July 9, 2007

“Standing By the Door”

The slogan of our United Methodist Church on a denominational level is “Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors.” No doubt you have seen that slogan in various ads produced by our Igniting Ministries campaign which has raised the awareness of the general population about our UMC. In fact, I understand that our United Methodist Cross and Flame logo is now one of the most recognized logos in the marketplace, and there is a positive attitude toward the UMC among the general population. In Indiana most studies say that around 12% of the population actually identifies with the UMC, even though our membership is only about 3% of the population.

I have been thinking about the “open door” concept. I have written previously that the door must open both ways – with hospitality to welcome into our churches those who are invited and drawn to us, and with service as we go out into the community to live our lives as faithful disciples of Christ. And yet … that is not enough. We need some folks who will stand by the door.

That image has been described by Samuel Moor Shoemaker with these powerful words about his own ministry:

“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 people 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 persons, with 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 people to find that door – the door to God. The most important thing that any of us 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 that person’s touch. People die outside that door, as starving beggars die on cold winter 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 – because they have not found it, and nothing else matters compared to helping them find it, and open it, and walk in, and find God.

“So I stand by the door. Go in, great saints, go all the way in – go way into the cavernous cellars, and way up into the spacious attics – it is a vast, roomy house, this house where God is. Go into the deepest of hidden casements of withdrawal, of silence, of sainthood. Some must inhabit those inner rooms, and know the depth and heights of God, and call outside to the rest of us how wonderful it is. Sometimes I take a deeper look in, sometimes venture a little farther. But my place seems closer to the opening … So I stand by the door.”

Shoemaker offers us a wonderful reminder that it is not enough to have “open doors” to our churches, or even to go from our churches through those open doors to serve others. It is necessary for some of us to “stand by the door” and help others to find their way in, their way in to God.

Most of my ministry has focused upon helping others outside the church to find their way to God, by helping them through that door. Even now as a bishop, my most heart-felt desire is not just for our church to thrive as an institution, but for our church to thrive as a place where we help people find their way to God. For that to happen, we need men and women, clergy and laity, young and old, who care enough to spend their life “standing by the door.” Will you? Will you help others to find that doorway to God?

from Bishop Michael J. Coyner

Indiana Area of the United Methodist Church
"Making a Difference ... in Indiana
and around the world"

TOP OF PAGE