Seeing and Believing

John 10:19-42
There’s an interesting question raised in our reading from the gospel today. In John 10 we read, “Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?” (John 10:21b). How we answer this question could have significant bearing on our spiritual lives. First of all we should note that query is rhetorical, that it concerns the words that Jesus was speaking when set over and against the works that he was performing. Those who did not accept him as the Son of God doubted his sanity and wondered if he was possessed. But others wondered how someone who was plagued by a demon could perform miracles as Jesus did.

This is the point where the passage becomes particularly relevant for our lives, for in the midst of our spiritual blindness, in the groping about that we sometimes do, seeking a way through the challenges of life, to what do we cling as a source of help? When we become lost or disoriented, what steps do we take to find the way toward home? “Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?” Or to put it another way, can an idol of our own creation really help us to have life and have it abundantly? Can a self-help formula give us the means by which to fulfill our truest humanity in God’s image? Can self-centeredness or a “me first” attitude really lead us where we need to go for health and wellbeing? No, only God can cure this sort of blindness, for only God offers us the truth we need as well as the strength we need to accept it.

This is not to say that God is limited in means by which to help us. God can and does work in innumerable ways to accomplish the divine will. But by the same token, it is this divine will that we must seek if we are to be cured of the spiritual blindness that clouds our living. Only when we allow God to open our eyes will we truly see.

Prayer: Lord, give us eyes with which to see your work in our world and in our lives, that we may respond in faithful obedience to the call you have set before us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

The Real Voice

John 10:1-18

In our gospel reading for today Jesus uses the image of the good shepherd when discussing his identity with the crowds. "'When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them,' Jesus says, 'and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.' Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them" (John 10:4-6). What an interesting bit of comparison. Jesus explains that the people of God will recognize the Son of God the way that sheep recognize the voice of their shepherd. But the crowds to whom Jesus is speaking don't understand. In other words Jesus' voice is unfamiliar to them. It borders on comedy as Jesus tries more than once to explain the parable to his listeners... and they still don't get it.

There is much that we could make of this but my question today has to do with listening and recognizing. Jesus' audience may have thought they were paying attention to him, but in truth they were not. And how could they recognize his voice if they weren't willing to really listen? Then again, how can we fully appreciate the word of God in our own lives if we are not willing to listen? We may believe that we are paying attention, but are we? Or do we let the sounds of our sinful inclination draw our attention away from God? When the good shepherd speaks are we ready to follow, or are we left scratching our heads in confusion?

The good news is that there is a shepherd, and there is a word from the Lord. We still have the opportunity to listen to what God is saying, and the more we listen the more attuned to God's will we become. Like any other skill listening takes practice and it takes patience. But if we are to be who God has called us to be we need to open our ears. How else will we recognize the right voice?

Prayer: God of love and mercy, continue to speak to us so that we may hear and understand. In the name of Jesus the good shepherd. Amen.

The Good, the Bad, and the Sheep

Jeremiah 25:30-38

John 10:1-18

“Wail, you shepherds, and cry out; roll in ashes, you lords of the flock, for the days of your slaughter have come –– and your dispersions, and you shall fall like a choice vessel. Flight shall fail the shepherds, and there shall be no escape for the lords of the flock. Hark! the cry of the shepherds, and the wail of the lords of the flock!” (Jeremiah 25:34-36).

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep….I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me…And I lay down my life for the sheep” (John 10:11, 14-15).

It’s hard to believe that each of these passages is talking about shepherds. How different the descriptions are! According to Jeremiah judgment is about to befall those leaders who have done wrong in God’s sight. Indeed, they will wail and cry but flight will not help them. Their slaughter is about to fall upon them. But John speaks in radically divergent terms. There we read Jesus’ claim to be the “good shepherd” who will “lay down (his) life for the sheep.” The mark of Jesus’ righteousness is that he will give his life for the flock while the leaders of Jeremiah’s day were unwilling to lead the people in the paths that God desired.

When Jesus takes on the title “good shepherd” he is speaking with intentionality. What went on before was not God’s will. But now, in the person of God’s Son, all will be set right. Those who seek God will need only to hear the voice of Jesus to know that he is the Way. As a part of God’s flock we should rejoice for the good shepherd has come to lead us in right paths.

Prayer: Lord, help us to follow the good shepherd who lays down his life for us, and may we live as righteous people all our days. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Heaven's Gate

Genesis 28:10-22

John 10:7-17

It is interesting to me how the reading from both Genesis and John make use of the gate as an important image. Jacob sleeps at Bethel and dreams of angels ascending and descending a ladder. “And he was afraid,” reads Genesis, “and said, ‘How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven’” (Genesis 28:17). Jacob was so overwhelmed by the presence of the divine that he understood himself to be at the doorway to God’s court. How awesome indeed. But the experience, while profound, frightened him. “I am the gate,” Jesus says in John’s gospel. “Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture” (John 10:9). Here Jesus uses the image of the gate much differently. Far from an awe inspiring experience, Jesus offers peace, security, and hope to those who believe in him and enter into God’s coming reign through him.

At first we might be put off by the difference in the way that each reading uses the idea of a gate. Is it the cusp of the divine and therefore a place of holy awe and fear? Or is it an entrance into what God desires for us? Of course the answer is yes to both. Fear before God is always an appropriate attitude, by which I mean to regard with reverence and awe, as one dictionary puts it. This is not a horror movie, but a revelation of what and who God is, and God deserves our full attention, our full respect, a quiet seriousness. But what God wants for us is better seen as a sheep fold, a place of safety and community, of mutual love and support. Jesus offers that to us to accept in faith.

As we begin 2011 and look ahead to the challenges it holds, we should remember to live with reverent awe for who God is and what God is doing, but to also accept with joy the peace and security that Jesus offers to his followers, if not in this life, then absolutely in the life to come.

Prayer: Lord, may we live in that space between reverence and joy, the place where you have called us as your people. In Jesus’ name. Amen.