Good Morning Friends,
There is a door though which we enter to find Jesus. Sam Shoemaker wrote a piece about this which I have included with today’s devotional because it relates the text from John that we have been immersing ourselves during the journey from Passion to Pentecost, even though it is a bit different in its example there are some similarities between shepherd’s gates and doors. They both reminds us that Jesus says that he will go and provide a place for us where we are going to spend eternity. And indeed, there are questions about the door and the doorkeeper and the church that are important questions, but a much more relevant one for ministry is this: Will We Shepherd Those We Would Like To Spend Eternity And Even Those We Wouldn’t?
Scripture: Now the apostles and the believers who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also accepted the word of God. So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him, saying, “Why did you go to uncircumcised men and eat with them?” Then Peter began to explain it to them, step by step, saying, “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. There was something like a large sheet coming down from heaven, being lowered by its four corners; and it came close to me. As I looked at it closely I saw four-footed animals, beasts of prey, reptiles, and birds of the air. I also heard a voice saying to me, ‘Get up, Peter; kill and eat.’ But I replied, ‘By no means, Lord; for nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ But a second time the voice answered from heaven, ‘What God has made clean, you must not call profane.’ This happened three times; then everything was pulled up again to heaven. At that very moment three men, sent to me from Caesarea, arrived at the house where we were. The Spirit told me to go with them and not to make a distinction between them and us. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man’s house. He told us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying, ‘Send to Joppa and bring Simon, who is called Peter; he will give you a message by which you and your entire household will be saved.’ And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as it had upon us at the beginning. And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ If then God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?” When they heard this, they were silenced. And they praised God, saying, “Then God has given even to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life.”
Acts 11:1-18 (NRSV)
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”
John 10:11-18 (NRSV)
As for me, I am already being poured out as a libation, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
2 Timothy 4:6-8 (NRSV)
But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the human heart conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him”
I Corinthians 2:9 (NRSV)
Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.
1 Corinthians 11:1 (NRSV)
Message: Perhaps you have heard someone say that a group was or was not our kind of people. This kind of verbiage engenders both an exclusivity and strange sense of belonging and a bit of disgust all at the same time. Of course, there are sheep and goats. And for the chosen race, Israel, or those who mistakenly think they can be a substitute for them, who is in and who is out is important in this life. Ask any immigrant. But more important is what is happening now to form the nature of our life in the next…what is being done to form Holy History. Friends, there is a sea change going on that makes me concerned and hopeful. Sure, I trust God, but I also trust, as history is my witness, that people can muck it up. Part of me realizes that eternity starts now but in the sweet by and by it may be just as jampacked with diversity as we can imagine. And yes, we may be surprised at who gets in. There is strength in diversity and tension. But what makes us great now in this environment is not the political power or wealth or even the number of churches. It is something much simpler. It is whether we can love others. The inhabitants of Israel during Jesus’ day walking the earth had a similar problem identifying the means of salvation. They had the wrong idea. It was not so much about the place as the people and so they rejected Jesus for a false sense of power and control. Today’s message tackles this issue in a surprising way. We are invited to walk in the grace of God following the Shepherd for when Jesus leads that mean all kinds of people can be saved no matter where they live and what they eat. And so here change is evoked, and the disenfranchised empowered and other communities engaged so the great commission can be realized throughout the world.
And So, Jesus is the real deal, and we should be encouraged to follow his leadership and character. The symbol used is that of a Shepherd and a door. But if we are to see clearly and as a whole there are more symbols and specifically, I AM examples to be made palpable in us and in our culture through the power of the Holy Spirit. But this morning we are focusing on the ideas of shepherds and doors to get a better understanding of what it means to share faith and be part of a following. The point being made is that those interested in stealing sheep never come through the door. Because they would be seen and stopped by the Good Shepherd who is the door. It is helpful to picture this in your mind. Sheepfolds are simply designed as a stone wall or shrubs and thickets with perhaps wire at the top around ten feet high. Its opening serves as the door. The shepherds drive their sheep into the fold at nightfall and leave one of the Shepherds to stand guard and watch over the flock at the “only entrance” to the fold. The Shepherd would sleep at the opening of the fold and actually become “the door”. Nothing could enter or leave the fold without passing over the Shepherd. In the morning each shepherd can be heard calling his own sheep, which recognizes its shepherd’s voice and in turn comes out of the fold. Christ points out that the True Shepherd comes through the door, calls his sheep by name. False shepherds and strangers, who are thieves and robbers, try to get into the fold in some subtle way, but the sheep will not recognize or follow them. The point is that today people follow leadership and though change is unavoidable many follow the same leadership all their lives sharing in baptisms, weddings, and funerals for the same families. Some ministers die at the door where they hopefully have served as protectors, providers, and guides for our souls. Unfortunately, many pastors seem to focus more on their members’ money than their souls. So, leadership in the faith is not perfect and yet following Christlike leadership has never been more essential. People need to be called to a purpose of carrying on the work of Christ as his hands and feet. And it is critical for those hoping to develop their spiritual readiness that this leadership reflect the character of Christ. We need to realize that in order for a Shepherd to get sheep from one location to another – he has to “go before them”. And that is exactly what Jesus did and how today though fellowship with other believers the Holy Spirit can continue to guide us to green pastures and ultimately hopefully to our eternal home.
Pray we realize that Christ is our Shepherd King. Pray we become as sheep together guided by God. Pray we are not only smart sheep but also good sheep. Pray that we are ready when God puts opportunities before us to show others the Way. Pray that we live life beyond ourselves. Pray we lead as we dare to care for others not like ourselves. Pray that we have a heart for the lost sheep. Pray that we discover we are ministering to Christ when we respond to those in need with the dignity, intimacy, and knowledge that we are serving…suffering with Christ himself. Pray we walk in grace and live in the love of Shepherd so that others might follow as well. Pray we do something about the love we have received. Pray we love in return. Pray we stand up for Jesus when we are called to the door as both shepherds and sheep seeking salvation. Pray we know God’s voice and respond.
Blessings,
John Lawson
I Stand at the Door
By Sam Shoemaker (from the Oxford Group)
I stand by the door.
I neither go to far in, nor stay to far out.
The door is the most important door in the world –
It is the door through which men walk when they find God.
There is no use my going way inside and staying there,
When so many are still outside and they, as much as I,
Crave to know where the door is.
And all that so many ever find
Is only the wall where the door ought to be.
They creep along the wall like blind men,
With outstretched, groping hands,
Feeling for a door, knowing there must be a door,
Yet they never find it.
So I stand by the door.
The most tremendous thing in the world
Is for men to find that door – the door to God.
The most important thing that any man can do
Is to take hold of one of those blind, groping hands
And put it on the latch – the latch that only clicks
And opens to the man’s own touch.
Men die outside the door, as starving beggars die
On cold nights in cruel cities in the dead of winter.
Die for want of what is within their grasp.
They live on the other side of it – live because they have not found it.
Nothing else matters compared to helping them find it,
And open it, and walk in, and find Him.
So I stand by the door.
Go in great saints; go all the way in –
Go way down into the cavernous cellars,
And way up into the spacious attics.
It is a vast, roomy house, this house where God is.
Go into the deepest of hidden casements,
Of withdrawal, of silence, of sainthood.
Some must inhabit those inner rooms
And know the depths and heights of God,
And call outside to the rest of us how wonderful it is.
Sometimes I take a deeper look in.
Sometimes venture in a little farther,
But my place seems closer to the opening.
So I stand by the door.
There is another reason why I stand there.
Some people get part way in and become afraid
Lest God and the zeal of His house devour them;
For God is so very great and asks all of us.
And these people feel a cosmic claustrophobia
And want to get out. ‘Let me out!’ they cry.
And the people way inside only terrify them more.
Somebody must be by the door to tell them that they are spoiled.
For the old life, they have seen too much:
One taste of God and nothing but God will do any more.
Somebody must be watching for the frightened
Who seek to sneak out just where they came in,
To tell them how much better it is inside.
The people too far in do not see how near these are
To leaving – preoccupied with the wonder of it all.
Somebody must watch for those who have entered the door
But would like to run away. So for them too,
I stand by the door.
I admire the people who go way in.
But I wish they would not forget how it was
Before they got in. Then they would be able to help
The people who have not yet even found the door.
Or the people who want to run away again from God.
You can go in too deeply and stay in too long
And forget the people outside the door.
As for me, I shall take my old accustomed place,
Near enough to God to hear Him and know He is there,
But not so far from men as not to hear them,
And remember they are there too.
Where? Outside the door –
Thousands of them. Millions of them.
But – more important for me –
One of them, two of them, ten of them.
Whose hands I am intended to put on the latch.
So I shall stand by the door and wait
For those who seek it.
‘I had rather be a door-keeper
So I stand by the door
Daily Devotionals 