Gospel text for Sunday 25 April 2021

 

John 10:11-18        Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own 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 do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”

Reflection       How are we to respond to Jesus’ willingness to lay down his life so that we all may be one? How are we to respond to a leader who does not run away or toss us under the bus when all hell breaks loose and life erupts out of control? I believe the answer is simple (not easy). We must do everything we possibly can to affirm our unity with all people.

Doing everything we possibly can begins with remembering who and whose we are. We understand that all people “are made in the image of God,”  and that “we are free to make choices: to love, to create, to reason, and to live in harmony with creation and with God.” (BCP 845)  Like the Good Shepherd we “have the power to lay our lives down… by our own accord.” In other words, we are free to care for one another. 

Doing everything we possibly can means we respond to Jesus’ call “that we all may be one” by respecting the dignity of every human being and loving our neighbor as ourself. It means we erase the redlines and remove the fences that falsely separate us.  It means doing whatever it takes to insure the assumptions and actions that deny the shared humanity of George Floyd and Dereck Chauvin are dismantled. 

Here I must confess I did not celebrate when I heard the news of Mr. Chauvin’s conviction because one man is dead and another man’s life is destroyed, two families are devastated and our country is divided over who is the trespasser and who the trespassed. 

Yes. Holding a man to account for his actions is imperative and it is not enough to allay the fear of fathers giving their black sons ‘the talk’ about how to protect themselves when confronted by white authority. It is not enough to  quiet the fear of mothers teaching their white daughters how to walk through parking lots and certain places and not be seen as vulnerable. Holding a man to account for his behavior is necessary and not sufficient to transform the consciousness of people who experience one another as threats. 

Secular law holds us accountable for wrongful social behavior.  It judges our up close, personal, blow by blow actions and their consequence. Secular law responds with equivalent retaliation, tit for tat, an eye for an eye.  By contrast, God’s law assumes a hundred thousand feet above the ground perspective. It disarms every appearance of division to declare our shared humanity. In the words of the parable of the Good Shepherd, “so there will be one flock, one shepherd.” 

God’s law demands a reckoning for Mr. Floyd’s killing and Mr. Chauvin’s conviction.  This has nothing to do with counting coup or political advantage. God’s law requires nothing less than the transformation of our individual and collective consciousness.

When we set aside our pride, politics and opinions we are free to rise to the God’s eye point of view.  From the hundred thousand feet above the ground perspective we see that we are “one flock, one shepherd.” With our minds risen to the heights of our hearts we naturally choose to use our freedom to love and live in harmony.  This is the transformation of consciousness God’s law demands as a reckoning for Mr. Floyd’s killing and Mr. Chauvin’s conviction. We must do everything we possibly can to affirm our unity with all people.

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Gospel text for 4th Sunday of Easter 22 April 2018

John 10:11-18        Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own 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 do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”  

Reflection       When we listen carefully to Jesus’ words, “I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the father knows me and I know the father. I lay down my life for the sheep,” we hear him making a three part declaration. The first part of his declaration is; I am the good shepherd. Jesus knows who he is. Second part; Jesus acknowledges the mutual connection of his relationship with those whom he knows and who know him as well as the mutuality of his relationship with God. So the second part of Jesus’ declaration is about connection and belonging. The third part of Jesus’ declaration is about personal responsibility, “I lay down my life for the sheep.” Jesus’ life is not only for him self, it is also for others. He holds his individual life lightly, he does not cling to it.

When we know who we are and claim the mutuality of our relationships in community and in God, we naturally take responsibility for the care of one another,  even though this is risky business, even though it may cost us our life as we know it.

If life is all about me then every one else and everything else is a potential obstacle or problem and it is no wonder we live in a chronic state of anxiety and defensiveness. Viewing the world from this perspective, connection, belonging and community fail. Rather than stand in the way of an active shooter we stand in fear and fail to enter a school to protect endangered children. We spend $16.8 trillion dollars to bail out big banks insuring their CEOs receive their bonuses and fail to feed the 49 million Americans who lack the means to get enough nutritious food each day.* When we view the world exclusively from the ‘its all about me” perspective we fail to show up, connect and take responsibility for our community.The result of doing this, God’s kingdom is not come because God’s kingdom requires all of us in our conjoined humanity.

What then is the solution? We must join Jesus in making our own three part declaration; claiming who we are, acknowledging our connection and belonging, and taking personal responsibility for the good of one another. Here is my declaration. 

I am here. I am wholly present. The actions you can count on me for are creating opportunities for you to be here too. I will notice and affirm God’s presence in and of, with and for you. The difference I now see I can make is making God’s Presence known, making God’s kingdom come. Will you join me in my possibility? Will you join me in taking the risk to stand up for connection, belonging and community? Will you join me in making God’s kingdom come? 

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*https://mashable.com/2016/07/14/child-hunger-united-states/#pp4gMW3PIaqM

Gospel text for Sunday 26 April 2015

John 10:11-18        Jesus said, "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away-- and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own 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 do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”

Reflection     “I am the good shepherd.” This is one of seven “I am” statements attributed to Jesus in John’s gospel. The other six are “I am the Bread of Life” (6:35), I am the Light of the world (8:12), I am the Gate (10:9), I am the Resurrection and Life (11:25), I am the Way, the Truth and the Life (14:6), and I am the True Vine (15:1).

Each one of Jesus’ ‘I am” statements affirms that the Spirit of Jesus, the Christ, is not only with us in our need but also provides for our need.  Jesus, being “the bread of life,” feeds our deepest , spiritual hunger. Jesus, being “the light of the world,” penetrates and transfigures the darkest moments of our lives. Being a “gate,” Jesus is an opening, a portal or a means of access to freedom from whatever restrains or weighs us down. Jesus “the resurrection and the life” replaces our discouragement, despair and doubt with hope in the promise that life does not end with death but is changed.  Jesus, “the way, the truth and the life,” exemplifies the way of being in intimate, loving, dependent relationship with God. Jesus, “the true vine,” reminds us that all of our productivity or fruitfulness arises from our relationship with God so there is no need for anxiety and striving for success. Jesus, the “good shepherd” acknowledges our vulnerability and stops at nothing to care for us. 

This begs the question, how are we to respond to such magnanimity? I believe one way is to live in imitation of Christ, to claim the “I am” statements for ourselves. What would it be like if each of us declared, “I am the bread of life” and then  lived our lives making sure no one around us was lacking?  How might the world be different if each of us proclaimed, “I am the light of the world,” then used our lives to shine hope and spiritual wisdom into the darkest corners of our world?  Can you imagine a world in which every one of us asserted, “I am the gate,” and then did everything we could to assure all people had access to food, shelter, education and healthcare? What if we announced, “I am the resurrection and the life,” and revealed the many deaths and humiliations  we’ve endured that led to new and transformed life for us? Might the world be different if we dared to say, “I am the way, the truth and the life,” then live our lives refusing gossip and destructive behavior in favor of loving and dignifying all people? What if we laid claim to being “the true vine,” intended to pass on all our God given gifts for the greater good? Would the world be different if we found our essence with Jesus, “the good shepherd” and assumed responsibility for the care and protection of widows and orphans, the disabled and disaffected, the hungry, the prisoner, the illegals, even at our own expense?

Do we dare to declare, I am?

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