Loading...Oh, wouldn’t it be fabulous if we lived and worshiped
in a world like our first reading from Acts describes?
Followers of Jesus devoted to prayer, worship,
sharing with one another,
giving away excess to help the poor and needy,
giving thanks to God,
eating together, and enjoying fellowship.
Well, I know we already do those last two things really well!
In this little snapshot that could be entitled
“Active Life [not ‘Still Life’] of the Early Christian Church”,
Luke has painted a group of people who all share and follow teachings and pray together, and who don’t fight or disagree with one another and upon whom the world at large look benignly and don’t bother.
It looks great and we might think to recapture the moment,
to create “Acts 2 congregations”.
You might even wonder to yourself:
What would our life as a congregation look like if we lived in such a world?
We wouldn’t have to work hard at loving one another despite differences or arguments.
HA! There wouldn’t be any arguments!
We’d have worshipers and new members in every pew!
We wouldn’t have to worry about money.
But – ah – you and I both know that we are imperfect people
in an imperfect world
where good intentions get sidetracked
where conflicts arise
and where “thieves and bandits” break in.
When we stop a moment and think about the picture that Luke paints for us of the community in Acts, you might say to yourself,
“Hmmm, this looks a little too ideal!”
I’d hazard to guess that Luke – yes the same Luke who wrote the Gospel – didn’t live in a fantasy land or in his imagination.
It’s much more likely that there was infighting and squabbling,
hurt feelings, ego, and pride,
and even those who didn’t really want to share
because, dagnabbit!, they worked hard for what they had!!
After all, just keep reading in Acts
or in some of the letters written to other Christian communities
and you’ll find all of these human realities.
At the same time that Luke knew what the reality of community life was,
he wrote down this idealized version of how the early followers of Jesus were because maybe he wanted to focus on
the exuberant mood of this new movement and
the powerful and awesome work of the Spirit in their midst.
He didn’t want to remind them of
or give any more power to
the thieves and bandits who break in to steal the sheep
or cause dissent or confusion.
When Jesus is talking to his disciples and followers in John’s gospel he often speaks in “figures of speech”. Sometimes his figures are so confusing even for the disciples who’ve been following him that they don’t get it and Jesus tries again – with different figures, images, and metaphors.
In today’s portion of John’s gospel,
Jesus is a gatekeeper and the gate/door.
Of course, Jesus isn’t literally those things,
but they are metaphors to help us understand the love and care and protection that God through Jesus shows us.
In particular, Jesus is telling all of his followers that as shepherd, he is trustworthy unlike the thieves and bandits who sneak in the back way or over the fence,
those who wile their way into the group only to disrupt, scatter,
or steal the followers.
Who, or what, could these thieves and bandits be
that Jesus is metaphorically referring to?
The Jewish leaders of the time – Pharisees, scribes, priests? Maybe.
But, since the gospel of John was written 80-90 years after Jesus’ crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension and long after those early Christian communities had formed,
Jesus’ words of thieves and bandits may have also indicted some early Christian leaders who –
as some of the letters of Paul (Philippians, Corinthians, Galatians) show – were more interested in prestige, power, and ego than in sharing God’s grace.
Jesus could have also been pointing ahead in time.
After all, I’m pretty sure we have all been a part of churches where leadership seems to have gone astray from the centrality of hope and grace, and of God’s radical love for all people.
But, I wonder if Jesus might have also been pointing to
the “thieves and bandits” that WE might be ourselves.
I suspect – in part because this is how I catch myself thinking sometimes – that, all too often,
we think of our resources – time, money, energy – as a pie graph:
•This much of the time pie for work/school, this much for kids sports, this much for travel, this much for work around the house;
•or, this much of the money pie for mortgage/rent, this much for food, this much for health care, and, oh no!, someone needs braces this year!
We can “thieve and bandit” ourselves away
with the sense that there’s just not enough of the pie to go around.
We can even convince ourselves that God’s pie is finite
and not big enough,
and that there may not be enough pie (aka forgiveness, love, grace)
to go around.
So, we think, I’ll have to work harder to earn God’s love, or
I’ll have to help God by passing judgment on who is
“deserving” enough to receive some of God’s pie.
Those insidious thieves and bandits steal our hope.
The steal the grace we’ve been offered freely
and they steal the mercy that God has
so that we either don’t feel hope, grace, or mercy,
or, we think they are scarce and must be saved or hidden.
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.
I came that you may have life, and have it abundantly”
When Jesus says these words to us,
they are like balm or salve on our brokenness.
When we hear this good news from Jesus,
we no longer need to feel the guilt and shame, failure and loss that we might have wrapped ourselves in.
Instead, when we hear this good news,
we are healed and hopeful;
we are whole and joyful again – dancing in the aisles.
It is easy to feel discouraged:
there may be one huge event in your life that’s weighing you down,
or, there may be a series of smaller events that feel like they’re crushing.
It’s also easy to feel scarcity, as if there’s just not enough to go around.
After all, look around in our society
at the vast differences of income and the pervasiveness of debt.
Plus, you may know the temptation to compare self to the “Joneses”. You might also feel the need to point out all the things
that you do that take up all of your time!
I want to remind you –
with no words of judgment
nor any desire that your guilt or shame increase! –
that you are beloved just as you are
just as you sit in this place with whatever you have on your hearts and minds.
So, all that sense of scarcity or self-judgment, or prejudice, or spitefulness, or whatever...
All those thieves and bandits that have snuck in over the fence,
through the window, or in the back door to steal your hope?
What happens to them?
They are tossed out by Christ, for they cannot win the day.
The Good Shepherd doesn’t keep track of how you have kept up,
or exhausted yourself trying.
But, gives you rest and comfort and safety.
The Good Shepherd doesn’t keep a tally of the times you think you might have failed.
But gives you courage and energy and hope.
Our Good Shepherd never has and never will
hold any of your perceived failures against you.
Our Good Shepherd wants you to hear this instead:
“I am here that you may have life – and that you may have it abundantly.”
Live in hope, with joy, and in the community of others who follow and support one another in God’s grace.
Amen
