If anyone has ever said to you “You make a better door than
a window”, you probably already have a sense of what the phrase means. Wictionary, the online dictionary, defines it
in this way:
(idiomatic) To obstruct someone's
view, especially as a result of thoughtlessness. Usage notes: Often used in the second person — "You
make a better door than a window" — as a tactful way of asking a person to
move aside so that one may see.
I leave it up to you to decide whether it’s a “tactful” way
to ask someone to move. But regardless
of your feelings for the phrase, it came to mind last week when I was reading
about the Wheelers Avenue
Baptist Church
in Huston Texas. I was reminded because this predominantly
black congregation had some front doors with a story. It seems that during the days of segregation,
there were numerous doors in the city that you were barred from using if you
happened to be born the wrong color. One
set of these doors adorned the front of the Loew's State Movie Theatre. And so, years later when the theater was
being torn down, its doors were purchased by the Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church,
and installed in the front of their new church building. So every Sunday the worshippers passed
through doors that use to exclude them, but now welcomed them in.
Every Sunday, thousands of
African-American worshippers stream through them. Every week, Wheeler's
custodians polish them. And every once in a great while, the church's pastor or
Lawson (now pastor emeritus) will preach about those doors, the doors that the
civil rights movement opened.
Doors can do two things.
They can open up to welcome people in, or they can close tightly to shut
people out. And it seems to me that in a
real sense, we are all doors. We can openly welcome people into our lives and the
fellowship of God’s Kingdom; or we can close up tight and keep people out our
hearts and our fellowship.
This is a good thing to remember as we enter the month of
September. During this month we will be
having a special worship service every Sunday.
On the 4th we will recognize workers, inviting folk to come
in their work clothes, with special music featuring Jessica Moore. On the 11th we will have one
service at 10:30 at Collett
Park, where we will celebrate those
who serve others, like the Red Cross and Salvation Army, followed by a pot-luck. The 18th will have young people
involved in our worship participating and sharing their talent. And the 24th will be a musical
extravaganza – a celebration of our unity – with a meal to follow.
We hope you’ll participate in all of these
services and invite your friends and neighbors.
These will be good services, but more important than any program is the
friendship and love offered by the individual members of our family of faith to
the visitors who walk into our midst. And
in this area, I feel very confident. Maple
Avenue is a welcoming congregation, and it does my heart good to see how our
church family can quickly embrace others.
To this end, this is a good month to be intentional about
being the best door possible. The United
Methodist Church,
over the past few years, has used the slogan:
‘Open Hearts. Open Minds. Open Doors.’
This September let’s make this personal.
It’s our hearts that are open.
It’s our minds that seek to grow.
And we are the inviting doors through which people can enter into the
fellowship of Jesus Christ.
So the next time someone tells you that “You make a better
door than a window,” respond with an enthusiastic “Thank You! I’ve been striving to be the best door
possible!” We have a congregation full
of nice doors, and September is a time to swing into action.
Your’s in Christ;
David Rockhill
No comments:
Post a Comment