Isaiah 56:6-8, Matthew 20"1-16

This sermon is the last in a series of sermons about the advertising slogan, “Open hearts, open minds, open doors—the people of the United Methodist Church.”

To me, “open doors” should be about evangelism. But it is NOT that old saying, “The doors of the church are open, they can come in if they want to….” That old saying has nothing to do with what Open Doorsmeans to the United Methodist Church at all.

Instead, Open Doors in the UMC is partly about several things, and mainly about one thing….

Open doors is partly about marketing--the type of evangelism taught mostly at seminaries and seminars.

We need to make the experience of attending our church as pleasant as possible….

We need some signs that tell a visitor how to get from point A to point B….

We can use some baby changing tables in the rest rooms….

But, marketing can only go so far. Its focus is on selling a product—church—amidst the fierce competition of 11:00 AM on Sunday morning. Its focus is presentation & packaging….

More is needed. Open doors is also partly about welcoming and inviting. People need to feel valued here….

When we arrive at church we should be greeted warmly. We all want to feel good about being here.

When I come into the sanctuary, I try to say hi to everyone. I greet folks ‘till the choir comes in….

What do we think when someone new comes into the sanctuary? Do we find ourselves asking, “Who are they, what family are they from, and where are they from?” I’ll tell you who they are. Having Open Doors means that they are our brothers and sisters!

You might say to yourself, “I’ll visit with them after the service.” But, after the service, they are gone…. Go ahead and get up and say, “Hi!” before church starts. Just put a note in your seat that says, “gone visiting!”

Invite your friends and neighbors. You’d be surprised who’ll come if you ask them. And be persistent. William asked Lee about once a month for six months before Lee agreed to visit us. Since then, he became one of our most active members!

But, so far we’ve covered parts of having open doors that are no different from any other civic organization. I think that I have been invited to the Kiwanis Club more times than most of our neighbors have been invited to our church. And the Kiwanis Club even bought me lunch!

Open Doors--there must be something more than marketing, welcome, and invitation. What would you say if someone asked you, “What is special about your church?”

Its not just, “The bathrooms are great, and we are going to upgrade them with changing tables!”

Nor is it simply, “We will welcome you and even let you sit on the front row…!”

Rather, there is something far greater about this place. “God meets me here in a mysterious way…I receive power for living a victorious life amidst a broken world…God’s grace is here….”

So, this is the main thing about having Open Doors. This is a place—a community of faith—where the grace of God is received and responded to.

I preached that a distinctly Methodist way to understand Open Hearts is to know that God wants to love you more than God wants to judge you. Open Doors is a way of saying to our neighbors and to each other, “I want to love you much more than I want to judge you.”

I preached that a distinctly Methodist way to understand Open Minds is to be humble about what we believe, but to also believe strongly that salvation is a life-long process of God’s grace coming to us and our responding to that grace. Open Doors is being humble about our place in God’s Kingdom, but to see this church as a place where God’s saving grace is poured out and responded to.

Open Doors—a church filled with the “means of grace” (a distinctly Wesleyan term).

Here, God’s grace is experienced and responded to in music, scripture, prayer, sermon, and communion….

Here, God’s grace is in each of us—in every Sunday school class, Bible study, choir practice…. God’s grace is in every handshake and every greeting….

The grace of God that awakens us to God’s love, offers redemption, moves us onward toward perfection, is here! That’s what having Open Doors is mostly about!

There is humility about a church with open doors.

Open Doors means being humble in fellowship.

Like Isaiah wrote—the poor and the needy, the foreigner…. Who are they? Your brother and sister…!

But, we may protest, “I don’t even like my brother and sister either…!”

Isaiah addresses that also, ”Do not hide yourself from your kin.”(56:7)…

Open Doors means there are no insiders and no outsiders. We understand that the ground is level at the foot of the cross….

Open Doors means being humble in worship.

Traditions are good. Everyone has them—even nontraditional churches have them.

What do we do if someone doesn’t know our traditions? Will we force them to comply? What if someone comes and wears a white t-shirt, or a ball cap in worship? Next time, I’m going to go put on my white t-shirt and ball cap!

Having open doors is realizing that traditions, while valuable to us, are worthless in God’s eyes if they do not convey the grace of God—if they are not a means of grace.

Open Doors means being humble in ministry.

Jesus invited people to participate. We know that it is through DOING that the faith we have is strengthened.

Open Doors is about being a place where people can respond—are encouraged to respond—to God’s grace as they receive it.

We are a church with Open Doors.

Open Doors…the people of the United Methodist Church. We are the people. Thanks be to God. Amen