I wonder if you\u2019ve ever had the experience of walking into a room when two people are having a conversation and you don\u2019t really understand what they\u2019re talking about. Perhaps you can work it out after listening them for a few minutes, or maybe they fill you in on the background. In this morning\u2019s readings from John\u2019s eye witness account of the good news of Jesus we jump straight into the middle of a conversation between Jesus and the Pharisees.<\/p>\n
To help us to understand what is going on, to find out where this conversation started, we need to go back to the beginning of chapter 9, where we find Jesus meeting and healing a man who had been born blind. This was as big a deal in that time as it would be now, and it is investigated by the religious leaders, the Pharisees. They seem to be more concerned about the fact that in the process of healing him, Jesus made a bit of mud by spitting on the ground and putting this on the man\u2019s eyes, than the fact that he had been healed.<\/p>\n
They weren\u2019t worried that it sounded a bit disgusting, but because Jesus had made mud, had worked, on the Sabbath. In the end they threw out the man who had been healed, after he asserted that only someone who God was with could have healed him.<\/p>\n
Jesus heard about this and went to find the man, to encourage him, and he was still with some of the Pharisees who overheard this conversation and joined in. At the end of chapter 9 Jesus implies that, in contrast to the man who had been healed of his physical blindness, the Pharisees were spiritually blind and would continue to be so because they denied their blindness. And that because of this their guilt remains.<\/p>\n
It is at this point that we picked up the conversation, as Jesus expands on what the Pharisees are guilty of, by using a figure of speech involving various characters \u2013 the thief, the shepherd, the sheep, a gatekeeper, and a stranger.<\/p>\n
In this metaphor it seems to me that Jesus is drawing on at least two Old Testament passages. <\/p>\n
In Isaiah 43 we read.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut now, this is what the Lord says \u2013
\n he who created you, Jacob,
\n he who formed you, Israel:
\n\u2018Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
\n I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
\n2 When you pass through the waters,
\n I will be with you;
\nand when you pass through the rivers,
\n they will not sweep over you.
\nWhen you walk through the fire,
\n you will not be burned;
\nthe flames will not set you ablaze.\u201d<\/p>\n
Here God is the one who calls his people by name, and they follow him, as the sheep follow the good shepherd. This idea matches with other Scriptures like Psalm 23 in which God is described as a shepherd, looking after his people, the flock.<\/p>\n
In Ezekiel 34:<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2018Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: \u201cThis is what the Sovereign Lord says: woe to you shepherds of Israel who only take care of yourselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock?\u201d<\/p>\n
The rest of the chapter is a sharp rebuke and challenge to those that God had called to look after the flock, God\u2019s people, but were more interested in eating the sheep than caring for them, protecting them, feeding them.<\/p>\n
So, the Pharisees should have been good under-shepherds to the Good Shepherd \u2013 God, and they should have opened the gate when the saw the Shepherd coming and prepared the way \u2013 just as John the Baptist had done. But they didn\u2019t, they didn\u2019t recognise that the fact that the people of God were flocking to Jesus because they recognised his voice was evidence that he was the true shepherd, instead they tried to keep the gate closed with all their rules and regulations.<\/p>\n
But they didn\u2019t understand this, they were spiritually blind to the reality of what was happening. <\/p>\n
So Jesus tries again, expanding on the characteristics of the good shepherd, his opposition to those who steal and kill and destroy, what it\u2019s going to cost the good shepherd to defend his flock. Just as we came in after the conversation had already started, so we stopped before hearing the end. If we read on to the end we discover that he still wasn\u2019t fully understood. Some were for him, some against. As is still the case.<\/p>\n
I wonder where you see yourself in this conversation? Some of us have responsibilities of leadership, pastoral care, teaching in the church, and for us the call to be good shepherds who really care for flock are important. All of us, though, are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand as we sing week by week here in the Venite at Morning Prayer. So, it is us that God calls by name, it is that Jesus came so that we may have life, and have it abundantly.<\/p>\n
I wonder what abundant life means for us? I know that many of us live with growing constraints on our lives \u2013 health issues, bereavements, having to stop driving. All of these things might leave us feeling like our lives are becoming less. So what does it mean that Jesus came so that we could have abundant life, at every stage of life, including this one?<\/p>\n
The word translated \u201cabundant\u201d here has a range of meaning \u2013 it means superabundant or superior, beyond in quantity and\/or quality, beyond what is anticipated, exceeding expectation; going past the expected limit.<\/p>\n
So it seems to me that there is a suggestion of life beyond death here. That in Jesus we have life that will go beyond our life on this earth, into eternity with him. In that stage of life we know from other places in the Bible that we will experience God\u2019s presence, that there will be no more doubt or fear, pain or suffering, grief or tears. The things that feel like they limit our lives now will be gone, and we will be free. However, I don\u2019t think that this is all that it means. It\u2019s not just pie in the sky when you die. It is also steak on the plate while we wait. Knowing Jesus does give our lives an extra dimension, depth, richness now.<\/p>\n
I had been thinking about this during the week when I came across a newspaper article by Julian Baggani, an atheist philosopher, in which he questions the tendency in modern life to value activities because of what they do for us, rather than just enjoying them for themselves. <\/p>\n
He points out that this approach to life has even infected the church. He writes, \u201cMost believers hold that worship is a devotional duty rather than a pragmatic means of getting into heaven. Today, however, it is not uncommon to hear even Christians \u2026 pointing to research that, \u201cBeing part of a church community can lengthen life, reduce depression and promote positive mental health.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now, these things might be true, but I think it\u2019s a helpful challenge \u2013 do we come to church because of what we get out of it, or because we gather to worship, to learn, to pray together, to see each other?<\/p>\n
In the conclusion to this article he wrote,<\/p>\n
\u201cLiving life to the full means fully appreciating what life brings, not trying to extract bankable benefits from it.\u201d<\/p>\n
It seems to me that in this, he might be on to something, particularly that first part, \u201cLiving life to the full (or abundantly) means fully appreciating what life brings\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
Or, as I might put it, fully appreciating what God has given us in the life that we are living now. <\/p>\n
So, picking up on one of the themes from Jesus\u2019 metaphor, what are the thieves and robbers that stop us from living life abundantly, from fully appreciating what life does bring, what God has given us?<\/p>\n
Perhaps bitterness at what we have lost, disappointment at expectations that haven\u2019t been met, fear of what might be to come, envy of what others have or are able to do?<\/p>\n
In the face of these, will we continue to trust the Good Shepherd? How do we know that we can trust him, even when life is difficult and doesn\u2019t feel very abundant?<\/p>\n
In our reading from Peter\u2019s letter we heard Peter\u2019s reflections on what it meant for Jesus to lay down his life for the sheep, what if cost Jesus to live out his vocation as the Good Shepherd. We read that Jesus was, insulted, that he suffered, that he bore our sins, that he went to the cross \u2013 that instrument of torture and death. Why did he do all that? He did that for us, for our rescue from death and our release into life, for our healing, to put us back on the right way. He did all this because he is the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls.<\/p>\n
This is where our conversation ends this morning, with that encouragement to remember that God loves us, that he cares for us, that he calls us by name, that he is our Good Shepherd, who has laid down his life for us so that we can live life abundantly, trusting him and following him. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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