When Two Doors Close

When Two Doors Close

​Have you ever heard the phrase, “When God closes one door, he opens another?” That’s not in the Bible. It’s from The Sound of Music. Maria, played by Julie Andrews, wants to become a nun. But the Reverend Mother tells her she isn’t ready and must first go and serve as a governess to the von Trapp children. She isn’t happy about that, but says, “When the Lord closes a door, somewhere he opens a window.”

​Do you think that’s true? And if so, how do you know which doors are closed and which are open? And if a door is closed, is it at least unlocked so all you have to do is turn the knob and walk right through? Or knock and have someone on the other side open it and invite you in? And if you are locked out, where do you find the door that’s open? I have questions.

​There’s a story in Acts 16 that offers some answers but raises more questions. First, though, we should take a quick look back to see where we’ve been.

​The title of this series is intentional: To Be Continued. The story of what God is doing in the world did not end at the cross or even at the empty tomb. In many ways, that was a new beginning. The book of Acts relates the continuing movement of God now through the church.

​Jesus himself said as much. In Acts 1:8, he told his disciples, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Sure enough, the next part of the story begins in Jerusalem with the dramatic outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the conversion of thousands. The Church experienced explosive growth in those first three to five years. And because of that growth, faced sporadic persecution. There were some internal problems as well, some of them due to sin among the members and some simply due to the fact that the Church is populated by imperfect human beings. But even with pressure from the outside and people problems on the inside, the story continued. That’s the first 6 chapters.

​But when we get to Chapter 7, a new crisis emerges. A leader in the church, a man named Stephen, preaches a sermon that so angers his Jerusalem listeners that they stoned him to death. His martyrdom was, like the first breach in a dam, the start of a flood of persecution. Then all but the 12 Apostles are forced to flee to the Judean countryside and north to Samaria.

​Had we been living during that time, we might have thought we were in the last chapter of the story. But instead of the end of the Jesus movement, this new level of persecution was more like kicking a fire and watching the sparks fly off in all directions. Those who were scattered shared the news of Jesus everywhere they went. An Ethiopian came to Christ and took the faith with him back to Africa. A confirmed enemy, Saul, was converted to the faith. And the gospel, which had been preached only to Jews up until this point in the story, was shared with a Roman Centurian and his family.

​Of course, the more the church expanded its reach, the more opposition it faced. One of its leaders, James, was beheaded. Another, Peter, was imprisoned and slated for the same fate, but then miraculously delivered. Through every trial and twist, the story continued.

​That determined enemy, Saul, whom we know as Paul, partnered with a man named Barnabas and set off on a missionary journey reaching non-Jews, or Gentiles, all over what is now Turkey. In some places their message was received with joy. In others, they were run out of town. But the prophesy of Jesus, that his disciples would be his witnesses in an ever-expanding circle, was being fulfilled.

​But in chapter 15, two new crises – one theological and one personal – threaten the story once again. Some Christians who still held onto their old Jewish laws and traditions insisted that the non-Jewish Christians could only come into the Kingdom of God if they passed through two doors – one named Jesus, one named Moses. In other words, in order to be saved, the Gentiles had to also become Jews.

​After much discussion, the testimony of Peter, Paul and Barnabas and an appeal to scripture, the elders and apostles rejected that heresy. The Gentiles, they concluded, had to pass through but one door to enter God’s Kingdom. Jesus.

​The personal crisis is one we looked at last week. Paul and Barnabas had a sharp dispute over whether to take a young man named Mark on their second missionary journey. Paul didn’t want to take him because on an earlier trip he had quit. Barnabas wanted to give him a second chance. Neither was willing to budge, so the missionary dream team broke up. It’s like the series came to an abrupt end.

​Have you ever fallen in love with a TV show only to learn that the network is going to cancel it? The characters you love and their stories are left unfinished. The tension is unresolved. The hope for a happy ending is unfulfilled. I bet for many people who were living in this story, that’s exactly what that felt like. I feel a little disappointed that Luke doesn’t tell us what happened to Barnabas and Mark. I would have liked to see a spinoff of the original series.

Instead, in chapter 16, Luke continues to follow the main story line. Paul came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was Jewish and a believer but whose father was a Greek. 2 The believers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him. 3 Paul wanted to take him along on the journey, so he circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.

Irony is one of the things that makes for a good story. Two chapters back, the church fought a huge theological battle to insist that circumcision was not required for salvation. Paul was one of the leading voices arguing against requiring Gentiles to submit to Jewish customs to be welcomed into the family of God. And yet, here he circumcises Timothy. That’s ironic.

If I were writing the dialogue for this scene, I would have Timothy say, “You know, Mr. Paul, respectfully, the elders and apostles said this was unnecessary. Not to mention that it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, too, Acts 14:28. So why are we doing this?”

Then I would have Paul reply, “Look, we’re going to encounter observant Jews everywhere we go and the mission is more important than your comfort. Besides, the last time I was in your home town of Lystra, I told you that we must go through many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God, Acts 14:22. Sometimes, Timothy, you gotta take one for the team.”

What happens next, though, is one of the most surprising things in Acts. Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. 7 When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. 8 So they passed by Mysiaand went down to Troas. 

(Karen: Leave a blank slide for a map we’ll drop in here.)

Okay, on this map, I hope you can see Lystra. That’s where Paul picked up Timothy. Luke says that from there, they traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. That’s the lower black X. Do not enter. So, apparently, they turned north and headed to Bithynia, but again, the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to enter that region. That’s the top black X. Do not enter. So, they had no choice but to continue west to Troas.

Here’s the ten-million-dollar question: why would the Holy Spirit prevent them from going into a region that needed the gospel? Why did the Spirit stand in the way of people who wanted to share the news of Jesus with people who didn’t know it?

Sometimes, God opens doors. And sometimes, God closes doors. I think we naturally assume that any time we are prevented from doing a good thing, it must be the devil. “I felt led by God to do this thing, I prayed and fasted. But now, I have been prevented from doing what I am sure God called me to do. It must be the devil.”

And sometimes, it is. In 1 Thessalonians 2:18, Paul told the church there, we wanted to come to you—certainly I, Paul, did, again and again—but Satan blocked our way. Sometimes, the devil is the architect behind the obstacles that stand in our way. But this story in Acts suggests that other times, God may be the one closing the door. So, how do we know?

The most obvious way God closes doors – you are not going to like this - is through his negative commands. The “thou shall nots.” Raise your hand if you like being told “No.” And remember that God said, “Thou shalt not lie.” But every one of those negative commands – those closed doors – are given for our good. They are God’s way of saying, “There is danger behind that door. That door isn’t there to keep you away from what is good; it is there to keep what’s bad away from you.”

God’s negative commands are like you telling your children, “No, you cannot have unlimited access to that cesspool of garbage we call the internet.”

“No, you cannot ride your bike without a helmet.”

“No, you cannot hang out with the teenage equivalent of Charles Manson.”

“No, you cannot have a pet cobra.”

Speaking of snakes. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were surrounded by open doors. God’s “Yes” was everywhere. They were living in a cornucopia of open doors. They chose to kick in the one door God had closed. They thought God was keeping something good away from them when he was really keeping them from something bad.

But it’s not always quite so obvious. There isn’t a “thou shall” or “thou shall not,” for every situation we face. I wish Luke would have given us more detail about how the Spirit had closed the doors to Asia and Bithynia. Or that Paul, over there in 1 Thessalonians had been more specific about how he knew Satan was the one blocking the way.

So, how do we tell which ones are the doors God has closed to protect us from the bad and which ones Satan has closed to prevent us from doing good? It’s a good question. I do not have a definitive answer. And when there is no definitive answer, we must find signs that point us in a Godward direction. But I don’t mean those subjective gut feelings we often attribute to the Spirit of God. It’s amazing how often the Holy Spirit seems to be completely aligned with my gut feelings.

I’m talking about biblical signs that point us in the right direction. You know when you go to a large office building and you’re supposed to meet someone, but you’ve never been there. What do you do? If it’s well designed, the building will have wayfinding signage. Visual cues, maps, markers to help people navigate the space and locate the correct doors. The Bible is an excellent wayfinder.

One of the best wayfinding signs in the Bible is humility. Jeremiah 10:23 says, Lord, I know that people’s lives are not their own; it is not for them to direct their steps. We need the humility to admit that we do not always know what is best for us. Or what is best for others. Or what is best for the Kingdom.

There is the wayfinding sign of prayer. James 1:5, If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. There are two ways to get wisdom. This young man once asked an older man how he had become so wise. The older man said, “By making good decisions.”

The young man asked, “How did you learn to make good decisions?”

The old man answered, “By making bad decisions.”

That’s one way to gain wisdom. Having the humility to ask God for it through prayer is the other way.

Humility, prayer, counsel. Proverbs 12:15, The way of fools seems right to them, but the wise listen to advice. Have the humility to ask God for wisdom and the humility to seek the counsel of others.

Humility, prayer, counsel, trust. Proverbs 3:5 – 6, Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

Paul and the team apparently trusted God when he closed doors. And then this happened:

9 During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

There’s a huge change that takes place in vs. 10. The pronouns Luke uses change. He is no longer writing about what “they” did. He’s now writing about what “we” did. Luke has joined the team. And did you notice that all three members of the trinity are involved in this heavenly blockade? In vs. 6, it’s the Holy Spirit who says no. In vs. 7, it’s the Spirit of Jesus who says no. And in vs. 10, God is the one calling them to a new location – opening a new door. And that sets us up for yet another irony. Two of them, in fact. Verse 11.

From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day we went on to Neapolis. 12 From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days.

13 On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. 14 One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. 15 When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.

The first irony here is that in the vision Paul received from God, a man was begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” Yet the first person they bring to Christ is a woman named Lydia.

Here’s the second irony: Lydia was from Thyatira. Which was located in the province of Asia. One of the places Paul was prevented from entering. He wanted to share the good news with someone from Aisa. And he did. But he had to go to Macedonia to do it. God moves in mysterious ways his wonders to perform.

So, maybe Maria was right. When the Lord closes a door, somewhere he opens a window. I can’t help but wonder, is that why you are here this morning? Has God opened a window for you?

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