“LET JESUS IN” (Part III) August 7 , 2005

Revelation 3:20

1. Parker Palmer shares this old Hasidic tale – a student goes to his rabbi and asks, ‘why does the Torah tell us to “place these words upon your hearts?” Why does it not tell us to place these holy words in our hearts?’ The rabbi answered, ‘it is because as we are, our hearts are closed, and we cannot place the holy words in our hearts. So we place them on top of our hearts. And there they stay until, one day, the heart breaks, and the words fall in.’

2. that’s what I have been trying to do in these messages from Revelation 3 – placing the holy words of God on top of your hearts until your hearts break & the words fall in.

3. last week I preached on repentance – those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. How many of you repented of something this past week? How many of you let God deal with you to the point where you began to make changes in your life?

4. when the word of God breaks our hearts & drops in, repentance is sure to follow. I pray for broken hearts to spread throughout our church.

5. I want to make a few comments on a wonderful verse that tells us what happens after we repent – Revelation 3:20 – Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. This is good news. Jesus wants to share the meal of his life with us.
The way of grace
1. the church at Laodicea was an established church, about 30 years old. Laodicea had a ‘Christ-problem.’ Their pathetic deeds done in his name revealed that their love & passion for Christ were lukewarm, watered down, compromised.

2. Christ called them to repentance in 3:19. And now in 3:20 he invites them to invite him back into their lives.

3. this is the very same Jesus who is described in chapter 1 as a cosmic, transcendent figure – his head & hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.

This is the same Jesus who in 3:16 said the Laodiceans made him sick to his stomach & he was ready to vomit them out of his mouth.

4. but what he shows them is grace. This is the heart of Jesus. For a wayward church. And for you in your waywardness and me in mine. This is good news!

5. in 1987 Gordon MacDonald, who at that time was President of Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship and was one of the most recognized names in the evangelical church, was forced to resign his position in disgrace. He confessed to having an extra-marital affair.

He tells the story of how he & his wife Gale returned to their home in New Hampshire, broken, humiliated & feeling that his ministry was over. The phone rang. They didn’t want to answer it but whoever was calling kept calling. Finally Gordon answered the phone – it was Billy Graham, the 1st person to call them.
His first words were, Gordon, God forgives you & I forgive you & I love you. His next words were, I know this is a terrible time for you and Gail. Why don’t you move close to Ruth & me for the next year. I want you to help me write my sermons.

6. this is grace, this is love, this is mercy, this is Jesus.

Revelation 3:20 unpacked
Here I am
1. Jesus always makes the first move toward us. He always takes the initiative. He shows up in our lives over & over & over again.

2. This is grace. Right now, always & forever, Jesus is standing closer to us than we can imagine saying, here I am.

I stand at the door and knock.
1. Jesus pursues us. He doesn’t just stand at our lives. He knocks at the door of our hearts.

2. remember, this is a picture of Jesus & the church at Laodicea. These people are Christ-followers. They are the Body of Christ in Laodicea. But Jesus is outside of their lives. They have shut him out. They have excluded him.

3. I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing (3:17). This had become their confession of faith. Their modus operandi – thanks but no thanks, Jesus, we can do it ourselves, we can get along just fine without you, we’ve got all that we need

4. it’s possible to be a follower of Jesus Christ & exclude him from our lives. Have you excluded Christ from yours?

If anyone hears my voice
1. are we listening for Jesus? Do we hear a knock? Do we recognize his voice?

2. one of the devotional books I’m using right now is a book of prayers from Walter Brueggemann called Awed to Heaven, Rooted in Earth. He has a whole section of prayers on listening to God & our struggle to do so.

Here’s one called

The Din Undoes Us

Our lives are occupied territory… occupied by a cacophony of voices,
and the din undoes us.
In the daytime we have no time to listen, beset as we are by anxiety and goals and assignments and work,
and in the night the voices are so confusing we can hardly sort out what could possibly be your voice from the voice of our mothers and our fathers
and our best friends and our pet projects,
because they all sound so much like you.
We are people over whom that word shema has been written.
We are listeners, but we do not listen well.
So we bid you, by the time the sun goes down today,
or by the time the sun comes up tomorrow, by night or by day,
that you speak in ways that we can hear out beyond ourselves.
It is your speech to us that carries us where we have never been,
and it is your speech to us that is our only hope.
So give us ears.
Amen


Repentance begins with hearing the voice of the excluded Jesus in the sin areas of our lives where we have excluded him.

And opens the door
1. this is where our pursuit of Christ meets Christ’s pursuit of us. He knocks – we open the door. He will not open the door himself or bust it down. He waits to be wanted, waits to be invited.

2. opening the door is a picture of repentance. We say ‘yes’ to Jesus, let him back into our lives, and turn away from our sin.

3. where have you pushed Jesus out of your life this morning?
* spiritual life? like the Laodiceans who started off with Christ but somewhere along the road pushed him out of the car
* work? have your brought Jesus into your job? how does Jesus affect you in the marketplace?
* finances? are you staying out of debt? is your spending out of control? do you honor Jesus by tithing? by giving generously, even sacrificially to his work?
* marriage? are you seeking to obey & honor Jesus by how you love your spouse…for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness & in health, till death do us part?
* goals/future/dreams? are you seeking God’s will for your life?
* past? are you letting Jesus into your past abuse, hurts, woundedness, shame, unforgiveness, embitterments? do you want to be healed?
* sexuality? are you living a life of purity? staying faithful to your spouse if married. staying celibate if single? are you looking at pornography? and this is not just a ‘male’ problem – growing numbers of women are viewing pornography as well. have you excluded Jesus from your sexuality?
* Church life? do you love the church? are you committed to it? do you find joy in service?
* speech? time? hobbies? thought life?
* friendships? is Jesus pleased with your choice of close friends? is he pleased by the things you talk about & the things you do with your friends?

I will come in
1. Jesus desires to come live in our lives. He does not stay apart. He does not remain aloof & impersonal. I will come in, in, in, in.

2. Colossians 1:27 – Christ in you, the hope of glory. God himself, in the person of Jesus, by means of the Holy Spirit living inside of our lives. I’ll never get over this for as long as I live!

3. we discover 3 modes of Christ’s presence to us in this passage:
* 1:13 – Jesus is ‘among’ the 7 sinful churches
* 3:20a – Jesus is standing outside of the Laodicean’s lives
* 3:20b – Jesus comes ‘in’ to their lives.
Among, outside, in.

4. it’s not enough for Jesus to be among us. It’s certainly not enough for Jesus to be standing outside of our lives. But it is enough for Jesus to be let into our lives.

5. repentance is the key that opens the door for the ‘among’ and outside of Christ to enter ‘in’ to our lives.

And eat with him, and he with me.
1. meals in middle eastern culture had great significance when these words were spoken. Meals were signs of acceptance & love. You only ate with those people whom you shared common values, viewpoints & faith. The people you ate with were the people who revealed what was in your heart. Meals were times for fellowship, communion, connection & intimacy.

2. Jesus desires to share the meal of his life with us. This is a promise of spiritual intimacy & communion with Jesus. He’s waiting. He’s knocking. He wants in. He wants to be wanted. He wants to share the meal of his life with us.

3. this truly is a picture of the friendship the Lord of the universe desires with each one of us. But we have to let him in from those places where we have excluded him.

My Heart – Christ’s Home
1. here’s your homework for this week. Pick up a copy of this little booklet as you leave, My Heart-Christ’s Home by Robert Boyd Munger. He writes about our lives being like a house. We have a study, dining room, living room, work room, recreation room, bedroom & hall closet. Have we let Jesus into each of these rooms? Is Christ fully at home in our hearts?

2. the Holy Spirit has used this booklet since 1954 to bring about repentance in the lives of those who read & apply it. Prayerfully read this week. Apply it boldly & courageously!