Open Doors
Sermon
Notes: September 23, 2007
Rev. Jim O’Neal, Senior Pastor
John 9:1-17 NRSV (You are
encouraged to read John 9:1-41 at home, which tells the entire story of this
man whom Jesus healed.)
1As he
walked along, he saw a man blind from birth.
2His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his
parents, that he was born blind?” 3Jesus
answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he
was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him. 4We
must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no
one can work. 5As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6When he had said this, he spat on
the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes, 7saying
to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which
means Sent). Then he went and washed and
came back able to see. 8The
neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, “Is this
not the man who used to sit and beg?” 9Some
were saying, “It is he.” Others were
saying, “No, but it is someone like him.”
He kept saying, “I am the man.” 10But
they kept asking him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” 11He answered, “The man called
Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go
to Siloam and wash.’ Then I went
and washed and received my sight.” 12They
said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I
do not know.”
13They
brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. 14Now it was a Sabbath day when
Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. 15Then
the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them, “He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see.” 16Some of the Pharisees said,
“This man is not from God, for he does not observe the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a
sinner perform such signs?” And they
were divided. 17So they said
again to the blind man, “What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened.” He said, “He is a prophet.”
John 10:1-10 NRSV
1“Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by
the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. 2The one who enters by the gate is the
shepherd of the sheep. 3The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his
voice. He calls his own sheep by name
and leads them out. 4When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the
sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5They will not follow a stranger, but they
will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6Jesus
used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was
saying to them.
7So again Jesus said to them, “Very
truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8All
who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to
them. 9I am the gate. Whoever
enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. 10The
thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.
I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
A.
Introduction
1. Sarah’s Playhouse Door
a.
When my daughter Sarah was a little girl, she came to me and
said, “Daddy would you put a lock on my playhouse door.” “Why do you need it to lock?” I asked. “To keep Matthew and his
friends out! We want to color and
they won’t leave us alone,” She replied.
b.
Sarah understood even at 8 years of age that doors can be used to
keep people out or let people in. Doors
have a lot to do with human relationships.
2. Doors!
a.
Doors can be openings to new opportunities. This is a concept we all understand. The door to Sarah’s playhouse was a portal to
fun and great adventures! I remember
opening the door to my first Seminary class.
It was the symbol of a new beginning for me. A man came to me for some pastoral
advice. He worked for a very negative
and exploitive company. Finally he had
the courage to walk through the door and away from this business. He described it as a most liberating
experience that would eventually lead him through another door to a better
opportunity.
b.
Doors can, also, be used to lock people or things in or out of
something. This is not necessarily
negative. Sarah and her friends felt
they had every right to play in a boy free zone! A co-worker friend was once glad for a door
that locked others out. You could say a
good strong door saved her. Near closing
time a “would be assailant” approached the store with knife drawn. She quickly locked the door and the man could
not kick it down. All of us are glad for
good strong doors that lock unrepentant murderers in prison. And in today’s world we see the importance of
a strong door to the cockpit of an airplane.
c.
However, sometimes doors are negative. We use doors to keep opportunities and
privileges just for our group and us. We
build them to keep others out. We
pompously proclaim, they are not like us and we want to keep things for
ourselves. We erect doors of prejudice
and you and I remember some of the worst of these. Doors that had signs, which
read, “Whites Only.” It is in
that sense this morning that I speak of doors.
I speak of doors as entrances or barriers to human relationships.
B.
Human doors are often exclusive.
1. Today’s Scripture: John 9:1-41
a.
Today’s Scripture lesson from the ninth chapter of John is a
beautiful story. Jesus Christ heals a
blind man. Such an event ought to have
brought rejoicing in both Church and community.
Instead we find prejudice and closed doors. The man is pre-judged as a sinner because he
was blind! The man is a beggar, because
no one has the insight to hire him. The
man is allowed to worship God, but is barred from the priesthood or serving as
a helper in the worship because of his disability.
b.
Further, the religious leaders seem to have completely closed
minds toward the ministry of Jesus Christ.
Despite all the obvious signs that Jesus was the Messiah, they refuse to
believe and even get angry when Jesus heals the blind man! Then when the man who had been blind praises
Jesus, they throw the man out of the synagogue.
They slam the door in his face!
2. Andrew Yoder
a.
Things have not changed a lot in modern times. I think of Andrew Yoder. He was an Amish fellow living in a large
Amish settlement in
b. We
often close doors on others. Sometimes
we don’t want to include others, because they are not like us. Sometimes we just don’t want to let others
in, because our group is so comforting and fun and we’re afraid they might mess
it up.
C.
Jesus is inclusive!
1. Jesus’ life
a.
Look at Jesus’ life! He
was always breaking down walls that divide.
In Hebrew culture, children were expected to be “seen and not
heard.” Jesus brought them to the front
of worship and told the adults that they needed to be like the children! Further, he stated how precious children are
to God, and how much we as adults are to protect them. Women
were second-class citizens in Jesus day.
In public, women just did not spend time chatting with the men. Girls did not go to school like the
boys. Women were not considered
intelligent enough to talk about “theology”.
Jesus ignored all these taboos!
He talked with the women in public.
He explained to them and believed they could understand the things of
God. He gave them dignity and value.
b.
Lepers were considered unclean, but that did not keep Jesus from
talking to them or from touching them with his hands and healing them. The Samaritans were looked down upon as
half-breed interlopers in the
2. John 3:16
a.
Perhaps no verse says it better:
“For God so loved the world that He gave His
Only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal
life.” (John 3:16 RSV)
b. In
this Scripture, the “world”, of course means all people. And to emphasize that the scripture says, “whoever” or as I like it from an older translation, “whosoever!” Jesus reaches out to all people!
D.
Jesus is God’s Door!
1. Today’s Scripture: John 10:9-10
a.
Jesus says to us, “I am the door; if
any one enters by me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find
pasture. The thief comes only to steal
and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly!”
(John 10:10 RSV)
b.
Jesus says clearly to us that He is the door to a right
relationship with God. If you have seen
Jesus, you have seen the Father. If you
want to know God, receive Jesus in your heart!
2. Congratulations Joseph!
a.
One year at Christmas time the Youth Group wanted to plan and write
their very own Nativity Play. The play
began with Mary and Joseph walking down the center aisle. The teenager playing Mary had a huge pillow
stuffed under her dress so that she looked very pregnant! Next, Mary and Joseph were sent away from the
b.
Jesus is God in the flesh.
If you want to see God, look to Jesus!
Jesus is God’s door!
E.
Jesus calls us to open doors!
1. John 3:17
a. In John 3:17 it says, “For God did not send His Son into the world to be its judge,
but to be its Savior.” (John 3:17 TEV)
b. We
sometimes forget this. Jesus did not
come to condemn. He came to love and He
came to save. He did not come to slam
shut the door of salvation. He came to
open it up that all people might have the opportunity to come in. Jesus did not come to condemn us to eternal
punishment or death. Jesus has broken
the bonds of death and torn down the prison doors of Hell! Jesus calls us to love also. He calls us to open doors of friendship. He calls us to tell others of God’s grace in
Jesus.
2. Robert E. Lee
a.
Shortly after the close of the Civil War, a black man entered a
“well-to-do” Church in
b. Now
some people might not like this story.
After all Robert E. Lee was the General in Chief of the Confederate
Army. And this army fought to preserve
the institutions of the south; including slavery. So why did Lee do this good deed? Maybe Lee had no problem with the concept of
open Communion. Maybe he had come to
recognize blacks as his equals in
c. This I do know. There is someone here who is struggling to
open a door and let others in. Maybe
those who want to come in are people they do not understand. Maybe the one who does not want to open the
door is afraid, if they let these people in, they won’t have a place for
themselves anymore. Just maybe the door
is closer to home. You’ve had a fight
with a friend or family member and you’ve slammed the door shut tight. And perhaps the door is your unwillingness to
express your love and appreciation to those who are dear to you. Jesus gently says, “As I love you; love
others. As I welcome you; welcome
others. As I forgave and forgive you;
forgive others. Remember, it is by my
grace that you have been received. See
others, also, as my children, and open the door of understanding, friendship,
brotherhood, and yes true family love.”
This is what you and I are called to do.
F.
Conclusion
1. Recap
a.
Human doors are often exclusive.
b.
Jesus is inclusive!
c.
Jesus is God’s Door!
d.
Jesus calls us to open doors!
2. Circle Poem: “Outwitted” by Edwin Markham
He drew a circle that shut me out - heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.
But love and I had the wit to win: We drew a circle that took him in!
Open Doors
1. Human doors are often exclusive.
2. Jesus is inclusive!
3. Jesus is God’s Door!
4. Jesus calls us to open doors!
“Outwitted”
by Edwin Markham
He drew a
circle that shut me out –
heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.
But love
and I had the wit to win:
We drew a
circle that took him in!
John 9:1-17 NRSV
(You are encouraged to read
John 9:1-41 at home,
which tells the
entire story of this man whom Jesus healed.)
1As he walked along, he saw a man blind from
birth. 2His disciples asked
him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind
so that God’s works might be revealed in him.
4We must work the works of him
who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. 5As
long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6When he had said this, he spat on
the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes, 7saying
to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which
means Sent). Then he went and washed and
came back able to see. 8The
neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, “Is this
not the man who used to sit and beg?” 9Some
were saying, “It is he.” Others were
saying, “No, but it is someone like him.”
He kept saying, “I am the man.” 10But
they kept asking him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” 11He answered, “The man called
Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go
to Siloam and wash.’ Then I went
and washed and received my sight.” 12They
said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I
do not know.”
13They brought to the Pharisees the man who had
formerly been blind. 14Now it
was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. 15Then the Pharisees also began to
ask him how he had received his sight.
He said to them, “He put mud on my eyes.
Then I washed, and now I see.” 16Some
of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not observe the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a
sinner perform such signs?” And they
were divided. 17So they said
again to the blind man, “What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened.” He said, “He is a prophet.”
John 10:1-10 NRSV
1“Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does
not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and
a bandit. 2The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and
the sheep hear his voice. He calls his
own sheep by name and leads them out. 4When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the
sheep follow him because they know his voice.
5They will not follow a stranger, but they
will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6Jesus
used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was
saying to them.
7So
again Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep.
8All who came before me are
thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. 9I
am the gate. Whoever enters by me will
be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. 10The
thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.
I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.