Doors and Gateways

A Wayside Chapel, Malta 

by Paul Collings

Psalm 100:4

Enter His gates with thanksgiving

And His courts with praise.

Give thanks to Him, bless His name.

Because God created us and shepherds us (Psalm 100:3), we ought to respond to Him with thankfulness and praise (Psalm 100:1). 

Believers can be thankful that the Lord never changes. He is always loving, patient, kind, merciful, and benevolent. He is as dependable today as He was when He rescued the Hebrews from the Egyptians at the Red Sea. Furthermore, the Lord pours out His blessings to us every day. James 1:17 points out that every good and perfect gift comes from Him. He orchestrates everything in our lives for our good and His glory. 

We can face even difficult circumstances with thanksgiving on our lips. First Thessalonians 5:18 tells us to "give thanks in all circumstances." Psalm 84:11 promises: "No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly." A thankful heart expresses itself in praise. Psalm 100:4 joins thanksgiving and praise together. Instead of complaining, harbouring ingratitude, and indulging in self-pity, we should count our blessings and praise the Lord for who He is and for His numerous gifts.

William Law suggest that, “To be always in a thankful state of heart before God is not to be considered a high plane of spirituality but rather the normal attitude of one who believes that "all things work together for good to them that love God, who are called according to his purpose."

Praise God, O my soul!

We stand in awe at Your greatness, O God.

You are indeed great,

robed in honour and majesty.

For covering, you choose light—

     Your clothes, sunset and moonrise.

For a tent, You stretch out the heavens;

for Your roof, You pitch the sky.

You make Your messengers like the winds;

     the breeze whispers Your words.

You placed the earth on its foundations—

     it will never shaken.

How great are Your works, O God!

We stand in awe at all that You have done. Amen

Doors and Gateways

Mdina -The Old Walled Capital of Malta by Paul Collings

Psalm 24:7-10

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 lift them up, O ancient doors,

That the King of glory may come in!

David appeals to Jerusalem to make room for the King of glory to enter the city. Today, when a prominent dignitary like a royal person visits the nation's capital, a flurry of activity precedes his arrival. Traffic is cleared, flags are hoisted, and security is enhanced. Every precaution is taken to welcome the distinguished visitor. Jerusalem's gates were the site where official business was transacted. David's call to the gates was a poetic summons to the whole city of Jerusalem to welcome the King of glory. 

Tradition suggests this psalm is connected to when David brought the ark of the covenant back from the home of Obed-edom. The ark that represented God's presence was about to enter Jerusalem. When it had been seized by the Philistines, Eli's daughter-in-law bore a son and called him Ichabod, saying, "'The glory has departed from Israel!' because the ark of God had been captured". Now that the ark was about to enter Jerusalem, the glory of the King of heaven and earth was returning.

It used to be socially acceptable to just "drop by" someone’s house for a visit. That’s becoming more and more difficult. In Faith Popcorn’s Dictionary of the Future, she offers two new terms that illustrate this. One is the word neo-fortress, which describes an architectural style many new homeowners are choosing.

A neo-fortress is a large imposing structure that says "stay away" to would-be "drop in" guests. Neo-fortresses are intimating, castle-like houses that say to people "you are not welcome here." The second, related term is privatopia. A privatopia is a gated, secured, subdivision of neo-fortresses. Apparently, email and cell phones have made us so accessible that in our loss of privacy, we think we need such structures.

"I hope I’m not intruding." How many times have we heard or said these words? But there are moments in life when a Christian is called to intrude and to keep intruding. Why? Because we have an intrusive God. Jesus was the biggest intruder in all of history. His birth, the Word made flesh, was The Great Intrusion-of eternal into the temporal, the divine into the human, the spiritual into the material.

The entire Bible, Old and New Testaments, testifies to the power of an intrusive God to break into our busy and crowded existence with the news of God’s amazing grace and love.

God of secret purposes and extravagant blessings,

we come to praise you.

We come because we want to,

we sing our songs because we are glad to,

we pray for your grace because we need to,

and we ask for the love of Christ in our hearts

because without it we are a dead loss.

Please lift every shutter within our mind,

and open every door within our soul,

that you, the Lord of glory, the God of countless hosts, may come in.

Through Christ Jesus, the joy of loving hearts.  Amen!

Doors and Gateways

The old naval bakery, Vittoriosa Malta 
by Paul Collings

Proverbs 8:1-3

Does not wisdom call,

And understanding lift up her voice?

On top of the heights beside the way,

Where the paths meet, she takes her stand;

Beside the gates, at the opening to the city,

At the entrance of the doors, she cries out:

Once more we find Wisdom lifting her voice. But in particular, in these verses the line that speaks to me is that Wisdom stands where paths meet beside the gates at the opening of the city. It says to me that the Wisdom of God is calling me where our paths meet.

In the Northumbria Midday Celtic Prayer there is a Canticle that says:

Teach us, dear Lord, to number our days;

that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.

Oh, satisfy us early with Thy mercy,

that we may rejoice and be glad all of our days.

And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us;

and establish Thou the work of our hands.

And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us;

and establish Thou the work of our hands, dear Lord.

Elizabeth Elliot, in her book ‘Let Me Be a Woman’, records the story of Gladys Aylward unable to accept the looks God had given her. Ms. Aylward told how when she was a child she had two great sorrows. One, that while all her friends had beautiful golden hair, hers was black. The other, that while her friends were still growing, she had stopped. She was about four feet ten inches tall. But when at last she reached the country to which God had called her to be a missionary, she stood on the wharf in Shanghai and looked around at the people to whom He had called her. “Every single one of them” she said, “had black hair. And every one of them had stopped growing when I did.” She was able to look to God and exclaim, “Lord God, You know what You’re doing!”

Faithful Father, You remain trustworthy despite my failures and unfaithfulness. You are always dependable, and it’s not because of what I’ve done but because that is Who You are. Help me Lord to take that fully to heart. Help me place my full trust and dependence on You. I seek and trust You for wisdom and direction in every decision and every endeavour I take. Lead me, Father, Amen.

Doors and Gateways

 Proverbs 1:20-21

Wisdom shouts in the street,

She lifts her voice in the square;

At the head of the noisy streets she cries out;

At the entrance of the gates in the city she utters her sayings:

Right through scripture we come across the world wisdom. From an Old Testament perspective. Wisdom is really an approach to life, a way of looking at the world and, for Israelites, a way of living out in very deliberate, rational ways their commitment to God. 

From these two verses we see much of how wisdom is expressed within the cut a thrust of everyday life. We notice that wisdom can make itself known in spite of the hubbub of existence. Did you also note the pronoun for Wisdom, “she”, for the word for Wisdom in Hebrew is Sophia. Also, note that Wisdom lifts her voice  in the square the centre of the community as well as at the entrance to the city. 

Have you ever noticed how it is possible to screen out certain sounds and even voices to the extent that you cannot hear them any more. In order to focus on a particular conversation, listeners need to be able to focus on the voice of the speaker they wish to listen to. This process is called "selective attention" and it has been long known by researchers that it happens in the part of the brain called the auditory cortex, which processes speech information.

We could also say that in spiritual terms we may selectively decide to screen out the voice of Wisdom and its rich life giving meaning. In 1 Corinthians we find Paul saying, “But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.”

Again, Fred Beuchner helps us when he says, “Wisdom is a matter not only of the mind but of the heart, like a woman's wisdom. It is born out of suffering, as a woman bears a child. It shows a way through the darkness the way a woman stands at the window holding a lamp. "Her ways are ways of pleasantness," says Solomon, then adding, just in case there should be any lingering question as to her gender, "and all her paths are peace" (3:17).”

Lord, You are all-wise, the source of all true wisdom. With Your supreme wisdom, you have planned my life and the course I have to take. Lead me, Lord, to the way I have to go through and direct me to the path you have prepared for me. Help me Lord to make the right decisions and allow me to experience Your power and love in my life that I may, with a sound mind, shun away the fears that confusion brings. Amen.

Doors and Gateways

The Old Water Gate - Exeter by Paul Collings

Psalm 118:19-20

Open to me the gates of righteousness;

I shall enter through them, I shall give thanks to the Lord.

This is the gate of the Lord;

The righteous will enter through it.

How would you define righteousness. The dictionary expresses it as “acting in accord with divine or moral law.” 

Fred Beuchner put it this way. 

"YOU HAVEN'T GOT IT RIGHT!" says the exasperated piano teacher. The young pupil is holding his hands the way he's been told. His fingering is unexceptionable. He has memorised the piece perfectly. He has hit all the proper notes with deadly accuracy. But his heart's not in it, only his fingers. What he's playing is a sort of music, but nothing that will start voices singing or feet tapping. He has succeeded in boring everybody to death, including himself.

Jesus said to his disciples, "Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:20). The scribes and Pharisees were playing it by the book. They didn't slip up on a single do or don't. But they were getting it all wrong.

Righteousness is getting it all right. If you play it the way it's supposed to be played, there shouldn't be a still foot in the house.

What was it Charles Wesley wrote?

No Condemnation now I dread,

Jesus, and all in Him, is mine

Alive in Him, my Living Head,

And clothed in Righteousness Divine,

Bold I approach th' eternal Throne,

And claim the Crown, through Christ my own” 

― Charles Wesley

O Lord, I pray that my mind focuses on what is true, honourable and worthy of respect. I pray that whatever is right and confirmed by Your Word; whatever is pure and wholesome is what I fixate on. I declare that all things that are admirable and of good repute are at the centre of my mind. May all things that are praiseworthy be the foundation of my daily meditation, Amen.

Doors and Gateways

Old West Gate, Exeter by Paul Collings

 Psalm 9:14

That I may tell of all Your praises,

That in the gates of the daughter of Zion

I may rejoice in Your salvation.

Have you ever entered an impressive building and been blown away by the glorious majesty of the structure. For me is could be the awesome starkness of Liverpool Cathedral or the huge underground natural concert hall Cueva de los Verdes left by the Lanzarote volcanic eruption that now can accommodate over 500 concert goers. 

In particular, there is something about walking down the narrow passages and then suddenly finding yourself in the awesome auditorium. From the outside it looks just like a volcanic hole in the ground, but to get the full benefit of the spender we must take steps to enter.

So it is with the Psalmist with that all important word “in” the gates as the place where I can experience, and rejoice in God’s Salvation.

Gracious and loving God,

you enabled the Psalmist to turn to you,

confident that all his cries and prayers

would be heard by you and answered by you. 

Prayers uttered in the belief that you would not permit evil and despair

to have the last word. 

We offer our prayers in that same belief,

and with even greater confidence,

for in Jesus you have made known your great love for all people. 

He bears our burdens in times of trouble and through his sacrificial love,

our lives are blessed, strengthened, and empowered by the gift of the Holy Spirit. 

For these great gifts,

we offer our thanksgiving, our praise, our adoration,

and this prayer,

in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Doors and Gateways

Church of St John the Baptist - Gozo by Paul Collings

Acts 3:1-10 “One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon. Now a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!”  So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.

Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. When all the people saw him walking and praising God, they recognisedU him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.”

In the Middle Ages, a young novice was shown around the Vatican Treasury by the Vatican Treasures. Showing the many riches acquired by the church over the years, the treasurer said to the young man, “no longer need the church say, ‘silver and gold have I none!” To which the young novice added, “Ah, but can it still say in the name of Jesus Christ rise up and walk?”

All through history people ask the church to bankroll good causes, to dispense money; and the church responds. But as Peter reminds us here, our real treasure in the church is the living Christ. The knowledge and touch of Jesus, in the gospels and in us, is better than silver and gold; it has power to change our lives.

Holy Spirit of God, come fill me with love for those who are disadvantaged in our world and who need Your healing power. May we who are more able be always willing to understand their plight, and may we trust You whose power is to heal and to save. Work through us to bring liberation we pray, to Your praise and glory! AMEN