Open Door

Now that October is a few days past us, I’m going to assume that you all have had a chance to catch up on some sleep.  It was a busy October, and a profitable one as well.  Between the Yard Sale and Fall Festival, we made about $2,500.  But that was not, I believe, the most fruitful part of this past month.

We opened our door to the community and said, “Come in,” on a day other than Sunday.  Of course, our doors are open in Sunday.  But in our Sunday morning worship, we are doing far more than inviting people into our home.  Coming to a church on Sunday is fraught with other expectations and challenges: learning to navigate our particular way to worshiping, being welcomed by friendly people who are also hopeful that the visitor will stay.  And as we begin our annual consideration of stewardship, it should be clear that we are saying a lot more on Sunday than just, “Sit a spell, take your shoes off.”

To open our door on another day is a less pressurized way for visitors to get a feel for who we really are, not just who we’re trying to be on Sunday.  They are able to come inside our home on equal terms.  No rules to learn, just hospitality is what we offer.  Hopefully, they will be changed by their experience of us.  And hopefully, we will be changed.  This month, I met a young mother who let me know that she is fighting cancer.  For a few minutes we talked.  I heard a bit of her life story.  I offered myself for any prayer and support.  And now she lives on in my enlarged heart.

The image here is of William Holman Hunt’s 19th-century painting.  Look closely, and you’ll notice something that other observers noticed at the unveiling of this work.  There is no handle on the outside of the door.  Precisely, Hunt said.  Jesus is always knocking.  But only we can open the door.  As a parish, we need to find ways of opening the door, to the Jesus who wanders in.