Jesus, in today’s gospel, uses a metaphor of servants waiting for the return of their master, “so they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks.” I see that as our call—to open the door of our hearts and minds to God with joyful welcoming.

God is always and everywhere knocking, reaching out to us in love, yearning for us to open the door to the Divine Presence. In John’s vision on Patmos, Christ Jesus, speaking to the church in Laodicea, says, “Listen! I am standing at the door knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you and you with me.” (Rev.3:20) In Christ Episcopal Church in Mobile, Alabama, there is a lovely stained glass window (Tiffany, I think) that depicts that scripture. As I imagine standing before that window today, I wonder how often I rush to open the door, to make room for the Holy One to enter, and how often I’m somewhere in the “back forty” completely unaware of the knock. Am I in tune with the sound of the knock? Will I recognize it when it comes? Do I wait patiently and expectantly for it to announce the opportunity for encounter with the Divine? If you’re familiar with that window, you might want to try picturing yourself before it and seeing what your response is.

Once we open ourselves to God’s transforming grace and get out of the way of God’s work in our lives, we find ourselves being changed into the imago dei we were created to be, into compassionate self-giving. Just imagine what the world would be like if we, each and all, could open the door for God as soon as the knock comes our way. The earth would be abloom with Love.