August 24, 2025
Revised Common Lectionary
Jeremiah 1:4-10 or Isaiah 58:9b-14
Psalm 71:1-6 or Psalm 103:1-8
Hebrews 12:18-29
Luke 13:10-17
Lectionary for Mass (RC)
Isaiah 66:18-21
Psalm 117:1,2 (Mk 16:15)
Hebrews 12:5-7, 11-13
Luke 13:22-30
NOTE: Today is one of those rare Sundays on which the ecumenical Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) and the Roman Catholic Lectionary for Mass share no common Scripture readings. The following reflection is based on readings from the Roman Catholic Lectionary. For a reflection on today’s readings from the RCL, click here.
Today’s Gospel reading finds Jesus continuing his long and winding journey to Jerusalem and teaching in towns and villages through which he passes. Along the way, someone poses the question, “Lord, will only a few be saved?” (Lk 13:23) Although Luke doesn’t fill us in on the questioner’s motive, I think that they were hoping for an answer like, “Yes, and you are one of those fortunate few.” It’s a very human impulse—hoping we’re among the chosen few while others are not, just like the person who posed that question.
If my hunch is correct, the teachings of Jesus that follow were surely a surprise. Even today his words continue to subvert those who might expect a simple response to that question.
One attempt to count the saved took place more than thirty years ago. In a 1993 county-by-county study, researchers for the Southern Baptist Convention found that 46.1% of persons in Alabama were “unsaved” and therefore headed for eternal damnation. The research method was simple. Those who belonged to a church that required acceptance of Jesus as “personal lord and savior” were deemed to be saved, while the rest—Christians and non-Christians alike—were considered “unsaved.” This human tendency to categorize the saved and unsaved is precisely what Jesus challenges in his response.
Interestingly, Jesus declines to answer the question directly. Instead, he gives responses that seem to take aim at those who regard themselves as counted among the “few” who are worthy of being “saved.” He begins by redirecting the question and calling his hearers to radical discipleship. He tells us to “enter through the narrow door” (Lk 13:24). The way of Jesus is the journey to Jerusalem, where he will take up his cross and accept suffering and death. The “narrow door” isn’t narrow because it excludes people, but because it requires the difficult path of self-sacrifice and radical discipleship.
But Jesus doesn’t stop with redirecting the question—he tells a story that completely upends conventional thinking about who belongs. His parable challenges the notion that entering the reign of God is in any way connected to being part of the right group. In the story that Jesus tells, those standing outside the locked door cry out to the owner to be allowed inside. They remind him that they know him. They’ve shared table fellowship with him and heard him teaching in their streets. They are shocked by the owner’s response: “I do not know where you come from” (Lk 13:27).
These words are meant to sting. Jesus drives his point home by telling his questioners that those who consider themselves chosen and privileged because of their connection to revered ancestors will be left out of that great feast. The banquet hall will instead be opened up to foreigners who will stream in from every direction.
The reign of God that Jesus proclaims is full of surprises and challenges. As in the parables of the mustard seed and of the yeast that immediately precede today’s passage (Lk 13:18-21), God’s reign is a gift rather than a destination, and it comes about in ways that elude our ability to control. Only by entering through the narrow door of faith and trust, only by our willingness to follow Jesus on the way of his cross, can we be open to receive that gift. And the biggest surprise of all may be that we will find ourselves in that kin-dom where all are truly welcome, where the barriers of language, race, gender, class, sexual orientation, and gender identity have been broken down.
The question isn’t whether only a few will be saved—it’s whether we’re willing to walk through the “narrow door” that Jesus holds wide open, leading to a feast where all are welcome.
A Hymn for Today: “From north and south, from east and west”
Presbyterian pastor, scholar, author, and hymnwriter David Gambrell has described this text as follows: “This [hymn] is an attempt to compose a musical version of The Great Thanksgiving or Eucharistic Prayer. The first half of each stanza is intended to be sung by the presider, with the congregation singing the second half.” The first stanza draws directly on the image from the closing lines of today’s Gospel. For communities that celebrate the Lord’s Supper today following the service of the Word, Gambrell’s hymn could be used as a table prayer or as a bridge from word to table. For more information on this text, click here.
From north and south, from east and west,
O faithful people come
to share the feast that Christ prepares,
where heav’n and earth are one.
Come, all who hunger, all who thirst;
With confidence, draw near,
for Jesus Christ, the bread of life,
is truly present here.
We lift our hearts, O living God,
with thanks and praise to you,
Creator of the universe,
Your love makes all things new.
“Most holy, holy, holy One!”
the heav’nly choirs proclaim,
How blessed is the one who comes
in your most holy name!
We thank you for your Word made flesh,
our Savior, Jesus Christ,
whose dying has destroyed our death,
whose rising gives us life.
With grateful hearts we offer you
this sacrifice of praise,
remembering your faithfulness,
rejoicing in your grace.
Pour out your Spirit now, to bless
these gifts of bread and wine,
and let them be a feast for us,
your covenant seal and sign.
As Christ is present in this place,
So may we one day be
united at your table now and through eternity.
Text: David Gambrell, b. 1972, © GIA Publicattions, Inc. Used by permission under OneLicense #A-729857.
Tunes: ONE IN THREE, FOREST GREEN, ELLACOMBE
Image: A Narrow Door to St. Nicholas, Neil Owen, 2023, Wikimedia Commons
“Word and Song: A Lectionary Reflection” is written by the Executive Director of The Hymn Society, Rev. Dr. Mike McMahon. For his full bio, click here and scroll down to the “staff” section.
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