Sermon-The Gate to Salvation

Christ a la Porte from La Passion, Georges Rouault, 1939

A sermon given during Holy Communion at St Olave Hart Street on Sunday 26th April 2026 (Year A) - also the day of the London Marathon which passes nearby and “Vocations Sunday” in the Church of England and based on readings from Acts 2.42-47 and John 10.1-10. 

As you can see, I’m not someone who feels a particularly strong call to run the London Marathon!

But we can never second guess the work of God - where his Spirit will lead us. 

I’m sure many people set out this morning who once thought they’d never run 26.2 miles  - only to find themselves bibbed up at the start line wondering how they got there!  

So - one year you may well find an empty pulpit on Marathon Day and see the flash of a chasuble dashing across Tower Bridge, the cat probably leading the way! 

Those who have responded to the call to run a marathon often describe how, gradually, they notice it affects the pattern of their lives. Early morning runs. Planning training around other commitments. The sore muscles. A transformative experience felt in every possible way; emotionally, physiologically and spiritually.

And when they complete the course, crossing the finish line on The Mall – a medal, yes – but often what people talk about most frequently is a sense of achievement. Of fulfilment. Of satisfaction. Of having become, in some way, the person they set out to be.

What is it that we are called to do? What is the sense of purpose and direction shaping our lives? Who is the person we are meant to become?

These questions – which may be framed in different ways by different people – are at the heart of our journey of faith - learning what it means to be a disciple, a follower of Jesus involves asking:

Who am I? Who is Jesus? What does it mean for me to dedicate my life to following him?

At the heart of our journey is a promise. One Jesus repeats in our gospel reading this morning.

A promise not of a single moment of reward or achievement, but of something much deeper. A way of life.

A life of abundance.

A life of salvation.

A life shaped by freedom.

Freedom to be the person we were made to be.

Freedom from the constant judgement of ourselves and of others – the anxiety of not living up to expectations. Not having enough of this or that.

Freedom with purpose – to live for love, for generosity and for joy.

The Acts of the Apostles is a no-holds-barred account of how the first followers of Jesus explored what it means to live faithfully according to his teaching after his death and resurrection. Asking those questions – Who am I? Who is Jesus? And what does it mean to dedicate my life to him?

If you read the whole book you’ll discover that they don’t always get it right. There are tensions, disagreements. Failures.

But today, the passage we heard gives a compelling glimpse of the kind of ‘life in all its fulness’ that Jesus promises to those who believe and trust in him.

And it is a compelling vision.

We find our forebears devoted to the teaching of the Apostles and to fellowship. They worship with joy and generous hearts. They care for one another – and share what they have, holding all things in common.

And – perhaps unsurprisingly, we hear that, day by day, the community grew.

“The Lord added to their number those who were being saved.”

Far from being an impossible ideal, it is a way of life that exists here and now. Around the country and across the world, there are religious communities where people do live like this: holding possessions in common, ordering their lives around prayer, and seeking to care for one another so that no one is in need.

They are not perfect. But they are signs that the life Jesus speaks of is not just a distant hope. Not just an interesting theory or thought experiment or a beautiful poetic image. It is a life that can be lived. It is real.

Jesus tells us how we enter into that reality.

Through him.

“I am the gate” he says.

“Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture.”

The life modelled by the community in our first reading – a life of joy, generosity, of freedom – this abundant life – is not something we can train for and achieve alone. It is something we enter into.

Through him.

The one who calls us.

It is a gate we must choose to enter. Because of the freedom we have been given by God.

Perhaps finding our true purpose in life begins with listening and then choosing to turn to the one who calls.

Recognising a voice who has known us from the dawn of time and who calls us by name.

Calls us away from a life of anxiety and worry, of division and dissent. Towards a life of abundance.  

A life of freedom. To be the people that God created us to be. Living with joy and generosity. Knowing that we belong to each other through Christ.

One of the mysteries of our faith is that this life has already been given to us – yet we still need to journey to find it.

This freedom, this salvation, has been won for us through Christ’s death on the cross and his glorious resurrection and ascension.

The reality is here. The gate is open. His voice is calling. His Spirit is urging us towards him.
 
In one sense the race has been won. Not because we earned it or deserved it, but by the grace of God.

But most of us probably don’t feel like we are at the finish line.

Maybe at best somewhere in the middle of the course. Often just about managing to keep up. Other times standing at the side of the road bent double and panting. Wondering if we’ve taken the wrong turning or if we might be going around in circles.  

Because our lives have become so conditioned to patterns of behaviour – to ways of living – habits that draw us away from the freedom Christ has brought.  

Whatever our achievements or failures, Christ is always there, calling us by name. Calling us to turn to him.

Calling us here and now. Are we listening?

For some the response to that call may involve a change of direction. Perhaps a new form of employment. Taking on a new course of study. For others it may involve a slight detour in the path they are already on.

For all it involves stepping through the gate that the Spirit is nudging us towards.

The gate to a life of abundance. A life of togetherness. A life of freedom.

The gate to our salvation.

Will we step through? 

Image : Christ a la Porte from La Passion, Georges Rouault, 1939