The Shepherd and the Door

John 10:9 Jesus: "I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture."

Isn't it strange and wonderful that in this suave and civilized society the most cherished concepts of our faith have to do with sheep and shepherd? We are hardly a pastoral group, here, and yet we call our preachers 'pastor,' and we take great comfort in knowing and reciting: "The LORD is my Shepherd, I shall not want!" "We are His people, and the sheep of His pasture," says the Psalmist (Psalm 100) and there is great comfort in that assurance.

And Jesus declares that as our Good Shepherd he will

  1. (1) give His life for us, and that His intention is that
  2. (2) we might share the very quality of His life: "I have come that they might have LIFE," He says, "And that they might have it more abundantly." John 10:9

I. WHERE THE SHEPHERD HAS LED US:

Most of my message today has to do with vision, or of what our church here can be under God's leadership. But a so-called 'State of the Church' message needs to also deal with the church as it is, and what the past year has brought forth.

The kind of church year we have had must be reflected on a personal level by each of us; if we have been saved, or sanctified, or brought closer to the Lord this year, then the church year has been, in one very important way, a success. And no matter what the statistics show, if you or I have not grown in God's grace and love this year, then to that extent the church has failed.

But the composite picture of the church year is generally good. In addition to the facts and figures in our Annual Report booklet, which show involvement in several areas of ministry and financial increase as we meet the challenge of physical expansion, we have added 28 new members this year, twelve (12) by profession of faith. We have also lost 23 members by transfer and death, thus showing a net increase of five. This is a good indicator, but I will be surprised and disappointed if we do not show an increase in this vital statistic next year at this time.

II. WHERE THE GOOD SHEPHERD WANTS TO LEAD US:

I have no other way of presenting this than my own vision of what the Good Shepherd is saying here about what He wants to do with His "sheep." In this passage Jesus combines two figures in Himself; He says both I AM the Good Shepherd, and I AM the Door! "By ME," Jesus says, "You enter and are saved, and then, you go in and out and find pasture."

  1. I see the Church as a place of sanctuary, of healing, of salvation: THE CHURCH AS A HAVEN OR SANCTUARY "By ME ye shall be saved..."

    The church is a place of salvation. Maybe you think it is weak or cowardly of me to want a place, to even crave a place, where I can go and not get pressed and beaten with the "wisdom" of our civilization. But I think one great function of the church is to be a retreat, a different place, a holy place, often a quiet place where the Shepherd can lead me beside the still waters and restore my soul. God wants our church to be a place of healing and salvation and receiving love and life, a place where life begins! But we "COME IN" for more than just salvation and succor. I also see:

  2. I get the "picture of" the Church as a "Come" Place: "By Me ye shall go 'IN!'":

    The Presence of the Good Shepherd makes a church an attractive place to COME IN:THE CHURCH AS A HOME

    "By ME ye shall go IN..." Maybe in many respects that is the same thing as seeing the church as sanctuary or haven. Certainly both of these concepts- "sanctuary" and "home" are "IN" functions of the church. They see the church as a "COME" place— and that is all right. It is a COME place! "By Me ye shall go IN!"

    And if Jesus is the Shepherd, the Door, there will be a lot to go in for! A home is much more than just a nursery where children are born. And while a home is, or should be, a sanctuary, it is much, much more. A home is NOT always a quiet place. A home bustles with activity. There are times around the table— both the banquet table (like Thanksgiving Dinner) and the picnic table.

    Can we talk about receiving spiritual food for just a moment? People say:' I want to go to a church where I can be fed.' And certainly a church is a place where people should receive spiritual nourishment. But there is a difference between a home and a filling station, between filling up your car's gas tank with unleaded, and sitting down at the dinner table with people you love. We can think of the table as a place where we get refueled to go "out" and do the important things like make a living and play tennis and go to school and go fishing. But every happy family knows that what happens around the table, and how it happens, and the spirit in which it happens is as important as the "going out."

    Perhaps the attitude of each one of us can help determine whether our church will be a filling station or a dinner table.

    Worship is the central purpose of any Christian church. What is essential is that we come in contact with the Good Shepherd regularly.

    Worship is not just a matter of what and how we do, but worship must always involve being before the Lord, and a deliberate seeking of God, and God's will, and subjection to God's Word. There is a lot more I would like to share about what we do in the "COME" or "IN" functions of our church, and why we do, and how we do, but our time is limited.

    I would like to talk about the difference, in Sunday School class, between teaching and learning a "lesson" as opposed to teaching and learning how to help each other, and how to find the resources necessary for growing in grace.

    I'd like to talk about the difference between a passive, inner welcome for strangers, and that little extra that breaks over natural shyness and actually smiles and says hello!! Do you know that actually hundreds of visitors go through here each year?

    I'd like to talk about my concern for qualified, caring altar workers. During the past year we have seen more than 200 people kneel at these altars seeking God for spiritual help, beside those who kneel each Sunday morning. These seekers have "COME."

    And we all "care," but how many of us care enough to spend a few minutes praying with those we know, or for those we don't know? And all these not because I want to find fault with you; but because I see this natural shyness in myself. We're doing "pretty well," but there is room for improvement.

  3. But the vision I see of the Church is that it is not only a "COME" place, a place where we go IN; the church is a "GO" place.

III. THE CHURCH AS A LAUNCHING PAD

"By ME ye shall go OUT!"

The church Jesus would have us visualize and strive for is not complete unless and until we leave the sanctuary, and use the Door which is our Savior to go IN and OUT!

  1. We can go OUT in sending missionaries and money to the wide world: the giving is NOT unimportant! The level of our giving is indicative of seriousness of mission.

    Money is "condensed life." It is NOT insignificant.

    Far away, and in cities at home the 'people called Nazarenes' are still sending— and we are a vital part of that going out.

  2. We can also go OUT in challenging the BEST of our young people to lives of under-shepherding. I used to say "full-time Christian service." But is there any other kind? And besides, one hope of the future of the Church of Jesus Christ is in dedicated "tent-makers" who have a definite call to see the church of Jesus Christ GO OUT into the highways and the inner cities and the Saudi Arabias where ordained clergy are not welcome.

    But still, there is a need for some of our very best young people to hear and answer God's call for the necessary training to be full-time ministers, missionaries, college professors, and church workers.

  3. But perhaps the absolutely most vital way the church must learn to go OUT is by every one of our members taking Jesus "out" with them wherever they go . . . in witness, yes! But it doesn't have to be (always) dramatic and for a "decision." That should be in mind, perhaps, all the time.

    But more clearly, positively in mind can be: BY ME YE SHALL GO OUT!— taking Jesus with us to care about others and be part of the world's healing instead of its wounding.

Conclusion:

The way we must move toward God's will for us, and for our church is by consciously using 'the Door'! The abundant LIFE Jesus speaks of requires all our ransomed powers. Jesus also said, in this same Gospel, that He IS the light, and the bread, and the victory over death, and the way, and the truth, and the life, and the true Vine. But He, Himself, is the DOOR through which those who want to know all these other facets of what God is to us must enter. He is the Good Shepherd that will help us enter in.

A door is the exclusive way into life. Jesus makes it plain we cannot enter any other way except through Him. A door means an exit as well as an entering. We cannot go in and out with Jesus and be relying on our own wisdom or influence or knowledge or goodness.

And somehow, in this all there must be the consciousness of an higher purpose and loyalty. Our ultimate goal goes beyond the Wollaston Church of the Nazarene, and beyond our own personal growth and development.

I believe there can be a holy rest and in one sense even a holy indifference as to the visible result of our labors. For the ultimate success and score-keeping is beyond the measure of man's mind.

Our first consideration must be to be people of integrity before God. To seek to be open with Him, obedient to Him, available to Him, IN OUR COMING IN FOR ATTENTION AND FOOD AND CARE, and IN OUR GOING FORTH TO TAKE HIS CARE AND CONCERN AND LOVE TO OTHERS wherever we range in our daily assignments.

Jesus is the Good Shepherd. It is His Church. He is the Door. He is open to us today.