OPEN series - taking a look at what ways in which we need to be open, parts of our lives and ourselves that need to be open, if we are truly going to call ourselves followers of Jesus. Last week we looked at having open hearts, recognizing that God s love for us encourages a response from us. And that response has to do with opening our hearts to others, with loving others well, because they need to be loved, and we need to be loving. This week we re going to take a look at open doors. And we begin with this single verse from the Revelation to John. Revelation is a weird and mysterious book - it was written by John while he was a prisoner on the isle of Patmos, and it is believed to have been written largely in code, so that his prison guards wouldn t stop his writings from being sent to the followers of Jesus. Unlike the Gospel According to John, or the three letters John wrote - one of which we read from last week - we have to approach Revelation with an extra layer of caution. To simply take it at face value would be irresponsible. However, writing it off is also irresponsible. It is part of the Scriptures, part of the New Testament - and as such, it should be respected as God s word. There are definitely things that the book of Revelation has to teach us and to say to us today. It s unusual that I would choose a single verse of Scripture as one of our readings - but every once in a while it just makes sense. And I think this is one of those cases. This verse is situated in one of the warnings to the seven churches, with which the Book of Revelation begins. In this case, the warning is to a church that is lukewarm - neither hot nor cold. In the warning, the church is encouraged to make a decision - to either turn fully away from Jesus, or - hopefully - to turn fully towards him. These words, then, are spoken by Christ, to that church: Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. 1
This is known as The Great Invitation - that Jesus invites us, always, into deeper, richer relationship with him. But we have to be the ones to open the door to him, we have to be willing, we have to take that step of faith. Jesus won t force the issue. He doesn t stand at the door with a battering ram, he knocks only with his hand. We know he wields the power to force the door open, but he won t do it. God always gives us a choice. (FIRST SLIDE) There is a famous painting, often displayed in churches, of this scene. Notice that there is no handle on the outside of the door. That s intentional. The only way this door can open is if someone on the inside CHOOSES to open it. The painting is entitled Christ Knocking at Heart s Door. The title of the painting points us to a spiritual reality, rather than just the simple real-world depiction. Just as we heard last week - Jesus wants us to open our hearts to him. The world might be constantly trying to close us up, 2
but Jesus stands at the door and knocks, inviting us to open. This is freedom - we are not slavish or passive in our faith, we are invited to act, we are invited to freedom to choose what our actions will be. We could leave the door closed, Jesus gives us that option. But I am convinced that only sorrow and regret come from leaving the door closed. I am convinced that we are poorer when we leave the door closed. I am convinced that we lose out when we leave the door closed. Jesus says, If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person. It s a metaphor that speaks of companionship - Jesus wants us to open the door because he wants to enter and spend time with us. Why? Because he loves us! Because he doesn t want us to be alone! Because we matter to Him. And because a shared meal is a beautiful thing. When you love someone, you want beautiful things for them. Jesus loves us. Jesus wants beautiful things for us. It s a metaphor that speaks of nourishment - a meal prepared and eaten. We eat when we are hungry, because our bodies need fuel, because food is a gift - and I say that as someone who has a fraught relationship with food. I struggle with overeating, I always want to eat more than I need, more than I should, and I know I m far from alone on that. Especially in a country like ours, in a time like ours. Food is readily available to us - perhaps too available at times. But food IS a gift. It s full of things that our bodies need to survive - to run properly. It s also full of flavours and textures and pleasures. 3
THAT is why we sometimes over-eat - because eating is fun and feels good. And a shared meal with someone you love is one of life s simplest joys. There s a reason families gather around a table to celebrate life s successes. Think about it - a birthday dinner, a holiday meal, a dinner party with friends - the experience of opening the door and having someone come in to dine with you, is one we repeat over and over and over again in life. One of the things I love best about Jesus is that he is so very rooted in our world. When you go to Israel - February 2019! Sign up, it s a life-changing trip, and we d love to have more people experience it! - one of the things we do is visit an open air museum called Nazareth Village. It is a recreation of a first-century farm. And as we are led around the farm by our tour guide, every few steps we trip over things that Jesus used in his teachings. There is a pen with sheep and goats, a watchtower, an olive press for making oil - some of which is used for lamps, like those carried by the wise and foolish maidens. Jesus used all of these ordinary, every-day things to teach about God s Kingdom. So it shouldn t surprise us to find him using a door and a meal as a metaphor. But here s the thing - when we open the door to Jesus, we have to know that it s not just Jesus who is coming through the door. He s the first - that s the first step of faith - when we let Him in. He will dine with us, for certain. But all kinds of others will follow after. Because once we open the door to Jesus, Jesus opens doors for us to help others. In his Gospel, John writes, 7 Therefore Jesus said again, Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not 4
listened to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. You will only have life to the full when you are fully engaged in the mission of Jesus. Life is empty when we don t have purpose. (SECOND SLIDE) I think this is part of the reason we re all obsessed with Come From Away - the musical based on the experience of the people stranded in Gander, Newfoundland on 9/11. I had the opportunity to take my parents to see it a few weeks back. The tickets were the gift my brother and I gave our folks for their 50th anniversary. We loved it, just like everyone else who has been to see it, And I ve been listening to the soundtrack ever since. At the beginning of the show, just as the people of Gander are hearing the news and becoming aware that they are about to have around 7,000 unexpected guests come to town, there s a song called Blankets and Bedding. The song deals with the frantic pulling-together by the townsfolk of resources for the incoming plane people. Thirty-eight planes landed in Gander that day, full of people from different countries, just trying to get where they were going, 5
and suddenly stranded in one of the most remote places in our country. (THIRD SLIDE) One of the characters that keeps popping up during the song is a young female reporter for Rogers TV - on her first day on the job. She stands off to the side of the stage and reports announcements of how the townsfolk can help. She says, The Baptist church needs a hand moving their pews Doctor O'Brien down at the pharmacy Is ready to fill any prescriptions Oh, and the Lions Club is looking for some toilet paper If you have any extra As the song swirls around and the company sings I need something to do, cause I can t watch the news anymore! Just a few lines later the reporter is back, and she says, For the love of God, stop bringing toilet paper to the Lion s Club! It s sweet and funny in the play, but it s also deeply touching because what that line means is that on the worst day, when it felt like the world might be ending, people responded with overwhelming generosity and kindness. On that day - when the worst had happened, and everyone was full of fear and uncertainty, not knowing what would happen next - 6
what people most wanted was to do something to help. The whole play is about the fact that the town of Gander opened its doors wide on that terrible day. Friends, let s not wait for the worst day. Let s not wait for catastrophe to move us to service. Let s be people who serve on absolutely mundane days. Let s be people who are fully engaged in the mission of Jesus, on any day that ends in day. And I know many of you do this already - you volunteer, you give of your time and your treasures, you help in countless unseen ways. I know that you do! But I thought, as we move through the Fall, as we journey toward Thanksgiving, wouldn t it be great if we engaged in a service project together, as a church family. The great news is that we already have ways to do this. We have a relationship with the St. James Food Basket - a local food bank. Some of our members volunteer there every week, and when they have a need, they let us know and we do our best to help. Which is great. But I m hoping we can kick it up a notch. So for the next several Sundays - starting next Sunday and continuing until Thanksgiving Sunday - I m asking you to partner with me in bringing donations of tuna, chickpeas, and black beans. (FOURTH SLIDE) 7
Why those three? Well, I asked one of the volunteers how we could best do this - in a way that would be helpful to the clients of the Food Basket and in a way that would allow most of us to participate. And what we came up with was the idea of keeping a food drive focussed on a very short list of items - items that are non-perishable, so that they have shelf-life, that are very popular with the clients, and that are easy for anyone to pick up, no matter what their weekly grocery budget might be. The items that best fit that description are tuna, chickpeas, and black beans. If we stick to these - we can know with certainty that we are doing something meaningful to help those in our community who are struggling, and that we are not creating new problems for the Food Basket, its clients or its volunteers. So that s our challenge - the items will be collected and displayed at the front of the church starting next Sunday. I want us to see and to celebrate what we are capable of, when we open the door to Jesus, and Jesus opens the door for us to serve others. Let s pray. 8