The Gospel for the Fourth Sunday of Easter (May 2, 2004)
John 10:22-30 It was the time of the feast of Dedication in Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was in the Temple walking up and down in the Portico of Solomon. The Jews gathered round him and said, ‘How much longer are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us openly.’ Jesus replied: I have told you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name are my witness; but you do not believe, because you are no sheep of mine. The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life; they will never be lost and no one will ever steal them from my hand. The Father, for what he has given me, is greater than anyone, and no one can steal anything from the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.-- The New Jerusalem Bible. 1995, c1985. Doubleday: Garden City, N.Y.
A Study Jesus was saying "Stone me if you don't believe me. I dare you," when he said, "The Father and I are one." Under the Law, a man who proclaimed himself to be [a] God was guilty of blasphemy. Absent the Romans, the blasphemer was dragged before the priests and condemned. The Romans, on the other hand, had little sympathy for the rants and raves of the opposing Jews, and to keep them needy, were more likely to say "Go away," than to carry out an execution for what to them seemed silliness.
What they needed him to say was that he was indeed the Christ. Then they would have him. Claiming to be the Annointed One was tantamount to claiming kingship of Israel, and that was a political offense which might get the Romans' attention and finally rid Palestine of this pesky fellow.
Jesus was exceptionally good at tantalizing his opponents when they were testing him. He was well-served in his use of parable, ambiguous response, double entendre, and simile, for he kept his opponents on the edge of victory, but never gave it to them. At the same time, he showed all those who were being trampled by the religious elite of the Temple that they were being walked on by paper tigers.
One sentence buried in this selection holds out great promise for us:
I give them eternal life; they will never be lost and no one will ever steal them from my hand. (John 10:28)
His followers will transition from this life into the next, best life;
they will always have him and his commands to lead them; and
he will keep them as his own.
So simple, so elegant, and so powerful: this is the real Jesus.
A Reflection Later during this Hannukah celebration (aka the Feast of Lights, or the Feast of the Dedication), Jesus will describe himself as the light of the world.
The lights in this festival refer to the sacred lamps re-kindled in the Temple on its purification and re-dedication after the successful revolt of Judas Maccabaeus against foreign occupiers in 170-164BC. The legend is that only one cruet of properly sanctified oil could be found for all the candelabra in the Temple. Yet, the lamps burned for eight days on fuel that should have lasted only one day.
John, of course, was always delighted to make spiritual connections in his writings, and the implications tying the defeat of outside irreligious opponents, the miraculous lights, the finding of the one sanctified cruet, the re-dedication of the place of worship -- all of these parallels to the course of Jesus' life were too good to pass up. Further, Solomon's portico was where the learned rabbis walked back and forth with their students, teaching and inspiring them.
It is likely that there were among the Jews talking with Jesus both friend and foe alike. But we are left with the feeling, based on Jesus' response, that he was replying to those who wished him evil, not to friends with whom he could speak clearly.
Yet Jesus played these opponents as a great violinist can make a common fiddle sound glorious. The lesson he teaches is that we are called to remain engaged with those who oppose us, loving them as Christ loves us. Remaining engaged does not require agreeing, but it does require listening with an ear to understanding. It does not mean that we must like them, but we must love even the faintest glimmer of Christ in them.
Matthew 4:18-25 As he was walking by the Lake of Galilee he saw two brothers, Simon, who was called Peter, and his brother Andrew; they were making a cast into the lake with their net, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, ‘Come after me and I will make you fishers of people.’ And at once they left their nets and followed him. Going on from there he saw another pair of brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John; they were in their boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. And at once, leaving the boat and their father, they followed him. He went round the whole of Galilee teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing all kinds of disease and illness among the people. His fame spread throughout Syria, and those who were suffering from diseases and painful complaints of one kind or another, the possessed, epileptics, the paralysed, were all brought to him, and he cured them. Large crowds followed him, coming from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judaea and Transjordan.
A Study Preaching, teaching, and healing. That's how Jesus started his ministry among us. And he chose fishermen to be his helpers, strong and patient men in their work ethic, accustomed to working all night with no results. These were ordinary, imperfect human beings with little -- if any -- education.
It is likely that Jesus knew all of them from having walked the shore and talked with people, perhaps even before beginning his ministry. Some of them are reported to have been John's disciples. And Galilee was ripe for Jesus' style of ministry.
Jesus purposefully attracted attention to himself. He wanted to achieve a degree of notice that would allow him to deliver his message to a large number of the kind of people who would act on it.
A Reflection Those of us called to ministry are just like those first four of the apostles: we're all imperfect. Beyond that, each is given gifts to use or abuse. The fact that Jesus took ordinary people needs to sit at the top of our understanding: He does not call only the holy, only the righteous, only the talented or skillful; He calls us all, each in her or his own degree of likeness to the Father.
Bureaucratic churches are coming around to the realization that Christ's mission is accomplished not on Sunday, but on all seven days, and not through clergy alone, but mostly through the laiety. Some hierarchies see it more quickly than others. And some local instantiations of those hierarchies really get it -- while others are cold fish on ice.
In a study group the other night, we Episcopalians in a brand new parish were wondering what it is about mega-churches that makes them so attractive.
Until the early 20th century, people were expected to belong to a church or synagogue. And they were expected to attend by cultural norm. The idea of not going to church on Sunday or Shabbat never crossed anyone's mind. The concept of Sabbath was enforced by governments, if not its correct day of the week: the so-called "Blue Laws." People were baptized, married, and buried in the same building, routinely.
This isn't Kansas anymore, is it, Dorothy?
God is not competing in the marketplace, it is the cultural institutions of churches that are competing for people's time. If people find the time spent valuable, they will spend more time there. Otherwise, market forces prevail. I need to think more about what PerCept Data shows about our region, that people stay in congregations overwhelmingly because of the recreational opportunities!
