Opening New Doors: Keys and Key Stories (A Dedication Sermon)

(Photo by Henry Mitchell)

Opening New Doors (Sheep Gate 2)
Wood, Keys, Construction Detritus, Micaceous Oxides, Acrylic
48 x 50 x 5 in.
Henry Mitchell, 2009

Commissioned for the dedication of the Activities and Youth Ministry Center of First Baptist Church, Greenville, S.C., on August 23, 2009,this construction by Greenville area artist Henry Mitchell contains the three New Testament Scripture passages for the morning's sermon. It is exhibited prominently at the "bridge entrance" to the new facility. The dedication sermon was a collaborative effort of FBC staff members Jeff Rogers and Kyle Matthews. Audio can be accessed at http://www.firstbaptistgreenville.com/media/sermonaudio.html.

1 Kings 8:22-30,41-43
Revelation 3:8
Colossians 4:3

Revelation 3:20

Verse 1: “The Door That Christ Has Opened,” Kyle Matthews

“Look, I have set before you an open door,” says the Lord (Revelation 3:8). It is Christ who opens doors. Whenever and wherever a door opens on faith, hope and love; on forgiveness and reconciliation; on justice and on mercy, it is Christ who opens the door. “Look, I have set before you an open door,” says the Lord. There are 20 new external doors on the Activities and Youth Ministry Center we dedicate today. There are glass doors and metal doors, doors for coming in and doors for going out. Doors that swing open and a door that rolls up. And every one of them is a reminder to us that Christ opens doors. All kinds of doors.

Christ opens doors for some of us through music, and Christ opens doors for some of us through silence. Christ opens doors for some of us through prayer, and Christ opens doors for some of us through mission-action. Christ opens doors for some of us through suffering, and Christ opens doors for some of us through healing. Christ opens doors for some of us through preaching and teaching, and Christ opens doors for some of us through creation. Christ opens doors for some of us through our success, and Christ opens doors for some of us through our failure. Christ opens doors for some of us through fellowship and recreation, and Christ opens doors for some of us through solitude and reflection. Christ opens doors for some of us through art and literature, and Christ opens doors for some of us through science and mathematics. We open new doors at First Baptist Greenville because doors are for opening, welcoming, admitting, including: “The door that Christ has opened Is not for me to close. It is not mine to know The limits grace can reach” (Kyle Matthews, “The Door That Christ Has Opened,” v. 1). “Look, I have set before you an open door,” says the Lord.

Verse 2: “The Door That Christ Has Opened,” Kyle Matthews

“Pray for us, that God will open to us a door for the word” (Colossians 4:3). The Scripture that Gina Brock read this morning from 1 Kings 8 is an excerpt from the prayer of Solomon on the dedication of the temple in Jerusalem. I’m going to leave it to God to answer how it happened that on the day we scheduled the dedication of the Activities and Youth Ministry Center (AYMC) at First Baptist Greenville, the Old Testament Lesson in the Revised Common Lectionary being read in churches all over the world this morning just happened to be a prayer of dedication for a building. I’ll leave that to God to explain.

To be sure, the AYMC is not a temple. It is one of the great errors of our time and culture that we spend more money to build athletic arenas than we spend to build hospitals; we spend more to build stadiums than we spend to build shelters for the homeless and abused persons; we spend more to build coliseums than we spend to build affordable housing. We entertain ourselves to death, while others are dying of hunger, illness, and exposure. There are those who would say that we have simply repeated a great and condemnable error of our time in the construction of so beautiful and expensive a structure. And I will agree with them—if the building we dedicate today turns out to be dedicated to mere entertainment, to mere religiosity, to distractions, barriers and impediments to the gospel of Jesus Christ instead of to the ministry and mission of Christian hospitality and inclusion; the cultivation of healthy bodies, minds and spirits formed in Jesus Christ; and the preparation for sending out in mission and ministry, not just drawing in.

Solomon’s prayer of dedication reminds us that God cannot be contained in a building that we have built (1 Kings 8:27). But Solomon’s prayer also reminds us that a building we have built can be a witness to God’s steadfast love and faithfulness (1 Kings 8:23), as long as we do not let our buildings become closed so that the poor and the needy are kept out, so that strangers and foreigners are turned away. Instead, every building that is built and every door that is opened and every mission and ministry of this congregation must have as its dedicated purpose, as Solomon prayed, “that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and [worship] you, so that they may know that your name”—not ours—is spoken in this place (1 Kings 8:43). It is to the purpose of a witness to God in Jesus Christ that all that we do and all that we have and all that we are is dedicated to the word that is the gospel of Jesus Christ which is always and everywhere a word of faith, hope and love; a word of forgiveness and reconciliation; a word of justice and of mercy. “Pray for us, that God will open to us a door for the word.”

Verse 3: “The Door That Christ Has Opened,” Kyle Matthews

“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,” says the Lord (Revelation 3:20). In this place, all that we do and all that we have and all that we are is dedicated to Christ Jesus who comes beside each one of us and says, “It was for this one I gave my earthly life” (Kyle Matthews, “The Door That Christ Has Opened,” v. 3). What that means is that the story of every life that is touched by Christ is the story of the gospel. Every story of a door opened by Christ and opening to Christ is the story of the gospel. When Opening New Doors began in 2005, we were all invited to bring a key as a sign and symbol of our congregation’s efforts to open new doors for the gospel. Hundreds of keys came in.

We don’t know the stories of all those keys, but we know some of them. One of them was the key to the front door of the home of Emma and Leon Latimer, given by their granddaughter and grandson-in-law. Leon Latimer was the pastor of First Baptist Greenville from 1934-1952. Emma and Leon Latimer’s story is the story of hearing the Lord’s voice and opening the door. Another key was given “in honor and memory of the 14 Baptist churches” where a couple in this congregation and their family were members through 58 years of marriage. The husband wrote, “All of these churches accepted us and made us an essential part of the church. These experiences allowed us to serve the Lord and it became an important part of our life. Each church opened new doors and nurtured us through our journey of faith.”

Another key was from a clock and accompanied by this note: “At 77, I know how quickly time is passing, and I cherish the time I have spent at FBC.” There is a key to an apartment “where I moved at the of a ‘chapter,’ a marriage that fell apart. God used that time for me to be available to my parents during my mother’s terminal cancer and my father’s transition to living alone. It is a symbol to me of how God provides and [how] God uses even the most disappointing periods of our lives to minster to others and bring [God’s] good from it.” A couple wrote, “The key for us coming into the fellowship of First Baptist was through our precious Grandchildren. Attending many church activities with them [. . .] allowed us to meet many friends at the church. This has been a Blessing for us and opened many opportunities.”

For the final story, I just can’t remove the names and the story be the same. “Our key belonged to our old Ford station wagon that Shirley drove back and forth to work at East Greer Elementary when Edgar was driving his ’57 Volkswagen to Furman. The key is memorable because it had an uncanny capacity for hiding. It was seldom where it was supposed to be except on those several occasions when it would be in the car, but alone, with all the doors locked. Once or twice, in fact, it even managed to be in the ignition, with the motor running, with all the doors locked. Luckily, Edgar had a well behaved sister key with a similar shape that would come to the rescue. . . . Shirley says this key symbolizes ultimate, unmerited love, the kind one often finds at First Baptist.” Ultimate, unmerited love. To that end, we open new doors today and every day. “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,” says the Lord.

Verse 4: “The Door That Christ Has Opened,” Kyle Matthews

This material is Copyrighted © 2009 by Jeffrey S. Rogers. It may be copied or disseminated for non-commercial use, provided this notice is included. The author can be contacted at jeffrogers110@bellsouth.net.