The story is told of the captain of a Mississippi riverboat who, as his ship passed another vessel, grabbed the first passenger he saw and said, "Look, look, over there on the other boat! Look at its captain!" The man was somewhat bewildered and asked, "Why do you want me to look at that captain? What makes him so special?" Then the captain told him the story of how he had collided one night with another boat. His own vessel was sinking and in the process he was thrown overboard. The captain of the other vessel saw his desperate plight and maneuvered close enough that he was able to dive into the water and save his life. After telling the story, the once-saved captain then turned to the bystander and said, "Ever since that day, I want to point out my rescuer to others."

You and I have also been rescued. We have been saved, secured, and loved by Jesus. We have been forgiven because Jesus saved us from what we deserved by dying on the cross and rising again. Now, we have the perfect relationship with God. Everything is so good between us that God has opened the door of heaven wide open to us! So, today's sermon isn't going to be about how we can open the door of heaven for ourselves. Jesus has opened that door for us and God is waiting for us to join Him there forever. Today's sermon is How To Open The Door Of Heaven for others! How can we show people, who don't yet know, that the door of heaven is open for them too? How can we point out our rescuer to others? Our text suggests five ways…

First of all, OPEN YOUR EYES AND EARS WHEN YOU PRAY! You are probably wondering what I mean by that! Usually we are taught to close our eyes and ears to shut out distractions, aren't we? But today, I am suggesting that we keep them open. Sometimes keeping them shut is a good way to keep out distractions, but it can also be a good way to make us fall asleep. Look what happened to the disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane. They fell asleep while they were supposed to be praying! Maybe Paul had that in mind when he wrote verse 2, "Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful." The word, "watchful," encourages us to "keep alert, stay awake, be vigilant, and be aware!" When you pray, be aware of all the opportunities for evangelism that are around us. Pray for those as well as our own needs.

Jesus Himself said, "I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest." (John 4:35). Opportunities for sharing the good news about Jesus are all around us, and He wants us to open our eyes and see those opportunities, even in our prayer life. Are we? Could something like this happen right in this church? A woman named Maria and her two children show up for worship one Sunday. Maria looks a little worn out. She struggles to carry her baby and the diaper bag while coaxing her son to stay next to her. Two people smile at her in the welcome area, but no one sits with Maria in the back seat. After worship, a long-time member asks the pastor: "Did you see that woman in the back of church today? I've been noticing that more and more Hispanic people are moving into the neighborhood." How often have we, as a congregation, been unaware that new people and nationalities, hurting people, and lonely people are presenting huge evangelism opportunities for us right at our church's doorstep and for us as individuals right where we live and work? Are we looking to see neighbors, friends and relatives that don't know Jesus as their Savior? The Lord encourages us to open our eyes and ears when we pray, to always keep aware for people who need to hear about Jesus and his love for them.

He also encourages us to PRAY FOR OPPORTUNITIES! Verse 3 says, "And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ…" In ancient language, the picture of an open door stood for opportunity! Let's pray that God will open doors for us to proclaim that message that will open heaven's door to others! Pray for open doors for your missionaries, and for opportunities for you to share the gospel! First of all, pray that God might open doors in our mission field. Mississauga is the fastest growing city in North America. There are houses going up by the thousands and people moving in by the tens of thousands. Less than 5% of our city is attending a Christian church on any given Sunday. Pray that God will continue to open doors here for us to share the mystery of Christ with those who don't know it.

But also pray that the Lord gives YOU opportunities! A little girl asked her father why firemen stayed in the firehouse all day and polished their engines and other equipment. He explained that they did this to pass the time while waiting for fire calls. Many Christians likewise stay close to the familiar surroundings of the church community, applying another coat of worship or getting a theological tune-up, while all the time waiting for some sinner to request a gospel presentation. The problem with this approach to evangelism is that the world is already ablaze, and the call went out 2000 years ago! A person in the midst of a fire doesn't need a beautiful, well-tuned, and shiny fire engine to be rescued! They need to hear about Jesus, and you have the opportunity to tell them! Pray for those opportunities!

Thirdly, PRAY FOR THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN GIVEN OPPORTUNITIES. Verse 4 says, "Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should." As you and I carry out the mission Jesus gave us, He has armed us with an amazing tool to do it with - his Word! The Bible is the only thing that has the power to change a person's heart and help them see their need for Jesus. And it is the only thing that tells us the truth of what Jesus did for us. Give thanks for that truth! Pray that I proclaim that good news clearly and boldly in its truth!

But don't just pray for me! In Luke's Gospel, Jesus has 72 of his followers with Him, and He tells them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." And then immediately in the next verse He sends those 72 to be the workers they were supposed to pray for! He says: "Go, I am sending you out…" Jesus wasn't asking his followers to pray that other people would go, but that God would move their hearts to go, because there are probably 101 reasons not to go. Pray that God gives you the words to say when you get the chance, because you are also a missionary!

And how are you going to be a missionary? The fourth direction our text offers is to REACH OUT TO THOSE OUTSIDE! Outreach is important to open the door of heaven. Outreach and evangelism are not the same things. Outreach means making a connection with somebody outside the group, like an unbeliever. Evangelism is then telling that person the good news about Jesus. Verse 5 says, "Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity." How we act toward others is very important! We need to build good relationships with them and establish their trust before they will listen to us tell them about Jesus. Building those relationships is outreach. And you need both outreach and evangelism to carry out Jesus' mission of making disciples. I will borrow some phrases from Pastor Paul Kelm to help illustrate: EVANGELISM, WITHOUT OUTREACH, DOES NOT EQUAL MISSION.

My first two years in Mississauga, we did a lot of "stranger evangelism," even though we didn't call it that, by knocking on doors of houses and trying to share Jesus with people we have never met. We continue to do some of that, but we have learned that method can't be the only thing we do. Because in most cases, we never got to know those people. EVANGELISM MINUS OUTREACH EQUALS A VERY SMALL MISSION. So we started holding kids' Bible camps, soccer camps, getting involved in coaching community sports and getting to know our neighbors in other ways, and the Lord has blessed us with many more real opportunities for evangelism, sharing the message about Jesus. It is important to reach out to people by helping them with physical and social needs first. There are many possibilities for congregations and you and me as individuals, to get involved in peoples' lives. This is outreach, and it's important!

But this can't be all we do, or we miss the point. Maria Sandoval is a single mother with two young kids and a lousy job. She guesses she's Roman Catholic because that's what her parents were, but she hasn't been to church for more than a decade. For the past two summers, she's enrolled the children in the VBS at a nearby WELS church, and in December she dropped them off for the Christmas 4 Kids program the congregation advertised. That makes the people at the church happy, and Maria is happy that there are nice people who care about her kids at the Lutheran church. But Maria doesn't know that Christmas is about a Savior who earned eternal life for her, and the kids only know a couple of Bible stories and songs. You see, nobody from the church followed up on the outreach programs and shared the message for sin and grace. OUTREACH, MINUS EVANGELISM, EQUALS MISS.

The fifth direction our text gives is to KNOW THE ANSWER! Evangelism is necessary to open the door of heaven. Evangelism means "telling the good news." Our text says, "Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone." We can't just become friends with people for "friendship evangelism" to occur. We can't just build bridges to them through outreach activities. Once we do that, we actually have to tell them about Jesus! That means two things: First of all, we need to know the answer ourselves. We need to know what Jesus did for us. And secondly, we need to know how to share it. We need to share it in a way that is "full of grace and seasoned with salt." That means that we make sure it has the full flavor it was intended to have and shared in a way that it reaches people. Let's not dilute it or make it flavorless! It's a gourmet meal!

When Henry Ford purchased a large insurance policy, the Detroit newspapers blazoned the fact, since the amount was so large and he was so prominent. The story was read by one of Ford's old friends, who happened to be in the insurance business. The old friend went to confront Ford to see if the story was true. When Ford assured him that it was, the friend asked him why the policy was not purchased from him, since he was a personal friend and had been in insurance for many years. Ford's reply was, "You never asked me." How many of our friends can say to us, "You never asked me," as to our sharing Christ with them? We need to do evangelism along with outreach! OUTREACH, MINUS EVANGELISM, EQUALS MISS.

But OUTREACH PLUS EVANGELISM EQUALS MISSION! One family living in Mississauga that came from Trinidad enrolled their boy in our soccer camp this summer. We got to know them a little bit through that. When circumstances led them to look for a church, they trusted ours enough to try it, but just the mother at first. She came to another outreach event, a steel drum concert we held. Soon after that, she wanted her and her husband to know more about the Bible, and the two of them are halfway through a Bible class with me right now, and well on their way to be leading, active members in our church. The Lord used outreach along with evangelism to bring them to us.

Or how about little Nathan? Joe Deer, a member of our church in Alaska, and his two sons, Joey and Nathan, were headed home. They saw a teenage hitchhiker in the rain, so they stopped and offered him a ride. As soon as the teenager was buckled in and they were heading down the road, Nathan, then 4, said "Did you know Jesus died on the cross to save you from your sins?" The boy was caught off guard and ignored Nathan. Nathan didn't like being ignored, so he said - slightly louder - "Hey mister, did you know Jesus died on the cross to save you from your sins?" The boy continued to ignore him - even inching away from Nathan. Not to be ignored, Nathan unbuckled his seat belt, slid across the seat, tapped the teenager on the arm, and said, "Hey mister, I'm talking to you. Did you know that Jesus died on the cross to save you from your sins?" The teenager, realizing he now had to answer, said, "Uh…no." Nathan, now content, moved back across the seat, buckled up, and said, "Well, now you know. My brother knows, my Dad knows, I know, and now you know too." OUTREACH PLUS EVANGELISM EQUALS MISSION.

Nathan is a good example for us. But he may also be a reminder to us how we have failed. There might be a lot of things I spoke of today that remind us how we have failed. As a missionary, I am constantly reminded how I have failed. And all those reminders, all of that bad news, is not going to help motivate you or me one little bit to go out and open the door of heaven for others. This is what will motivate us…and I want everyone to be listening, now… In spite of all of our failures, heaven's door is open for us! God has forgiven us! You and me! Jesus paid for all these sins of ours. We have to preach that same message we want to share with others to ourselves! We need to be reminded by people like little Nathan that Jesus died on the cross to save you from your sins. That makes me feel a lot better. I hope it does for you too.

John Newton, the author of the hymn "Amazing Grace," once said, "When I get to heaven, I shall see three wonders there: The first wonder will be to see many there whom I did not expect to see; the second wonder will be to miss many people whom I did expect to see; the third and greatest of all will be to find myself there." May that awesome hope lead us to do all we can to see a lot more people there along with us. May God lead us to do all we can to Open the Door of Heaven for others! Amen.

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