Kingdom Harbor

By Mike Fox 

On my desk at work I have a scripture-a-day calendar.  When I get to work in the morning, one of the first things I do is tear off yesterday’s verse and look at the new verse.  I never look ahead.  I look forward to the surprise.  Last week one of the verses was Rev 3:20,

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.”

I have read that verse, I’ve heard sermons about that verse many times and the focus has always been on the knocking and the opening…”Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in”  But this time my eye was drawn to the coming in and eating…”I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.”

So after Three Taverns last week, I shared with Jeremy that this verse might be a good starting point for an Agape message.  Three days later, on Saturday morning, I got a message from Jeremy, “Mike, Would you put together a 12-15 minute message for Wednesday night Agape around Rev 3:20?” So let this be a warning to all of you, don’t share scripture with Jeremy. :)

You have probably heard that the Bible can be summarized in a single verse.  The verse most commonly used is Luke 10:27: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind ; and, Love your neighbor as yourself.” Or if you prefer the MSG version, “That you love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and muscle and intelligence—and that you love your neighbor as well as you do yourself.”

Another commonly used verse is Micah 6:8 “And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

Both of those verses are focused on us.  They tell us how WE should act.  There is a third verse that does an equally good job of summarizing the Bible.  It is Rev 3:20, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.”  This verse is focused on God’s actions rather than our actions.  It tells us how God acts toward us.

Last week at Three Taverns, Jeremy talked about atonement or at-one-ment.  Jeremy taught us that God desires a relationship with us.  God does all of the hard work.  He has removed all barriers, He pursues us and, when He finds us, He stands at the door of our heart and knocks.

Cover to cover, Genesis to Revelation, the Bible tells the story of God’s desire for relationship with us.  I’m going to share a few verses that illustrate God’s desire for relationship.  These verses are only a sample, there are many other verses that I could’ve used.

We see God’s desire for relationship with us at the beginning of the story, in Gen 3.  Adam and Eve have just eaten from the forbidden tree.  They are naked and ashamed and they hide from God.  In verse 8 we find God walking in the garden looking for Adam and Eve.  Verse 9 says “The Lord God called to the man, ‘Where are you?’ ”  I, God, enjoy being with you.  Where are you?

We see this in Gen 12 when God establishes a covenant with the Israelites.  “The Lord had said to Abram…’I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.’ ”  I, God, enjoy being with you.  I will bless you.

We see this in John 1, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.”  I, God, enjoy being with you.  I will send my Son to be with you.

We see this in Luke 23, at the moment of Jesus’ death “…the curtain of the temple was torn in two.”  The curtain of the temple separated the people from the direct presence of God.  When Jesus died on the cross the curtain was torn which indicates that we now have direct access to God.  I, God, enjoy being with you.  I have destroyed all barriers that separate us.

We see this in Acts 2.  “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.”  I, God, enjoy being with you.  I have sent my spirit to dwell inside of you, to guide you, and to give you power.

We see this at the end of the story, in Rev 3.  Where, in verse 20, Christ says, “Here I am!  I stand at the door and knock.  If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.”  I, God, enjoy being with you.  I want to sit at your table and break bread with you.

The tradition of sharing food and drink is universally accepted as an offer of hospitality, protection, and friendship.  Food is a part of every celebration and of every holiday – Turkey at Thanksgiving, cookies at Christmas, ham at Easter, green beer on St. Patrick’s day.  It is part of every culture – the Japanese tea ceremony and the English high tea.  I’m certain that you have your own family traditions – a special cake for your birthday, a special restaurant for your anniversary, a special meal for Christmas.  You may have noticed that food is an integral part of many of Mainstreet’s activities like life groups and life courses.

In the Bible, food is part of many of the most well known stories – the prodigal son, Psalm 23, turning water into wine, Mary and Martha, the feeding of the 4000 and the 5000, and the last supper.

Yes, Christ has done all of the hard work.  He now stands at the door of our heart and knocks.  It is up to us to open the door and let Him in.  But when we do, something beautiful happens.  He comes in and eats with us.  He doesn’t come in and preach; He doesn’t come in with a list our every sin; He doesn’t come in to declare punishment; He doesn’t come in to disrupt our life; He comes in and eats with us.

Every time we take communion, we should hear the knocking at the door.  Every time we sit down at the Lord’s table, we are accepting His hospitality, His protection.  The bread we eat, the juice we drink is a reminder that God wants a relationship with us, that He has pursued us, that His son died on a cross so God could be with us.

Listen to the words found in Matt 26, “While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”  Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you.  This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”  I, God, enjoy being with you.  I have covered your sins to make this possible.

Read more writings from Mike here.