Out and About 10 We Are Doorkeepers

[HKHaugan]

As we continue in John 10 we come to the challenge of vs.1 in which Jesus talks about thieves and robbers who climb in other than through the gate.  Remember, He is talking to the Pharisees.  They have climbed into the family of God through tradition, bloodline, intellect and dependence on the Law, teaching others that the only access to God is through their interpretations.  Generation after generation of this mindset became so institutional that the priesthood was an unchangeable family inheritance established in a bloodline.  Pharisees and Sadducees came into power through intellect, tradition, party politics and social status.  The Scripture, we know as the Old Testament, was subjected to minute dissection to the point that its principles and the One around whom it revolved, were lost in a quagmire of over 600 different interpretations, each hotly disputed.  This religious condition vividly illustrated the old saying, “They can’t see the forest for the trees.”

 

On top of this was the cultural mindset in which Jews were raised; Gentiles (all non-Jews) were dogs (idolatrous scavengers) and pigs (unclean garbage feeders).  Even the Gentiles that believed in the God of Israel were the objects of condescension and relegated to the Court of the Gentiles in temple worship.  Jesus challenges this mindset in vs.16 “And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.”  Paul builds on this as Jesus’ personally called apostle to the Gentiles.

 

Vs.2 tells us that the man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.  Jesus is laying the ground necessary for everyone to face Him within which is the purpose the parables.  It is the working of the mind that processes the parable pictures.  It’s decision time for the heart to make a decision.  If the heart is clouded with the screens of tradition, bloodline, intellect buoyed by a spirit of pride and its self-protective energy, the result will be a frozen response to every word Jesus says.  That is the dynamic we see every day in the unbelievers around us.  But it is not only unbelievers it can be those in our own household who become trapped in institutional forms and their preservation at any cost.  It can also be found in relationships where our sin can construct a fortress of ideas and conclusions that keep others out or at least a safe emotional and social distance.

 

It is in vs.3 that we see our place in the picture Jesus presents in this parable of a true shepherd.  “The gatekeeper opens the gate for him.”  We are the gatekeepers.  Gatekeepers are also called watchmen and doorkeepers.  They not only open and close the gates they keep watch over the gate.  Since all those who have accepted Jesus as personal Savior and Lord have been given spiritual gifts (mentioned in the last writing) they oversee how Jesus cones and goes through them for others not only to see Him but to experience Him.  Jesus embodies all the gifts and ministers them through the Holy Spirit who distributes them as He wills.

 

If we can picture Jesus as the gate then we can see the gifts we have been given as opening the way to and through “The Gate.”  Prophecy, administration, leadership, mercy, service, helps, teaching, encouragement, evangelism, pastoring, giving, discernment, healing, knowledge, tongues, interpretation of tongues, exorcism, martyrdom, giving, faith, miracles, hospitality, wisdom---all these are gatekeeper, doorkeeper tasks.  A disciple of Jesus is a doorkeeper and rejoices with as he hears the echo of the psalmist, “I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than live in the tents of the wicked (84:10).”

 

These gifts are not only ministering gifts they are part of the good news, the Gospel power points, enabling the Holy Spirit to touch the hearts of those outside His Body, the family of God, beckoning them to “Enter His gates with thanksgiving and come into His courts with praise (Ps.100:4).”

 

It is gifts ministry that makes us living breathing proactive spreaders of the presence of Jesus.  He is the Gate, the Door, the Entryway for all who would believe Him and accept Him in their hearts.  We are His doorkeepers. 

 

What is really interesting is that He knocks on our doors and asks for entry through our doors.  If we open the door He comes in and with Him we walk into an entirely different experience.  When we walk with Him He takes us into the Kingdom of God and there is our Heavenly Father on the throne, the Holy Spirit uniting us with Him, the Heavenly host and all the saints past and present.

 

But in the here and now we are the doorkeepers and watchmen, the gift bearers, who open our hearts to those around us.  We have prayer, comfort, a family of willing and open sharers, Scripture, worship and a myriad of blessings for each person in need of spiritual fulfillment.  We are the watchmen who watch at Jesus’ side for those in trouble, lost, floundering in self, in the poverty of spirit and body, looking for the only home in which they can find rest.  We are the doorkeepers who invite them into the Door of the sheep, the Gate for the sheep.  “The watchman opens the gate for Him and the sheep listen to His voice (Jn.10:3)."