Monday, March 18, 2024  

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Today's Hymn
“Somebody’s Knocking at Your Door”

Somebody’s knocking at your door;
somebody’s knocking at your door;
O sinner, why don’t you answer?
Somebody’s knocking at your door.

Knocks like Jesus.
Somebody’s knocking at your door.
Can’t you hear him?
Somebody’s knocking at your door.
O sinner, why don’t you answer?
Somebody’s knocking at your door.

Answer Jesus.
Somebody’s knocking at your door.
Answer Jesus.
Somebody’s knocking at your door.
O sinner, why don’t you answer?
Somebody’s knocking at your door

African-American spiritual
Hymn 728, Glory to God

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Reflection

We are now deep into the Lenten season. As a young Protestant child growing up in a Catholic world (south Louisiana), I was so terribly confused when Lent came. Life was simple — we celebrated Mardi Gras with bawdy times in sync with a never-ending soundtrack of zydeco and ingesting all kinds of edible crustaceans, plus that decadent king cake. But the next day, Ash Wednesday, the crosses appeared, and everyone symbolically “gave up” a pleasure, and became dramatically somber — for 40 days! (FYI, Black Baptists gave up nothing.)

Now comes this hymn imploring us to respond to the “knocking.” Why overthink — just open the door. Knocking has been around since 1360 BC; doors about the same time. This is not new. Thank the Egyptians. This history is pertinent as the earliest iteration of a home necessarily involved a door. In fact, a door was the big deal; a door offered protection, but even more demarcated a space; today we might even call it a “safe space.” Jesus experienced doors.

Think of when you last knocked on a door. You wanted to engage. And think of how you felt if there was no answer? What about times you heard a knock on your door — quick, wasn’t there a moment when you didn’t permit entry into your space? From whom and/or what were you avoiding?

The power of this hymn is directional; it is not us knocking on the door of Jesus but it is Jesus knocking on our door — asking our permission to enter. Whoa … and then we hesitate to answer — really?

At a particularly low point in my life, a Christian grief therapist correctly called me out for building a wall around my life and closing the door. I didn’t want my grief and grieving public, but it was in opening the door that my grief departed, and it was in exiting that contrived space that life mattered again. I doubt I am the only one among us who has built walls, ignored knocks, locked doors.

What about those still-closed doors, the hidden troubled spaces, in our lives? We all have them; it’s called sin. Do we not understand that whatever is behind the door, no matter how ugly or hurtful or simply wrong, is already known to Jesus? Today Jesus is metaphorically knocking. Perhaps what we “give up” for Lent, for life, is our recalcitrance to hear. It takes only one skill to open the door and begin life anew: Faith.

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Prayer
Today’s hymn urges; but scripture instructs —

“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:20).

Especially during this Lenten season, may we heed this scripture and answer the door. Amen.

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Written by Clyde Yancy, Member of Fourth Presbyterian Church

Reflection and Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church

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