The first congregation that I served as pastor - St. John's Lutheran (Elma, NY) did not lock their building. In fact, I did not even have a key for most of my time there. [this changed when a secretary who was from a more populous area got spooked to find someone she didn't know in the building when she arrived; we changed our policy so that she could lock the building when she was alone, but unlock it when she left)
Part of the reasons for this open door policy was that most of the people who lived near the church were members of the congregation. They kept a close eye on the comings and goings. It is a small town and on a less traveled road. It felt safe.
In contrast, a church I attended for a little while in Albany, NY (another St. John's ) was locked up tight and felt at times like a bit of a fortress.
Some of the differences in these two St. John's were about size and about location. The communities around the buildings differed. The main characteristic is that there were the relationships within the wider community and the congregation. They either knew each other or not.
There was an investment in the mission and ministry in Elma that touched the community around them (primarily through the preschool). The congregation in Albany eventually shuttered the doors in Albany and now meet at another location in the suburbs. (please note: there were many factors that went into that decision).
While we could compare the realities of location & size as the reason for these differences, there is a sense in which it was just as much about the attitude and perspective about where and with whom the congregation lived.
We do lock our doors here at Trinity. Here you also need to ring a bell or make arrangements to enter the building. (the above example only serves as a contrast in point).
Today's reflection is less about the physically locking of our buildings and more about what it means to be "unlocked" in relationship to the community in which we live. It is easy to separate ourselves and focus solely on what happens within these walls to the people who consider themselves part of the church. Many churches do focus on that - often out of fear of closing and potential loss.
Our fears can lock up hope. Our uncertainties restrain us from seeing possibilities. Our anxieties prevent us from moving forward.
What are some of the fears, uncertainties and anxieties that have "locked" you up, prevented you from doing something different, taking a risk, hoping?
To be the church is to open ourselves up to the ways in which God moves us beyond those things that lock us up. It is to see the ways in which God's love for us can bring us the strength we need to try something new. It is to rely upon the grace of God that helps us when we fail, knowing that even in our trying, we are seeking to live faithfully. It is to find the God guides us along those unknown paths to bring us to something new.
We are to open ourselves to the possibilities of how God is inviting us to share the love of Christ both within these walls as well as in the community around us. The love and grace of Christ is the key that unlocks our hearts so that we may live together as God's people in this time and place!
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