Gatekeeping
A Sermon for the Fourth Sunday of Easter
April 30, 2023
The Rev. Robin Teasley
Jesus said, “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. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.” Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.
So again Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go 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 10:1-10
In our gospel reading today we hear about a sheepfold with a gate. First century shepherds did not have access to the fencing materials we have today. They would make use of caves when they could find them, or they would build low-walled enclosures out of stone, with one small opening, to protect the sheep at night from thieves and bandits. Many historians believe that the shepherd would become a kind of human gate by lying down in the narrow opening of the stone wall. In this way, the shepherd could guard the sheep from predators as well as keep the sheep safely contained inside the sheepfold. For the most part this worked, until the thieves and bandits climbed in by another way to steal the sheep, which did happen, because sheep were valuable, and there have always been thieves and bandits.
Walls and gates create enclosures. Sometimes being in the sheepfold is a good thing. The sheep inside are protected and safe, they can rest without fear because they trust the shepherd. But if the sheep stay enclosed in the sheepfold all the time, they aren’t able to graze in green pastures, or drink beside still waters, or get any exercise, and that is not good for their health.
Our gospel today reveals Jesus as the gate, which is sometimes translated as door. We also hear Jesus described as the shepherd. In fact, in the very next verse following our text today Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” The shepherd lays down in the wall opening to serve as a gate for the sheep. So, in this blending of Jesus as both gate and shepherd, we hear the ambiguity and metaphor that is used so often in the fourth gospel. The author of John even states out loud this intentional use of metaphor saying, “Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.”
For Jesus to be the gate, based on the practice of the shepherd lying down in the wall opening, is striking. It reminds me of the last verse of Psalm 121, “The Lord shall watch over your going out and your coming in, from this time forth for evermore.”
Notice that Jesus does not say, “I am that which separates, isolates, divides, and segregates.” Nor does he say, “I am the gate to keep you locked away, safe from every challenge, harm, and danger of the world.” What Jesus says is, “I am the gate.” And a gate is also a doorway, an opening, a portal through which freedom begins, and the entrance into new and abundant life.
We might not associate gates or doors with freedom. We associate them with locks and alarms, confinement, restrictions. Some of us may imagine doors and gates as barriers to opportunity. But what if Jesus is a different kind of gate? A gate that opens out instead of holding us within. Not as a barrier or hindrance but rather a gateway to wide open possibility, hope, and healing. “I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture.” I am the gateway to salvation and wholeness of life.
What if this teaching is not about restrictions or self-protection at all? In our human fear and frailty, we are inclined to build walls, close doors, and lock gates. We have elaborate security systems, we create rules and regulations to keep the riff raff at a distance. In our defense, we do this to keep perceived dangers out and to keep what we love and cherish safe within. Might Jesus be encouraging us to trust that there is power far greater than any fear we have? Power to free us from fear? Power to deliver us from our need to stockpile and fortify our earthly treasures?
What if this teaching is saying that Jesus is the gatekeeper and we are not, that we are not the ones to decide who is in and who is out, who is deserving and who is not, who gets to make the decisions and who does not? This is the work of Jesus.
When we can trust that Jesus is the gate, it frees us from the weight of our need to control, it opens our lives to an expanse of love, promise, and possibility. When gatekeeping is no longer our job, suddenly we have the mental, physical, and spiritual capacity to focus on the coming of the kingdom and newness of life right here and now.
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This is not to deny that life may bring threat and danger. There have always been thieves and bandits, and from time to time, they will climb in by another way. They are the voices that will lead us away from the good shepherd. Sadly, it is often our own poor choices and selfishness that create a system where the desperate must become the bandits and thieves. Life has its challenges. The promise from God is that in any threat or danger, our shepherd will be with us.
Maybe the questions for us are not about who is in or out of the safety of the sheepfold. Maybe they are about recognizing all the ways we resist the open gate, the ways we close our minds to change, the ways we keep our deepest hopes and dreams penned up inside. And just maybe, Jesus has the answers to our questions, if we will be still and listen for his voice.
This is where the Church serves as our safe pasture. As the early Christian community gathered to devote themselves to the Apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers, we too devote ourselves to these things, we make this very promise at our baptism. We do this because the Church is the sheepfold, the place where we learn to recognize and respond to the voice of the shepherd. This describes the Church’s inner life, which is preparing us for our life out in the world, a life of abundance, not for ourselves alone but for all.
We will always be tempted to listen to the voices of strangers, the false shepherds. Voices that will stoke fear and anxiety. Voices that will make promises they cannot keep about our well-being. Voices that assure us that we are right and others are wrong, that we are better than and more deserving of than others. Voices that will lead us astray. These are not the voice of our Shepherd.
Perhaps the sheepfold can be a metaphor for the Church, where Jesus is both the gate and the shepherd, where we learn to listen for the voice of the risen Christ and are strengthened in our relationships with one another and with God. When we are listening, when we hear the voice of the Shepherd, we will follow to new pastures, beyond our comfort zones; following Jesus in all the ways he loves and cares for the lost sheep, the ones who need healing, the ones who are hungry, the ones who are waiting to hear and follow the voice of the Shepherd.
And when God’s kingdom is realized, we will no longer need walls, we will trust the true gatekeeper, and all of us, even the former thieves and bandits, will follow the Shepherd.
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