Gates don't move.
I had always taken this to mean that no matter what storms our King's castle, no force of darkness will be able to penetrate it. Subconsciously, this perspective offers a defensive posture. It presents an already established and fortified Church, limited in its reach and cloistered behind its walls, where members enjoy the comfort of being on the winning team.
Instead, Jesus commissions Peter as the chief contractor on the project of an ever expanding Church. And, instead of a passive stance that evil will not get in and win, Jesus sends us out on the offensive and no dark corner, no seedy establishment, no shady operation, no stronghold of evil will be able to hold onto its property rights.
No gate of hell can withstand the truth, and way, and life, and power of Jesus Christ.
But, we have to go out. We have to go out in search of the domains that our enemy has shackled with chains and mistakenly claimed as his portion and take back what belongs to our King.
I frequently listen to the sermons of a Protestant pastor, Levi Lusko, as a way to supplement my faith life. He masterfully uses stories from history and connects them to scripture in meaningful and fresh ways. In a sermon from late 2022, Levi talked about the history of yacht clubs and how they started as rescue missions (14:55 - 16:30):
Instead of elite places that keep people out, they were intended to be gathering places for those who would courageously go out in search of those in need of help.
Jesus's Great Commission tells us, "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you" (Mt. 28:19-20).
He doesn't say sit and wait.
He doesn't command us to stay put.
Go.
Storm the gates of hell with the promise that Christ leaves with us: "And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age” (Mt. 28:20).
The Holy Spirit courses through our veins. Endowed with the supernatural gifts of wisdom, understanding, counsel, knowledge, fortitude, piety, and fear of the Lord, and emboldened by our unique charisms - the blend of favors that God bestowed on us at our baptism for the building of His Kingdom on earth and advancing it in heaven - let us take the truth, love, and life of Gospel into every corner of the world.
Gates don't move.
But we do and they will when they open in the name of Jesus Christ.
