are better able to serve Christ in and through our relationships with others. As our inward hearts are made strong in Christ, our outward actions will reflect Christ. And that’s really where our disciplined spiritual training makes all the difference in the world.

There’s a line from The General Thanksgiving in the service of Morning Prayer that offers up what we all hope for out of our spiritual disciplines: “And, we pray, give us such an awareness of your mercies that with truly thankful hearts we may show forth your praise not only with our lips, but in our lives, by giving up our selves to your service…”

None of us are likely to be Olympic athletes. Yet all of us, as human beings, have the same God-given strength of will. We can choose to be strong in Christ, we can choose to serve Christ faithfully, and we can choose to place Christ first in our lives. Prayer, study, and worship are the practices that will incline our hearts to do these things.

Perhaps you’ll forgive just one more example from the wide world of sports. In the words of the old advertisement from Nike, “Just Do It.”

Amen.