Wednesday-Closed Door That Opens

Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” and, “A stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.”

1 Peter 2:7,8

Every once in a while, my dad would take me to work with him on Saturdays. He’d get a call that an elevator or escalator was broken down and it needed immediate attention. These were usually at big department stores or hospitals that paid extra for 24 hours service.

Whenever he arrived, the first thing he did was to see what things were working and what might be causing the trouble. For example, he was always wiggling the rubber handrails that people were supposed to hold onto while riding escalators. If they were too tight, it created heat and it put a strain on the motors. Too lose, and it was unsafe.

But when it came to elevators, the one thing he was always careful about were the doors. Did they close too fast or not fast enough? Would they stop and pull back when someone was in the way of closing? Or did they just refuse to close altogether?

The ideal way that elevator doors were to work started by staying closed in between floors. When arriving at a floor, they quickly opened to let people off and on. After a short time, they’d close and the elevator would head to its next destination. When it came to elevator doors, there were three things that no one wanted.

• Doors that never opened.

• Doors that never closed.

• Doors that crushed someone.

Elevator doors were made to open and close. They have a safety feature that has saved countless lives. When they sense someone, they stop and pull back. This stops the doors from hurting someone and also lets them in. Without this important piece of safety technology, we’d still have human elevator operators that opened and closed doors for us.

You see, there are times in life when it’s very important for something not too just close, but to reopen. As a matter of fact, there are really very few things that we want to close forever. We want and need just about everything to be opened again after opening.

What good is a safe or door that only closes? Or a car that you can’t turn off? How does a furnace that never turns off help anyone? The answer to these examples and many others is that they don’t. The ability to close and open is what makes them valuable and helpful.

This is exactly what Peter’s saying about God and his offer of salvation through Jesus. He’s remembering back to when Jesus pointed to himself and said he was the stone that the builders rejected. And that anyone who falls because of what they believe about him will be broken into pieces and crushed[1].

This is only the start of the story. It doesn’t end there. Even though the builders rejected Jesus. He is still the most important cornerstone in all the earth. He’s someone that we can build our lives on. Both now and forever.

And the truly beautiful part of this story is that even though they’ve rejected Jesus, God’s not done with them yet. As the great cornerstone, he’s still there. Ready and waiting for them to come to him. He’s still calling out to them. His arms are open wide, inviting them to abandon their good works and build their lives on Jesus.

If this isn’t mercy and grace, then I really don’t know what is. God is leaning out towards us, calling us to come home to him. Yes, we’ve turned away from him. We might even have totally rejected him. But he’s not done with us. He hasn’t abandoned us. God so desperately wants us to see him as precious

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

2 Peter 3:9

The thing about cornerstones is that they don’t move. Everything depends on them. Everything else puts its weight on it. Cornerstones don’t change. If it changes, then it's not a cornerstone and not dependable. It will move just like shifting sand and waves on the ocean. If it were to move, everything would come crashing down.

We might think of ourselves as independent and self-sufficient. But we all deeply crave someone who will never move. There’s this strong desire deep inside all of us for someone who will always, always, always be there for us. Someone who will never stop loving us. Who will walk with us through life and pick us up when we fall. Political parties and leaders may come and go. So will countries and kingdoms. Large and powerful corporations will rise and fall. Technologies flash like lightning and then disappear. But Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever[2]. He’s always open to receive us.

Noodling Questions

• Why do we get frustrated when trying to open something? Explain.

• How is Jesus the great and most important cornerstone in the world?

• Explain why it’s so hard to stop thinking of ourselves as independent.

[1] Matthew 21:44

[2] Hebrews 13:8