So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.
— John 10:7 (RSV)
You might think of California when you think of places that have frequent earthquakes. And that makes sense. But we Missourians know that California does not have the monopoly on active fault lines and major earthquakes. The New Madrid fault line in the bootheel of Missouri produced one of the strongest earthquakes on record in U.S. history causing church bells to ring hundreds of miles away in St. Louis and making the Mississippi river flow backwards for a couple of days.
For many years now, scientists have been warning New Madrid is well overdue for another big one. I remember as a kid in school being trained in what to do in case of The Big One. We were taught one of the safest places to be during an earthquake was to stand in the doorway. I couldn’t figure out how all 25 of us students were going to fit in the doorway, but I guessed we’d figure that out when we had to.
It was explained to me that architecturally, the doorframe was one of the strongest features in a building and thus a safe, at least safer, place to be during an earthquake. But what an interesting thought, a door as a safe place. Usually, we think of doorways as the in-between spaces. The space between two rooms. The space between indoors and outdoors.
Sometimes we hang out in that in-between a little too long like we’re stuck. Can’t you just hear your parents voice when you were a kid scolding you, “In our out, don’t just stand there, close the door!”
Once, while Jesus was teaching his followers along with some of the cynical Pharisees, he used the familiar image of a shepherd and his flock of sheep. In ancient agrarian societies, an enclosure for the sheep would be constructed of a stone wall adjacent to the house. There would be one gate, usually locked and sometimes guarded by a gatekeeper, to enter and exit. The shepherd returning with his flock from the pastures where often the sheep would scatter and wild creatures and other dangers lurked, would lead the flock through the door (or gate) into this pen for safekeeping. With this image in mind Jesus declared, “I am the door of the sheep.”
The image of the door is used to express Jesus’ role of bringing God’s saving love to the world. The point where Jesus is the access to abundant life; of being the portal to saving grace. Even in the midst of danger — thieves and bandits in Jesus’ story — there is a place of safety, security, and peace. And Jesus provides the way to this place.
How assuring it is to know that Jesus offers himself as the door into that safe place. When the earth quakes; when troubles, dangers and fears of this world lurk around us, we have confidence in our faith in Jesus for our comfort. When we get stuck in the in-between by our questions, doubts, cynicism, and all the other unknowns, Jesus is there to welcome us through these moments to find our rest.
And the truly great thing about Jesus as the door…we will all fit in that doorway. Come, there is plenty of room for everyone.
— Reflections appears regularly on the religion page. The column features a variety of local writers, coordinated through the Monroe Area Clergy Group. Todd Hackman is senior pastor at St. John’s United Church of Christ in Monroe.
