A New Day

By: Pastor Johnie Akers     

Revelation 3:20, “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.” One Sunday morning an old cowboy entered a church just before services were to begin.  Although the old man and his clothes were spotlessly clean, he wore jeans, a denim shirt and boots that were very worn and ragged. In his hand he carried a worn out old hat and an equally well read Bible.  The church he entered was in a very upscale and exclusive part of the city.  It was the largest and most beautiful church the old cowboy had ever seen.  The people of the congregation were all dressed with expensive clothes and jewelry. As the cowboy took a seat, the others moved away from him. No one greeted, spoke to, or welcomed him.  They were all appalled by his appearance and did not attempt to hide it.  As the old cowboy was leaving the church, the preacher approached him and asked the cowboy to do him a favor: “Before you come back here again, have a talk with God and ask him what he thinks would be appropriate attire for worship in church.” The old cowboy assured the preacher he would. The next Sunday, he showed back up for the services wearing the same ragged jeans, shirt, boots, and hat.  Once again he was completely shunned and ignored. The preacher approached the cowboy and said, “I thought I asked you to speak to God before you came back to our church.” “I did,” replied the old cowboy. “If you spoke to God, what did he tell you the proper attire should be for coming to this church?” asked the preacher. “Well, sir, God told me that He didn’t have a clue what I should wear.  He said He’d never been in this church.” In our Scripture lesson today, the Lord is on the outside of the church at Laodicea, knocking on the door to get inside. Let us always be guarded against exclusionary judgments of others, for in doing so, the One we actually exclude, is the Lord himself. God has no respect of persons. He accepts all who come to Him. By accepting “whosoever will,” we accept Him into the midst of our churches, our homes and our lives; and it is His presence among us that will transform, not only Sunday, but every day into a new day.