Whether you read or not, I am going to recommend a book to you that I want to warn you ahead of time if you read the first page you will stay up and not go to bed until you have finished it. It is at the same time, one of the most simulating, gripping, inspiring and yet depressing books that I have ever read in my life. The book is 102 Minutes: The Untold Story Of The Fight To Survive Inside The Twin Towers. It is the unbelievably, up close, moment by moment account of the heroic struggle for life inside the World Trade Center on the morning of September 11th - every single minute was precious.
Fourteen thousand people were inside the TwinTowers. Twelve thousand were able to escape, but 2,749 were not. Here is one of the most fascinating and also gripping parts of this story. It is the account of how some people lived and some people died, depending upon one decision they made - which door did they take. To give you an example in just one situation - one group of people in an office trying to flee after the plane hit the tower had to make a decision. Most of the people in that group decided to take the door that lead into an elevator. The rest of the group decided to take the door to the stairwell. The group that took the elevator died. The group that took the stairwell lived. It is a physical picture of a virtual reality about life and that is life really is all about taking the right door.
I am going to talk to you today about the single most important door that anyone in this lifetime will ever decide whether or not to walk through. It is a door that has no hinges, no knobs, no locks, and doesn't swing out or in. This door is a person named Jesus Christ. We are continuing our series called, "iMatter" as we study the statements of Jesus known as the "I am" statements. Each statement tells us who Jesus is and who we can become. Because of who He is and who He can become to us, we can have the two things in life that every person is looking for - security and significance.
The vast majority of people go through life achieving neither security nor significance. Years ago, UCLA Psychologist, James C. Coleman, wrote that as the modern-day person struggles, "With the baffling question of his own existence…science falls short of providing full answers…it can tell how, but not why." He then made this observation, "With the advent of the space age, man is confronted with a new perspective of time and space and the problem of finding the meaning of his existence in a universe in which the earth and even the whole solar system may be no larger in relation to the whole than an atom is to the earth. At the same time, materialistic values - based on the belief that scientific progress would automatically lead to man's happiness and fulfillment - approves sadly disillusioning. As a result, many people are groping about, bewildered and bitter, unable to find any enduring faith or to develop a satisfying philosophy of life. [In other words - significance.] Despite their fine automobiles, well stocked refrigerators, and other material possessions and comforts, the meaning of life seems to be evading them. In essence, they are suffering from existential anxiety - deep concern about finding values which will enable them to live satisfying fulfilling, meaningful [and significant] lives." [[1]]
Nobody understands you better than God. Nobody understands the need to fill significant and to believe that your life matters than God. Jesus uttered four words that give us one of the key secrets to finding significance in life and they are, "I am the door." (John 10:9, NASB)
In fact, He actually made this statement twice in just a few seconds to emphasize the fact of His being the door. In full, this is what He said, "So Jesus said to them again, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.'" (John 10:7-9, NASB)
His listeners would have immediately known what He was talking about, but let me help explain it to you. Jesus had just finished telling the people that He was "the good shepherd", but they did not really understand exactly what He was saying, because verse 6 says, "This figure of speech Jesus spoke to them, but they did not understand what those things were which He had been saying to them." (John 10:6, NASB)
Jesus tries another comparison, another metaphor. He compares Himself to the door of the sheep. In Israel, there were two kinds of sheepfolds. There was one that would be near a village or town and it was a fold for the sheep of all the shepherds. The owners of the sheep would pool their resources and hire someone to guard the sheep. He would only let in those shepherds whom he knew personally that owned the flock that he was guarding.
The other kind of sheepfold was out in the hills and away from any village. It was a walled enclosure where on three sides there would be rocks piled about a foot high, with no roof and then there would be a small opening (about 5 or 6 feet wide) where the sheep would enter at night. The shepherd would lie down in front of that opening and literally become the door of the sheep. Nothing could go in unless the shepherd allowed it and no sheep could leave unless the shepherd allowed it.
If you ever get a chance to go to Israel (where I have been many times) you can still see the sheepfolds out in the desert, particularly on the road that leads from Jerusalem down to the Dead Sea. One of the most amazing sites you will ever see is a flock of sheep following these shepherds. They simply go wherever the shepherd leads and they put their complete trust in the shepherd. It is amazing to watch these sheep, late in the day, be herded into the sheepfold, where the shepherd will then lie down and literally become the door of the sheep.
As the door of the sheep, the shepherd gives sheep the two things that everybody on this earth is looking for: security - the sheep know they are safe as long as the shepherd is guarding the door and significance by the very fact that the shepherd is willing to lay down his very body for the sheep tells us all we need to know about how important the sheep really are. The shepherd is their protector and the shepherd is their provider. That is why we continue to say to you throughout this entire series that true significance and lasting significance can only be found in the person of Jesus Christ.
One of Jesus' favorite ways to teach was to refer to some ordinary, every day object that people were very familiar with to reveal extraordinary truths. He would take an earthly object and give it a heavenly meaning. He does that with something that everyone in this room encounters multiple times every day - a door.
Now we have to ask the question, "Why did Jesus refer to Himself as a door?" If you think about it, there is only one of two things you can do with a door - open it from the outside to walk into a room or you can open it from the inside to walk out of a room. A door is basically either an exit or an entrance and that is exactly what Jesus is going to tell us in this passage of scripture. Anytime you walk through a door, you automatically enter into one place and exit another one. The secret to finding significance in this life is to make sure you walk through the door named Jesus Christ, because...
II. Through Jesus You Can Exit A Meaningless Life
Go back to those people in the TwinTowers right after those planes had hit. Smoke is everywhere. Debris is floating in the air. You are choking on the dust and the toxic fumes. You rush out into a hallway and you've got to make a decision - "Do I take the elevator or do I take the stairs?" Unfortunately, only one door leads to life, any other door leads to death. You take the right door, you live. You take the wrong door, you die.
Life is just like that. Every single day, the six-plus billion people on this planet choose to walk through doors - doors of marriage, doors of having children, doors of spending money, or doors of accepting jobs.
If you are married, you are married to the particular person you live with, because you chose to walk through that person's door rather than someone else's. My wife and I have three sons, because when it came to walking through the door that said four children, Teresa slammed the door, shut it, locked it and threw away the key! If you talk to any business leader, anyone who has had financial success, talked to anyone who has had a good marriage, talked to anyone who has had what they would call a life of fulfillment and meaningfulness and significance and they will all tell you it was a matter of walking through the right doors.
On the other hand, there are young teenagers who will spend the rest of their life behind bars, because they walked through the wrong door. There are people today in miserable marriages, because they walked through the wrong door. There is nothing more frustrating than to walk through what you think is the right door, the door that will finally lead to significance and contentment and peace and fulfillment and satisfaction, only to find it is the wrong door.
I spend my life ministering to people and dealing with people who are trapped in a live of emptiness and meaninglessness, because they thought a certain door would hold the right answer, but it didn't.
After saying that He was the door of the sheep, Jesus made this statement in verse 8, "All who came before Me are thieves and robbers..." (John 10:8, NASB) God wants every one of us to live lives of significance and satisfaction, but wrong doors are robbers and thieves. Wrong doors will steal peace, joy, happiness, contentment, and satisfaction.
There are several doors that people walk through every day thinking this is the right door for me, this is the door that will give me significance and meaning and joy and happiness in life, only to find it is the wrong door.
Here is a man that walked through a door that he thought was the right one, but it was a door that lead to nowhere [Door #1]. This man tried the door called money, power, influence, but it was the wrong door.
There are many out there that certainly can relate to this door [Door #2]. As wonderful as family is and family is so important, family alone cannot give you significance and satisfaction.
This is a door that is very attractive to a younger, jet-setting crowd [Door #3]. Yes, even a king on a throne can be miserable in his own castle.
How many of us have tried this door? [Door #4]
Many of us have walked through wrong doors in our lives, but it is never too late to exit the wrong door and walk through the right door. Through Jesus, you can exit a meaningless life. That is why He said in verse 9, "I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture." (John 10:9, NASB)
Look at what Jesus said happens to anyone who comes to Him and enters through Him. First of all, you will be saved (that is you will have a relationship with God that never ends.) You will be safe, because when sheep can go in and out without any fear, it is because they feel safe. Then you will be satisfied, because all that sheep need to be satisfied is green grass, which is found in any pasture.
Now, you can understand why Jesus made the following statement, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly." (John 10:10, NASB) I often wondered why Jesus would call Himself "the door" and then shift gears and start talking about having an abundant, meaningful, significant life. When you come to the door marked, "Jesus" you not only exit a meaningless life, but...
III. Through Jesus You Can Enter A Meaningful Life
Remember I told you that when you walk through a door two things always happen - you exit one room and you enter another one. Jesus is telling us that when you come to Him, either for the first time as a non-follower of Christ or on a daily basis as one who is already a follower of Christ, you exit a life of frustration and enter a life of fulfillment. You exit a life of meaningless and enter a life of meaningfulness.
When He said, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy." The thief is all the wrong doors you can walk through. If you walk through the wrong door of greed or lust or jealously or selfishness it will suck the joy out of your life, it will rob you of significance and it will ultimately wind up killing you. When you enter into the door named, Jesus Christ, you enter into a life that is far more than Rolexes, Mercedes, and one-night stands. You enter into a life of joy and peace and satisfaction that you can't find anywhere else.
Do you notice how Jesus made a difference between life and the abundant life? He said in verse 10, "My purpose is to give life in all its fullness." (John 10:10b, NLT)
William Wallace, the great hero of the movie, Braveheart once said, "Every man dies…but not every man lives." I heard about a little boy whose dad had just gone off to war and he was concerned about his father's safety. He wrote his dad a letter that said, "Dear Daddy: I love you and I hope you live all of your life."
The sad fact is that most people go through this life and they exist, but they don't live.
Jesus didn't put you on this earth just to take up space, live a few years and die without any impact whatsoever. He wants every one of us to live a life of significance, a life of importance and a life of influence that never ends. Jack London, the famous author who wrote the books, The Call Of The Wild and White Fang, put it better that anybody I've ever read. He said, "I would rather be ashes than dust. I had rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time." [[2]]
Isn't that what you want for your life? Don't you want a life that counts? Don't you want to enjoy life to its fullest? The key is making sure you walk through the right door and His name is Jesus Christ.
When you surrender your life to Him and allow Him to be the shepherd of your life and then on a daily basis, you come to the Word of God and you feed on the bread of life and every day by following His will for your life and seeking to live for Him and His glory, you continuously walk through His door, that is when you find security and that is when you find significance and that is when you find satisfaction.
There is one other door that I want to share with you that Jesus felt was His most important door and that is the door of your heart. In Revelation 3:20, Jesus talking about your heart and my heart said this, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me." (Revelation 3:20, NASB)
Jesus said if we will open the door of our earthly life to Him, He will open the door of eternal life to us. I have walked through some important doors in my life. I have walked through the door of the Oval Office in the White House. I have walked through the door of the private, personal office of Dr. Billy Graham. I have walked through the door of the private office to the Speaker of the House of Representatives. The most important door I have ever walked through and the most important door you will ever walk through is the door named Jesus Christ.
Recently, I drove over to Alabama for a speaking engagement and I have to tell you that I had another one of my wonderful freeway experiences. I had MapQuest sitting in my car seat and the directions were very clear (you follow I-85 South to Interstate 20. Go west on I-20 to I-459 South, take that to Tuscaloosa, Alabama.)
I took I-85 South and I saw Interstate 20, but being so use to going under Interstate 20, as I drive so often to the airport, I just merely went right under Interstate 20 and did not realize what I had done until I got to Jonesboro, Georgia. I then realized there is no way you can get to Tuscaloosa from Jonesboro, Georgia, traveling on I-85 South. So, I turned around and made my way back to Interstate 20. However, I had my mind on something else, saw Interstate 20, looked to the Capitol and thought, "Man, the golden dome looks so beautiful today" and wound up at The Varsity.
I turned around, got back on Interstate 85 and this time made my way to Interstate 20. Everything went well until I got into Tuscaloosa. MapQuest was very plain. I was to get off at the exit marked 73, veer to the right and my hotel would be on the right. I got off my exit, veered to the right and there was a beautiful RaceTrac service station, but no hotel. I called the hotel and told the man what had happened and he said, "You must be on such and such a street." I said, "No, I am on such and such a boulevard." He said, "That is impossible. You can't get to that street from the exit you took." I said, "Well, evidently they have moved your street, because I took the exit that I was supposed to take and this is the street I am on." He said, "That is impossible. You can't get to that street from exit you took." We argued for about 10 minutes. Knowing I was right, I said, "Here is what I am going to do. You stay on the phone. I am going to go back, get on the interstate, backtrack to the next exit, turn around, come back and take this exit and show you that I was right." He stayed on the phone. I went back, got on the interstate, backtracked to the exit which was exit 77. I got back on the interstate coming back the other direction, expecting to see exit 73, which is where I had gotten off, but it wasn't exit 73. It was exit 76. Now, I didn't tell this man my name, so I did what you would have done - I just hung up! I went on to the next exit, checked into the hotel and never told that man who I was.
Now what is the moral of the story? Whether you get off the wrong exit on the interstate or you walk through the wrong door in life, you will never get to where you could have been and where you should have been, but when you walk through the door, named Jesus Christ, you find out that you matter, not because of what you have, but because of who He is.
[1] James C. Coleman, Abnormal Psychology In Modern Life, (Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman, and Company, 1964) pp. 72, 160.
[2] Ed. Irving Shephard, Jack London's Tale of Adventure (New York: Doubleday, 1956) VII.