I Stand at the Door Revelation 3__20
Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
Rev 3:20
Friends at Good Shepherd:
Sam Shoemaker saw himself as a doorkeeper in the house
of the Lord.
He wrote an apologia for his life entitled, I
Stand By The Door. This is what he said in it.
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I stand by the door.
I neither go too far in, nor stay too far out.
The door is the most important door in the world –
It is the door through which men walk when they find
God.
There’s no use my going way inside, and staying there,
When so many are still outside and they, as much as I,
Crave to know where the door is.
And all that so many ever find
Is only the wall where a door ought to be.
They creep along the wall like blind men,
With far outstretched, groping hands.
Feeling for a door, knowing there must be a door,
Yet they never find it.....
So I stand by the door.
The most tremendous thing in the world
Is for men to find that door - the door to God.
The most important thing any man can do
Is to take hold of one of those blind, groping hands,
And put it on the latch - the latch that only clicks
And opens to the man’s own touch.
Men die outside that door, as starving beggars die
On cold nights in cruel cities in the dead of winter –
Die for want of what is within their grasp.
They live, on the other side of it - live because they
have not found it.
Nothing else matters compared to helping them find it,
And open it, and walk in, and find Him....
So I stand by the door.
There is another reason why I stand there.
Some people get part way in and become afraid
Lest God and the zeal of His house devour them;
For God is so very great, and asks all of us.
And these people feel a cosmic claustrophobia.
And want to get out. ’Let me out!’ they cry.
And the people way inside only terrify them more.
Somebody must be by the door to tell them that they
are spoiled
For the old life, they have seen too much:
Once taste God, and nothing but God will do any more.
Somebody must be watching for the frightened
Who seek to sneak out just where they came in,
To tell them how much better it is inside.
The people too far in do not see how near these are
To leaving - preoccupied with the wonder of it all.
Somebody must watch for those who have entered the
door,
But would like to run away. So for them too,
I stand by the door.
I admire the people who go way in.
But I wish they would not forget how it was
Before they got in. Then they would be able to help
The people who have not yet even found the door,
Or the people who want to run away again from God.
You can go in too deeply, and stay in too long,
And forget the people outside the door.
As for me I shall take my old accustomed place,
Near enough to God to hear Him, and know He is there,
But not so far from men as not to hear them,
And remember they are there too.
Where? Outside the door –
Thousands of them, millions of them.
But - more important for me –
One of them, two of them, ten of them,
Whose hands I am intended to put on the latch.
So shall I stand by the door and wait
For those who seek it.
’I had rather be a doorkeeper.....’
So I stand by the door.
By Sam Shoemaker who lived from 1893 to 1963.
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Sam Shoemaker was an Episcopal minister at Calvary
Episcopal Church in New York City, and Calvary
Episcopal Church in Pittsburgh.
He was responsible for many of the ideas that were
incorporated into the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics
Anonymous, and ministered to some of the founding
members of AA.
"Therefore keep watch, because you do not know when
the owner of the house will come back - whether in the
evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or
at dawn. If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you
sleeping. What I say to you, I say to everyone,
’Watch!’" (Mark 13:34-37)
Jesus tells us to stand by the door and watch. We all
have an assigned task to fulfill while we are on this
earth. While we are waiting for Jesus to return for us
we are given the opportunity to help others in through
the door. If Sam Shoemaker is right, and that the most
tremendous thing in the world is for men and women to
find that door - the door to God - then we should be
helping them to find it.
If he is right, and that the most important thing any
man or woman can do is to take hold of one of the
blind, groping hands, of one of our friends or
acquaintances, and guide them through the door - then
we should get about doing it. If he is right, that
nothing else matters compared to helping them find it,
and open it, and walk in and find God - then we should
direct them, invite them, encourage them to do so.
There are many people you know who are living outside
the door of faith in Christ. They are there because
they have not found the way. You and I have the
responsibility to do something about it.
We must not fall asleep on the job. Let us pray for guidance as to how we can fulfill our assigned task.
We are doorkeepers. Let us not be gatekeepers that guard the door and prevent others from entering. Instead, let us be like Sam Shoemaker, and be dedicated to helping people find the door and go through it.
