I am the Door

This Gospel passage disturbs me. I don’t like its binary oppositions between those who enter the sheepfold legitimately and those who don’t, between bandits and shepherds, between strangers and trusted leaders. I don’t like its implied anti-Semitism. Make no mistake that note is very much there. Remember that John’s Gospel was the last to be written, most likely in the early ‘90s. It was written for a community already in conflict with the Jewish religious leaders, and it consistently presents them in a very negative light. As part of its approach this Gospel describes miracles, then follows those miracles with portrayals of conflict and then a speech from Jesus. In the speech Jesus explains what he has done, and makes an “I am” statement. That is exactly what we have here, except that we have just a small part of the whole story. What we heard this morning follows directly on the healing of the man born blind. Do you remember that story? We heard it early last month, on the fourth Sunday in Lent. In it we saw clearly the unwillingness of the religious leaders to accept the healing of the blind man and Jesus’ condemnation of their spiritual blindness. Our Gospel passage follows immediately on that condemnation and is addressed to the same religious leaders. For some reason, our lectionary spreads Jesus’ speech over three years. This year, Year A, we hear the first ten verses. Next year, Year B, we hear Jesus identify himself as the Good Shepherd. Finally in Year C, we hear the last part of Jesus’ speech, after which we move on to the last miracle in this Gospel, the raising of Lazarus, which we heard last month on the fifth Sunday in Lent.

So this Sunday we’re at the beginning of Jesus’ commentary for the religious leaders on his healing of the blind man. The Gospel has him begin his commentary with an image that implicitly contrasts their leadership with his. Not surprisingly, they do not understand the image. So, as you heard, Jesus shifts to another image, that of the gate, or more accurately, door. He tells them, “Amen, amen, I tell you, I AM the door for the sheep.” Why is that I AM important? Remember that God’s name, as we learned in the Old Testament, is I AM. Every time Jesus makes an I AM statement in John’s Gospel, the Gospel writer is reminding us that Jesus is divine. So when readers of the Gospel and we hear that I AM statement, here I AM the door for the sheep, they and we are reminded again that Jesus has been sent by God, that Jesus is the Word become flesh, and that everything Jesus does flows from his relationship with God.

Now that’s maybe more narrative analysis of the Gospel than you bargained for on a Sunday morning. So shift gears with me, and let’s meditate a little on that image of the door. “I am the door for the sheep,” Jesus tells us. Doors are an interesting image, aren’t they? You can imagine this gate or door at the entrance to a pen, either a pen attached to a house or barn, as they were in ancient times, or a pen that’s free-standing. Gates or doors swing in both directions, don’t they? They let animals and people in to a place where they can find safety and security. They also let animals and people out to wider pastures where they can find plenty of good food and the freedom to roam.

Does that spark any associations? As I look around this place, I see a door – a red door – that also swings both ways. Is this place anything like that sheepfold? We come in through the red door perhaps seeking safety and security, at the very least reassurance that God loves us. Once here, we are gifted with Jesus himself, present to us in Word and Sacrament. Restored, healed, and nourished, we are sent back out through the red door, out into the life of the world. In and out, in and out, we go, just like those sheep in Jesus’ image. Actually, our life of discipleship is one of a series of alternations, of cycling in and out. We come and go in our weekly cycle of worship in this place, followed by work for God’s kingdom in the world. We also come and go in a yearly, seasonal cycle. Our church year begins with the solemn watching and waiting of Advent, moves to the joyous celebration of Christmas and Epiphany, plunges us into the austerity of Lent, then gives of fifty days of Easter joy, and finally allows us to grow and flourish through the season of Pentecost until we reach Advent again. In our personal lives, we cycle between work and home, between work and leisure. In our spiritual lives, we may cycle between periods of boredom and excitement or of certainty and doubt. We cycle between contemplation and action, letting our resting in Jesus empower us for going out into the world in his name, and returning to him in prayer before going out again. Ultimately, it is our connection with Jesus that gives all our cycles meaning and life. Our incorporation into the Body of Christ through baptism is what enables us to lead a holy life. “I am the door,” Jesus assures us. All of our spiritual practices, our devotion, our worship, our good works, are helpful in drawing us closer to Jesus, but it is our relationship with him that enables us to participate in the abundant life that he has promised us. No matter our understanding of theology, our preference for certain liturgies, our insistence on certain moral stances, or our devotion to certain religious practices, we have Jesus’ promise: when we come and go through him, we will have life abundantly.

Now notice one more thing about this Jesus-door. It is wide enough and it stays open long enough that an entire flock goes through it. The Gospel reminds us yet again that Christian life is a corporate experience. We are not in this as atoms. We go in and out as part of a flock. Now you might not like being compared to sheep. Sheep have a reputation for being stupid and blindly following one another. However, sheep are highly social animals, which is why they flock tightly together. But that’s the point of the sheep image: we too are highly social animals who flock together. The Christian life is a corporate life: we live and grow in it together, through our worship, our study, and our service in mission. We understand ourselves to be inter-connected, to be part of a group in which all members are beloved. And no surprise that John’s Gospel gives us here the image of a flock for a Christian community. The importance of community is a continuing motif in this Gospel, and here and elsewhere we are reminded that together we are bonded to Jesus in an indissoluble bond.

We are now at a time in the life of St. Peter’s when we have to think hard about community, about whether this parish will survive as a Christian community, and how it can become a stronger community. St. Peter’s has been invited to apply to be one of six parishes participating in the Common Ministry formation program of our diocese. The program will help us to explore our gifts, assets, and community needs so as to better discern the ministry or ministries to which God is calling us. It will strengthen us for engaging in those ministries. It will also help us to develop clearer goals as a congregation. It will enable us to see better where we fit in the diocesan mission. What is most important, the training offered by the Common Ministry program will help us identify lay leaders, form ministry teams, and develop clear expectations for them. Karl Ruttan, our canon for life formation, will be meeting with the Vestry this Tuesday evening to tell us more about the Common Ministry program. About a dozen or so parishes have been invited to apply, so there is no guarantee that we will be accepted for the program. However, if we do participate, we will have to make several commitments. We will have to commit ourselves to the survival and strengthening of St. Peter’s. We will have to put aside our factions, conflicts, pet peeves, and preferences, and put the good of the whole parish first. We will be asked to take our membership in the flock seriously and intentionally, and do everything that we can do, with our resources of money, time, and talents, to work for the well-being of St. Peter’s. Most important, we will be asked to commit ourselves more deeply to strengthening our relationship with Jesus, to going in and out with him, through worship, prayer, study, and mission.

I pray that this flock will continue to survive and grow in this place. I pray that the Holy Spirit will give us all that we need to come and go in Jesus. Most especially, I pray that we will always remain bonded with Jesus, as we come in to be nourished by him at the altar, and as we go out to partner with him in the bringing in of his gracious reign.