4th Sunday of Easter 2009
May 3, 2009
the Rev. Ken Kroohs
(Acts 5:4-9; Ps. 23, ist John 3:16-24; John 10:11-18)
St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church, High Point, NC
MAY THE WORDS OF MY MOUTH ... AND THE MEDITATIONS OF ALL OUR HEARTS ... BE ALWAYS ACCEPTABLE TO YOU --- OUR STRENGTH AND OUR REDEEMER AMEN
When I first looked at the scripture for this week I thought it would be easy week. So many good thoughts to discuss, not the least of which is Jesus' comment about people in “other flocks”. But then I really began studying the scripture this turned out to be one of the most difficult sermons to pull together in many months.
The reason for the difficulty is that we are presented with two very different pictures of the Christian life.
Now I am a believer that most human characteristics fall along a range, or a spectrum. Some people are extreme introverts and some extreme extroverts but most of us are somewhere in the middle. Some people are dreamers and some are doers but most people are some of both. So when we look at these extreme ideals for Christian life we probably can assume they are just that --- extremes. But to assume we should not be seeking to reach each – both extremes – is probably wrong. Somehow, I am not sure how, but somehow we are called to life at both ends of the extreme at the same time.
Let's look first at the gospel and the psalm. “The Lord is my shepherd” …. one of the most common images in scripture for the relationship between God and human beings …. God as the shepherd which makes us the sheep.
This past week I happened to have dinner one night with a couple who had been 4H parents. In that role they raised sheep and we chuckled about this image. You see, being called a sheep is NOT a compliment! By any stretch, this is not a compliment. Sheep are basically extremely dumb animals. And interestingly the 23rd psalm even says so!
“The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures” --- without a shepherd a sheep is not likely to find “green pastures” – food. Sheep without a shepherd could starve – if they lived that long.
“He leadth me beside still waters” – because if I wander toward turbulent waters I am likely to drown.
In the gospel Jesus speaks about the shepherd protecting the flock from the wolves. The shepherd had to because besides being fairly dumb, sheep are one of the most defenseless animals in the world. When a predator attacks the sheep they are too slow to run, and have no teeth, claws, or horns to defend themselves. If I am a sheep in the flock my only defense is to hope the wolf is full before he reaches me!
When God says: “I am good shepherd – you are sheep” we are not being complimented. What God is saying there is that we can have complete confidence and faith in God's protection BUT also, that we NEED God's protection. …...... And we don't like that.
We don't like to think we are completely dependent on God. We don't like to admit that God provided all we have. We like to talk about how hard we worked for what we have and give God a bit … a tiny bit of the credit – no more. We will speak about our hard work, our talents, our efforts but seldom admit that all of that ultimately comes from God.
We are the sheep bragging about the green grass we found without admitting God lead us to the pasture!
And rather than seeing God as the shepherd who is protecting us we would rather see God as the swimming pool life guard ---- while we are Michael Phelps! God is the swimming pool life guard and we acknowledge his presence but never expect to use his services.
If we bother to study and reflect on this image of our life as Christians --- this ideal of our Christian life we find a very calm, essentially passive existence being offered. We are to go through life simply following God's instructions with no fears about danger. After all, Jesus is the good shepherd who will lay down His life to protect us.
I suspect most of us don't HATE that image …. we don't hate it because we cannot get into enough to have such strong feelings. I suspect most of us simply reject that image of Christian life ---- reject it even though it is the most common image God uses in scripture. … Back to it in a moment but first let's look at the other extreme.
This other extreme is one where I am much more comfortable. I like the Book of James and the 1st Letter of John picks up some of the same thinking. In both we go from the extremity of passiveness to the extremity of dying for other people. …. We go from the extremity of just drifting through life as God provides everything to the extremity of being responsible for providing everything. …. We go from the extremity of depending completely on God to the extremity of God depending on us.
“How does God's love abide in anyone who has the world's goods, and sees a brother or sister in need yet refuses help?”
I really wanted to focus only on that statement. I really, really wanted to focus on it. But I kept sliding back to the sheep image. I keep sliding back to the image of a Christian being dependent on God.
These two images are not mutually exclusive. After all, if we have the world's goods we have them because God provided them. But the sense of active ministry verses passive acceptance is fairly distinct.
I believe we are told to be sheep. We are told to depend completely and totally on God. Watch throughout our services from the next couple weeks how often we speak about God's glory but how seldom --- never --- we speak about our glory.
MAYBE the greater challenge even then accepting our dependence on God is giving God the credit. Understand that I firmly believe it is acceptable to take credit for doing what God tells us to do. I believe it is acceptable to take credit for properly using the resources God provides. But, it is not acceptable to take credit for the results. Taking credit for doing our job – OK – but knowing that ultimately the credit goes to God is essential --- and very difficult.
We have just not been trained that way. We have been trained that you “get what you deserve” … “work hard enough and you can get anything” Those are very American ideas, and not God-centered ideas.
The funny thing is how the sheep image becomes a very comforting image. When we combine the sheep image with the instruction that we should lay down our lives for one another --- we actually reach a surprisingly comfortable place. Put together they tell us to do what we can … but don't take responsibility for the outcome.
Any good therapist tells someone at least once a day that they can only be responsible for their own actions. They cannot be responsible for the actions of other people. … Like lots of good advice we can take that too far, but taken seriously it is right on. I should acknowledge that my treatment of a person may influence their actions but ultimately their actions are their choice.
In a similar way, we can only take responsibility for our actions … the results are seldom ours to decide. I don't mean that God may fail, or change plans or anything like that. But I do mean that seldom are we the only person involved. We can only be responsible for our role and can take comfort that the ultimate result is out of our hands.
We can also take comfort in the sense that God will provide … green pastures, still waters, safety. God will provide. In linking that with 1st John the comfort comes from knowing that if God wants it done, God will provide. That is not a cop out to avoid working on something! But it does suggest that a lack of progress might mean something other than our own failure.
One of the servant leadership school models I mentioned a couple weeks ago stresses this point. When they are going to begin an activity they ask themselves what resources, what gifts from God are necessary. Until those gifts are present they do not begin. They work under the belief that when God is ready, God will provide. They are very comfortable and peaceful with that …. and I envy them a great deal!
I envy them because I am a lousy sheep. As I studied this passage I was reminded of the story Jesus told about the shepherd leaving the 99 to search for the lost 1 --- and I could hear Jesus saying: “got to go looking --- Kroohs wandered off again!”
I am a lousy sheep and I suspect I am not the only one. You see in some ways it comes back to our training that “we get what we deserve” … “we earn what we get”. A sheep does not live that way. If we depend on God, then we are not earning anything. If we depend on God we have to acknowledge that what God gives us is undeserved and unearned. If we depend on God we acknowledge that ----- we depend on God.
If we depend on God --- we are not earning anything. …. A really scary thought.
AMEN
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