Historic First Lutheran Church of Pasadena

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

I have a little bit of Biblical and theological history to get us started this morning. You probably remember when the Lord God Almighty met Moses at the burning bush in Horeb [Exodus 3] and called him to be His servant, sending him to the Pharaoh of Egypt with the message, “Let my people go!” Moses was rightfully skeptical. After all, when was the last time a burning bush that was on fire but was not being destroyed by the fire spoke to you? Moses wanted proof. He knew his own people. He knew when he showed up on scene to lead them out of slavery, they would want to know why they should trust him, why they should follow him. So Moses asked for God’s identification. He wanted to know the Name by which he should refer to God, the Name by which all doubt and fear would be erased. Do you remember the Name God gave Moses as identification? God told Moses, “When the people ask you Who sent you, you tell them, ‘I Am Who I Am has sent me to you” [Exodus 3:14].

Keep that Name in mind as we today turn our attention to this annual celebration of “Good Shepherd Sunday” and as we turn our attention again this morning to those beloved words from John 10. Jesus’ Words. Jesus’ identification. Jesus’ self-description. “I Am the Gate.”

“I Am Who I Am has sent Me to you” and what’s more – “I Am I Am.” You can be certain those words were not lost in small talk like they often are among us when Jesus first said to His followers, “I Am the Gate.” He was making a claim about Himself. He was casting out there that Name – the Name the Jews didn’t use for fear of taking it in vain – by which all doubt and all fear would be erased.

“I Am the Gate.” Besides making a claim about His true identity as the eternal, almighty God in the flesh, what else did Jesus possibly mean when He said those words?

Gates are good for two things.

First of all, gates keep things out.

I have a gate inside my cabin, in the doorway between the kitchen and the living room. It’s there simply and solely to keep my dogs out of the rest of the cabin. You see, my dogs are outside dogs. They have three different shelters in my backyard in which they live. They never come into my home. The only time they spend any amount of time inside is when they’re at the cabin with me. Then, when it’s too cold or too wet or at night when the local mountain creatures start their search for food, they’re allowed into the kitchen but not into the rest of the cabin. The gate keeps them out.

Gates also keep things in.

That’s how I explain the ugly 12-foot fence that surrounds the great majority of our church property. Let me tell you – I have long hated that fence. I’d rather we be able to remove it, but it does serve the purpose of keeping things in. Back in the day, it kept in hundreds of children who attended our school. Today, it keeps in things that belong to the church. Let me tell you – even that 12-foot fence doesn’t keep people out. I have seen people scale the fence. I have seen people crawl under the fence. I have seen the evidence of people cutting holes in the fence. But I can say I have never seen someone – or seen the resulting aftermath – carrying off a television set or a sound system or anything else that has to be carried over or under or through that ugly 12-foot fence. That’s the beauty of gates. They keep things in.

Back to Jesus’ words: “I Am the Gate.” What did He mean and how do those Words erase doubt and fear?

Well, Jesus as the Gate keep things out. When we have walked through Jesus as the Gate and as we are spending time in His pasture with Him as our Good Shepherd and with us as His dearly loved sheep, He as the Gate keeps things out, things that He called “thieves” and “robbers” and “strangers,” things He identifies as existing only to “steal” and “kill” and “destroy,” things that bring fear and doubt and terror into the hearts and minds of His sheep. When we have walked through Jesus as the Gate and as we are spending time in His pasture, He protects us. He keeps out those things that don’t belong anywhere near us as His sheep.

Back to Jesus’ words: “I Am the Gate.” What did He mean and how do those Words erase doubt and fear?

Well, Jesus as the Gate also keep things in. Listen to what Jesus says: “Whoever enters through Me will be saved ... he will come in and find pasture ... I have come that they may have life and have it to the full” [John 10:9-10]. Jesus as the Gate protects us as His sheep. Jesus as the Gate keeps His gifts flowing to us. Jesus as the Gate guarantees precious promises like “No one can snatch them out of My Hand” [John 10:28] and “Train up a child in the way he should go and when he grows old he will not depart from it [Proverbs 22:6]. When we have walked through Jesus as the Gate and we are spending time in His pasture, He protects us. He keeps in those things that are important to Him – namely you and me – and He provides a place where His gifts and blessings don’t get lost.

You know, back in 1932, work was about to commence upon the Golden Gate Bridge. Such construction was called the “Dance of Danger” – construction on top of swaying catwalks and high towers hundreds of feet in the air, blown by powerful winds. The estimate – based upon previous similar construction – was that one life would be lost for every million dollars spent. After nearly four years of construction and $20 million spent, only one worker had died. Twenty had been expected to die, but only one died. Why? Because the engineers of the Golden Gate Bridge refused to simply accept the risk anticipated. First of all they kept things out. They instituted a strict set of rules: hard hats had to be worn, prescription-filtered eye glasses had to be worn, no show-boating was allowed and tie-off lines were used. They kept those things out. But the engineers of the Golden Gate Bridge also kept things in. They constructed an on-site hospital where injuries could be immediately treated. In addition, they spent a whopping $130,000 on an enormous trapeze net, right out of the pages of a circus. The net was secured sixty feet below the surface of the roadbed and extended ten feet on either side. The net became so effective in keeping workers inside the bounds of safety that local newspapers would record the running box score of how many lives were saved.

You and I can rightfully call life in this world a “Dance of Danger.” But thanks to the grace and mercy of Almighty God, by the mysterious power of His Holy Spirit, our eyes have been opened to see and our ears have been opened to hear Jesus say, “I Am the Gate. I keep out those things that hurt you and I keep you safely in My pasture where I tend you with love and blessings.”


In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Pastor Christopher Schaar
Historic First Lutheran Church of Pasadena