Let's Make a Deal

What does it mean to be the gate?  What does it mean for a church?

When I was growing up there was a game show on TV – maybe you remember it, too – called “Let’s Make a Deal.”  Monty Hall was the host, and he would offer deals to audience members, who could trade what they had already won for the possibility of a better prize.  At the very end of the show, players were given the opportunity to trade what they had already won for a chance to win the “Big Deal” – a valuable prize hidden behind either Door #1, Door #2 or Door #3.  The choice could be hard, and it was based only on chance.

Imagine how different the game would have been if the Door concealing the Big Prize had had a gatekeeper, and enthusiastic shepherds pointing the way – “This door!  This door!” 

I think the gate passage in John 10 is a call to us to that kind of response.  We are called to be the Gateway – to point the way to the Gate – to Jesus – to God – so that all of us can be a part of the Big Prize behind Door #1 – abundant life.