“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” - Matthew 7:7 (NIV)
Those who know me aren’t surprised to hear me say that I’m “detailed oriented.” I pay attention to things. I pay attention to situations. I pay attention to people. I’m that way at work; and I’m that way at home. We like to walk our neighborhood every evening. With that, we probably visit every street of our neighborhood at least once every week. I wave at every car. I acknowledge everyone I pass by. I haven’t socialized with many of my neighbors but I know who they are. I know what they look like.
We were driving out of the neighborhood the other evening. A younger man was walking down the hill on one of the gated side streets. Nothing unusual. Except for the bag. The man was carrying an oversized and colorful shopping bag. We live on the Hillside. Walking the hills is difficult enough without your hands full! You certainly don’t carry loaded shopping bags up and down the hills if you can help it! I nodded to the individual, noted it, and continued our journey to town.
The next day, I was working outside on my gutters. I was in an area where I could not be seen, except for my dangling feet on a somewhat rickety ladder. I heard a male voice ask me whether I was the homeowner. I said yes. And I descended down the ladder. The polite young man, holding that same colorful shopping bag I had noticed the night before, told me he wanted to talk to me about Ballot Measure 1. He handed me a flyer. I took it and glanced at it. I told him I was already aligned with the position he was promoting. He had my vote! We exchanged pleasantries. I wished him well.
The man was Black.
For the past few days, I’ve been thinking about that encounter. I thought back to my first sight of him. I hadn’t seen him before and I had made a mental note of that detail, the same as I do for others I do not recognize. I don’t believe my mind questioned whether he “belonged” in our neighborhood. I wonder whether that was because I am more aware now of any bias I might possess. And then I thought about our encounter at home. I wondered, had I been inside, whether I would have opened the door at the sound of his knock. Maybe I would have just waved him off, through the window, as being uninterested in whatever it was he might be peddling, the same as I do for others I do not recognize. I’m glad to have been outside. It was a brief, but pleasant exchange. It was a pleasure to meet the young man.
Over the past few weeks, related to our Back-To-School Mission, I’ve been to a few homes where I would otherwise be unknown. I have a routine. I ring the doorbell and take a few steps back. I don’t want to make someone uncomfortable by standing too close to the door. I want the owners to have full view of me from their eyepiece in the door. The door usually opens, I introduce myself and I communicate my business.
Here’s the thought I can’t get out of my head these past few days. What must it be like for a Black person to come to the door to conduct business in my, or any other, neighborhood? I wonder if they are nervous. What might he/she encounter as they approach a doorway? What might they expect when they knock on the door? Will they be waved away? Will the door be opened, only partially and with skepticism, to understand the reason for the visit? Will there be conversation? Will there be debate? How might you respond to such a knock on the door today? How have you responded in the past? And, peeling the onion further, would our response to the knock on the door be different if it was, say, a police officer at the door? Or if the knock on the door was from a person of a different, but non-Black, race?
“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.” Revelation 3:20 (NIV). It is said that this verse in Revelation is the most misused verse in the Bible! At first read, and with a picture in our head like that in this devotional, we might think it’s a call to sinners: open the door when you hear the knock and let Jesus into your heart. But in the proper context, Jesus is knocking at the door of Christians and the Church. In the context of this section of Revelation, these specific Christians had become lazy and nonchalant. Jesus was trying to get their attention.
Knocking at the door is one way to get someone’s attention. Jesus is trying to get my attention. I can feel it. I can tell by the reminders, some of which I spoke about in a prior devotional. I also can’t keep thoughts from popping into my head right now. More devotionals! I’m being pulled to spend more time with Jesus by reading the Bible and by listening to/studying the words of others who help me interpret the message that’s being conveyed. And that’s probably the point Jesus is making to me with these reminders! For others, maybe Jesus is trying to get your attention through feelings of conviction. Or perhaps he’s giving you challenging situations to work through. Or maybe something else. Do you feel it?
There’s a wakeup call in Revelation 3:20. I might feel like I’m doing everything just right. By the book in fact! But, maybe it’s just a book that I wrote myself, or maybe with help from others, to which I’ve grown comfortable. It’s not God’s book. I have read that we may be letting ourselves become so self-absorbed and self-sufficient that Jesus is, essentially, no longer needed. Complacent Christians. That’s why Jesus was knocking at the door in Revelation! He wanted to be back in their lives!
As Christians, Jesus was, and is, knocking at the door of our eyes and ears as well as our heart. I ask you: Are we seeing and are we listening? Let’s reflect on how we might answer the knock on the door. It’s Jesus. And he wants our attention. Let him come in and be with us!
Heavenly Father, help us to hear the knock on the door. Help us to be unassuming as we interpret why there’s a knock on the door. Open our minds as we reflect on reminders, convictions and challenges. We are not lazy; but we may be comfortable! Be persistent with us! In Your Son’s name, Amen.
Rick Meidel, his wife Natalie and daughter Sarah have attended St. John UMC since 2018. Rick can be reached at meidy@me.com or 832-418-9200.