Revelation 3:7-13 * December 15, 2004 * Midweek Advent 3 * Pastor Steven Stern

When my children were of preschool age they loved to watch “Sesame Street” on public television. It was a good way for them to start to learn how to count and learn the letters of the alphabet. Once in a while I would take a minute to watch some of the things they were teaching and I remember one of the skits had to do with teaching the difference between right and left. In the skit a waiter with a big tray of dishes would go into a door and at the same time a big cook with a tray of pies would be coming out of that door. They would crash into each other and food and dishes would go flying everywhere and my child would laugh and laugh to see such a mess. But my child would also be learning the important lesson that if you don’t want to break dishes and drop pies you must go in on the right and come out on the left. To reinforce the importance of knowing right from left there was a little song that went with the visual lesson that went like this: “Go in on the right and come out on the left and you’ll never go wrong.”

If going in the right door into the kitchen is important the writer of the sixth letter to the church in Philadelphia is telling us there are some other doors that are even more important for us to see and we really can’t properly prepare for Christmas unless we learn about these doors. So, let’s look at three doors that Jesus points out to the Apostle John and to us. First of all, lets look at the door that God opens and man tries to shut. Secondly, let’s look at the door that God shuts and man tries to open. And thirdly, let’s look at the door that God wants us to walk through.

ADVENT LETTER #6: TO THE CHURCH AT PHILADELPHIA

I. The Door that God Opens

II. The Door that God Shuts

III. The Door that God Wants Us to Walk Through

Before we look at these doors I would like to call your attention to the phrase, “These are the words of him who holds the key of David.” This is a reference to the promise to King David that one of his descendants would be the promised Messiah. He would be a much different king than David. Whereas David ruled an earthly kingdom, his son, the Messiah, would rule a spiritual kingdom. He would have the key to the human heart. He would have the authority to say to the human heart, “because I have lived and died for you, your sins are forgiven. I am your king and you are my subject.” So this reference to the key of David helps us to think of the doors before us in Revelation in terms of the doors that affect the human heart.

As I think about doors that God would like to open so my heart can open but doors that we as humans may not want to open, I think of the door of suffering. There is always a pretty fair amount of depression and despair at Froedtert Hospital because of the serious illnesses that are being treated there but, especially at this time of the year, you hear people saying to each other, “Isn’t it a shame that he has to be in the hospital during the holiday season.” You listen to families whose loved one dies and someone will say, “Why did he have to die right at Christmas?” Now we will always think of this every year.” It’s almost as if we are saying to the sick and dying, “Can’t you schedule this at a little more convenient time?” Why do we have to deal with suffering? Can’t we close this door and pretend it’s not there? Ryan, who is twenty years old and has serious cancer, would like to pretend that he doesn’t have it. People who are out of work and have no money, people who are sick, people whose health is failing and they can’t take care of themselves any more, all of us who have some kind of misery slapping us in the face, we want it to go away. We’re saying, “No, that can’t come in here.”

Why do we try to block out suffering, especially at Christmas? Does this not square with the lights and the decorations and the festive mood that many people are in? But then, when you think of Bethlehem and the stable, and the straw, and the manger, it kind of helps, doesn’t it, to remember that suffering was in Christmas from the very beginning and that was nothing compared to what happened on Calvary. Paul has some very beautiful words for us in Romans 5 where he reminds us that “We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,” and then he goes on to say, “Therefore we rejoice in our sufferings.” So, rather than trying to pretend that suffering doesn’t touch us over the holidays, he is telling us that suffering is always there but now that Jesus suffered, He can walk with us. He can sustain us. He can turn our sufferings into something fruitful. Here is how Paul describes that in Romans 5, “Sufferings produce perseverance and perseverance produces character and character produces hope.”

Sufferings produce fruitful things. Couldn’t we all agree that we have all tried to shut the door of suffering when it came into our lives? We didn’t go out of our way to sign up for it. We didn’t say, “Oh, yeah, unload that right here.” But when suffering came and we were able to find Jesus’ presence and support, then we were able to look at what we could gain from it. We begin to see that outer beauty is nothing compared to beauty of character. Anybody can run a block, but only the Christian can run the marathon that real life is.

As we think of our reluctance to let God open the door of suffering for our spiritual growth, we also need to look at the door that we try to open that God shuts. The door that we like to open is the door of prosperity. In America, when we want to check how we are doing we look at our economy. Got a job. Great! Got a great paying job. That is even better. The more money you make, the bigger the house you can buy, and the more expensive the car you can drive, and the more money you can invest for your retirement. The thinking of this kind of lifestyle seems to be that if some is good, then more is better.

This philosophy really kicks in big time during the Christmas season. With a lot of help from retailers and a lot of encouragement from our own greedy hearts, this is the season “to be jolly.” You’ve been thinking about getting that stuff you don’t really need but would like to have, “go ahead, get it. You deserve it! Pamper yourself.” You know there are a lot of calories in that food and in that drink, but it’s time for parties and for fun. “Don’t worry about it! You can go to the club after Christmas and work it off.” The kids don’t need more presents. They are already spoiled and have bad attitudes but, hey, “give it to them. Spoil them even more.” Maybe if we give them enough they will be more grateful that we are their parents and grandparents.

This indulgence and binging and spending also produces some fruits in our lives. We are told that our overeating is giving rise to an epidemic of obesity. Our acquiring of more things does not satisfy our need to have, but instead increases our desire to have even more. And no matter how much we have, we are left with that nagging feeling that something is still missing. On the inside, there is that hollow, empty feeling. Selfish, self-centered kids only become more self-centered and less appreciative the more we lavish upon them. So, underneath the gaiety, the bustle, the hectic shopping and the rounds of Christmas parties, there lurks that anxiety, that depression, that feeling that this is not what we should be doing. If you are feeling that, if you can see your greed is getting the best of you, if you are tired of your kids whining and manipulating you to spend more than you can afford, if you can see that eating and drinking too much is doing nothing for your health, to say nothing of what it is doing to your spirit, then recognize that there is a door hitting you in the face. That door is God saying to you, “This is closed. This is not the way for you. Don’t come in here. This is not the direction I want you to go.”

So, where does God want us to go? When He says, “Behold, I have placed before you an open door,” what is that door that He wants us to go through? Think back to that first door we talked about. The door of suffering that we often fear and hope to avoid, but that comes to us all. That door not only produces the fruits of perseverance and character and hope, it prepares us for ministry. Time and time again, I have heard people say, “When I was well, I never thought much about sick people. Now that I have had cancer and have experienced what that feels like, I know what sick people are going through. Now I look around and I see that they are all around me. I can relate to them. I can empathize with them. I can help them and encourage them.”

Have you had health problems? Have you been through cancer treatment, chronic illness, mental illness? Do you have aged parents with health problems, kids with ongoing health problems or learning disorders? Do you have friends who are facing grief and loss? Have you yourself lost a loved one this past year, and your heart still hurts and aches when you think about that loss? Have you found solace and peace and strength from Jesus? If that is what keeps you going day to day, do you see what a gift that is and how that prepares you to touch someone else’s heart with that love of Jesus?

About a week ago, I stopped at Bill’s room at Froedtert. He had a friend with him, so we just chatted for a few minutes. We talked about how wonderful it is to have friends to come see us when we are sick. Later, as I came out of another room, Bill was walking with the nurses and he looked at me and said, “When you have a minute, come back and pray with me.” When I went back to his room, Bill told me that he was afraid that he didn’t have enough courage to face his death. So, we talked about his fears and his life and his understanding of things. He told me he liked the 23^rd Psalm. As I talked to him about that Psalm, I told Bill that when I had been to Israel on a tour a number of years ago, our guide had showed us what the valley of the shadow might have looked like. It was a very deep and narrow ravine. You could tell that it was very dark in that ravine. It was easy to see that on the trail going down to the bottom of that ravine, the sheep could not see the trail. The shepherd’s staff was all that the sheep could feel to let him know which way to step so that he wouldn’t fall off the trail. Bill thought about that image. When his moment to die would come, Jesus would be there. “You are my child, Bill,” He will say. “I have saved you. I know the way through this valley. I have been on this path myself, so I will show you the way through.” To see the look on Bill’s face after we had talked and prayed made me realize that we had walked through the open door.

Do you know someone who needs your visit? An aged relative? An old friend? A sibling? A parent? If you don’t have anyone in mind, you can call me and I will hook you up with some of the places that I know about where people need ministry. Wherever that door of ministry is for you, that is the door that God has opened and that’s the door he wants you to walk through. So, keep your doors straight this Christmas. “Go in on the right and come out on the left and you’ll never go wrong.”

Amen.