I know your works. Look, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. Revelation 3:8

I came to the Immanuel Lutheran Church Center early so that I could make certain the Power Point was up and ready to run for our morning sessions - but the door was locked. I met with Pastor Mark Schultz and asked if we could get in and he smiled and said, "Yeah, we're waiting for the guy to come and open the door." A half hour later, just after morning worship had begun, Mark tapped on my shoulder and whispered, "We can get in now. Come on, Mate." (That's Australian for "Let's go.") We went in, made the adjustments to my Power Point and made certain the sound and media were ready for the opening session.
Doors are meant to be open. When they are closed, they aren't doors any longer - they're walls. That's what I discovered this morning in Adelaide. I couldn't help but reflect on the state of the Lutheran Church here in Australia as well as in the States. God has set before us an open door to welcome people into the Christian Church. I wonder how many experience our doorways as walls. 

The problem is that the Lutheran Church has historically been an ethnic church. In Australia that means predominantly a German Heritage Church. In the United States we have been primarily Scandinavian and German. But the ELCA has begun to reach beyond our ethnic base into the African American and Latino communities as well as non-European Caucasians. And we are discovering the promise of that is, that God turns our doors from walls into entry ways. This means, of course, that the forms of our worship have changed - but the essence of who we are in Jesus Christ has not.

Discipleship focuses on Jesus Christ, the leader of our Church, not the forms of our worship. This means that we can retain that which is meaningful for some and add that which connects with others. It's not an either/or proposition. The Lutheran Church in Australia's leadership has, once again, told me that they are hungry for this doorway into God's future. We can both celebrate our heritage and traditional forms of worship as well as honor those forms that connect to the hearts and minds of new generations who may not share our heritage.

I wonder how many doors God has set before you and me that we thought were walls? I wonder how open we might be to simply turning the latch, and walking through?

Lord Jesus, open the doors of my life so that I can faithfully enter. Amen.