P.O.P. 4/9/06 Open the Gates! Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29; Mark 1:1-11

Palm Sunday

          I drove past Open Door Baptist Church in Reynoldsburg the other day.  The door was closed and there was a lock on it.  For years First Presbyterian Church, Colcord was without a lock and then someone stole two brass candlesticks and now there is a lock on the door. Many Catholic churches remain unlocked late into the evening to allow people to come in and pray; but with increased vandalism and theft some now lock up.

          In High School I studied in Berlin Germany.  The wall dominated that city: east and west, oppressed and free.  I lived in the west but went through check point Charlie to tour the eastern part of the city. It was hard for Americans to enter, how much more difficult for East Germans to leave?  In Israel they built a wall to keep the violence out; yet Palestinians who for years worked in the Jewish area now find it almost impossible to get to their jobs.  Today some politicians want to build a wall, costing billions of dollars to construct and many more to maintain, between the U.S.A and Mexico. 

          A great American poet, Robert Frost responded to a neighbor’s comment, “Good fences make good neighbors” with a poetic reflection: “Mending Wall”.  He responds:

“Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder

If I could put a notion in his head:

“Why do they make good neighbors?  Isn’t it

Where there are cows?  But here there are no cows.

Before I built a wall I’d ask to know

What I was walling in or walling out,

And to whom I was like to give offense.

Something there is that doesn’t love a wall. 

That wants it down.”

 Gates narrow the entry way and slow things down.  Sheep gates were designed to help shepherds keep count of their flock: one sheep, two sheep, three sheep…!  The Bible sends us mixed messages when it comes to gates: Jesus once told his followers, “enter by the narrow gate” for the gate is wide that leads to destruction.  Perhaps he also wants to count and make sure all his faithful children get in.  Paul spoke of Jesus as one who tears down dividing walls and the promised New Jerusalem in John’s Revelation has twelve huge gates – each 144 miles wide – three gates to the north, three to the south, three to the east and three to the west – gates that never close (for you may recall, there is no night in God’s city).  Through these gates freely stream the children of God who come from every race and tribe, every ethnicity and nation.  But despite the open door policy, nothing profane, nothing evil enters the city, for all have been washed in the blood of the lamb and made pure.

          Psalm 118 is one of several Old Testament scriptures referenced by the crowds and gospel writers on Palm Sunday.  “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.”  In this psalm after acknowledging his own sinfulness, the writer pleads to God, “Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I many enter through them and give thanks to the Lord.”  In the prayer no amount of repentance or righteous acts can break through the gates of God’s kingdom. It is up to the LORD to open and bid his children welcome. 

          Of course we know God’s method of doing most things is through people.  This week I began to wonder, “Who opened gates so that I might come closer to God and God’s kingdom?” “What gates separate us from God?”  Finally I asked myself, “When did I open gates to others allowing them, welcoming them into the Lord’s fellowship?”

          Recently I shared with the confirmation class an incident from my youth.  I was president of the church youth group and we wanted the church to develop the field behind the church for recreation.  Trembling, I raised my hand at a congregational meeting to bring our concern.  As I spoke the president of the Board of Trustees stood up and told me to sit down, that I was out of order.  I was a member of the church but at that moment felt like a second-class citizen.  A gate slammed in my face.  I began to drift away from church.  Have you ever experienced a rejection by someone in the church?  I find that many “unchurched” experienced a door or gate slammed in their faces.  They see church as a gated community and they don’t know the password.

          The next fall I was in the gym at freshman orientation for college.  Tables were set up by different campus organizations and as I wandered a young woman approached me with a card.  On it Charlie Brown’s dog Snoopy twirled around.  “If you can’t dance,” it read, “you can at least do a happy hop!”  “I’m Carol,” she said, “I’m the seminary assistant at chapel.  We meet on Sundays at 10:00.  Chaplain Boyd always has coffee and pastry. I’d love to see you there!  Dress casually, we usually sit on the floor.”  A gate creaked open a bit.  Within a few weeks I was again part of a community of faith. In a few years I wondered whether God might be calling me to ministry. Another year later I was part of a service celebrating the life and ministry of Chaplain Boyd who died far too early for all of us.  For four years Jim had run before me and opened gate after gate as I moved closer and closer to God’s kingdom.  Who has opened the gates of righteousness in your life?  Weren’t they special people?

          Do you guard the gates or open them wide?  The confirmation class reviewed the statement in the Presbyterian Book of Order on “Membership as Ministry.”  It reminds us that, “a faithful member accepts Christ’s call to be involved responsibly in the ministry the church.”  A list of nine ministries follows. The first is, “proclaiming the good news.”  You do this not just with words but also by actions. The disciples went ahead to prepare the crowds for Jesus’ entry into the city: they were donkey fetchers, crowd gatherers and gate openers.  Much of what we do for Christ seems so minor: sweeping a front walk before church on Sunday, providing cookies for fellowship hour, passing out bulletins or palm crosses, moving down a seat so a family can sit together in worship or greeting a stranger with a smile.  Yet by such small acts of kindness we open the gates and bring others to Christ. People all around us need Christ; people all around us need someone to “open the gates of righteousness” on his behalf.  Do you hold the gate open or guard it shut?  Are you fearful of change and new faces or do you trust in God who bids us to do new things?  

          Remember and give thanks for those who opened doors and gates before you and for Christ who broke down dividing walls.  And try, each of you in your own way, to open gates and doors so that others may find entry and welcome in God’s kingdom.  To God be all glory, now and forever.  Amen.