It's not about the walls (Sunday, April 30, 2023)

Reading:  John 10:1-18

 

In the Gospel of John, Jesus uses a number of “I Am” sayings to describe his identity and his place in our lives.  In Hebrew Scripture, “I Am” is the holy name Yahweh uses of himself when speaking from the burning bush to Moses, to call and empower Moses to set the people free from slavery to Egypt.  In John’s Gospel, Jesus uses “I Am” sayings seven times – itself a holy number, to describe himself as the light, the way, the life … and here, as the shepherd and as the door to the sheepfold for the people of God.  Ironically, Jesus says this to the Pharisees, who imagined themselves in that role.

 

“Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber.  The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.  The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice.  He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.  When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.  But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice."

 

Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them. 

Therefore, Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture … I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

 

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it…

 

“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me – just as the Father knows me and I know the Father – and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen.  I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life – only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.   I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”

 

 

Meditation     

There’s a prayer in The Iona Community Worship Book that’s titled “You Found Out What We Were Doing.”  It goes like this:

You found out what we were doing, 

and you interfered.

“Come and do it together,

Come and do it with me, “ you said …

So thank you Lord for interfering in our private lives.

 

You promised us nothing 

by way of success, recognition, possessions or reward.

“These will come at the right time

When you walk with me,” you said …

So thank you Lord for promising us nothing.

 

You gave no resources,

Apart from ourselves…

            Hands meant for caring, 

            lips meant for praising,

            hearts meant for loving….

And the Holy Spirit

To make us restless until we change….

So thank you Lord for the essential gifts.

 

Then, just when we’ve got it right

As to where we should go and what we should do;

Just when we’re ready to take on the world,

You come, like a beggar to our back door,

Saying, “This is the way,

            I am the way” ….

So thank you Lord for coming again

And keeping us right and showing you care for us

And for all people.  Amen.

 

Have you ever felt this way?  That you wake up all ready to go … everything planned, prepared and ready to go … all set … and then you realize, “No.  It’s not right.  That’s not what’s needed.  What’s needed is … this, over here, in this slightly different direction.”

That’s kind of how the Pharisees feel when they talk with, and listen to Jesus.  At least, when they let themselves really listen to what he is saying.

Like in the reading today.  They think they’re the shepherds of the people, and of God’s flock in the world.  And they work really hard at it.  At building good, strong sheepfolds for the people to be gathered into, and kept safe and good.  Sheepfolds with good, strong walls of rules, moral codes, and right practices to keep the sheep good, and keep the flock pure.  With them as the gatekeepers, letting the good and right ones in – the ones who fit into the fold by fitting the mold, and then being sure they stay in, stay in line, and stay in places.  And keeping others out – the ones who aren’t right, who are wayward and different, who would contaminate, corrupt or compromise the flock, who would make it impure.

It was all about establishing the walls, making them good and strong, and knowing how to divide the world into two groups – those inside, and the rest outside.

To which Jesus says, “That’s not quite it.  I know you work hard.  And that you think and really believe you’re working as a shepherd for God.

“But it’s not about the walls that divide the world into in and out.  It’s about the gate – the door, the opening in the wall, the passageway, the break in the wall that allows movement in and out, and between in and out.  It’s about the freedom, the ability, and the necessity of coming in and going out, and the connection between the two on the way towards abundant life in all the world, and for all the world.  For all God’s flock.  For all the sheep of God’s pasture.”

I see three things about the gate.  And about the good – that is, the true shepherd who knows about it, and how it works.

 

One, is that when the good shepherd comes in, he knows the sheep – he knows us, by name.  This is how he comes in – how he has access to our hearts, and why we open ourselves to him.

He knows us by name.  Not because he reads our name tag and has practised pronouncing our name.  But he really knows us through and through.  And really loves us.  Loved us before we were born.  Will always know and love us.  With all our foibles, fears and failings.  With all our potential, promise and purpose.  And he accepts all that we are.  Works with all that we bring, to help us become all we can be.

Is there anyone in your life who knows, accepts, loves, and stays with you that way?  Count them, and give thanks for them as ministers of Christ to you, and as images and vessels of the love of Christ and of God for you in your life.

And … may you be that, for someone else.

 

Two, is that we know his voice.  Not only does he know our name – the fullness of us, the good and bad, happy and horrible of who we are.  We also know his voice.  As he speaks, talks, leads and teaches there is something about his voice, his attitude, his tone, and what he actually says and helps us to see, that somehow just resonates with our deepest heart, our most inner spirit, our innate knowledge of what is true and good.

It's because his concern in where he leads and what he talks about is abundant life – life lived to the full, life the way it’s meant to be. 

And what is that?  Is it about stuff?  Success?  Power?  Position and prestige?  Comfort and convenience?

All these things have their place.  But do you remember how Jesus answers the specific question of what it means, what it takes, what we must do to live a good life?  How we find eternal life – a lastingly meaningful life?  What we must do to live a life that in the end we will be happy with?

It consists of two things, Jesus says.

One is loving God in all we do, have and are.  Seeing, knowing and loving God always more and more as we grow in life, experience and living.

And the second is … you know it … loving our neighbour as ourselves.  No matter who our neighbour happens to be, and turns out to be at any time.  Loving our neighbour more and more, and loving more and more of our neighbours.

 

Which brings us to the third thing about the gate and the shepherd who comes into our lives, and leads us out to real life. 

Some scholars tell us that in ancient shepherding, at night, when wild beasts were about and the sheep were gathered into the fold for safe-keeping, it was not uncommon for a shepherd – a good one, anyway, to lay down across the gate so that whether the shepherd was asleep or awake, if a wild beast would come, they would have to come through the shepherd.  The shepherd would be in the way, and would take the brunt of the attack.

I want to show you a picture.

It’s a picture of statue of a shepherd cradling little lamb that in August 1945 was standing in a cathedral in Nagasaki, Japan when an atomic bomb was dropped on the city, less than a mile away.   

The statue was found in the ruins of the cathedral, and later transported to the UN headquarters in New York, where it now stands.

The front of the statue is relatively unscathed and undamaged, save for the loss of the shepherd’s right hand.  The little sheep, too, is still safe, unharmed by the blast, still looking reassuredly and calmly up into the face of the shepherd.

 

The back of the shepherd, though, is a different story.

 

The shepherd’s back is scarred and charred, forever mottled and burned.  A striking image of what it means sometimes to be a shepherd for someone under attack.  To care for them, and carry them.  To stand in the way of the blast, for their salvation and their well-being.  To take the heat, and suffer the scars of the hatred, the prejudice, the judgement of others against them.

What strikes me even more, though, is what I found out when I read more about this statue.  I found out it’s not a statue of Jesus, as I assumed.  It’s a statue of St. Agnes, a Christian martyr and saint of the late third century CE.

Is this an image and a lesson in abundant living?  Of following Jesus – of loving God in all things and loving one’s neighbour as one’s self, so much, so deeply, in so many ways, and in so many pastures that over time and in time we become like him?  We become his body in the world?  We become one with the good shepherd?

So that as much as others at times take the heat for us, and bear the scars of loving us, accepting us, staying with us, carrying us, defending us, so do we for others?

May it be so.   

As we open the door of our hearts and our lives to Jesus, and as we follow him into truly abundant and lastingly meaningful life, may we know, may we show, and may we share the fullness of life and the abundance of love for all that resides in the arms of Jesus, the good shepherd of all God’s flock.