4th Sunday of Easter
(Confirmation Sunday) May
15, 2011
John 10:1-10 There's the Door!
Dear fellow redeemed,
"There's the Door!" Have you ever had to say that to somebody?
* You're a bouncer at a local bar restaurant.
Someone's been drinking too much and is trying
to start of fight.
* You're an employer
of a new company. A young man you've recently hired would rather
do his own thing than follow your
instructions.
* Your grownup son's
overstayed his welcome in your house. He's not paying rent.
He's eating all your food, and leaving the place
a terrible mess.
* At first, you're
concerned about overreacting.
In time, it
becomes very clear what you have to tell this person who's crossed the line.
"There's the Door my friend!"
"Right there is where you make your exit!"
To tell you the truth, our Lord says something very similar in
today's gospel.
* Jesus happens to be talking not only to his disciples. He's talking to the formerly blind
beggar, the Pharisees, and other Jews. In the same few verses he's not only issuing
a
stern warning to those who would climb into the sheepfold
refusing to use the door,
he's also comforting those who desire to enter the sheepfold by the
door.
* In either case
they should know "There's the Door!"
It happens to be Jesus who stands before
them.
* "I am the door" he
declares. "If anyone enters by me, he will be saved.
Yes. I - Christ is the door. He's the door into God's Kingdom
inasmuch as he paved
the way with his holy precious blood.
* "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree . . . By his
wounds you have been healed"
(1 Peter
2:24).
* "There's the
Door!" (Point to cross.) If
you're an unrepentant hypocrite, you may make
your exit there. If you're seeking forgiveness, you may find
in Jesus Christ the entryway
to everlasting life.
Let's talk for a few minutes about those seeking forgiveness and
salvation.
If Jesus is the door, that means he's the door for those teaching
in his behalf.
II - Jesus is the door for today's
shepherds.
"He who enters by
the door is the shepherd of the sheep" Jesus
says.
* It stands to reason.
Today's shepherds will follow the Good Shepherd's lead.
The pastor will preach "Jesus Christ and him crucified" (1
Corinthians 2:2).
The Gospel of Christ will predominate in the
pastor's sermon.
This is the message you must hear me preach.
* Unfortunately, not
every pastor is faithful. The one who
climbs in by some other way is a
thief and a
robber who seeks to rob us of our faith and
Christ's salvation.
* He achieves this
by preaching works instead of grace, presenting the people with a
picture of what they can
accomplish in life instead of a picture of their Savior who died
for them.
These robbers may be spotted in congregations of most communities
of our day.
* It's one reason
I've made it a tradition to visit with you confirmands
before Confirmation
Sunday. I want to talk about your future in the
church.
* And perhaps my most important question for you is the one
that goes something like this:
"If you should move someday to a new community
and have to look for a new church to
join, how will you decide what congregation to join?"
* I'm happy to say
that all of you offered me the same basic answer this year.
You told me you
would join that church where you hear the Gospel preached.
* In other words, if
you visit a congregation and the preacher fails to preach about Christ
who took our sins to the cross,
you won't return a second time.
* Such a preacher is
a thief and a robber. He is not God's
servant.
He's Satan's servant. He comes only to steal and kill and destroy,
to steal away Christ's
forgiveness and kill and destroy your faith.
* Yes. A real pastor preaches Christ as the door to heaven. He
preaches faith into your
heart showing you your Savior who redeemed the entire world with his
blood.
* And if your pastor
ever preaches anyone or anything but Christ, you have the obligation
to tell him There's the
Door! (Point
to exit.) Or if you think he may listen to you, you
may tell him "There's the
Door!" (Point to cross.)
Christ is the door not only for me but also for you.
III - He's the door for the sheep. "Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep."
* This is extremely comforting, because it teaches us, as
individual believers, that we can be
sure about the right door into God's Kingdom.
There's no guesswork involved, as when we're
playing "Let's Make a Deal."
* You remember Monty
Hall. There's Door # 1, Door # 2, and
Door # 3.
The question is whether the contestant will make his own
choice, or listen to the voice of
the audience. Often he or she listens to the crowd.
* That's
easier. Then you don't have to think
about it. But be careful!
Instead of getting the much coveted Porch
convertible, you might just get that rusty heap
of who-know's-what, which belongs in the
nearest junkyard.
* So you have a
decision to make. You can listen or can make your best guess.
Well, when it comes to obtaining God's greatest prize, it's never
by blind chance.
* On the one hand
the shepherd "calls his own sheep by
name." (He knows us.)
On the other hand, "the sheep follow him, for they know his voice." (We know him.)
* On the one hand,
Jesus knows us personally, that we'll benefit from his message.
"You don't have to torture yourself about that
regrettable incident last month" he tells us.
"As your Savior, I've covered up that one too!"
* On the other hand, we know him. We know his message from Sunday School,
Confirmation class, and
the weekly sermon on Sunday.
* Therefore I don't
need someone to explain it to me every time.
I can see the door to forgiveness, to
everlasting life.
It isn't back there somewhere. It's right in front of me, where I see my
Savior.
Or maybe that isn't true in every instance.
* If we know
Christ's voice so well, that would suggest that we will flee when we hear the
voice of a stranger. We're not
ashamed to run away from the one who tries to sell a
different message than the one
we've learned and confess.
* But often times we
are ashamed. Instead of avoiding
the stranger with his contrary
message, we listen to him. We listen to the one who complains that the
Gospel doesn't
give us everything we need.
* It doesn't take
away my mounting and overwhelming pressures.
It doesn't pay my mortgage or relieve my
arthritis. It doesn't convince this person
to treat me with greater love and respect. And it certainly doesn't
answer why those
of this different faith seem to be fairing a lot better than I am
right now.
* Okay. So, has this other faith given you all the
answers you're looking for?
It sounds like they're not even interested in
the right door into the next life.
They're just looking for an escape from this
life. And how are they doing?
* Do they resolve
the problem of sin and evil in this world?
Do they explain how God
"works in all things for the good
of those who love him" (Romans 8:28)?
* Don't be afraid to
flee from the one spewing false doctrine.
Remember that in the movies
even the hero will run away from
the villain or beast who's four times his size.
* Then remember that really knowing the voice of the shepherd,
is more than simply
recognizing it.
("This is what true Christians believe about Jesus Christ.")
To know his voice is to know how it's different
and superior to any other voice out there.
* And you get to know the shepherd's voice this well not by
graduating from Christian education.
It comes from years of listening to the Gospel
and being convinced this message is the real thing.
* In time, your
hearing as one of the sheep becomes so keen, that you can distinguish at
once between the voice of the
Shepherd and the voice of the stranger, between true
doctrine and false doctrine.
There is no greater gift than developing this ability: knowing the
voice of the Shepherd, being
able with absolute
confidence to point and confess: "There's the Door!"
* There's no greater
gift, because: IV - He's the only
door.
* "I am the door. If anyone
enters by ME, he will saved."
Also in John
fourteen: "I am the way, and the truth,
and the life. No one comes to the
Father except through me" (John 14:6).
* It's very simple.
Only Christ is the Son of God. Only Christ is true God and true man.
And therefore only Christ can both take our
place on the cross as our substitute, and offer
a sufficient payment for the sins of the world.
* Keep in mind that there are always two responses to God's
truth that he would provide
only one way to heaven, through his Son Jesus.
* Either you
conclude that the God of the Bible is so restrictive and unfair, that he tells
us
that we have to believe a certain
way, and if we don't we're lost and condemned, or you
conclude that he is so gracious,
that his desire is to reveal his saving Gospel to every
sinner on earth.
There is Christ! There
is the Door! Through him alone
are you saved.
* Such a message is
not only extremely politically incorrect.
It runs contrary to human
reason and the mind set of our
modern culture. Let me illustrate.
* Did you know the
bridge on Highway 81 between Bass Lake Road and Highway 100 is
out? It's under construction. In my case, this means it will take an extra
five minutes or
more to get home after visiting
someone in the hospital.
* But that's no
problem, for there's always another way, isn't there?
That's right.
I recently discovered another route back to Maple Grove.
And it's just as fast as if that bridge were not
under construction.
* From the hospital,
after heading north, you take 42nd all the way to Highway 169 and
then
head north until 694.
* Then again, sometimes
there's not a second way that's just as good. What then?
Should I suggest that that sign
"Road Construction Ahead" is politically incorrect?
How about the signs: "Dead End", "Danger, Stay
Out", or "One Way"?
* You get my
point. There's only one way home from
this world of sin to the Kingdom of
God. You don't get there through your good
works. You don't get there by
demonstrating how sincere you are
in your commitment to Christ.
* And you certainly do not get there by convincing the Lord
your sin is not a serious as
once imagined. "Therefore I
don't need a Savior to take all my sins away.
I can try another route."
* No. There isn't a door # 2 or a door # 3. There's only door # 1.
And his name is Jesus Christ.
And to be perfectly honest, it's a great relief knowing there is
only one door.
V - For Jesus is the only door we'll ever need.
* After all, no
matter when you need your Lord's help, you can be confident you will
receive it. "I am the
door" he declares, "if anyone enters by me, he will . . . go
in and out
and find pasture."
* If it seems
today's pressures and pains and people problems are shoving you in a
direction from which you'll never
return, just remember that Christ meanwhile is feeding
you and preserving you through
his Gospel.
* Not only has
Christ come to this earth to rescue every sinner from eternal death.
He comes to you this very day through his Word
and tells you: "I came that (you) may
have life and have it abundantly."
* So stop looking
for life's exit and where to escape.
Jesus has provided the way into the most blessed
life possible.
(Point to Baptism font.) There is the Door!
(Point to Lord's Supper on
altar.) There is the Door!
* (Lift
Bible and place down on corner of pulpit.) There is the Door!
So. Four of you are getting confirmed this
morning. Some others of you are in the
process of
joining our
congregation through a transfer or reaffirmation of faith or an adult
information class.
* Someone might
compare this day for you to the day you get married.
In both cases, you make a vow to remain faithful
to God. For the rest of your life you
are
committed to that certain relationship, that certain faith.
* And you're
convinced it's the one for you and the one through which God will bless you.
* But some in your situation are not so convinced.
There are those questions that crop up.
How do I know I'm right for this other person?
How do I know he or she is right for me?
* How do I know this
congregation is right for me, and that I am right for them?
How do I know our faith is right? How do I know?
* Well, to tell you
the truth, your answer depends on whether you can answer another
question which is very
simple. Can you see, point and exclaim
out loud, "There is the
Door!"?
(Point to cross.) "There is where my sins have received their
full payment.
There I will receive help in every distress and
trial?
There is where I can place my trust for
deliverance from sin, death and the devil."
* Yes you can
declare this truth? Well, let's enter
the door together and enjoy life
abundantly! Amen.
May the
peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in
Christ Jesus.
Amen.
There's the Door!
I - Christ is the door.
II - He is the door for the shepherds.
III - He is the door for
the sheep.
IV - He's the only door.
V - He's the only door we'll ever need.