Flora First Christian Church - Flora, IN

February 24, 2008

John 10: 1-10

Many Doors in the Funhouse

I was the kid in my family who loved carnivals, fairs, midways, and amusement parks. My dad, who was a teenager during the Great Depression, would say “Don’t waste your money at the midway. When you leave there you have nothing to show but empty pockets.”

I wasn’t a very good baseball player, so I didn’t spend my money at the games. The attraction I thought was the way coolest place to spend an hour was . . . the funhouse! Remember funhouses? Most of them had a room full of mirrored doors serving as a maze. The trick was to discover which door led to the way out and which led down a fake hallway. Getting out became a nuisance only when I looked at my watch and realized that I needed to meet my parents or brother and sister. When I wanted out right then and there, it was generally the wrong door!
We generally don’t think about the importance of doors until we realize that the back door to our house won’t lock, and we’re ready to head out on vacation, or the front door of our house is jammed shut and we have company on the way over. At this point Jesus’ words –”I am the door” is most likely among the last thing on our minds. Not the kind of door we want at the moment, but the door that we always need.

The Purpose of Doors

This morning we’re talking about doors. Doors have two major purposes: 1) for protection and privacy, and 2) as an entry way to another place.

Think of Doors when Life Is Out Of Control

Usually it’s not until our lives seem to be out of control and we feel lost and without direction that we want to hear more about Jesus being the door to spiritual safety.

Jesus As The Door

Let’s think back to that occasion when Jesus talked about being a door. It was at the same time Jesus was telling the disciples how he was a shepherd, which we’ll talk more about next week. Many Bible translations use the word gate instead of door. Many of the more contemporary translations use the word “door.” I prefer the visual imagery of Christ being a door over a gate. Most of us don’t have picketed fences with gates leading up to our homes. Those of you with livestock understand the importance of a gate for protection and thus it may have a more personal imagery, as it did in Jesus’ day.

Shepherding In Jesus’ Day

Sheep herding in Bible times was quite different than we know it today. In Jesus’ time sheep were often rounded up at night and placed in an area called a fold. It was sort of like a corral with stone walls, but it didn’t have a gate or a door to close off the area. The entrance and the exit were the same. During the night the shepherd literally laid his body in front of the flock as the door, providing safety from any prowling dangers giving the best protection he could to those animals in his care. These sheep were the shepherd’s means of livelihood. So, of course, they were precious to the shepherd.

Jesus’ Life Is A Door

Here Jesus Christ paints a vivid picture that His life is the door where we are invited to come in to find God’s spiritual protection and full life. The world makes many seductive and alluring promises that we can have a better life and that we can have it all!

Many Voices Calling To Us To Enter

There are many voices in our world promising happiness for the present. We Americans buy millions of books each year, we go to lectures and spend thousands of dollars trying to find the elusive bird of happiness. There are many false prophets even today promising contentment, luxury, and happiness if we will just buy more of their products. False prophets do not deliver on their promises. “If it feels good buy it and do it because you are your own boss.”

Let’s Make A Deal

How many remember the game show popular in the 1960’s and 70’s “Let’s Make A Deal?” Then you know that during the game contestants would be given the opportunity to select a prize behind 3 doors or curtains. Behind one door might be a simple but nice prize like a blender, a microwave oven or a stereo system. Behind another door might be a prize that was a joke of a prize, like a live pig, a push mower, or a hay wagon. Behind the third door might be a sports car, a speed boat, or a trip to Hawaii. Just like in life, we never know what’s behind the next door you open. Just like on Deal or No Deal every brief case we open is a gamble or risk.

Forest Gump

The movie “Forest Gump” made one saying a part of our American Pop Culture. Remember what the saying was? “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get.” I believe we can as well say, “Life is like a series of doors.”
There’s lot of choices out there. Some will give us short term pleasure and happiness. Some are jokes and only one offers the true treasure. We must choose carefully.

Choice Is Ours: Which Door?

Sometimes we don’t have a clue what is behind the doors. Sometimes we get lazy and bored with life, and we don’t want to deal with the real discipline it takes to choose the one that we know has the power to deliver. We want the door that is shiny, bright, and will give instant gratification. Sometimes we do have a clue what is behind the door–like the door marked with a cross.
When Jesus said, “I am the door,” he said that he is the door to real life with God. He made it clear that you can tell who the false religious teachers are because they point to themselves and not to that which leads to everlasting life.
Jesus is the only one who made the ransom by giving up his own life. All other doors, no matter how ornate or attractive, are entrances that eventually lead to death.
Our Lord’s words in John 3:36 heads us in the direction of the right door when he said, “He who believes in the Son has eternal life.” Note the present tense of the promise.
Eternal life is not just something we receive when we die, but something we experience here and now when Christ becomes our door to God. The point of the matter is that eternal life is not just reserved for out yonder in heaven.

“Go In And Out” and Find Life

Jesus went on to say, “If anyone enters by me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” (John 10. 7, 1-10)

The Shepherd Being The Doorway

When Jesus described himself as an entrance to God he was using a well-known Hebrew phrase. That phrase was “we can go in and come out.” To be able to come and go unharmed was the Jewish way of describing a life that is absolutely secure and safe. When a person can go in and out without fear, it means that his country is at peace, that the forces of law and order are supreme, and that he can enjoy perfect security.
Once any of us discovers that Jesus is that entry way to God during our struggles, confusion and hard times, we can trust that His will be done. When we know that our lives are in God’s care then the real fears are gone.
When we “go in and out with Christ” each day brings new vitality, a superabundance of life, and security.

John and the Hospital

The following is a true story. A man named John had been in the church all his life. However, for a while he just went through the motions of attending church. He didn’t take his faith with him into the week and into the work place. He didn’t feel joy from the abundant life Christ had to offer. He was a good man, but he later said that his relationship with Christ wasn’t a personal one until he entered the hospital very unexpectedly. While in the hospital John faced the uncertainty of the future and all of the possibilities of what may be wrong. It was there that he realized the hypocrisy of his life. In his hospital bed he placed his life in God’s hands. John said he learned what it meant to “come in and go out” through Christ. John realized for the first time in his life that the fullness of Christ meant allowing God to protect us in the present, no matter what happens. He knew the source of his life and nothing could harm him.
When we claim Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, we are claimed by God, as one of his sheep–one of his own. (Ronald Lavin, “The Great I Am,” pp.49-50).

The Violin Player

In January 1995 Rachel Barton was on her way to her suburban home taking a Chicago commuter train. Rachel is a noted violin player who first appeared as a soloist with the Chicago Symphony at age eight. That day as Rachel was getting off the train she got caught in the door. According to the Chicago Tribune as the train began to move she was dragged beneath it for several hundred feet before a bystander heard her screams and notified a railroad official to stop the train. The huge wheels of the train severed her left leg below the knee and seriously damaged the right leg.
Rescue workers and two passengers used their belts as tourniquets to save her life. Two months and eight surgeries later, a press conference was held where this great musician was interviewed by reporters. Sitting in a wheel chair, beaming a beautiful smile, she talked of her plans to walk again, and to perform soon. She was already practicing on her violin several hours a day. When asked why she said, “In the years to come, I hope to be remembered for my music, not my past injuries.”
When we face traumatic pain, loss or failure, we have a choice. We can focus on our past or we can focus on the future which God offers.

By Jesus–the Door, we can literally leave our fears at the Door.

We can allow ourselves to be remembered for our past hurts and mistakes, or we can be remembered for the change that we have allowed God to make in our lives.
Jesus said, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. Come on in, the door’s open!” Amen!