Several weeks ago on Wednesday night a shared this little story with our kids. Perhaps you will enjoy it. 

1) The Little Gate
2) Here is a wall which surrounds a town.  In the wall is a little gate.  It has a funny name.  It is called the Eye of the Needle because it is so small.
3) One day a camel arrives at the gate.  This is no ordinary camel.  He has a fine saddle with red tassels, and his own servant boy to flick away the flies.  He is loaded high with carpets to sell in the market.
4) “Make way,” he says “I’m coming through!”  But he isn’t coming through at all!  He can’t get through the hole.  He is too big.
5) “Try wriggling through backwards,” says the boy.  And he shows the camel how.
6) “Camels never wriggle,” says the camel.  But just the same he turns around and pushes his bottom into the hole. 
7) He heaves and pushes. (He even wiggles)  But it is no good.  He cannot get through the gate.  
8) “I’ll unload you” says the boy.  He unties the ropes and takes off the carpets.  “Now try again.”   
9) It is no use.  The camel still cannot squeeze through the gate.  “Your saddle keeps getting stuck,” says the boy. “You will have to let me take it off.”    
10) Without his fine saddle, the camel does not look proud and important any more.  He is just an ordinary camel.     
11) Once more the camel tries.  Down on his knees, shuffling forward, inch by inch, until finally…     
12) Hooray! He is through!     

This story is wonderful.  It takes what Jesus says in Luke 18 and explains what it means.

Luke 18:24-25 Jesus looked at him and said, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!  Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."

I love this story because it really illustrates what we have been talking about in Lord, I want to See.  Luke wants us to see the importance of humbling ourselves.  Remember last week we talked about bringing God nothing.  If we want to impress God, we don’t.  We don’t try to impress God with our accomplishments or our holiness or spiritual maturity.  All we can bring to God is nothing, like Henry.  Henry brings nothing to the table except his lovability.  It is in humility and brokenness that we impress God.

That is why I like this explanation of the camel having to take everything off and get on his knees and wiggle through to enter.  In order for us to enter the kingdom of heaven we must drop all of our stuff.  We must give up all of the world’s fascinating toys and drop to our knees in humility and crawl into the kingdom. This story of the camel entering the Little Gate into the city is exactly what I am talking about.  The only problem is… it is most likely… wrong. 

There is no gate in Jerusalem called the Eye of the Needle.  There is no historical evidence that there ever has been such a gate.  Evidently, it was a creative invention of a monk in the 11th century, named Theophylact of Bulgaria.  You know Theo?  Great guy.  He is the first person to mention such a theory of a small gate which camels had to crawl through.  It is a wonderful story and still full of truth, but it is not likely what Jesus was talking about.

Perhaps, even in this common misinterpretation of this verse, there is an important lesson.  Our assumptions are not always right.  What we have always heard, may not be accurate. Even if it is in a book it may not be true. Just because we read it on the internet does not mean in is the Gospel.  The idea of a gate called the “Eye of the Needle” is wide spread.  I have heard it all my life.  How many have heard it? It makes perfect sense.  It is a wonderful story.   It is exactly what Jesus is talking about.  But it is wrong. 

I guess that raises another question, “What other assumptions do I hold that may be wrong?’’  What other things do I believe, which may be more important than this, am I wrong about?  Isn’t this a scary question?  What if I am wrong about something really important?  What if I am wrong about God and what he wants from me?  What if I am altogether wrong about the basic premises of my life? 

What is interesting is, in the very context of the camel story, Jesus tells a young man his basic assumption about life is wrong.  He breaks the heart of a man by telling him he is mistaken, dramatically mistaken, about his life.  Jesus tells a guy that he is 180 degrees out of sync with how God views him.  He devastates him by telling him he is wrong.  Let’s read about it.

Luke 18:18-23   A certain ruler asked him, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"   "Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good-- except God alone. You know the commandments: 'Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.'"  "All these I have kept since I was a boy," he said.  When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."  When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth.

Let’s break down this conversation and see where the rich ruler was wrong.

1) He calls Jesus good.  Jesus takes exception with being called good. “No one is good except God alone.” This is odd.  I would have thought if anyone is good, it would have been Jesus.  What was wrong with calling him good?   Perhaps, Jesus did not want to be categorized as good by his category.  You can’t put me in your box by calling me good.  First wrong assumption: He assumed Jesus was like him. 

2) What must I do to inherit?  What must I do to inherit?  You don’t often do to inherit, you be to inherit.  When my parents die I will inherit, along with my brother, whatever there is to inherit, because I am a son.  This man thought he needed to do to deserve eternal life.  Don’t misunderstand, there are things we must do to receive eternal life but they are based upon who we are.  We don’t do to get, rather we are and thus we do.  The man had this basic assumption all wrong.  If I can accomplish enough I will earn my spot at the eternal banquet table.  Like we learned last week, babies bring nothing and impress God.   His second assumption was wrong: he thought he had to earn his inheritance.

3) So, far he is not on a roll with Jesus, but it’s about to get worse.  Jesus reels him in like a big fish, “You know the commandments: 'Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’” Proudly, the guy bites and swallows, “I have done all of those since I was a kid.  I am earning my salvation.  God loves me because I am good.  Jesus is on my side.  See, I knew I was right. I can earn my salvation.”  His third assumption was wrong.  God loves him because he has kept his commandments all of his life.  He is about to see that God does love him, but it is not for the reason he thinks.

4) Then Jesus really hammers him. Not because he dislikes him, but rather because he loves him.  In Mark’s account of this conversation, at this point, Mark adds Jesus looked at him and loved him, before saying, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.”  The young man had always assumed, because he had great wealth, that God loved him.  His assumption was because he had kept all the commandments since he was a boy this was the reason God had given him the money.  His money was a concrete sign that God loved him.  His fourth false assumption was: Money was a sign of God’s love.  His whole world view was wrong.

5) Then Jesus – and I read this sadly – Then Jesus offers him the eternal life he came to secure, “Then come, follow me."  The life he sought was in following Jesus not in following commandments. The joy, the eternal joy, the big banquet in the sky, the love of God was all found in Jesus.  His fifth wrong assumption was: Jesus was just a good Teacher, and not the way to eternal life. 

6) The Bible then says, - this is a heart-breaker, because here is a wonderful man that could not get over it – “When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth.”  His sixth assumption was that he did love God.  In the final analysis he did not really love God.  He rather loved his money.  His bubble was popped.  The illusion of his righteousness was dissolved.  His image of himself as a devote person was evaporated.  He walked away from his encounter with Jesus with all of his assumptions about who he was and his relationship with God… dis-illusioned.

7) That would have been okay.  To have the false pretense of who you are destroyed is a good thing.  It would have been great to really know who he was.  He was broken and that was good.  But in his brokenness he walked away from Jesus, instead of falling down before Jesus.  In this chapter a pestery widow is faithful. She has no illusion.  A tax collector recognizes his sinfulness and is justified. He has no illusions. Babies who have nothing are blessed. They have no illusions. Jesus breaks him down so he can get the eternal life he desires. He destroys the man’s illusions about himself. But his final false assumption is: even in his brokenness he cannot repent.  He cannot join the tax collector and say, “God have mercy on me, a sinner.”  He thinks he cannot repent. 

Verses 24 & 25 are two of the most tragic in all Scripture. Jesus speaks these words with tears in his eyes as he looks at the young man. 

Luke 18:24-25   Jesus looked at him and said, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!  Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."

Boy, I would not want that look.  I don’t want Jesus to cry over me and say, “How hard it is for the rich to enter into heaven.”  Which brings me back to my original question, what assumptions do we have about ourselves that may be wrong?  Is it possible we have stepped into the same illusion that ruler had?  Is it possible we, who are rich, are just kidding ourselves about our relationship with God?  Is Jesus crying over us?

1) Is Jesus one of our Good Ole Boys, just because we think he is?  We don’t decide who is a friend of Jesus, he does!  Is he really with us? 
2) Do we really trust his grace or are we doing our salvation?  Do we ask what must I do to inherit?  Or are our hearts broken before God?
3) Do we believe God loves us because we are better than others or because we too are his children?
4) Do we secretly believe that because we live in this wonderful town, amongst these beautiful hills, and have nice homes and good jobs and expensive educations that God really loves us more than those… heathens?
5) Are we really committed to following Jesus, not just studying his teachings?  Do we call Jesus, “Good Teacher” but don’t really follow everything he tells us?
6) If Jesus said, “Give it all up for me.”  Would you sell it all? Would you pull up roots and toss reason to the wind and say, “How high on the way up?” Would you really sacrifice it all for Jesus?
7) Is our allegiance to God all just pretend?  If we saw ourselves as God sees us, would we be broken hearted and repent or would we walk away?

These are soul searching questions.  Is our life real?  Are our assumptions, about who we are, true or imaginary?  Who are we really?  These are scary questions, but crucial ones.  Do you want to know who you are?  After Jesus weeps with this man and talks about the impossibility of a camel going through the eye of a needle, his disciples join us in our soul searching. 

Luke 18:26   Those who heard this asked, "Who then can be saved?"

Are we all doomed? After preaching a sermon like this I am a little bit depressed.  You can tune me out if you don’t want to hear what I have to say.  I can’t tune me out while I am saying it.  This is rough.  Are we all doomed?  No, Jesus ends this story with some amazing hope.  I want us to be real about who we are in Christ, but I don’t want us to despair.  I know me and I’m not all that spectacular.  I’m not sure I would come off any better than our ruler friend if I had the same conversation with Jesus.  I don’t want us all to do like the ruler and walk away from Jesus.  Neither does Jesus, so he offers us some hope.  “Who then can be saved?  We all are doomed!”

Luke 18:27   Jesus replied, "What is impossible with men is possible with God." 

It all comes back to what we said last week.  God can poke a camel through the real eye of a sewing needle because God is God.  He can take my less than stellar heart and poke it into heaven.  All I have to do is give it to him.  All I have to do is keep on following Jesus.  All I have to do is say, “God have mercy on me, a sinner.  

Luke 18:28-30  Peter said to him, "We have left all we had to follow you!"  "I tell you the truth," Jesus said to them, "no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life."

God knows our sacrifices.  He promises to bless us in this life and the banquet in the next.  It all comes down to trusting him with our lives. 

True or not, I still like the Little Gate story.  The camel gets naked and humbly wiggles into the city.  We put all we are in the hands of God and he shoves us through the eye of the needle in the Kingdom of God! We faith complete faith in the God who does the impossible!