Someone's Knockin that door

Scripture Verse that Caught my attention today: Revelation 3:20 Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me.

Observation: The context of this verse is somewhat surprising. It is within a message to the ancient church of Laodicea. That church was being criticized by the Almighty for being neither cold nor hot but, rather, lukewarm in regard to their faith. Yet God was knocking at their door.

Application: One of the stained glass windows in our church, highlighted yesterday during the Children’s message by our intern, is a depiction of Jesus standing at the door knocking. It hadn’t really occurred to me until today’s readings that this story was originally proclaimed to a luke-warm people.

Centuries later, it occurs to me that many of us who are part of the church have a luke-warmness to us. It’s not that faith isn’t important to us. It is. But many of us also have a bunch of other dimensions to our lives as well and we often see faith as but one piece of it.

Enter Jesus. In reality, faith is not intended to be a separate component in life but, rather, a constant companion through all parts of our lives. Faith sheds light on some aspects of life and experiences the rest of it with us.

Sometimes spouses grow apart. After this many years of ministry I’ve seen it happen more than once. They gradually begin to have one or more aspects of their lives that they encounter separate from their respective spouse. Over time the form a separate identity and/or split personality of sorts. They have their lives with their spouse and they have their lives away from their spouse. It’s not necessarily an affair. It could just be a new all-consuming hobby. First thing you know the spouse says something to the affect of “I don’t think I even know you anymore.”

This is how it can be when we treat faith as but one dimension of our lives. When we attempt to sequester Jesus to but one area or time in our lives and try to live a separate identity without our faith, there comes a point where it’s as if the Lord is saying, “I don’t think I even know you any more.” It’s as if we’ve shut Jesus out…

With one big difference. Jesus keeps knocking.

Prayer: Lord, help us to recognize how you can experience and help inform much of our lives, not just the overtly religious part. And since you do indeed keep knocking, be sure to give us an increased sense of hearing, that we might know of your knock and open the door. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

(Readings today included: Ezekiel 4-7 and Revelation 3)