“A Place of Prayer Outside the Gate” Pastor Jacqueline Hines May 22, 2022

 

“A Place of Prayer Outside the Gate”

Pastor Jacqueline Hines

May 22, 2022

 

A few weeks ago during Aubrey’s Sunday school class, Mike raised the question why in Revelation there was a description of a wall. Why does Heaven need something to divide or protect? Of course, the question was discussed fervently from many angles. Answers included, Heaven has walls because walls are beautiful and have many functions. Walls in revelation are both symbolic as well as physical. People described in Revelation as outside the walls were actually in hell. At the same time another scripture from Revelation talks about a door that stays open because there are people still making it into Heaven.

This morning’s scripture tells us that Paul was going outside the gates in Macedonia that was walled off from the rest of the area. Often, government officials and offices are within gated communities. They serve to wall off and guard an area securing it in order to create a comfort zone. The walls and gates were central places where official transactions happened, legal documents confirmed, and important speeches made. Special guards could patrol walled off, gated areas in order to deter ne’er do wells.

Paul was very familiar with walls and gates, especially of Jerusalem because it was known as the city where God dwells. Jerusalem was an iconic image that remains even with us today. With 12 gates,  12 guardian angels, and the reminder of the 12 tribes of Israel, Jerusalem is mentioned over 800 times in the bible because it was fortified, sanctified, set apart for worship and sacrificial acts of holiness. Jesus was crucified outside the gates of Jerusalem, for there was nothing holy about killing Jesus.

Paul was an officer of the law. As a Pharisee, he knew the law through and through. He knew life within and without the walls and gates. He interpreted God’s law and believed God considered Jesus and his followers as lawbreakers. He believed with all of his heart that he was doing the right thing when he made plans to have Christians persecuted and put in prison. Paul was against Jesus until he met Jesus. I grew up in a Christian home, but I did not make a personal commitment to Jesus until I was a teenager. Have you made a personal commitment to Jesus?

Like Paul, many of us have had visions that help us to see God’s will and direction for our life. Some of us have dreams. Or, we may get a strong sense of God’s presence while we are reading scripture, listening to a song, meditating, praying, and talking with a loved one or even a stranger. We may also feel God’s presence during a catastrophe, tragedy or some traumatic experience. God speaks whenever and wherever it pleases God to speak.

Just because we are spiritual, does not mean we are Christian. It has probably been a long time since someone has asked you, “Are you a Christian?” It is more likely that someone may ask, “where do you go to church?’” A farmer was asked the question, “Are you a Christian?” His answer was, “I can tell you anything. If you really want to know if I am a Christian, you need to ask my neighbors.”

As Christians we are wrapped in our culture and our different backgrounds. The dress we wear and the food we eat are all different. We live in community with compassion for Christians who look and think differently than we do. That’s not easy. It is not easy to be a Christian. If it were easy, then everyone would be doing it.

Paul was a Christian. He was from Tarsus in Cilicia, known as Turkey today. They speak Turkish in Turkey. Just out of curiosity, I looked up some phrases in the Turkish language and they were totally foreign to me as I imagine they would be to most of you. Turkish is one of the top twenty languages spoken around the world.  (Does anyone here speak or know someone who speaks Turkish?) We live in a world that is much bigger than us, and surely, God has a purpose and a plan that is so much bigger than us.  

Paul had a vision of a man from Macedonia who was not exactly in the neighborhood, probably miles apart. They very well may have spoken the same language. The man from Macedonia in Paul’s dream was not inviting Paul to come and help. He was not asking Paul to come. He was begging Paul to come and help them. We know about needs that are more urgent than others.

After that dream, verse 10 says Paul believed God was calling him to go to Macedonia and preach. God’s word brings light and love in urgent situations. There are many ways to interpret what we believe God is saying to us. Our interpretation may not instantly lead us where we need to go, but if our hearts are right with God, we will eventually get there. The important thing to know is that God is speaking. We may strain to hear. We may misunderstand what we hear. We may not want to hear what God says.

I have not been listening to the Johnny Depp and Amber Heard domestic violence, defamation trial, but it is intriguing that public opinion is swinging toward the man being the victim in this case. There are at least a billion hits for #justiceforjohnny. The few times that I have seen Amber, I do get the sense that she is more of an actor than a victim.  However, I have learned that my first impressions are not a hundred percent reliable. When former US Representative Anthony Weiner declared he was innocent, I believed him. Later the facts proved him to be a deceiver. Life is a journey. It’s wonderful to journey with Jesus. Whether or not we are growing in our relationship to God and our understanding of the truth, God continues speaking in one way or another because God cares. God loves us. God wants us to succeed and be blessed.

Paul looked for a place of prayer when he got to Macedonia. If you are going to serve God, it is wise to be prayed up. It is a good thing to give thanks to God for all God’s goodness and mercy to us. There is no gratitude in grumbling, no ministry in murmuring. Life goes better when we pray.

Paul found a place of prayer outside the city, outside the more safe and secure zones of comfort, outside the designated doors and official realms. That place was where women gathered by the river says verse 13. Paul broke political and cultural rules by worshiping with women. That’s a good thing because it wasn’t God’s rule to make women less equal than men anyway.

The Church is the same rule-breaking blessing as it was two thousand years ago. God speaks and we listen. When I first arrived at Bethel in 2009, I had a very uncomfortable vision of having a special place to meet God for prayer. I thought with all this property and spiritual history in every room, “Why, God, do we need another place of prayer?” There was a rule in my heart and I did not see past it.

The vision stirred in my heart and would not leave, so I brought it to Council. Surprisingly, Terrie said three words “A prayer garden.” Bethel members love flowers and they are everywhere. There were tulips a few weeks ago. The irises and rhododendrons are here along with the lilies, crocuses, daisies, evergreens and more. Fresh flowers grace our altar during worship. Bethel members invest heavily in sharing the beauty of plants and flowers. Some members even make it a point to weed on a regular basis. A few months after discussing the vision of a special place to pray, we organized and partnered with God to build a prayer garden. It was a way to do like the Apostle Paul did, pray outside the gate, uniting with the community, letting our light shine for the world to witness.

Soon after, I received the vision of an elevator. Over and over again, a still small voice whispered “elevator.” Again, I took the vision to council having no clue about what it meant, and frankly being very embarrassed at the idea that God was speaking and I had been given only a piece of the puzzle, proving once again that God is God and the pastor is not. Janet spoke up at the meeting and said, “We talked about getting an elevator years ago. We need to do it now because things are not getting any cheaper.” Many churches have rules that say, “We do not have enough money so we can’t spend any money.” Bethel got on board to defy that rule. After several months, we had an elevator. Most of us imagined that an elevator was good for the elderly. We soon realized an elevator has many, many helpful purposes. Both of those visions helped Bethel to reach those beyond the borders of the sanctuary and minister to others in the community.

Bethel Church started as a Sunday school class that caught a vision to build a sanctuary and start a church. It began in 1844 during slavery and the Underground Railroad. There was no electricity. There were a few posts for those arriving on horseback and eventually a meeting house that is now the Boy Scout hut. God has been good to Bethel all that time.

God gives a vision to every generation. The generation before us built the education wing. Our generation built an elevator and a prayer garden. I would love to know what vision God will give to the next generation.   

Whatever that next vision is, it would be no surprise if it involved praying outside the gates and jumping over the borders of doctrinal authority. I trust the intimidating security guards and heavy blankets that weigh us down in a past that does not fulfill God’s purpose will, once again, be left in the dust. God will indeed create something new and amazing in the Church and through the church.

Through the years, it is no secret that fulfilling God’s awesome vision can bring out the good, the bad and the ugly in us. It’s not easy to be a Christian. One of my mentors Bishop O.T. Jones pastor of Holy Temple Church of God in Christ was one who broke religious rules by ordaining several women as ministers, breaking church laws and bucking the status quo. He was known to say at funerals of those whose checkered past was mostly spoken of in whispers, “All is known; all is forgiven.” Church, by God’s grace “All is known; all is forgiven.”

Just as sure as God’s sun rises in the east and sets in the west, God will  send a vision that will guide each church in doing its part in making the world a better place.

Outside the gates, Paul found wonderful hospitality from a business woman named Lydia a seller of purple garments which were used for rich officials and the royal rulers.  She invited the disciples into her home. So the precious wheels of unity, community, and hospitality in the church were rolling along as God intended. They take us where we need to go, fueled by the Holy Spirit.

God’s vision always includes the spiritual building of unity, community, and hospitality even as we build buildings and all kinds of physical structures. Whatever we build, the Holy Spirit can help us build with integrity and soundness. Whatever we build can be maintained, cared for and repaired when necessary by God’s grace. We all have resources and connections like Lydia that we can bring together not only to start a mission, but to sustain a mission. May today and forever we have God’s vision for the church in our hearts and in our homes. May we truly build a house where God is at home, where Jesus walks, and where the Holy Spirit is stirring many to good works. Amen.