Revelation as Renewal

“After this I looked, and there in heaven a door stood open! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, ‘Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.’” Revelation 1:1

Our reading this morning is from the book of Revelation. In it, John is given a glimpse of God’s throne and provides us with a vivid description. It is a regal throne surrounded by a rainbow that looks like an emerald and 24 other thrones where the elders sit. It is quite the picture, a throne room fit only for God.

What is interesting though is the fact that the door stood open. John does not say he saw the door swing open. He did not see an angel fiddling with keys as he tried to unlock the door. There was no combination code to be entered, no key card to be swiped. John looked. And he saw the door was open. Isn’t that wonderful!

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When we cry out for healing, when we pray for the Spirit to visit us, when we look at a broken world and shake our fists in frustration, we are directing our prayers and supplications and thanksgivings toward our God whose door is always open.

And when we wish to bring closer the kingdom of God here on earth by serving in our various ministries; when we go out into the world after our Sunday worship to spread the good news through our words and through our deeds, when we love as deeply as we can love, we are creating a relationship with God.

God is not hiding behind a wall or a door bolted shut. God is with us. God is beside us. God is within us. Our prayers are heard. Our actions are noticed. Seek out God for God is willing to be found.

The door is open. The threshold is ours to cross.

Post by Matt Handi

Knocking at your door

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. –Revelation 3:20

When I was a kid, for some reason, a fright frequently came over me when someone called or knocked on the door. I was always busy doing something else: reading a book, or browsing the internet, or playing a game. And then, suddenly, the phone rang from the kitchen (oh, the days of landlines), or the doorbell sounded throughout the house. Whatever it was I was doing stopped, even if just for a moment. Something more urgent beckoned.

Hark! A thrilling voice is sounding!

A voice cries out in the wilderness!

For us, Advent is often like that unexpected sound, jolting us out of our reverie. Just when we’re in the midst of our lives, doing something else—taking care of our work or families, our chores or play—the prophets interrupt us to remind us to listen closely. They shake us from our slumber and remind us that “salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers” (Rom. 13:11).

We’re in the last stretch of this season of Advent, getting ready to celebrate the first coming of our Lord at Christmas. But above and beyond the church year, the Scriptures call us to prepare for eternity—to repent, to pray, to listen, to look to the One who was, and who is, and who is to come.

For now, the prophets and apostles call out to us, seeking to prepare the way of the Lord. But soon, the One to whom they bear witness, he himself will come, as a child in a manger and as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, knocking on the door of our hearts.

When Jesus comes knocking, will we have ears to hear him calling? When Jesus comes knocking, will we open the door?

Post by Armando Ghinaglia

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