Open the Door

Busni Me Ing Pasbul (Open the Door)

The phrase comes from the Pampanga province of the Philippines and has the idea of being prepared. Open the door! it says. It can have many different contexts. It might be spoken by one standing on the outside desiring admittance. It might just be spoken as a general command or request. However, here, it has the context of expectation. Open the door! because something good is coming. We need to be ready for it.

This second Sunday in Advent we think about John the Baptist and the phrase Prepare the way of the Lord! It is time to make things ready, simple things like opening the door to welcome him in. The problem when we open the door is that we can’t always control what comes in. During the summer, open doors invite all sorts of flies, mosquitoes, and other bugs. During the winter the frigid air rushes through every opening, regardless how small. We don’t want to open the door TOO wide.

If we open it all the way, what happens if a Jesus comes in that we don’t particularly care for?  I spent some time talking to a person who desires to bring Christmas to those less fortunate. So far the call for others to care as well and open the door of their hearts has not been met with enthusiastic response. One person offered an explanation that it could be the season. People are saving their money to spend on themselves. Aren’t you glad Jesus chose differently? Another offered that it was the particular condition of the audience to which she was talking. Either way, the door remained closed, Jesus locked safely on the other side.

Jesus Christ comes into our world and turns everything upside down. He might just ask us to sacrifice something dear. He might call us to move beyond fear and anxiety to boldness and hope. He might require us to be a little less self-centered and a little more other centered. And, somehow in the process, we just might find out that we like it.

We might recognize that peace on earth comes from God but, often, is delivered by us. We might catch on that the Christmas presents that appear under the less fortunate’s tree might have to find their way there from our tree first. We might learn that the inconvenient visit to the shut-in or nursing home resident is appreciated so much simply because they know it is so inconvenient. Prepare the way of the Lord!

Open the door, but look out when you do, blessing may just find its way in!

Pastor Craig