C.S. Lewis says in The Weight of Glory:
“Our lifelong nostalgia, our longing to be
reunited with something in the universe from which we now feel cut off, to
be on the inside of some door which we have always seen from the outside,
is no mere neurotic fancy, but the truest index of our real situation.
And to be at last summoned inside would be both glory and honor beyond all our
merits and also the healing of that old ache”.
Even those who are homeless, those
struggling with addiction or have absent parents or horrific life-changing
experiences, still look to find or create community and acceptance. What would our homes, churches and ministries
look like if we opened the door both physically and spiritually... let Jesus in
to sit at our dining table? I often
think about our cities, the hustle and bustle up and down the streets and the
little shops below beautiful loft apartments.
The mixture of economic class all crammed into one area. I imagine many people are looking at doors
wishing they were on the inside, sitting with people in love and
acceptance.
The front door and the dining table remind
me of relationships; of relationship with family and friends and my
relationship with Jesus. The front door
and the kitchen table, both are bold and have great potential! Maybe doors and dining tables stand out most
to me because I grew up around a window and door company and my parents always
made sure we ate together at the table.
The idea of coming through the door to sit and eat with the ones we love
settles me.
An obvious passage of scripture that comes
to mind is the words of Jesus to the Laodicean church. Revelation 3:20 says, “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.” The Laodicean church was complacent and
rich. They felt self-satisfied but didn't
have Christ's presence among them. This
is a picture of Christ knocking on the door of the hearts of people that needed
to accept Jesus for the first time, for some of them had never made that
commitment. Others needed to open the
door in order to return to wholehearted faith in Him. Christ was knocking. He was not banging, not
breaking and entering, but knocking, desiring that the Laodicean church
remember its need for Him. If they
opened the door, Jesus would come in and eat with them. Being still with Jesus, listening and
learning from the master teacher is what I picture here: the truest form of
yearning, finding our home in the safe and secure presence of Jesus. We sit together in great relationship.
Whether we need to physically open our doors
to those standing on the outside, inviting them in to eat at the table or to
spiritually open our lives to Jesus, let's always remember there is great
presence and power on the other side of the door.
Jayme
