Whilst speaking on Luke 18:9-17 at the prayer meeting on Wednesday evening I made mention of the 'Door of Humility' in the Church of the Nativity. It seems fitting that the door has been made so low, that all must bow to enter in. All who want to come to King Jesus, and enter his Kingdom, must enter his presence in humility and childlike trust. No matter how prominent or pre-eminent we may be in the eyes of the world, there is one doorway into the Kingdom of God, and no-one can enter through it without bowing down.
In the back of my mind I knew I'd read a quote along these lines. I didn't manage to find it in time for the prayer meeting, but it was Luther. (Luther is writing about the petition in the Lord's prayer 'forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.')
If anyone insists on his own goodness and despises others... let him look into himself when this petition confronts him. He will find he is no better than others and that in the presence of God everyone must duck his head and come into the joy of forgiveness only through the low door of humility.Martin Luther, Large Catechism, 93 (as quoted in Prayer, Tim Keller, 115)
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