THE DOOR KNOCKER

READ 1 CORINTHIANS 16:5-10

     When I was making repairs to my home, I had a new front door installed. I also removed the broken doorbell and replaced it with a door knocker instead. The nickel-plated door knocker I purchased had a flat plate on it that was well-suited for engraving. I took it to a gift shop at the mall and had the words “Thy Will Be Done” engraved onto the plate. My repairman mounted the door knocker onto the door, thereby distinguishing my home as one dedicated to the will of God.

     When Barry and I were married, he moved into my home with me. We agreed to live in devotion to God’s will, just like our door knocker claimed. Settling into our routine now, I sometimes catch him off-guard with my impulsive decisions.

     A woman at our church approached me to ask if Barry and I would like to join the Chimes Choir for an upcoming Easter season service. Without hesitating I said, “Yes!” though I was fully aware that Barry and I are not musical people. We can barely carry a tune, we don’t play instruments, and we can’t read music. That is why he was surprised when I told him about our performing in the choir.

     “Why are you volunteering us?” he asked after our names were added to the list. “We don’t know how to do that!”

     “I know,” I said. “But it will be fun to join, and we will learn something new!”

     We dutifully showed up at the first rehearsal, and the music leader assigned us our hand chimes. I had two chimes to play, with notes in most of the song. Barry had one lower range note to play a couple times at the end. As members took their places, we both stood next to someone who could read music and help us if we got lost during the song. We took the sheet music home to practice counting notes while tapping on the kitchen table. “One, two, three, four. One…Two…”

     After plenty of rehearsals, the Chimes Choir was ready to play their song. Easter Sunday morning we performed the hymn Jesus Christ Has Risen Today before the congregation. Barry and I could be seen nodding our heads up and down, keeping time and counting notes to ourselves. “One, two, three, four. One…Two…” We successfully rang our chimes at the right time, holding the last vibrating note for a big finish at the end! We were met with applause! The special music featuring chimes added a unique element to the worship service that everyone enjoyed.

     Afterwards during coffee hour, the music director showed me a video of a community performance of Handel’s Messiah in which she participated. She played an instrument in the orchestra. Every year, worshipers from around the city meet at a large church on Cleveland’s West Side to sing Handel’s Messiah. She said it took about two hours to perform the whole piece. I watched the short recording of local talent singing their respective parts from sheet music that was provided. No rehearsals for this one— people just showed up and sang!

     “We are going to do that next year!” I said emphatically.

     Barry heard me and rolled his eyes. “I can’t wait,” he said.

     Was that sarcasm? I’m not sure. It doesn’t really matter because I made up my mind to do it!

      His question to me later was, why do I volunteer for events that we have no training in?

 I do it because of the message on our door knocker, “Thy Will Be Done.” Let’s take a closer look at the scripture verse from which this phrase was extracted. “Thy Kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10) This says that it is God’s will to make earth as heavenly as possible. If we believe that, then we need to be available to bring heaven in by doing the Father’s will.

     The Bible says that Jesus stands at the door of our heart and knocks. “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into Him and dine with him and he with Me.” (Revelation 3:20) Before He said this, He encouraged people to “be zealous” (vs 19) or enthusiastic about God approaching them. To “dine” with Him means to share a meal together eating food.

     During His ministry, Jesus said, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to accomplish His work.” (John 4: 34) When Jesus approaches us with a “knock” on our heart, it is an invitation to join Him in accomplishing God’s will on earth. He will show us some act of service that glorifies God, making Him known to other people. This could be a variety of activities and opens us up to doing things we have never done before. When we “dine” with Jesus, we must rely on God to provide the talent and the power to meet His challenge. These tasks may be a stretch for us. Regardless, be zealous and accept His challenge eagerly. He will provide the way and means to do it. If we give God our availability, then He will give us His ability.

     This is the vibrancy of the Christian life. We never become stagnant in our daily routines. Instead, we learn new skills and perform tasks we never thought of doing, just like Barry and I did in the Chimes Choir. Like our front door knocker, when we stay open to Jesus “knocking” on our heart, God can open new doors for far-reaching service. The Apostle Paul told the church at Corinth, “for a wide door for effective service has opened to me.” (1 Corinthians 16: 9) God will open doors of opportunity for us when we keep the door of our heart open to Him.

     Let me finish with the example of Handel’s Messiah. In London England, 1741, Charles Jennens handed composer George Frederic Handel a librettoof words intended for an Easter service the following year. The words penned by the literary scholar were carefully selected Old and New Testament scriptures documenting prophecies about the Messiah, Jesus’ birth, death on the cross and the resurrection. He hoped that Handel’s genius and skill would produce a composition that would exceed all his other works. This was the “knock” on Handel’s heart.

     Handel took the challenge and, in an astounding interlude, composed Messiah in just three to four weeks. Many believed it was divinely inspired because Jesus was “dining” with him in a supernatural visitation. It is told that Handel never left the house during those weeks and a friend who visited discovered him sobbing with intense emotion, seemingly overwhelmed by the presence of God. After he wrote the Hallelujah Chorus, Handel was quoted as saying, “I did think I saw all Heaven before me, and the Great God Himself.”

     For Jennens and Handel, Messiah became an evangelistic tool to share the Gospel with the masses. The finished work made its debut in Dublin, Ireland, a prosperous European city at the time. Messiah’s success in Dublin was quickly repeated back in London. Eventually the piece became a Christmas favorite. By the nineteenth century, performances of Messiah became an even stronger Christmas tradition in the United States than in England.

     Performances in Handel’s day were often benefit concerts to help release people from debtors’ prison or feed orphans. One scholar wrote, “Messiah has fed the hungry, clothed the naked and fostered the orphan more than any single musical production in this or any other country.” However, George Frederic Handel did not want any of the credit.

     Why would he not take credit for his renowned composition? Because he knew it was not him, but God who gave him all the skill and inspiration to write that heavenly music. “On earth as it is in heaven.” Handel was given a wide door by God for effective service that goes on to this day. Barry and I are to going celebrate that wide door by singing along next year!

     “I stand at the door and knock.” Jesus wants to do the Father’s will on the earth— to make earth as heavenly as possible. He continues to knock on hearts to do that. Will you listen to His voice and open the door to a greater work that you normally can’t do? Why not you? Why not now?