Fourth Sunday of Easter
Sunday, May 15th, 2011click here for past entriesLoving God, you invite us into a relationship with you through Jesus, who serves as our Good Shepherd. Teach us to continue to look to you for all that we need, trusting in Jesus, the shepherd and guardian of our souls. Amen.
I don’t know about you, but John 10:10 is one of those verses that I come back to again and again – especially the second part of it. “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” Jesus came that we might have life, and have it abundantly. Just out of curiosity, how many Christians do you know who seem to be filled with abundant life? (About the same number I do?) So what is wrong with this picture? What has happened to the abundant life that Jesus came to bring?
Our gospel today mentions thieves and bandits and robbers. Barrabas was one of those, and he was chosen by the masses. And then there was Judas the Gaulonite, or Judas the Galilean (cf. Acts 5:37), who got many people to follow him and also apparently murdered many. And then there were the bad shepherds of the Old Testament - leaders and kings of God’s people who were feeding themselves instead of feeding the sheep (Ezek. 34:2). These might have been some of the thieves and bandits for the writer of the gospel of John, but which ones have snuck up on us today? There must be somebody or something that is stealing the abundant life that Jesus came to bring!
One suggestion is that we are looking in all of the wrong places in order to find this abundant life. To return to the image of the sheepfold for a moment, imagine being one of the sheep and looking everywhere except the gate for that wonderful pasture and abundant life. Assuming that there is perhaps a low stone wall around the sheepfold, we might be getting stone-walled, or running into a brick wall (not quite the same), or at the very least hitting the wall instead of finding food.
Of course, the modern day equivalent might be actually believing the advertising that we hear and see. The images that we see are things like joyfully running through a field playing with butterflies, or having a wonderful time at a party surrounded by friends, or having super-human powers, or smiling and laughing well into old age. Each one of these things, of course, is associated with a particular product or service that we can buy. The message that gets presented to us over and over again is that by purchasing the right products and services, we, too, can enjoy such abundant life. However, disappointment soon sets in as we accumulate more and more things and hit the wall instead of the pasture.
Perhaps we could also say that fear and anxiety go a long way in robbing us of abundant life. One can only imagine how disconcerted the sheep are when somebody they don’t know climbs into the sheepfold and is suddenly there among them. Perhaps we could picture them nervously bleating and pacing back and forth, waiting for the shepherd that they recognize and the voice that they know.
I really don’t know if it’s always been this way, but there seem to be no end of things these days to fuel people’s anxiety. What will the future hold? Will I have enough to live on? Would people like me if they really knew me? What is going to happen to the church? What if we can’t get more members? What will people think of me? Am I doing a good enough job? When’s the next natural disaster going to hit? What if I catch a super bug? What if I do everything I can, and it’s not enough? For many people, worrying is a 24/7 job!
At the same time, fear and anxiety can do strange things to people. Some people respond to fear by getting angry. Some people go around and around and around with obsessive thinking and worrying until finally they’re so exhausted and burned out that they collapse. Some people just start avoiding all kinds of things that used to give them pleasure but now just produce anxiety. When it comes to abundant life, fear and anxiety are two of the best robbers there are!
And in the gospel that we heard today, the antidote to such fear and anxiety is in the relationship with the Good Shepherd. The sheep know his voice and follow him when he calls. He leads them to the good pasture, and the sheep go in and come out in safety because their shepherd is leading them and is with them. The shepherd knows each sheep by name, knows them intimately, and looks after their needs.
Still, oddly enough, some of us manage to avoid Jesus. If we think again of the image of the sheepfold, with Jesus lying across the entrance in order to keep the sheep safe, the only way in or out is through him. The only way to safety or to the good pasture is through him. Yet, do we find ways to avoid Jesus?
For some people, this means avoiding the church, for they wouldn’t want to risk opening themselves up to a Saviour who might actually want a life-giving relationship with them. For others, who are already part of the church, how many fights or disagreements are there that have absolutely nothing to do with Jesus and do not invite his direction or his life-giving presence? And for those of us who do believe in Jesus, are there other times when we manage to avoid him? The results can only be disastrous.
And so, are there ways that we can keep our focus on Jesus, no matter what we are in the midst of? Whether it is looking to Jesus in the boat in the midst of a storm at sea, or looking to Jesus the shepherd who calls us by name in the midst of thieves and robbers, this is where our focus needs to be. It is in our relationship with Jesus that we will find our shelter in the storm and our source of life in all its fulness.
Jesus came that we might have life, and have it abundantly. It is given as a gift, and cannot be bought or sold or earned. Let us then rejoice in God’s gift, keeping our hearts tuned in to Jesus, the shepherd and guardian of our souls (1 Pet. 2:25). Amen.
Easter 4(A) John 10:1-10
May 15, 2011
St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church
Pastor Lynne Hutchison
© 2011 Lynne Hutchison All Rights Reserved
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