Wednesday, June 30, 2004
Wednesday, June 30, 2004
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
NRSV)
"Jim, I'm going to die," Charlie whispered to his friend. Knowing Jim had no family of his own, Charlie added, "But I want you to go back to my mother and take my place there."
"But Charlie, your mother doesn't know me," Jim reminded his dying comrade, "and she would not allow me to come into her home and live as a son."
"I will write her a letter and you will take it to her," Charlie explained.
The letter told the mother of her son's ill fortunes, of his wounds, and of his suffering, and how Jim had stuck by him day and night through it all. The letter closed like this, "Mother, receive Jim for my sake."
Jim carefully tucked the letter away in his waistcoat. After the close of the war he went to Charlie's hometown and sought out the mother's home. He knocked at the door and stood waiting, ragged and worn from the ravages of war, a very unsightly character.
As the lady opened the door, she looked upon him and thought him to be just another beggar passing by. But Jim handed her the letter through the half-opened door. She read it, recognizing her son's handwriting. When she read the last line, "Mother, receive Jim for my sake," the expression on her face changed, tears of deep emotion welled up inside, and she threw the door open wide, receiving Jim "for Charlie's sake."
According to our Bibles, that sort of acceptance is the story of the cross. God accepts us as His own beloved children for Christ's sake. We may not understand why it had to be this way. But we look at the cross and we see there an open door.
Dear God, help me to open the door for Jesus. Amen.
