One of the most familiar images for God used in the Bible is that of a shepherd. Psalm 23, King David says, the Lord is my shepherd I shall not want, and then David goes on to talk about all the ways God as a shepherd leads and guides his people. Here Jesus builds on that idea and talks about himself being the shepherd who not only guides God’s people but who at times acts as a gate or a door for the sheep.
In Jesus day, there were two places that shepherds could take their sheep for the night. If they were near a town they would take the sheep to a common pen in the village that all shepherds would use and the sheep would be all mixed together for the night.
A watchman would stand guard at the gate to make sure no one entered to steal the sheep while the shepherds slept and then in the morning, each shepherd would come to the gatekeeper who would let them in. Once inside the pen, the shepherd would call out to their sheep and the sheep would recognize that voice and follow their shepherd out of the pen. Through this process, all the sheep would be separated into their own flocks and the shepherd would lead them out to find food and water.
Now if a shepherd was not close to a town and so had to keep the sheep out in the fields through the night they would find one of many small stoned pens that dotted the countryside where they could keep their sheep safe for the night.
As you can see , the problem with these pens was that there was no gate, so the shepherd would literally become the gate, or door, by lying down across the entrance to the pen. The presence of the shepherd would keep the sheep inside the pen through the night by becoming a physical barrier that would keep them from just wandering off. The shepherd’s presence also helped keep the wild animals away. So the shepherd literally become a door that closed off the dangers of the night and then in the morning when the shepherd got up the door would be open for the sheep to go out and find food and water for the day. As a good shepherd, Jesus is the door who shuts out the dangers of the past and open up to us the potential of the future and it is this opening and closing that refines God’s vision for our lives.As we think about Jesus being this door in our lives, let’s start with how Jesus is the door who shuts out the dangers of the past. None of us has to look too far into our past to find some problem that can keep us from moving forward in life or in faith. For Thomas it was his struggle to believe that Jesus had risen from the dead. For Peter it was wondering if Jesus could ever forgive him for denying that he was one of his followers. For the apostle Paul it was the pain of a life spent persecuting the followers of Jesus and seeking to put an end to both their ministry and their lives. For us it might be a failed relationship that keeps us from being able to trust or love anyone – including God. It might be the guilt of having been the one who failed in the relationship and broken vows made in marriage. It might be the pain of losing a loved one, or the pain of losing a job, or a house or our savings. The problems of our past might just be the reality of our own sin because every day we are reminded how we fall short of God’s glory.
Our lives, all of our lives, are filled with sin and failure, brokenness and pain, shame and guilt and if we can’t shut the door to these problems we will never be able to move forward. If we spend all our time looking behind us reliving the past, we can never really move ahead in life. Have you ever noticed in a car how small the rearview mirror is compared to the windshield? There’s a lesson for us in that – we need to spend more time looking forward than we do looking back and the only way we can really do this is to ask Jesus to be the door that shuts out the problems of our past pain and problems and sin.
But asking Jesus to be the closed door to our past doesn’t mean we just ignore our problems or pretend like they aren’t real. That’s called denial and usually those problems come back to disrupt our lives. Asking Jesus to be the closed door means asking Jesus to bring real forgiveness, healing, hope or understanding which brings closure and freedom so we can move forward. If what we need is Jesus to be the closed door to the reality of our sin than we need to understand the reality of God’s forgiveness which does close the door to the guilt and shame that comes with sin. Jesus is always willing and wanting to do just that, to be the door which removes our sin from us.
When a woman was caught in the very act of adultery, the very act of her sin, Jesus didn’t ignore her problem or pretend like she never sinned – he forgave her and in that forgiveness closed the door to her past. Jesus said to the woman, neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more. Jesus forgave her and his forgiveness shut the door to her past so that she was free to live a new life, to really be able to go and sin no more. If what we struggle with is closing the door to our past sin, then we need to come to terms with the reality of God’s forgiveness. In Psalm 103:12 it says, as far as the east is from the west, so far has God removed our sin from us. God’s forgiveness is not God looking the other way, it is God wiping the slate clean, and it is God wiping our hearts clean. In this forgiveness, Jesus becomes the closed door to our sin and all the guilt and shame that comes with it, which allows us to experience the freedom of new life.
If what we need is for Jesus to be the closed door to our past pain and loss, then what we need from Jesus is healing and hope which is exactly what Jesus offered people during his lifetime. To those who only knew the reality of disease and the loss that comes with it (like the lepers, blind and lame) – Jesus brought healing. To those who felt shunned by society and unworthy of love and acceptance (like the sinners and outcast), Jesus brought a sense of self worth and dignity that filled them with hope which gave them life. Again, Jesus didn’t pretend like their problems weren’t real – he faced them head on and brought about real changes in people’s lives. In the midst of our own pain and loss – God still is able to bring healing and hope. God affirms us when we need it, he offers encouragement and direction and love when we need it - which all becomes the closed door to our past pain and loss.
So Jesus is the door who helps us shut out the problems of our past but there is another purpose of a door and that is to open up for us new opportunities so we can move forward. Sheep couldn’t be kept in a pen forever because they would run out of grass to eat, and there was no water for them, so the door had to be opened if they were going to experience the fullness of life and the same is true us. We need Jesus to be the open door for us to grow in faith and experience abundant life, and that is exactly what Jesus does.
When Jesus called people to follow him, the reason they did was because they saw in and through Jesus new possibilities for their lives. When Jesus looked at Peter, Andrew, James and John he didn’t see fishermen – he saw skilled, hard working, organized leaders who had passion and faith and who in time could teach, preach and love others enough to change the world. Jesus saw this and in time these fisherman came to see the same thing. Jesus was the door to a new life for them. What I love about Jesus is that he never sees us for who we are in this moment – he sees the new creation we can become when we are willing to trust in Him to be that open door.
In 2 Corinthians 5:12 Paul writes, if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation; everything old has passed away; see everything has become new? And all of this is from God. In other words, Jesus is the closed door to the past and the open door to new life so when we are in Jesus, we are trusting in Jesus, we can step out and experience the abundant life Jesus offers.
But here is the most important thing to remember about a door, it is only good if we use it. A door is only good if we use it, and the way we use this door is simple, we trust in Jesus. If Jesus is the door then to find freedom from our past and hope for our future, we need to learn how to trust Him. We need to learn how to trust the forgiveness God offers us through Christ. We need to trust Jesus to truly take away our sin, to remove it completely from us. To trust Jesus as the door means trusting Him to heal our pain and fill up the areas of loss in our lives that we sometimes we don’t want to let go of. Trusting Jesus to be the closed door in our lives means trusting Jesus to forgive us and heal us and love us.
Trusting Jesus to be the open door in our lives means trusting Him to love us enough to provide new opportunities for us that might stretch us but will not break us. Sometimes trusting Jesus to walk in new ways is hard because change is hard and trying new things is hard and taking a risk a hard – but if we trust God to love us – then walking with Jesus into new opportunities won’t be a terror but an adventure.
The process of Jesus being closed doors to our past and open doors to our future is part of how God refines and clarifies His vision in our lives because every closed door brings an end to one direction and every open door brings a new direction and as we walk with Jesus, God guides us and leads us to where he wants us to be. Sometimes this process is long and slow and painful – sometimes it is quick and simple and full of joy but the end result is always the same – we end up where God wants us and doing what it is God wants us to do. We also end up with a clearer Vision of what God wants for our lives.
Jesus is the door in your life today. He is the door who brings closure to the pain of yesterday and he is the door to the exciting potential and purpose of tomorrow. So today, let us trust Jesus to be the door who through his closing and opening brings abundant life.
Next Steps
Jesus is the door.
What door does Jesus want to close in your life?
The door to past sin? Guilt? Shame? Pain? Loss? Failure?
• Identify past problems and ask God to bring the healing, hope and forgiveness you need to close that door.
• Use Psalm 103:8-14 and 2 Corinthians 5:16-20 as tools to bring about needed closure.
What door does Jesus want to open in your life?
The door to new opportunities? Relationships? Faith? Power?
• Name one door God has opened for you in the past that you walked through with success. Celebrate that victory.
• Name one door you sense God has open before you today.
• What will it take for you to walk through that door? Who can help you take the necessary step?
Opening and closing doors is a way God refines VISION.
Make a list of doors God has closed and opened in our life in the past few years and begin to look for God’s vision through these doors.
Opened:
Closed:
God’s vision:
