Abundant Life

John 10: 1-10

Irondequoit United Church of Christ

May 3, 2020

“I came that they may have life,

and have it abundantly.”

John 10:10

     While I was serving as your missionary in the field, serving in Israel and Palestine, it was expected that during and at the end of my term I would travel around the country and visit UCC Conferences and churches to talk about the work of our mission partner. For three years I was one of New York’s missionaries.

     One summer I was in upstate New York staying in the home of former missionary, Lawrence Gilley, who was our missionary in South Africa for over 30 years. He and his wife now lived near their family and worked on a farm in Deansboro.  One morning he asked me if I wanted to go out and feed the cows. I did not grow up on a farm or even near one, so I naturally thought this meant we needed to bring them food. We set out on foot passed the barn where I thought the food was kept, up to the pasture where the cows were standing around eating grass. He told me he had three pastures. I thought, “How nice.” He told me to wait at the gate and that he would return in a few minutes. Maybe he forgot the food. I thought. He crossed the small field and went to one of the three gates and opened it. I could hear him calling out their names. He and his dog managed to get all the cows out to the pasture. He came back and simply said, “Done.” You see every couple of days the cows were led to a new pasture to eat fresh grass. Former missionary, now farmer, Lawrence Gilley, led his herd literally to greener pastures. This how he fed them. This is how he gave them abundant life. I bookmarked this new knowledge in my brain but also new in my heart I was being given a lesson about the importance of gates. This knowledge has helped shape how I respond to today’s scripture.

            In both our readings today, Psalm 23 and John 10: 1-10, Jesus is identified as the good shepherd, an image that in ancient times was revered and connected to leadership. Hear these words from Ezekiel 34: 14-16.   

I will feed them with good pasture,

and upon the mountain heights of Israel

shall be their pasture;

there they shall lie down in good grazing land,

and on fat pasture

they shall feed on the mountains of Israel.

I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep,

and I will make them lie down, says the Lord God.

I will seek the lost,

and I will bring back the strayed,

and I will bind up the crippled,

and I will strengthen the weak,

and the fat and the strong I will watch over;

I will feed them in justice.

            The shepherd comes in through the gate and goes out first leading the sheep. They recognize his voice and follow. He does not scatter them and keeps an eye out for those that get lost or hurt. Once in Palestine I saw a shepherd helping a sheep give birth to a lamb. After a standing by protectively the shepherd picked up the lamb and put it across his shoulder and then he and the mother sheep rejoined the flock.

             A good shepherd stops at nothing to provide for his sheep. Jesus claims to be what is needed to live: water, bread of life, light of the world, shelter and safety. In our Gospel story, we are told that the sheep will not follow a stranger but will run from him.

Seeing that the Pharisees still did not get what he was saying John adds, “Very truly, I tell you I am the gate for the sheep.” All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them (10:9). Let us pause here. Who are the bandits and sheep, the false prophets, the ones who are claiming leadership, or the truth today? Now before you go to where I think you are going in your minds, I wish to remind you that at one time Protestants were considered bandit shepherds trying to steer the church away from its real home by rejecting Papal authority and supporting the rule of the princes and kings. Others then and now might say people from other religions are the bandits and thieves because they threaten our Christian identity which is closely connected to our understanding of nationhood. Others might say people with political views different from our own are the thieves espousing falsehoods and lies. Easier to follow a shepherd who mouths what we want to hear then the one who calls us by name and who says, “I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved and will come and go out and find pasture” (John 9).  

            In this time of lockdown, sheltering in place orders, it is hard not to see the gate as something that keeps us from getting out, that hinders our freedom of movement, but I invite you this morning to remember the gate also protects and provides safety. It can swing wide also and lead us to greener pastures, better days, abundant life. Does Christ, the gate, keep the flock from corruption by the world or did God so love the world that he gave his son, the gate, to swing open for all, particularly the lost sheep? Does one flock or one fold, mean that all other sheep-- people or religions must be saved by Christ or does it mean that God’s love extends to all so that all may be one?

            Debi Thomas in her essay I am the Gate, invites us to take the text to heart by allowing it to provoke some personal questions. Listen to some of her questions and pay attention to those that are calling you today. Listen to how God’s word is speaking to you today:

• What is it in me that resists the open gate? 
• Where in my life am I walled off, closed to change, averse to movement, risk, freedom, joy? 
• What flock do I belong to, and whose voice do I follow most readily? 
• What calls to me, making seductive promises I shouldn't trust?
• Do I know the shepherd well enough to recognize his call? 
• Am I willing to leave the fold in order to find pasture, or am I too complacent, scared, suspicious, and jaded to pursue abundant life?

            In the coming weeks as the country begins to move towards opening up in the midst of a world- wide pandemic, I invite you to think about these questions. And be assured we will be tempted to close many gates. Many will try to seduce us with false promises of cures and security that have very little to do with Jesus’ call to abundant life. We will need to pray hard about our sheepfold, our flock, about who is our shepherd, our gate.

Merciful God,

who is more than we can imagine,

give us a wider vision of the world;

give us dreams of peace

that are not defined by boundaries of geography

or race or religion,

or by the limitations of worldly structures and systems.

Open our eyes and our ears, that wherever we go,

we may hear your voices calling us by name;

calling us to serve,

calling us to share

calling us to praise

so that we never give up on the promise

of your kingdom

where the world is transformed,

and all can enjoy life

in all its fullness.*

*Prayer from Christian Aid website