Jonah Albrecht

Advent 3

December 15th, 2024

John 10:9

I Am the Door

Now to Him who has loved us and called us to be kings and priests through His own blood, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever, Amen.

9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.

In the name of Jesus, in Whom we can rest securely knowing He is our Good Shepherd, DFR:

Do we have an entitlement issue? Have these last few generations gone away from personal responsibility and now expect everything to be handed to them on a silver platter? Depending on what generation you are a part of, you might agree or disagree. But let’s take the generational divide out of it. Do we have a greed problem? That question is much easier to answer. The examples of greed, whether on the personal level or corporate level are too numerous to even begin to count. And yet, it pays to remind ourselves that greed can be present in our hearts as well. The same is true with entitlement, regardless of what generation we are in.

It all comes down to a sin problem, something we all deal with. Greed and entitlement may or may not come to the surface in our daily lives, but does it rear its head in our spiritual lives? The answer to that question is obvious. Of course it does, by our own sinful nature.

Today, our next theme in the sermon series, “The I AM Sayings of the Savior,” is, “I AM the door.” We will consider how Jesus provides a totally different mindset and solution to our entitlement and greed problem, spiritual or otherwise.

Have you ever seen a sheep pen that was used in Ancient Israel? There are some places today where they still use the same design. A shepherd would pile loose stones on top of each other in the rough shape of a circle to make the walls of the pen. But the walls didn’t go completely around. There was a small gap, a gate, or door, by which the sheep would enter the pen and leave it. That opening was where the shepherd would lie down and keep watch over the sheep by night. This meant that any wild creature or robber who wanted the sheep would have to go through the shepherd in order to gain access.

This is the illustration Jesus uses in John 10. He shows the failure of the Jewish leaders who were supposed to be that shepherd protecting the flock of God. And yet, instead of looking out for the best of the sheep, they were filled with entitlement and greed. Rather than being shepherds, they were like hired hands guarding the sheep.

The thing is about hired hands is that they are not reliable when the situation gets sticky. They have no obligation to the sheep other than a paycheck. So, when danger threatens, they leave the sheep and flee. Rather than making sure the sheep are whole and healthy, they simply shoo them into the pen and get on with their day.

Contrast this to the shepherd, whose sole responsibility is the sheep. They are the most important thing in his possession. When danger threatens, the shepherd will run towards the danger to protect what is his. The shepherd will take great care of his sheep, know when one is hurt or missing, and know them by name.

For anyone who has even the weakest of faith, it is easy to see Jesus’ point. The Pharisees, who were supposed to be the shepherds failed God’s people and allowed error, false teaching, and laziness to settle in. It became so bad that most of the people did not even see the promised Messiah walking before them in the flesh. Sure, they saw this great teacher Jesus, but their hearts were muddied and closed to see who He truly was.

Any similarities you see today? Take the church leaders in America for example. Where are they leading the sheep entrusted to them? Are they acting as shepherds, or merely hired hands? It will not take you long to see how the latter has settled into American Christianity. There entitlement and greed have run rampant. Doctrine has changed from being, “This is what God has done for you through Jesus. Now this is what we get to do in order to give our thanks to Him;” to: “God is whatever you make Him to be. If the Bible doesn’t line up with your truth, how you feel, that is okay. Make Jesus whomever you want.”

If that sounds a little harsh, I invite you to look and see, what churches are teaching today, even so-called Lutheran churches. Now, lest we fail to abide by the words of our Savior in Matthew 7, we must remove the plank in our own eye. It is not impossible for this plague of becoming a hired hand to settle in our own midst. The danger is real to become complacent, to take the easy road rather than the road that stands true according to the Word of God. And that doesn’t just go for the pastors or leaders in our churches, but even in our personal lives.

Search your own heart. Have you felt entitlement in your relationship with God? Felt like He owes you for everything He has put you through? Or maybe you don’t want God exactly the way He reveals Himself in the Bible, that is just too harsh for your taste; you desire that God who “hates the sin, but loves the sinner.” You want a God that can be bargained with, that is more…like you. Guilty as charged. Not only is failure present in the role God has given us a shepherd of our families, or church family, but we have even failed as sheep in God’s pasture. Rather than abiding in THE Shepherd, Jesus as our door, we run towards the danger. We embrace sin rather than flee from it.

How often has sin taken root in your heart, so deep that before you even realize it that anger or resentment rises and takes over. Hypocrisy is the norm. Easy to talk a good game, but much harder to put it into practice, especially in private. We are nothing but dumb sheep who constantly wander from the safety and security of our Good Shepherd. Foolish though we are; corrupt though we are; impossible though we are; that has not driven your Good Shepherd away from you.

That is hard to believe, isn’t it? After all we do to disobey God, to flee from His refuge, to try and boil Him down to our standards, He still finds a way to love us, and that love doesn’t even waver for a second. Now don’t get me wrong, this does not mean God loves our sin, nor does He love us living in sin. He says in Psalm 5:4-5, For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you. The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers. What this means is that God does something to change us from evildoers, to sheep of His pasture. That is through the one who said, “I AM the door.”

9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.

Jesus tackles our disobedience and foolishness as sheep head-on. He did so in the only way possible. See, Satan, our greatest adversary, threatens us with accusations. He wants to drag you down by your sin and disqualify you from belonging to God. But that is why Jesus, our Good Shepherd, is our door. Remember how the sheep pens were laid out in Jesus’ day? The Shepherd stands guard at the door so no predators can enter in. Every day Satan prowls around seeking a moment to gain access to us, but Jesus stands guard at the door. He attacks Satan head-on in two ways.

The first way comes two verses after our text, verse 11: I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. Jesus is no hired hand; He isn’t even like a typical shepherd. He laid down His life for dumb, rebellious sheep like us. He died on the cross so that Satan loses all ability to accuse us of our sins. They have been paid for by the blood of our Good Shepherd and forgotten by the God of all the universe. Jesus’ sacrifice for you totally changed you. That is what made you His sheep in the first place. That is how He gathered you into His pen. You didn’t just wander in; He came and sought you. He delivered you from the very jaws of the devil and landed you safely in His righteousness.

That is how you know that Jesus died for all your sins. If any of your sins were left unpaid for, you would still be in the jaws of Satan, you would still be in the pen of hell, not the safety of your Savior. But no, you are safe in Jesus. You do not have to be afraid that the one particular sin that has dragged you down before was left behind; it wasn’t paid for. The blood of Jesus Christ our Lord cleanses us from all sin. Those sins of entitlement; desiring to make God who we want Him to be. Those sins of disobedience where we wander aimlessly away from Him. Those sins of utter stupidity; where we know better, but do it anyways. Your Good Shepherd laid down His life for each of those sins and more. That was the price it cost to make you His very own.

And now, as a sheep in God’s pasture, we see clearly how Jesus attacks Satan head-on in the second way; as our door. Before a shepherd lets the sheep out to graze in pasture, he inspects each one. He makes sure they are whole and healthy. An injured sheep out in the pasture is like a beacon that can attract predators and other dangers. It means almost certain death. The shepherd does the same thing before letting the sheep back into the pen at night. Each individual sheep passes under his careful, caring eye so that any injury might be discovered. If there is said injury, the shepherd will take extra care to watch over that sheep, to keep any harm from coming to it.

Satan actively seeks out those sheep in God’s pasture who are injured. Those who wander away from the herd or those who stumble around in their faith life. To him, those are the easy targets to lure away from the protection of the Good Shepherd and down a cliff where they can’t get back up. If that is you, or has been you, take comfort in these words of your Savior. He is your door. Every day you wake up, He is watching over you. He can look into your heart and see and understand the pain and struggles you deal with. Every night you lay your head on your pillow, Jesus sees and understands the stress and anxiety that is on your mind. You don’t have to hide it from your Shepherd, He already knows.

But Jesus does more than just know what is on our hearts and minds. In Hebrews 4 it says, 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

He knows what you go through because He lived a life just like you and me, but without sin. He faced sorrow and pain, distress and temptation. But every time He confided in His Heavenly Father. He overcame those things by trusting in God to deliver them. Yes, this was to give us an example to always go to our Heavenly Father for help, but it was more than that. It means that, as our Good Sheperd, as our Door, He knows exactly how to direct our lives for our benefit. He knows the right people to bring into your life at the right time. He knows the right Scripture for you to read that answers the lingering doubt. He knows what pastures to lead you to in order to feed your soul and strengthen your relationship with Him.

Comforting. There is hardly a better word to describe what Jesus’ words mean to us as His sheep. We can rise each day, go to bed each night with a peace of mind knowing that our Savior, our Good Shepherd is watching over us and caring for our every need. What more do we want? What more do we need? I AM is our door. Amen.