Gates and Thresholds
Based on Psalm 23 & John 10:1-10
God of Grace and Glory,
Attune our ears to what You would say to us today.
We seek to follow You.
We seek to follow You.
We seek to live in accordance with Your will.
God of Grace and God of Glory,
We trust You with our lives. Amen.
God of Grace and God of Glory,
We trust You with our lives. Amen.
In April of 2010, I returned to China, went to Beijing, with a group called “Global Leaders for Orphans Initiative” to volunteer in orphanages and meet with Beijing organizations that improve the lives of orphans.
What struck me right away about the temples in Beijing, were the thresholds. To get into many of the temples, you had to step over a big threshold that had an eight-inch wall to them, so you literally are stepping into the temple.
I love this image, that we step into something, step away from something, when we enter a temple.
As followers of Christ, it’s something to consider:
What we are stepping into, and what we are stepping away from.
What struck me right away about the temples in Beijing, were the thresholds. To get into many of the temples, you had to step over a big threshold that had an eight-inch wall to them, so you literally are stepping into the temple.
I love this image, that we step into something, step away from something, when we enter a temple.
As followers of Christ, it’s something to consider:
What we are stepping into, and what we are stepping away from.
I often think of the lines from “Relient K”
“When I made up my mind,
And my heart along with that, To live not for myself
But yet for God, somebody said
Do you know what you are getting yourself into?”
Do we know what we are getting ourselves into?
I feel like having been to China again, then in October of this year, I went to Haiti, to the epicenter of the 2010 earthquake, to help with reconstruction of the teacher training center with the Peter Hesse Foundation, and to see and learn more about the Presbyterian Disaster Assistane projects, and yesterday I delivered a keynote speech at Lincoln Correctional Center to about 300 inmates.
“When I made up my mind,
And my heart along with that, To live not for myself
But yet for God, somebody said
Do you know what you are getting yourself into?”
Do we know what we are getting ourselves into?
I feel like having been to China again, then in October of this year, I went to Haiti, to the epicenter of the 2010 earthquake, to help with reconstruction of the teacher training center with the Peter Hesse Foundation, and to see and learn more about the Presbyterian Disaster Assistane projects, and yesterday I delivered a keynote speech at Lincoln Correctional Center to about 300 inmates.
I know you to be good and caring people.
You are people of your word, people of The Word,
and the world out there needs You more than ever, needs the good news you have to share, needs to see and share in the God-given light that blazes in your hearts. And I’m talking to YOU today.
You are people of your word, people of The Word,
and the world out there needs You more than ever, needs the good news you have to share, needs to see and share in the God-given light that blazes in your hearts. And I’m talking to YOU today.
There’s a slang expression right now, “he’s such a tool,”
Meaning a person is being used, and doesn’t know it,
Meaning a person is being used, and doesn’t know it,
it has negative connotations, although any teenager might correct me on my usage, might inform me I’m using it incorrectly, but for today, I’m going with that definition
I had asked my friends to pray that my words would be hopeful and helpful to the women at Lincoln yesterday. I had prayed hard about the speech.
On the drive over to Lincoln, I prayed, “How can these stories about China have anything to do with these women?”
Then the answer came, special needs girls in Chinese orphanages, are seen as “trash,” as one Chinese woman told me, “something expendible, that should be thrown away.” They are often warehoused in large Social Welfare Institutes. In the large facilities, they are not known by their name, but by their number. Likewise, women in prison are told by society they are worthless, they are often warehoused in large facilities, Lincoln has over 1,000 women. They are known by their name always attached to their number, like: Jane DoeR-32987689.
On the drive over to Lincoln, I prayed, “How can these stories about China have anything to do with these women?”
Then the answer came, special needs girls in Chinese orphanages, are seen as “trash,” as one Chinese woman told me, “something expendible, that should be thrown away.” They are often warehoused in large Social Welfare Institutes. In the large facilities, they are not known by their name, but by their number. Likewise, women in prison are told by society they are worthless, they are often warehoused in large facilities, Lincoln has over 1,000 women. They are known by their name always attached to their number, like: Jane DoeR-32987689.
Back to being a tool….
After the speeches were over, given by inmates and me, the guards were taking women back by “houses,” and one woman pulled me aside, we only
Had a few minutes before her house would be out the door.
She told me what landed her in prison, a tragic story.
My cognitive brain was reeling from the story she had just told me, the
Ramifications of it on her life, but another part of me looked her deep in the eyes, knowing our time of talking was short, and said,
“Unhook yourself from this. If you are to survive when you get out,
you have to unhook yourself from this.”
These did not feel like my words. They didn’t even fully make sense to me.
Teary-eyed, she said, “That’s what I needed to hear. That’s what I’ve been needing to hear.”
We talked a bit more before it was her time, and my time, to leave.
I felt like a tool, in the best sense of the word.
These words were words of grace and forgiveness, which, I gotta say,
were not my words.
My brain was still, and is still, wrestling with what she told me.
After the speeches were over, given by inmates and me, the guards were taking women back by “houses,” and one woman pulled me aside, we only
Had a few minutes before her house would be out the door.
She told me what landed her in prison, a tragic story.
My cognitive brain was reeling from the story she had just told me, the
Ramifications of it on her life, but another part of me looked her deep in the eyes, knowing our time of talking was short, and said,
“Unhook yourself from this. If you are to survive when you get out,
you have to unhook yourself from this.”
These did not feel like my words. They didn’t even fully make sense to me.
Teary-eyed, she said, “That’s what I needed to hear. That’s what I’ve been needing to hear.”
We talked a bit more before it was her time, and my time, to leave.
I felt like a tool, in the best sense of the word.
These words were words of grace and forgiveness, which, I gotta say,
were not my words.
My brain was still, and is still, wrestling with what she told me.
I think of what Jesus says in Matthew 5 about crimes we commit, when we think we are 100% innocent.
Friends, these women have committed crimes, they are doing time, most of them are mothers, and they are children of God seeking words of life.
The kids in the orphanages in China, the children seeking education and food in Haiti, the homeless people at Safe Harbor desiring a hot meal?
These are people I’ve met, I challenge YOU to step over
the threshold and through the gate to places in the world that YOU
feel called to…places and people where YOU feel called to share the
light you’ve been given in this life.
The kids in the orphanages in China, the children seeking education and food in Haiti, the homeless people at Safe Harbor desiring a hot meal?
These are people I’ve met, I challenge YOU to step over
the threshold and through the gate to places in the world that YOU
feel called to…places and people where YOU feel called to share the
light you’ve been given in this life.
If there is no such place for you, then a litmus test for you is what news stories move you, make your heart ache a bit?
The Shepherd does not want one sheep lost—
Not one.
The Shepherd does not want one sheep lost—
Not one.
The world is great at un-doing us, telling us who we are not,
What we are not, and how we do not measure up–
But the world’s voice is not the voice we trust, nor
The voice that tells us who we are, whose we are—
The world’s voice is not the overseer of our souls
“For you were going astray like sheep,”
I Peter 2 says, “but now you have returned to the shepherd
and guardian of your souls. (1 Peter 2:25)
What we are not, and how we do not measure up–
But the world’s voice is not the voice we trust, nor
The voice that tells us who we are, whose we are—
The world’s voice is not the overseer of our souls
“For you were going astray like sheep,”
I Peter 2 says, “but now you have returned to the shepherd
and guardian of your souls. (1 Peter 2:25)
Do we know what we are getting ourselves into?
Here’s some of what we’re getting into: Jesus in our passage today tells us two “I am” statements,
He says, “I am the gate” or “I am the door” depending on translation
And he says, “I am the good shepherd.”
In his life he makes other “I am” statements…
Here’s some of what we’re getting into: Jesus in our passage today tells us two “I am” statements,
He says, “I am the gate” or “I am the door” depending on translation
And he says, “I am the good shepherd.”
In his life he makes other “I am” statements…
I am the light of the world
I am the vine
I am the bread of life
I am the way, the truth, and the life
I am thirsty…
I am the resurrection and the life
I am the vine
I am the bread of life
I am the way, the truth, and the life
I am thirsty…
I am the resurrection and the life
Our John text has mixed metaphors,
So even though my son’s best friend raises sheep and even named his first sheep, after our daughter,
she was a loud bawling creature, the sheep I mean,
our daughter? Loud and loving.
Jesus is seen as a Shepherd and as a door—
in the readings for today, There is a lot of coming and going, Through new doors and over new thresholds.
So even though my son’s best friend raises sheep and even named his first sheep, after our daughter,
she was a loud bawling creature, the sheep I mean,
our daughter? Loud and loving.
Jesus is seen as a Shepherd and as a door—
in the readings for today, There is a lot of coming and going, Through new doors and over new thresholds.
Think about the most memorable door you’ve walked through?
As a child, I was enamored with the game “Mystery Date,”
The game had a door with a big question mark on it. I loved that game, it captured my imagination. A door with a big question mark.
The game had a door with a big question mark on it. I loved that game, it captured my imagination. A door with a big question mark.
Life can have that “Mystery Date” game feel sometimes,
we all have doors in our lives with the big giant question marks on them…
Doors where we wonder, “What am I getting myself into?”
we all have doors in our lives with the big giant question marks on them…
Doors where we wonder, “What am I getting myself into?”
We don’t know what doors we are going to open in our lifetimes
Some doors we choose to walk through, like choosing to step over a tall threshold into a Chinese temple.
But some doors in our lives we wish we’d never laid eyes on,
doors we wished we’d never opened. You know them.
Doors to say hello to someone, to meet someone–
Meeting your children or grandchildren, nieces/nephews for the first time
Meeting your children or grandchildren, nieces/nephews for the first time
Doors to say good-bye to someone for the last time.
We all have lived such stories firsthand, we have
Narratives about the doors in our lives,
where they have taken us.
Narratives about the doors in our lives,
where they have taken us.
If you are truly heartbroken, walk through the door of someone more heartbroken than you–
you will find solace, you will find you are not alone.
A shepherd would block the opening of the sheepfold with his body to keep the sheep safe, he would be the door or gate
Friends, this is news we have to live…that the Shepherd
Is the Lord of our lives, and is a God of love, and the
world out there, wants this good news like it thirsts for water
Is the Lord of our lives, and is a God of love, and the
world out there, wants this good news like it thirsts for water
Jesus says, “Truly, truly I say to you, ‘I am the door of the sheep….I am the door. If anyone enters by me, that one will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture….I came that they may have life and have it abundantly….”
On A & E, the television show “Intervention” “profiles people whose dependence on drugs and alcohol or other compulsive behavior has brought them to a point of personal crisis” and families or loved ones host an intervention to get them to stop using whatever drug of choice they are using.
The first half hour shows the person’s life in the midst of their addiction, and you find yourself begging, along with the loved ones, begging the person
not to go to the house of the drug dealer,
not go through the door to the meth lab,
not to cross the threshold of the corner bar.
They don’t know what they are getting into. It’s painful, agonizing to watch. At the intervention, the person must choose which door they’ll take. The door to life, through rehab, or will they choose the door the thieves offer, that steals, kills, destroys?
not to go to the house of the drug dealer,
not go through the door to the meth lab,
not to cross the threshold of the corner bar.
They don’t know what they are getting into. It’s painful, agonizing to watch. At the intervention, the person must choose which door they’ll take. The door to life, through rehab, or will they choose the door the thieves offer, that steals, kills, destroys?
Think about the doors in your life, the thresholds you have crossed over, that have lead to pain and lessening of life?
What are those in your life?
The things that lead you away from the door of life?
That steal your energy, rob you of your peace?
Destroy something of who you are, who you are created to be?
What are those in your life?
The things that lead you away from the door of life?
That steal your energy, rob you of your peace?
Destroy something of who you are, who you are created to be?
Maybe they’re virtual doors:
*stress *chasing after prestige or accolades *unhealthy relationships
*addictions to food, spending, gambling, sex, alcohol, drugs
*reliance on our own power or control
*gossiping *wanting security above all else
*stress *chasing after prestige or accolades *unhealthy relationships
*addictions to food, spending, gambling, sex, alcohol, drugs
*reliance on our own power or control
*gossiping *wanting security above all else
We all have doors we walk through, knowing full well walking through that door cheapens our life,
makes us less-than, makes life-less-than God would have intended for us.
makes us less-than, makes life-less-than God would have intended for us.
We hear ancient words God whispers to us (Ezekiel 34:11-12)
I myself will search
for my sheep, and will seek them out. As shepherds seek out their flocks when they are among their scattered sheep, so I will seek out my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places to which they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness.
As for Psalm 23: an old familiar friend of a Psalm chockful of
action verbs:
Want, lie down, leads, restores, walk,
fear, comfort, prepare, anoint, overflows, follow, dwell
action verbs:
Want, lie down, leads, restores, walk,
fear, comfort, prepare, anoint, overflows, follow, dwell
Psalm 23 ends, “and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever….”
The house of the Lord forever
yielding to this goodness and mercy, surrendering to this steadfast love, means we will turn to or return to, cross over the threshold back into
In some places, churches would paint their doors red
to signify that the building is a sanctuary and is holy, and anyone who goes through the door is safe from physical and spiritual harm.
In ancient times, no one could pursue an enemy past red doors into a church and certainly no one could be harmed or captured inside of a church. The red door would remind people they are always safe in God’s care. Does your church remind people of this? Is it ‘sanctuary’ in the best sense of the word?
to signify that the building is a sanctuary and is holy, and anyone who goes through the door is safe from physical and spiritual harm.
In ancient times, no one could pursue an enemy past red doors into a church and certainly no one could be harmed or captured inside of a church. The red door would remind people they are always safe in God’s care. Does your church remind people of this? Is it ‘sanctuary’ in the best sense of the word?
Jesus says, “I am the door.” And if Jesus says to us, “I am the door,” isn’t it interesting how we sometimes have a view of who gets in and who does not get in that door?
Are you willing to follow where the Good Shepherd leads you? To go across the threshold and through the door to where it is God would have you go?
Do you know what you are getting yourself into?
Are you willing to follow where the Good Shepherd leads you? To go across the threshold and through the door to where it is God would have you go?
Do you know what you are getting yourself into?
Here’s the thing:
We don’t know when we might be called,
When we might become a tool in God’s hands,
We have to let go of that timing thing…
which I say to myself as much as to you…we have to let go.
And, we have to step out of our comfortable corral,
Out of our comfort zone. It will undoubtedly be messy, in some way.
Jesus touched and hung out with lepers, prostitutes, the outcast, and we are called to follow
We don’t know when we might be called,
When we might become a tool in God’s hands,
We have to let go of that timing thing…
which I say to myself as much as to you…we have to let go.
And, we have to step out of our comfortable corral,
Out of our comfort zone. It will undoubtedly be messy, in some way.
Jesus touched and hung out with lepers, prostitutes, the outcast, and we are called to follow
Stepping across the threshold of faith, and into the arms of God, into life with God as your Guardian, your Overseer—
This my friends, this is what we are
getting into.
This my friends, this is what we are
getting into.
God,
we ask You to guide us through the doors where You would have us walk,
help us regain our footing on the path you’d have us walk.
For You are the door to abundance,
You are the door to eternal life.
To You be all Glory Honor and Praise!
Hallelujah! Amen.
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