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What Does Scripture Mean When It Speaks of Gates? |
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Good Morning Friends,
On this coming Sunday, the 3rd Sunday in Advent, we are singing an anthem called, Lift Up Your Heads Ye Gates with its lyrics taken from Psalm 24. And some people in the choir were wondering what this has to do with Christmas. And that is really a good question for on the surface the words sound a lot like Palm Sunday. But if you are thinking Hebrew and not caught up in linear thought about time it becomes clearer why this image is part of the Christmas storyline. The incarnation of Christ into the world and into our hearts and the anticipation of the Second Coming is part of Advent. To grasp this it helps to have a little background about gates. The Bible speaks of the closed gates of Eden and the gates of Hell and the gates of Jerusalem. We think about the Pearly Gates of Heaven. We think of all the miracles that happened at gates in the Bible. Jesus speaks of himself being the Sheep Gate.
Scripture: The God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” . . . has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
2 Corinthians 4:6 (NRSV)
Lift up your heads, O gates! and be lifted up, O ancient doors! that the King of glory may come in. Who is the King of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O gates! and be lifted up, O ancient doors! that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah Psalm 24:7-10 (NRSV)
Hear, O Israel: The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Deuteronomy 6:4-9 (NRSV)
So again Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
John 10:7-10 (NRSV) |
May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers–all things have been created through him and for him.
Colossians 1:11-16 (NRSV)
‘Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you, desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.”
Matthew 23:37-39 (NRSV)
Then he brought me to the gate, the gate facing east. And there, the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the east; the sound was like the sound of mighty waters; and the earth shone with his glory. The vision I saw was like the vision that I had seen when he came to destroy the city, and like the vision that I had seen by the river Chebar; and I fell upon my face. As the glory of the Lord entered the temple by the gate facing east,
Ezekiel 43:1-4 (NRSV)
Message: As we read today’s psalm in the light of all the other scripture offered let’s imagine it as Adam and Eve’s song sung outside the closed gates of Eden from which he has been expelled. Imagine all the fullness of God’s creation and our journey back to Him as He continues His creation of a new and clean heart in us. Friends, God is inviting us into personal relationship with Him, both now and forever. We are to remember this every time we walk through a door. So now let us pause and reflect. Stop and listen to the questions of our heart, mind and body. Weigh the meaning of what we are experiencing and connect it to scripture, community and mission. Pray we listen for the message God would have us hear out of what is unknown. Let us discover the personal message God has reserved for us to hear. Let us be obedient to the spiritual discipline of His direction. Pray we are ready for the change to come. Pray we are mindful of the details. Tragedy and loss, sorrow and pain may obscure God’s face, but God is never completely absent. In His birth, life, death and resurrection, He is in this life always coming to us, always preparing us to welcome in a new season of Advent and reconciliation. He is a God that has at His command the hosts of Heaven ready to do His will at any moment of any hour of any day. Still He is binding our wounds with swaddling clothes, mending our hearts outside the gates…covering our sins with a cloth designed to be used for death’s journey and yet it is here in His new life that He gives us a strength with power over death through a light of love. That is the gate though which we must travel and it is the gate that God controls in our birth, life, death and resurrection. Prepare in anticipation for Christ is coming.
Pray that our pauses be pregnant. Pray that we wait on the Lord to birth in us His will. Pray we take logical breaks from what we do to allow the Holy Spirit to wash over us with its revelation. Pray that in the silence we look for the Messiah. Pray that in the unknown we are called to worship. Pray we hear the call to worship, the renewal of our commitments and repentance preparing us to do the Lord’s work. Pray that we are always ready for the change in the music. Pray we never simply go through the motions but are part of the right movement in our generation. Pray we are heralds of the King. Pray that the hearts of unbelievers are drawn to a saving knowledge of Christ in the music of His Kingdom. Pray we are ready to do battle for His Kingdom and its ministries.
Pray that we call on our inmost being to praise God and His divine power and glory. Pray that we see God’s hand in creation. Pray we see and respond to our function as stewards. Pray we rejoice in the continuing nature of God’s presence. Pray the King of Glory comes into our hearts and reigns forever.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 