The Door
In John 10:9 Jesus said, “I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.” In Jesus’ day, people would’ve understood this metaphor to mean that Jesus was the door of the sheepfold. A shepherd would lead his sheep into a structure through a puka in the wall. In that sheepfold, they would be safe. They’d be because the shepherd himself would lay down in that puka and be the door to the sheepfold. No sheep could wonder out without the shepherd knowing. No wolf could come in without the shepherd knowing. When Jesus tells us that he is the door of the sheepfold, he’s telling us three things:
The Door Saves
“…If anyone enters by me, he will be saved…” Jesus, our door, saves us. Sheep needed to be saved from bad weather, wolves, and wondering off. What do we need to be saved from? We need to be saved from the enemy. Satan would love to pull people away into darkness and unbelief. He is real, and he is prowling. But Jesus as our door saves us from the enemy. Satan cannot get to Jesus’ sheep unless he goes through the door. We need to be saved from ourselves; our own wondering away. Romans 8 tells us that there is nothing in all creation that can separate us from the love of God in Christ. That means that even we can’t mess this up! We also need to be saved from what we deserve. We deserve punishment and wrath because of our sin, but Jesus as our door saves us from what we deserve, and leads us to what we don’t deserve.
The Door Serves
“…He will go in…and find pasture.” Jesus, our door, serves us by bringing us in to find pasture. One of the primary ways that Jesus serves us is through his church. When Paul wrote to the church of Galatia, he said, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” I think there are a lot of people in the church who struggle to be used by God to serve others. They struggle to give of their time, their energy, their money. But I also think there are some in the church who struggle to be served by God through the church. They don’t want to be an inconvenience and accept anyone’s time, or energy, or money. But Paul saw the church as a place where people are serving each other, a place where burdens could and should be shared and met with love and grace. Jesus, your door, is ready and able to serve and lead you to everything that you need to be joyful and glorify God.
The Door Sends
“…And out…” Jesus, our door, sends us out. As Jesus followers, we’re sent out to live in a way where people know that we follow Jesus in all of life. By the decisions we make, the things we talk about, by being explicit and telling people about Jesus, we live on a mission that everyone would know that Jesus brought us to God and changed our lives. The call to follow Jesus isn’t a call to withdraw from the world, but to aggressively live in this world. To be a people who are work hard, celebrate well, improve our communities, be good friends and neighbors. He sends us out because we have an amazing purpose in this world; a purpose that we have only when Jesus is our door.
Jesus as our door represents why we named our church “Harbor” church. A harbor is a place of safety, to be saved from the storm. A harbor is a place to be repaired and strengthened; to be served. A harbor is a launching pad for mission, where boats are sent back out into the storm, strengthened and ready for the waves. Jesus is our door. Jesus is our harbor. He welcomes straying, hungry sheep. He brings in broken, leaky boats. He nurtures and strengthens. He sends them back out with a glorious purpose. Is Jesus your door?