Do you think the Lord has a sense of humor? I do. I see a delicious little coincidence that God’s word drops in our laps today.
Some of us remember a 70’s TV program, the Mary Tyler Moore show. If you remember that program, you will recall that sweet, nice, loveable Mary lived in an apartment building, where there was a neighbor named Rhoda. Rhoda was many of the things that Mary was not. Rhoda was bold, brassy, loud, dipsy. Many of the scenes involving Rhoda also involved the disembodied voice of Carlton the doorman. You never saw Carlton; you only heard his flat, expressionless voice, announcing to Rhoda that this or that peculiar person was at the door. Rhoda always had to make a decision about whether Carlton should let in the latest crazy. It was a constant battle of the wits – what you say and what you do with the folks at the gate.
I don’t know whether the producers of the Mary Tyler Moore show had ever read the New Testament. I don’t know whether their choice of the name Rhoda for this character had anything to do with the Rhoda who appears in the Book of Acts. But I am absolutely certain that they could never have predicted the delicious coincidence for us when they selected to play the character of Rhoda an actress named Valerie. Valerie Harper as Rhoda constantly dealt with bizarre happenings at the front door. And the Reverend Vallerie today becomes your Rhoda, your gatekeeper and your gateopener. The delightful little story of Rhoda in the Book of Acts provides us with wonderful insights for today.
Let me remind you of the occasion. The apostle Peter had been thrown into jail by King Herod. This meant a crisis for the church in Jerusalem. And so while Peter languished in jail, the church went into a nonstop prayer meeting to intercede. While they prayed and asked God to set Peter free, dramatic things happened in the jail – chains fell from Peter’s wrists, doors opened, guards went to sleep – and it was not long before Peter was at the gate of the house where the church was meeting. The one-time prisoner knocked at the gate, and young Rhoda left the prayer meeting long enough to answer his knock. When she heard Peter’s voice, she was so astonished that she forgot to open the door, but ran back in to tell the others that their prayers had been answered. Now since the others didn’t see Peter, but just saw one worked-up, excited, stirred-up Rhoda, they told her she’d lost her ever-loving mind.
I want you to catch the spirit of this passage. I want to use it to put into context the work of your Rhoda-Vallerie, your pastor, your gatekeeper and gateopener.
I
Somebody has to be the gatekeeper for the church. Somebody has to take on the task of maintaining the security of a church. I am not talking about the church building. I am talking about the church itself, the spiritual fellowship. Your pastor must be the gatekeeper, to establish the church as a people of prayer, to keep out things that do not belong here.
When the little Jerusalem church heard what had happened to Peter, they knew it meant crisis for them. So they pulled themselves together to go into prayer, and they locked the gate of the house against the world. Sometimes that has to be done. Sometimes the principalities and powers that are ranged against God’s work are strong, and must refocus, you must gather energy, you must leave everything else aside and pray. Over the coming years, there will be times when you will not know what to do. You will not understand the storms that strike you. At times like those, let your pastor be your gatekeeper. Let her gather you in prayer and keep away from you those things that do not belong.
You know, there is a temptation that besets all churches at one time or another, and that is the temptation to adopt the newest fad, pick up the latest gimmick, do the trendiest thing, all in the name of success. And indeed, I am one who is in favor of trying new things. I push for change. Some of the folks here today know that at our church in Washington, they shake their heads over me and tell me that all they ever hear from me is change, change, change. I believe that today’s church must change, or else it will die.
And yet, the pastor is a gatekeeper. The pastor needs to bar the gate against things that are merely new, merely trendy, merely fashionable. Your pastor is trained for that. She knows the Bible; she understands what is healthy and what is not. She has a grasp of the long history of the Christian movement; she can perceive phony theologies and wrong ideas. She is immersed in pastoral skills; she can hear your hearts, but at the same time warn you against destructive behavior. Your pastor is your gatekeeper. You need to trust her to guard your church against things that are not healthy.
We have in our Baptist tradition something that is fine and wonderful, at one level, but very dangerous, at another level. And that is “majority rule”. Congregational government. It’s good for each member to have a voice and a vote, so that no pastor turns into a dictator. That’s important. But sometimes that goes wrong. Sometimes that becomes the people saying, “I’m paying your salary, you preach what I want you to preach. You do what I want you to do.” And often what they want is unhealthy, unbiblical, and unworkable. That’s where you must have a gatekeeper.
Emmaus, do not require your pastor to be a people-pleaser. Do not snap your fingers and expect her to jump to do your bidding. Do not fall into the pattern, so prevalent among Baptist churches, of thinking, “If she doesn’t do what we want, we can always get another preacher.” That’s the pattern that has given us an average Southern Baptist pastor staying in a church for less than three years! No. You don’t want that. You don’t want a mere people-pleaser. You want a gatekeeper. You want someone with the spiritual strength to say no when no is what you need to hear. You need someone with the training to guide you away from nonsense and with the compassion to bring you into prayer. You want, you have a gatekeeper.
So pastor, keep the gate. Keep it so that you can gather the troops before their Lord. Keep it so that they can learn again who the Lord of the church is. When you keep the gate, it is not to demonstrate your authority. It isn’t about your power. It’s about reaffirming Christ as Lord. When you have to say no, remember that it’s not about you, it’s not about hogging the spotlight or demonstrating that you are in charge. Some pastors, I am sorry to say, just have to be the focus of attention. They are not happy unless they are the bride at every wedding and the corpse at every funeral! Let that not be your way. When you keep the gate, when you gather your people in response to an issue, let it be in order to pray and to discern the mind of Christ. You, like Rhoda of old, are their gatekeeper; keep them sound and keep them in prayer.
II
But a pastor is not only a gatekeeper; she is also a gateopener. A pastor is a gateopener, one who invites in those in whom God is at work. Sometimes the results may be surprising. But that’s all right. Because, if you let her be a true gateopener, she will open the doors of the church to those in whom God is at work. The results may be surprising, even to her; but let her open those gates to what God is about. Maybe you will think she is a little crazy; but trust her to open the gates to what God is doing.
Think about Peter, languishing in prison, with chains on his arms and guards at his side, plus no less than four squads of soldiers to keep him secure. He is locked up tight. But over there is the church, gathered in prayer, asking the Father for Peter, asking for God to do His work.
As they prayed, something tremendous happened. Chains fell, bars dropped, guards went to sleep. The church’s prayer is answered! Peter is freed! But there is the church, still gathered in prayer, still asking for God to do His work. And when Peter comes to their door, what happens? Rhoda the maidservant goes to the gate, hears Peter’s voice, gets so excited she forgets to let him in, but goes back to the prayer meeting to tell them who’s here – and what is their reaction? What is the church’s response? “Oh no. Couldn’t be. You got it wrong, Rhoda.” “You are out of your mind.”
Gateopening pastors are full of surprises. Gateopening pastors get excited. Sometimes you will think they are out of their minds. But their task is to open the gates to those in whom God is at work. And there will be surprises.
Who will be there? Who will be at the gate of your church, asking in? All sorts of people.
Some of them will be those difficult people, those blustery, swaggering, larger-than-life people. People who are just not your cup of tea. They will come in, full of ideas and ready to do things that you wouldn’t think of doing if you were here for another two hundred and twenty-four years! Hard to deal with. In other words, they’ll be just like Peter, the blustery, swaggering, larger-than-life apostle! Not easy to have around. Sort of like the fabled 800-pound gorilla; you can’t ignore them. But let your pastor be the gateopener to these extroverted, powerful people. They need the Lord; and you need their energies.
Some of those to whom the pastor will open the gates of your church will be people in recovery, people on the rebound from various problems. Some of them will be people struggling with abuse issues, victims of substance abuse or families that didn’t work. Some of them will be people who have messed up, maybe even have been on the wrong side of the law. In other words, just like Peter, an ex-con at the church’s gate! Sinners, just like you and me. No different, not really. Let your pastor be the gateopener to people on the rebound from their problems. Let your pastor be the gateopener to the last, the least, the lost, and the lonely. They need the Lord, they need your love. And believe me, you need them too.
And some of those to whom the pastor will open the gates of your church will be, well, just those who are different, that’s all. Normal people, people in many ways like you, yet different. Different in background, different in culture, different in outlook, different in heritage, different in appearance. But not wrong. Not unacceptable. Not bad people. Just different. In other words, people like Peter, who only two chapters earlier in the Book of Acts had had a life-changing experience, and found that God was no respecter of persons, and that people from every race and nation, from every walk of life, were welcome in the church. Different, but if God is at work, who are we to close the gates of His church to anyone who names Christ as Lord? Let your pastor be the gateopener to whosoever will may come.
And pastor, if somebody thinks you, like Rhoda, have lost your mind – well, check it out. Look at the evidence. Examine your heart. Is this about your ego, or is this about the Kingdom? When you open the gates and bring them in, is to make you look good, or is it because you care profoundly about their very souls? And when you know the answer to that, then tell your people that this is the Gospel, this is the good news, that God so loved the world – everybody in it – that He gave His son, so that whosoever might believe in Him might have everlasting life. You’re not out of your mind; you are opening the gate for the good news.
III
And as for you, my sister, there are just two words in closing, two words that leap out from the pages of this text. The two words for the gatekeeper and the gateopener, are “run” and “announce”. “Run” and “announce”.
On recognizing Peter's voice, [Rhoda] was so overjoyed that … she ran in and announced …
I admonish you today to run and to announce. To run to where there is need, and to announce that our God will supply that need out of His riches in grace in Christ Jesus. Run and announce.
Run and announce. I encourage you today to run to the gates of growth opportunities – to run to the places where new people are moving in, to run to the homes where children are born, to run to the places where people gather. And there to announce that Emmaus Baptist Church has an open door to all who truly seek the Lord. Run and announce.
Run and announce. I advise you today to run to the places where God is at work, to witness His love, and then to come back here to announce to your people what God is doing. Celebrate every victory. Praise God for every good thing. Rejoice when even one person comes to Christ; if the angels in heaven do this, you can too! Announce God’s victories every time you see them. Run and announce.
Run and announce. I counsel you today to run, but not alone, lest your people not grasp what God is doing. Run to the gates, but take with you wherever you go some of your people. Equip them. Train them. Announce, even when they don’t like it and tell you you are the one on the payroll, that they are the church, not you. They too are gateopeners. Empower them. Run and announce.
Run and announce. Most of all, I invite you today, Rhoda-Vallerie, to run and not be weary, to walk and not faint, to believe that those who run to the gates and there wait for the LORD shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall announce joy! Run and announce, gatekeeper. Run and announce, gateopener. And bask in the amazing joy of the Lord.
