21st Sunday of the Year C

Some time ago, a man was attempting to trace his family roots. In the process of his research he visited several cemeteries collecting information from the tombstone. At one place he came across a tombstone with the following inscription:

Pause now stranger, as you pass by

As you are now, so once was I

As I am now, so soon you’ll be

Prepare yourself to follow me

Next to the tombstone he noticed someone had placed a board with the following words:
To Follow you, I’m not content

Until I know, which way you went.

The engraving on the tombstone is a reminder of our common mortality. If the Lord tarries his return, we shall all face death in time. Life is short & death is sure. The grave awaits us all. The person who wrote the second poem, however points out that though we all will one day die, we will pass on to one of two places. Heaven or Hell.

Where would you spend eternity? Heaven or Hell? Paradise or Perdition? The Heaven of Rest or the Lake of Fire? Have you made preparation for your final destination?

I was Once traveling by rickshaw, and having experience the rejection of going short distances, I sat and when asked where do you want to go, I promptly answered, take me were you want to go. The Man turned around and smiled, I know my destination, but were do YOU want to go.

There are only two destination for us.
Mt 25:46 -- And wicked shall go away to everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

God sees only Two Kinds of People:
The Righteous The Wicked
The Saved The Lost
Heaven bound Hell-bound

The Bible tells us over and over again that everyone of you here today will either go to Heaven or hell. Sadly many ignore or deny this truth. Some suppress it because they don’t want to deal with it. Young people delay and postpone thinking about it saying, its something of the future.

And there are Only Two Roads to travel:
Robert Frost -- Two Roads diverged in a wood, and I took The One Less Traveled, and that has made all the difference.

Jesus tell us in today’s Gospel à "Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy, that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

Often people asked me, what does it take to get to heaven? Join the church? Be baptized? Give money? Pray? Be religious? No! You’ve got to enter the right gate and walk on the right road.

Sunday after Sunday we see a number of people dressed in their Sunday best they respectfully make their way into the worship service. They whole heartedly sing along with the community, they greet one another in the service, they put their bit into the offering plate and they listen to another sermon. When the service is over they leave the service and tell the preacher he did a good job. Then they return home, take off their “church clothes” and forget about God for another week. Meeting with God has become for them nothing more than listening to messages, singing songs and placing a token amount in the offering. Yet somehow this routine seems to fill their need for reassurance. And because they have been “faithful” to come to church Sunday after Sunday, or may be on occasion, they feel that they are all right, that they have secured a place in heaven. What a distortion of the message that Jesus delivered. Jesus told the religious crowd that even those who appeared the most dedicated were at best, last in the kingdom and probably would not get in at all, because they had too much religion and too little relationship with Jesus.

This message is for those of you who have read and sung and listened to people talk about Jesus for years without meeting him personally. For far too long the church has claimed to be rescuing the perishing, when all they have been doing is protecting the dying.

So what must I do to enter Heaven:
a. You must Discern between truth and error: The bible tells us that before a person will ever get on the right road one has to see that the present road that they are walking leads to destruction. It calls for a personal introspection; to see and to accept what he/she is doing is wrong and needs to change.

b. You must Dare to be Different: One reason why some will not be saved, they loved this present world. They don’t want to be different. They go with the crowd, swim along with the tide. They ridicule the idea of being different (being an individual). They don’t want to lose their so called friends.

c. You must make a definite Decision to put back Christ first in your life. Sadly, today for many us Christianity is merely a ticket to get admission in our schools and college. Its no more a faith issue. God is secondary, My world, my pleasure, my Luxury is primary.

The Road to heaven is narrow and difficult, but if you sincerely want to a citizen of that world than there is no choice, you and I will have to walk on that road less traveled. The Choice is ours. Amen.