St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church

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The Doorbell

Matthew 6:5 and 6

July 30, 2006         (Click the date to see the bulletin)

1. I’m a little reluctant to tell you what I’m about to say, lest you think I’m getting "religious" on you. But I’ve already told the Session, and they seem okay with it, so perhaps It’s safe to tell you, too. Some months ago, before Christmas, a doorbell began to ring in the building. It sounded a little like this. At first Sharilee and I, or whoever else was here, would go to the door expecting to find a visitor. But there never was anyone. Not one single soul, just this ding dong doorbell. It didn’t ring often, maybe once a week or once every other week, and after a while we started ignoring it. We knew it did not sound at all like the Westminster Chime we hear when there is actually someone at the door. The important thing for you to know at this point is I am not the only one who hears it! This is NOT a figment of my imagination! You may have even heard it yourself. Ding dong. Ding dong.

2. Months passed. Then right around Easter I heard a sermon about how God got Samuel’s attention. Remember that story? It took place before the time of King David. Samuel’s mother had dedicated him to the Lord, and when he was a young boy took him to the Temple to live with Eli. One night Samuel was awakened by a voice calling his name. He immediately thought it was Eli, and ran to Eli saying, "Here I am." But Eli said, "I didn’t call you. Go back to bed." It happened again. Same thing. Eli sent him back to bed. It happed a third time. "Here I am, Eli, for you called me." Now Eli was slow, but he wasn’t that slow. He finally caught on. "Go lie down again. The next time say, "Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening." So Samuel went and lay back down. And sure enough! "Samuel, Samuel!" Samuel said, "Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening." Then God said, "I am about to do something in Israel that will make both ears of anyone who hears of it tingle." (! Samuel 3:1-11). And that’s how God finally got Samuel’s attention.

3. So here we have this phantom doorbell going off at strange times in the church building, and over here we have a story of God trying to get the attention of someone who didn’t realize what was happening. Dum de dum dum. More time passes. Not much time, just a few weeks. Then at 9:30 on Sunday morning, I think it was May 28, the Sunday after the Little Light House called to ask if we might be interested in selling our property, the doorbell rang again. I was in my office getting ready for worship. But instead of ignoring it, I stopped what I was doing, went over to one of the arms chairs, sat down and said, "Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening." I didn’t actually hear any words, but I had the very strong feeling that God was present and everything was going to be okay.

4. The doorbell rang again one day the following week. By now I was ready; I knew what to do. "I’m listening, Lord." At that moment, I felt almost driven to go outside and walk the labyrinth. Now, I pray here and there and everywhere, off and on all day long, but I’m usually talking to God. I listen to God best when I walk the labyrinth. On our labyrinth path are the fine little stones that Jo Ann Crabb bought for it a couple of years ago. Each stone has a word etched in it – freedom, fun, forgiveness, dream, and courage. This time, the words "dream" and "courage" leapt up at me. Dream. Courage. And once again, the strong feeling that God was present and everything would be okay. The following Thursday it rang again, and I walked the labyrinth again, and the message came to have the whole Session walk the labyrinth before they made a decision about responding to the Little Light House’ inquiry. And so it was that on that night, the Session listened for God’s word together as they began discerning what we should do in our future. We wondered "What new thing is God about to do with us, something that would ‘make both ears of anyone who hears of it tingle’"? For them, the first right answer was to take the next step and see what happened after that.

5. Since then, the bell has rung many times, and I’ve always stopped what I was doing to walk the labyrinth and listen for whatever message God was giving me. Late one Friday afternoon, my daughter called to apologize to me (for about the 10^th time). She is SO SORRY she caused me such problems when she was growing up, because now her daughters are causing her the very same problems. In this particular phone call, she was getting all wound up in telling me about Hannah’s latest escapades – when the doorbell rang. I said, "I have to go. The doorbell is ringing." She said, "But I’m not finished! Who‘s at the door?" I didn’t answer right away. I wasn’t certain she would understand. "That’s okay," she said, chuckling. "I don’t need to know everything you do." I took a deep breath and said, "It’s God." By now she was laughing, and said, "Better go let God in! Talk to you later." We hung up, I picked up my keys, walked outside and started walking the labyrinth. But there was nothing there, no feeling of God’s presence, nothing to hear. So I talked, instead. Or, rather, I ranted: "What do you think you’re doing, God? I was talking to Shelley! It was important. Don’t send me out here if you don’t have anything to tell me." I finished in record time, went back to my office and called her back. She was still chucking a bit. I said, "I don’t know why the doorbell rang right then. God didn’t seem to have anything to say to me." Her reply made me catch my breath, and brought tears to my eyes. "Oh, I know why," she said. "As soon as we hung up, I went over to Hannah, wrapped my arms around her and told her that I love her and her grandmother, and that everything’s going to be okay, because we had the same kind of problems when I was her age." You see, God had a message to send to Hannah, and needed us to get off the phone so it could be delivered. The novelist Flannery O’Conner was once asked to defend her bizarre short stories. She wrote, "To the almost blind you must draw large and grotesque pictures; to the almost deaf you must shout." Or ring bells, I might add.

6. The doorbell still rings mysteriously. But it has changed its tune in the last two weeks. Instead of going ding dong, ding dong, now it goes ding, ding, dong. I wonder what that means? Is God suggesting what we change our tune? Could be! We’ve been pretty complacent Christians, haven’t we? Maybe it’s time we learn how to be contagious instead of complacent. Or maybe it means the Little Light House is changing their tune? Last Friday they told me they’re going to need more time to do a long-range study, because they’re not certain this corner will be big enough for them. Maybe that’s what it means. Or maybe the changed tune on the doorbell is sending both messages! Maybe it means the Little Light House will not be wanting to buy our property after all, AND it means we need to change the way we’re being church so we can be relevant to more people. We cannot exist to maintain the status quo. As Kathy is fond of saying, "If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always gotten."

7. The fact that this phantom doorbell rings when I’m not here makes me think I’m not the only one whose attention God is trying to get. Maybe God is trying to get our collective attentions! Listen carefully, because God is about to do something in St. Andrew’s that will make both ears of everyone who hears about it tingle.

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