Central Lutheran Church - Elk River
Central Lutheran Church - Elk River
I Am the Gate with Pastor Ryan Braley
What happens when religious gatekeeping collides with divine compassion? Jesus' declaration "I am the gate for the sheep" emerges from a powerful confrontation over a man born blind—healed but subsequently expelled from the synagogue by religious leaders more concerned with rule-keeping than rejoicing in restoration.
This declaration arrives during Hanukkah, the Festival of Dedication, when Jews celebrated the rededication of the temple—the gateway to God's presence—after it had been desecrated. The timing is no coincidence. While religious leaders were celebrating a historical gateway, they were simultaneously blocking access to those deemed unworthy. Into this context, Jesus boldly positions himself as the true access point to God and abundant life.
The metaphor of the gate speaks profoundly to questions of belonging and exclusion. In ancient sheepfolds, the gate served multiple functions—protecting sheep from predators while allowing them to come and go for nourishment. Jesus contrasts his approach with that of the Pharisees, who he strikingly labels "thieves and robbers" for how they've harmed rather than helped the vulnerable. Where they created barriers, Jesus offers genuine access.
This teaching challenges us to examine our own tendencies toward gatekeeping. Where do we, like the Pharisees, miss miracles because we're enforcing our own rules? How might we become more like Jesus, who left the safety of religious institutions to find those pushed to the margins? As one pastor reflects, "Our primary responsibility as a church is not to explain the world, but to change it." The question isn't who deserves entry—it's whether we'll join the Shepherd in seeking those who have been excluded.
Ready to explore how Jesus continues to challenge our gates of exclusion? Join us as we discover what it means that Jesus is not just a gatekeeper, but the gate itself—offering genuine protection, freedom, and abundant life for all who enter.
Join us! Facebook | Instagram | www.clcelkriver.org
God, we give you thanks for your presence here this morning and we do ask, god, that you would come and bless us as we explore this story even further. And, jesus, would you show us how we're to be in the world as the church, as individuals. May we be a blessing to all whom we encounter, may we be inviters and welcomers and may we be, yeah, physical embodiments of the kingdom of God, of the abundant life. And, god, I pray that all the ways in which our lives are lacking, that would you come and give us life and, as always, god, would you resurrect the parts of us that need it so badly. Would you bless us this morning in Jesus' name? Amen, I mean you can be seated. Good morning everyone. Good morning, I think I said it. But my name, amen, I mean you can be seated. Good morning everyone. Good morning, I think I said it. But my name is Ryan. I'm the pastor here at Central. Great to have you guys with us.
Speaker 1:And, yeah, we are in week two of our Lenten series and we're going out of order a bit. But in John's gospel, seven times Jesus says the phrase I am and follows it up with like several different things. So last week we talked about I am the bread of life this week. It's I am the gate for the sheep, the slides we're doing. Oh, there we go, I am the gate. Or maybe in your text it says I am the door. By the way, open up your Bibles to John 10. There's Bibles in the pew back in front of you. Open to John 10. We're going to walk through it together. So it's on page 872. If you want to open that up and hold it open, we'll go there in just a minute. But Jesus says I am the gate or the door. I'm the door for the sheep. And now, by the way, he's referring back.
Speaker 1:Most definitely we talked about it last week, but when Moses, so many, many, many, many years earlier, moses is wandering around in the desert and he sees a bush on fire and he goes over and, like you do, he starts talking to this burning bush and the bush is hey, it's God. And God says I want to rescue my people from slavery in Egypt. And Moses is like, sure, I'll do that, no problem. But who should, I say, sent me? And the bush says I am, sent you, the I am that I am. I will be what I will be. In the Greek, it's like I am being itself, I am existence itself. I am so no doubt when John and when Jesus, when Jesus says these things and when John frames his whole gospel with seven of these, he's referring back to God, speaking to Moses as a deliverer, as the I am. And Jesus brazenly says seven times I am, I am the gate for the sheep. Or it could be in your text I am the door.
Speaker 1:Now, I don't know if you know this or not, but doors are access points. I'm going to try to drag this. Actually, on second thought, that is right where I want it to be. Let's just leave that right there. That's perfect. That's just yeah, right, perfect, yeah, okay. Of that right there. That's perfect. That's just yeah, perfect, yeah, okay.
Speaker 1:Doors are access points. Doors are what allow you to go in. The illusion is ruined for the folks on the side who can still see me. Doors also allow you to come out. This is why I spent years in seminary to understand doors. Doors also keep things in and keep things from leaving. Doors can also, in the same way, keep things out and keep things from entering. Maybe you know this about doors. Jesus says I am the door for the sheep, I'm the gate for the sheep. So all the images that come up to mind when you think about a door or a gate. Jesus is pointing to all of those saying I am those.
Speaker 1:Now chat. Gpt says this about doors. Any chat GPT fans in the house? All right, yeah, not so much at the earlier gathering, but you know how that goes sometimes. All right, yeah, not so much at the earlier gathering, but you know how that goes. Sometimes it was crickets man. They were like what Chat GPT? The infinite wise one, says a door opens and closes. Sometimes it creaks dramatically when you're sneaking into the kitchen for a midnight snack. That ever happen to you. Yeah, yeah, yeah, be careful of the door.
Speaker 1:It creates boundaries, offers passage, grants security and occasionally serves as a hiding place when you don't want to answer the doorbell. Who still uses doorbells, though? Now it says this if you want to get deep chat, gpt says, uh, doors, and we do want to get deep chat. Thank you for asking Uh. Doors symbolize transitions, choices, opportunities. They can certainly separate us or they can connect us. They can invite you in or they can shut you out. It depends on how or if you use them.
Speaker 1:Jesus says I am the door, I'm the gate for the sheep. Now, to understand this very simple little passage, we have to rewind and unpack the context and then some things that came before. Is that all right? Okay, so he's talking about sheep. So in the ancient world, when they had sheep and like flocks of sheep, they would have them in a pen like this, so a wall made of stones you know about this high. Oftentimes, on top of the wall they would put like brush or thorns, like the ancient world version of broken bottles on top of the wall. Okay, some of you who've traveled know what I'm talking about, and it was a way to keep the sheep protected. There were all kinds of dangers for sheep in the ancient world Lots of predators, thieves and robbers, and so these sheep will be protected by these thorns across the top and, of course, this gate or this doorway, and the shepherd would lead them into this place and keep them safe from any of the threats. There were lots of threats because sheep, by the way, oh yeah, so here's another example of a door, and that door or gate would be what lead the sheep in or out.
Speaker 1:I think my slides are out of order for this sermon perhaps. Yeah, okay, we'll fix it later. So the slides are a bit out of order because we didn't Okay, here we go, so just bear with me. We made some changes and then copied over. That's okay. It happens sometimes.
Speaker 1:Sheep need to be protected because sheep are helpless, they're weak and they aren't the smartest animal in the animal kingdom. I mean, have you ever met a wild sheep? They don't really have wild sheep. A wild sheep is a dead sheep and sheep aren't the smartest. By the way, jesus calls us sheep. So, parents, when your kids are acting a fool and they're belligerent and they're knuckleheads, just remind yourself. They're sheep, they're sheep. By the way, young people, if you're in the room when your parents are acting a fool and belligerent and knuckleheads, remember they're also sheep. Okay, all right, don't look at them right now, but sheep need protecting.
Speaker 1:And so Jesus says I am the gate for the sheep. So here's a picture of the gates. Again, we might jump around. This will be a fun morning this morning. Here we go, here's the gate, and oftentimes what they would do is they would put a shepherd, would put some brush in front of the gate to keep anyone else from entering into the gate or through the door. Sometimes the shepherd would himself or herself lay down across the opening to block any predators from coming in. I mean, you could say that the shepherd puts his or her own life on the line, laying down in front of the gate, in front of the opening, to keep thieves and robbers and predators out from threatening the sheep, because sheep, after all, need it. They need protection. They're not the smartest, they're not wild, they're actually. They can't see very well, they're not good with direction, they don't really know how to find their own food. Sheep are mostly helpless. And so Jesus says I'll be the gate and I might lay down Now, open your Bibles to John 10.
Speaker 1:So we heard prior read just one short passage. I'm going to read the entirety of that first half of John 10. We'll go quickly, but you have to understand the context around him, saying I'm the gate and there's going to be a few things we need to notice. So, as I'm reading, notice these things. I got them on a screen just to help us out here. So we'll read it together and I'll point them out. So, number one well, he's talking to not a random crowd, not a bunch of Gentiles, he's talking to Pharisees, and I'll explain what those are in just a minute. But he's talking to these Pharisees. Here's what he says Truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold or the pen by the gate but climbs in another way is a thief and a bandit.
Speaker 1:So anybody who doesn't use the door or the gate, anybody who goes around it or over the top, they're not the shepherd, they're not safe, they're thieves and brigands and bandits. The one who enters by the gate or by, they're not the shepherd, they're not safe, they're thieves and brigands and bandits. The one who enters by the gate or by the door is the shepherd. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him because we know he's safe, and lets him go on in and he calls his sheep. Oh, the sheep hear his voice. He calls his sheep, he calls them by name and he leads them out. So there's a sheep, there's a shepherd, there's a pen, there's a gate. He goes ahead of the sheep.
Speaker 1:In some parts of the world, when you lead sheep or you're a shepherd, you drive them from the back with like a stick perhaps, or you yell at them, you scare them. That isn't how this shepherd leads. This shepherd leads from the front and calls them by name and leads them gently. So there you go. He goes from the front. Now there's a stranger involved. When he's brought out, okay, he goes ahead of them and they follow him because they know his voice. They won't follow a stranger. There are strangers involved, but they will run from the stranger because they don't know the voice of the strangers. This is true about sheep, so in two weeks I'm going to talk about the good shepherd, but sheep know the voice of the shepherd and they won't follow a different shepherd or a fake shepherd and there were lots of fake shepherds in the ancient world. They won't follow one, though, because they don't know his voice.
Speaker 1:Jesus used this as a figure of speech with the Pharisees, but they didn't understand what he was saying to them. They don't get it. The Pharisees don't understand. Okay, fine, Fine. Then he, the Pharisees don't understand. Okay, fine, fine. Then he says very truly then I'll tell you I'm the gate for the sheep, and he had a door there with them and, just kidding, he didn't really do it. I'm the gate for the sheep.
Speaker 1:Jesus says All who come before me are thieves and bandits and robbers, but the sheep don't listen to them. There are other people trying to get in by nefarious means. I'm the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved or kept safe, because outside is not safe at night. There are predators. But whoever comes in through the gate, jesus calls himself the door, the gate. Whoever comes in this way will be safe. They will find salvation because they'll be kept safe from all the predators and all the wild animals and the thieves, and they'll come and go and they'll find pasture.
Speaker 1:The thief comes to steal and to kill and destroy, but I've come to give you life, and life abundantly. By the way, I always thought, oh, the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy, like the devil, the evil one. No, he's talking to the Pharisees. He's calling the Pharisees thieves and robbers, people who come to steal and kill and destroy. These are Pharisees, jewish religious leaders. He has these stinging words of accusation for these people, he says. But I, on the other hand, I've come to give you life, and life to the full. Now, why would Jesus give such a stinging indictment of the Pharisees? To understand this, you have to rewind just one chapter. You can if you want to, but I'll walk us through it, because what happens just prior to this is what really this is all about. By the way, you've got to know this too.
Speaker 1:We have in our modern Bibles verses and chapter breakdowns and numbers. That was not the case in the ancient world. They didn't have chapters and numbers. Sometimes those break apart stories right in the middle. It doesn't always help. This is the case with this story.
Speaker 1:John 9 and 10 go together and what happens in John 9 makes Jesus angry at the Pharisees, so angry. He calls them thieves and robbers and he says you guys have come to steal and to kill and destroy. You're like brigands who've jumped over the gate or over the walls, over the brush, over the thorns, and you're trying to come in and do damage to the sheep. Jesus was I've come to give life, life abundant. Well, pharisees were religious leaders. They were Jewish leaders. They were people who were leaders in the synagogue. They knew the law. They interpreted the law, the oral law, the written law, the Torah, the law of Moses. They knew it well and deeply. They were moral influencers. They were well-respected men in the society. They were to be good shepherds. And Jesus calls them thieves and robbers and brigands who are in danger of harming these sheep. Yeah, what happened in John 9? Why is he so mad?
Speaker 1:Let's look at it, but before you do, I have to tell you when this happens is also important. So what happens in John 9 happens at a certain time in Jewish history or in Jewish in the seasons, and it's super important. So this happens in Jewish history or in Jewish in the seasons, and it's super important. So this happens, we read, during a feast called the Festival of Dedication or the Feast of Dedication. You probably know it as Hanukkah. Ever heard of Hanukkah? So Jesus and his disciples are in Jerusalem in the temple area, celebrating Hanukkah. Did you know that Jesus celebrated Hanukkah? He did. So they're there celebrating Hanukkah and this is when he gives a stinging indictment of the Pharisees, who are not great shepherds but they're thieves and robbers. And when it happens it's super important. It helps frame the whole story. So like, hey, this is happening during the Feast of Dedication. Now here's what the Feast of Dedication was, in case you didn't know what Hanukkah is all about.
Speaker 1:Hanukkah celebrates this time when, 200 years before Jesus shows up, around 167 or so, the temple, the Jewish temple, was ransacked. These people called the Seleucids came in and they pillaged the temple. They defiled the temple and they rampage through it. They destroy a whole bunch of it. They desecrate the temple. It's horrible and the Jewish people are deeply grieved and saddened. Well, a guy called Judas Maccabeus here's your free history lesson for the day. Judas shows up and him and his friends, they stage this rebellion, they push out the Seleucids and they recapture the temple and they cleanse it and they rededicate it to the Lord.
Speaker 1:So this whole festival is celebrating that a rededication of the temple. The temple, by the way, is known as the gateway. The temple is, or the door to God's presence. So you can go to the temple and you would somehow enter through the gateway into the door of God's presence. This is what the temple was. And they went back and they rededicated the temple, they cleansed it and they re-consecrated it to the Lord. And they also remembered, hey, these bad leaders. We gotta remember these corrupt leaders that led us astray Jewish and Gentile leaders. Remember them, don't be like them.
Speaker 1:So every year, the Jews would gather for this festival of dedication. They would celebrate the dedication of the temple. For this festival of dedication, they would celebrate the dedication of the temple, the cleansing of the temple, and also remember the bad leaders that Israel had, that the world has, that lead people astray Leaders. Oh, I just spit, I think. There you go, leaders and shepherds. Now, when they would gather, they would read this text from Ezekiel.
Speaker 1:Every year, they'd read this text from Ezekiel to celebrate the feast of dedication. And here's the text. Watch for all the connections. Are you ready? Okay, here's Ezekiel 34. There's the sheep. Again, there's the Feast of Dedication. Wonderful, here's the passage from Ezekiel. There we go.
Speaker 1:So the word of the Lord came to me, son of man. Prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. This is before this thing with Judas Maccabeus, but they would read it every year to celebrate that. This is what the Lord says. Woe to you, shepherds of Israel, who only take care of yourself. You can already hear the indictments of corrupt leaders. Should not the shepherds take care of the flock? You eat curds and clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter choice animals, but you don't take care of the flock, the sheep. You've not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or battled the injured. You've not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You've ruled them harshly or brutally.
Speaker 1:Ezekiel says now, this is pre dedication of the temple with judas macabeus, but they're reading this to celebrate that moment and remember the crop leaguers. It goes on to say, for this is what the Lord says. I myself, god says, will shepherd and search for my sheep and look after them. As a shepherd looks after his own scattered flock when he's with them, so will I look after my sheep. I'll rescue them from all the places where they're scattered. On the day of clouds and darkness, I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, and declares the Lord. I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I'll bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice. Can you hear this? So this was the festival that they're celebrating. Somebody probably just read this.
Speaker 1:Then Jesus shows up at the temple during this festival, which is a consecration of the temple, which is the gateway to God's presence. It's remembering the corrupt to not be corrupt like that, not to be bad shepherds. Jesus shows up and the Pharisees and a blind man show up in John 9. Here's a quick synopsis A blind guy shows up, jesus heals him, and then the Pharisees get mad because Jesus heals him on the Sabbath, which you shouldn't do. So they get mad and then Jesus starts to indict them in John 10.
Speaker 1:Now here's the story. It's a story about blindness. By the way, all the I am statements, I am the bread of life, I am the gate. They all come after a miracle or a sign, and Jesus healing the blind man is that miracle and that sign. So here's the question what do these miracles and signs point to? And then you're encouraged, as the reader don't miss it. Jesus will put on display something about God's kingdom. So signs, miracles, reveal, in this case, what the abundant life looks like. He says I came to give life, life abundant. Don't miss what I'm doing. So he heals the blind man and then puts something on display. It's a sign, it's a miracle, and you're to not miss it. And then he says I am the gate.
Speaker 1:So here's what happens they walk into the temple, there's a blind guy nearby and the disciples ask Jesus hey, who sinned this man or his parents that he was born blind? And why would they ask that? Well, in the ancient world, people thought that if you were born blind or with any kind of a physical disability, that it was a punishment from God, that if you were born blind or in any other way deformed or things weren't normal or typical, you were being punished by God because you were a sinner or your parents were sinners. Now, this was obviously an erroneous belief, but they all believed it. So this blind guy was probably generally considered a sinner, him or his parents, because he was born blind. And they asked Jesus Jesus who sinned him or his parents, that he's born blind? Now imagine this guy's been blind his entire life. His whole life.
Speaker 1:And to be blind in the ancient world is bad because you're blind. But also you're shunned from society almost in every single way. You're outcast from the temple. Blind people couldn't. Almost in every single way You're outcast from the temple. Blind people couldn't worship in the temple generally. You couldn't take part in these festivals. They couldn't go to the festival dedication. You couldn't take part in all the social activities, the gatherings. You were shunned and you were excommunicated almost in every way and kicked out, and you were generally kicked out by all the gatekeepers.
Speaker 1:This is one of my daughter's favorite words gatekeeping. You heard of this word. For us old people, here's what gatekeeping means A gatekeeper is someone who controls access to something, often in an unfair, exclusive or elitist way. Make sense, oh, sorry For those of you who are older than 20, here we go, you're welcome, you're welcome. Okay, for those of you who are older than 20, here we go, you're welcome, you're welcome, yeah, yeah. Okay, for those of you older than 40, anybody older than that, you're on your own. I don't know these gatekeepers. They kept people out, kept them out.
Speaker 1:The blind man was kept out in every way because he was blind and they assumed and they considered him generally to be a sinner, him or his parents, since they kept him out because he was blind. Yeah, now here's the question what is a kingdom of God response to a man like this? When the kingdom of God comes in fullness, what will happen to a man like this? What's the response? You could ask it this way too what would Central's response be to a person like this, person, born blind, outcast in every way, socially, communally, religiously, can't see? What's our response to it? See, this is a story about blindness. It's about blindness, but here's the thing the blind man's obviously blind, but he isn't the only one who's blind in this story. He's blind but he knows it.
Speaker 1:There are others, perhaps the Pharisees, who are blind, but they don't know it. Pharisees, more like pharaoh, don't sees, oh, and there's blind folks that know they're blind, and blind folks that don't know they're blind. They're all blind, which maybe means that the reader or us what ways are we blind and what ways do we know it and what ways don't we know it? I love AA. Aa is a bunch of folks who are tired of being blind and they're not tired, but, yeah, I'm tired and they just acknowledge that they're blind. They start out every meeting. Hey, my name is Ryan and I'm an alcoholic. They're blind and they know it. They're acknowledging it. I wish we could start church like this every Sunday. Hello, my name is Ryan and I'm a habitual sinner. Let me go around the room, thank you. There are folks who are blind and don't know it. Or there are folks that are blind, that know it and they try to cover it up, they mask it, they pretend, they put the makeup on the nice clothes on, all the while saying I can see just fine and they're blind. Yeah, this is a story about blindness.
Speaker 1:And the disciples ask who sinned? Who sinned? Why is he blind? In other words, here's that. Why question again. The why question is a tough one. Why? Why? We don't always know why. Why is a complex question. Whenever I ask it, I don't usually get answers, which makes me think that the church's main primary responsibility is not to explain the world, but to change the world. I'll say it again Our primary responsibility, I think, as a church, is not to explain the world, because what good would that do anyway? Our primary job is to change the world, because what good would that do anyway? Our primary job is to change the world. So this is what Jesus does. He's like it doesn't really matter, let's heal him anyway and let's glorify God. So Jesus, like he does, takes some dirt and he spits in it. And the disciples are like what is he doing? And he takes the spit dirt and the blind man can't see. So, whatever, he's chill, he's whatever. And they rub the mud into his eyes. It's now mud because he spits into it, yeah. And the blind guy's like he can feel, I'm sure. And he's like oh, what is that? And the disciples are like, uh, should we tell him? Yeah, tell him. Uh, that's mud. And the blind guy's like okay, but the ground is dry, it's dry here. And the blind guy's like, okay, but the ground is dry, it's dry in here. Where'd the water come from? Just awkward silence. Jesus is like trust the process, don't worry about it. And he heals him. And then Peter, of course, breaks out his phone.
Speaker 1:Welcome back to my YouTube channel. Here we are today. I'm going to talk about this 100% organic healing mud. It's incredible. Be sure to like and subscribe. Thank you, the earlier crowd didn't really get that joke. They did not. They were lost man.
Speaker 1:I mean, imagine being blind your whole life and the first thing you see is this rabbi rubbing mud in your eyes from his spit. He's like go down to the pool and wash in there. Of course you'd have him wash. It's cleansing, it's rebirth, it's regeneration, it's baptism. He washes his eyes, he comes out of the pool and he can see. He can see. It's incredible. It changes the guy's life in every single way and he can see. So to really make the text come alive, I'm going to volunteer from the audience. I'm going to spit. Just kidding.
Speaker 1:He's so different his friends don't recognize him. Like, who's that guy? Is that the blind guy? I swear it's him. It looks like him. I don't think it's him at all. You ever met somebody who's met Jesus and they're totally different. After they've met Jesus, you don't even recognize them. That's the same guy. It's a him, it's an I am. So he's asking what happened? How did this happen? How did you get healed? Blind guy, formerly blind guy and he says I think Jesus did it. He barely knows Jesus. The miracle happens first, then his faith comes after. By the way, sometimes we get that flipped around. We think of that faith and then the miracle. No, he has the miracle and then his faith, that sort of, comes out of it. Jesus did it.
Speaker 1:But remember, the gatekeepers are hanging around on the fringes, like they often do, and they're grumbling. And they show up and they start getting curious about what happened here and they're mad because it's Sabbath and the Sabbath. You shouldn't be healing people on the Sabbath. That's work. We're not going to do work on the Sabbath. We're Jews. Yeah, these guys are gatekeepers. No, you can't do that. You can't do that. So they go and they say how'd this happen? He put mud in my eyes and I washed and now I see, of course this is what happened. He just tells them what happened. They don't like that. They're like well, this guy surely can't be from God because he keeps, because he's doing this on the Sabbath. He's not keeping the Sabbath. So they start arguing and bickering over what happened here? These are religious leaders. This guy can't be from God. He's healing on the Sabbath. Well, how can a sinner, how can the devil heal? And they're going back and forth and back and forth. Meanwhile a blind guy can see my gosh, what are you doing? They're arguing in big like children about who's what I didn't do, who did it? Meanwhile the guy couldn't. His whole life he couldn't see, and now he can see. Who cares, man, we miss the point so often.
Speaker 1:I was a young boy, about 12 years old. I met him here a long time ago. He's no longer here, nor is anybody else in this story, and he would come every Wednesday to church. He didn't know all the rules, though. He didn't grow up in a church. He didn't know all the rules, and he's telling me one day. He's telling me about his home life. His mom was a drug addict. His dad left him when he was a kid. He was abandoned by his father. His mom, the drug addict, would watch adult movies in the room next door to his bedroom when he was a kid. So how do you know this? I heard him Heard her boyfriend in there, whatever you know. And he's here every Wednesday.
Speaker 1:One time somebody else comes in a longtime member here who's no longer here, not for this reason, but they're just no longer here and you know, sometimes we want to. And they came and they saw this young boy. He had his feet up on the couch and they got mad. What are we doing? Yeah, doors can invite people in. Doors can also keep people out. The Pharisees were mad because they're not playing by the rules. Meanwhile, a blind man can see A little boy whose parents are kind of crazy, is in church. We can buy a new couch.
Speaker 1:So the story keeps going on and they want to know how did you do this? So they get his parents like hey, parents, is this the right? Who healed him? They want to get to the bottom of this controversy. His parents are afraid, like well, I don't know. Ask him, he can speak for himself. They're afraid because they know that these Pharisees, these gatekeepers, are so powerful they can kick them out of the temple and they can't have that. They're afraid of religious leaders. Ask him, we're too afraid. So they get the man again. They drag the man back into the temple. By the way, this is probably the first time this guy's ever been in the temple with his eyes open.
Speaker 1:Imagine this huge, glamorous, monolithic temple. Imagine his like oh my gosh, he just got his eyesight back and they're like dude, who did this to you? We know you're a sinner. That's how they open. Oh, you know this. How do you know this? How do you know this? You know about it. You know his heart, his life. You know this. Just met the guy.
Speaker 1:No, because they refuse to see, they're blind, they don't care. No, to see, they're blind, they don't care. No, he's a sinner. And the blind man says I love it. He's like I don't know. All I know is that I was blind and now I can see. I don't know. Don't miss the point. I was blind and now I can see.
Speaker 1:While you guys were arguing, I was giving my eyes back and there's signs pointing to what the kingdom of God looks like. By the way, one of the signs that Messiah would come I mentioned it last week one of the signs they were waiting for Messiah, we'll know he comes when bread comes from heaven again, remember this when Jesus feeds 5,000 people with bread. Another sign of the age to come, or Messiah coming to be rescued, was that the rescuer would come and he'd give sight back to the blind, but the Pharisees are just so concerned about it. That's one of the signs. There's signs all over. Don't miss them. Blind will see, hungry will be fed, the thirsty can drink Living water, living bread. I'll forgive sins, restore hope. I'll bring life. In every single way, the weak will be safe. Let's eat everyone. Let's eat comma everyone. Make sure you hit the comma, comma. Save lives. Let's eat Whoever's hungry, whoever's thirsty. Come, let's do it. How did he do it? They want to know. He's like I told you. I told you how he did it. He rubbed mud in my eyes and then he says I love it.
Speaker 1:Maybe you want to be his disciples too? Yeah, that's a grade A burn. Maybe you want to join in? Why don't you quit being so crabby and just join in and play? Let's have some fun. It's all free, it's all great. Anyway, why don't you just settle down?
Speaker 1:You ever notice that people are really good about making fun of and criticizing others from afar? This is what cynicism is. That's so stupid. You guys are dumb. It's easy to do that, isn't it? And they just make fun of, they mock, they criticize, because deeply embedded in that, though, is they're afraid to join in, or they're too embarrassed, or they don't have the guts, or whatever the case might be. They're too holy, too righteous. They don't want to join in. Instead, what they ought to do is just join in. If you ever find yourself out here criticizing or mocking, it's probably an invitation to just try it. Whatever they're doing, whatever you're mad about, try it. It's probably your own psyche. I wish I could do that. I wish I could do it. I wish I could do it.
Speaker 1:He says maybe you guys want to be his disciples too.
Speaker 1:So good, I love that. Yeah Well, that ticks them off. Like that's it. You're out of here. You were steeped in sin at birth. How dare you lecture us? Do you know who we are?
Speaker 1:Blind man? Do you know who we are? You're a sinner. You're a blind guy. What do you know? We're Pharisees, and they throw them out. Man, don't miss the point. They throw them out. They throw out the blind guy who can now see. We have lost the plot. What are we doing? Jesus, though, shows us the better way.
Speaker 1:Jesus who, in two weeks, don't go ahead of me yet, but he's the good shepherd. He goes to find him. He leaves the temple, the place of worship, religious institution. He leaves the place of safety and security. He leaves it to go find the blind guy, because Jesus gets it, and of course he would. Jesus says elsewhere in the Gospels he sees the crowds and he says he has compassion on them because they're like sheep without a shepherd. That's Jesus calling right now. I better answer it. Yeah, they're like sheep without a shepherd. How do you see the crowds? How do you see them? Yeah, they're like sheep without a shepherd. He goes and finds him. He's a good shepherd and they have this conversation and the man comes to faith. His faith is like awakened, alive in every way, and the man is set free.
Speaker 1:Jesus goes back to the Pharisees Now you can see why he's so angry at them and he tells them he's like hey, dudes for judgment, I've come into the so that the blind will see and those who will see will become blind. By the way, a quick caveat Remember that judgment is not the final act of God. It's like the penultimate. It's the second to last thing. God wants to rip the things out of us that are blocking us from the kingdom. That's judgment. He has to burn that crap out of us in order to then enter in. So he's come to do that, to make the blind see, and those who see become blind. So the Pharisees are like whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. You talking about us? Are you saying we're blind too? You're calling us blind.
Speaker 1:I love this line. He says yeah, dude, if you were blind you wouldn't be guilty of sin. In other words, you know how when you're around people that don't know any better, there's like some more grace for them. They don't know any better, they're knuckleheads, whether it's kids or people that just don't know the truth. They're kind of culpable. They don't know. So if you're blind, you're not guilty, but if you know better and you claim you can see, your guilt remains. How dare you ostracize one of my own sheep, a blind man, a weak, lost, aimless sheep? You kept him out. How dare you For your own? What Fame, prestige, position of power. How dare you do that? Your guilt remains mains. He saves the man, he saves him.
Speaker 1:And then Jesus says in John 10, I'm the gate, I'm the gate. I'm not going to read it all. I'm the gate because you suck at it, which means the Pharisees are not the gate. Stop, stop. You guys were to usher people into God's presence. You did the exact opposite. This also means you aren't the gate. I'm sorry. I love you guys, but you're not the gate. You're not good at it either. And I'm not the gate. I'm not good at it either, because I'm prone to want to start separating.
Speaker 1:Oh, they're in, they're out. Why do we do this? Oh, they're a Christian, they're not a Christian. Oh, you know, you know. Do you know? Are you the gate? Are you the one that? How did you know?
Speaker 1:Jesus says don't worry about all that. Take care of the sheep. I'll be the gate. I'll be the way that folks can come in and find safety and security. I'll keep them safe. I'll protect them. They'll know my voice. You just be a sheep, just come listen to me. So God comes through Jesus, the gate, to find us. Also, jesus seems to be somehow the way in which you and I leave the pen, because in the daytime the sheep would leave the pen. It's this permeable gate and they would go out into the world. So that's our job as well. We're to go out in the world to help people. Ben told me he's like oh yeah, there's this quote from Luther. He goes. Luther said God doesn't mean your good works, but your neighbor does. Here's one final quote I'll get out of your way.
Speaker 1:Leslie Newbigin says this about doors. Doors keep in and keep out. They make us feel safe, either by making sure no one gets in or by justifying our staying in. They're the border that ensures separation from those we suspect might harm us. And fair enough.
Speaker 1:This passage in John affirms that Jesus is the door. It's certainly our security keeps us safe, but also a careful reading suggests that this is a rather permeable gate. There's an in and out. The sheep are led out to pasture and they're brought back into the fold, safely, into the arms of their shepherd. I am the door as a cause for us to imagine what kinds of access we choose to be. What are we like? Are we like the Pharisees, the gatekeepers, the Regina, what's-her-names? Of the world? Or are we like Jesus To keep people out or invite them in, to provide protection for those in peril, or to shut out those who need shelter? Moreover, I'm the Door, shapes our reality, asking us to recognize and realize where and how and why we'd walk out of the fold or not, leaving comfort whoops, leaving comfort and safeguard behind to be God's love in the world.
Speaker 1:Central Lutheran Church. May you know that Jesus is the gate, you don't have to worry about it, and the whole point was to bring the lost sheep home. For crying out loud, don't miss that there's a hurting and dying world out there. I know they don't behave properly. They're sheep. What do we? I don't know. They're blind, they can't see, they don't even know it. Help them. May we be inviting and welcoming and including a people that need it so desperately. May we follow the ways and the teachings of Jesus and be like him, the good shepherd. Yeah, may we be like Jesus, amen.
