We All Need Some Protection

I spend too much time on Facebook – at least that’s what Lois tells me. One of the things that becomes increasingly clear is that people today are frightened and that in our fear we tend to lash out at anyone we think might make our problems worse.

Governments have taken extreme measures in response to the pandemic sweeping the globe, and at least some of us lash out at the government. Others lash out at those who protest the actions taken by local and federal authorities. One person says that the authority figure is a bad person – greatly to be feared, and another replies that the protestor is a bad person – greatly to be feared.

Underlying the protests and the anger are fears that we all share. Will our lives ever be the same again? Will our economies survive? Will our children and our grandchildren have a good world to live in? These fears are rational, and we take them seriously. Real problems exist. The anger and accusations, however, are often irrational, and we need to set them aside. The trouble is, we still need to deal with the real dangers that lie beneath our fears. This task gives our context for reading our passages this morning. Hear them again with me.

John 10

There are at least three contexts for us to keep in mind as we listen to the text from John 10: The original context in which Jesus spoke; the context within which John wrote; and our own context as we read today.

The original context. Often, when we speak to someone, we have more than one audience in mind. The primary audience here are the Pharisees; the disciples are the secondary audience. Jesus tells the Pharisees that they are false shepherds – thieves and robbers. He is also reassuring his disciples that he is the way to life for them and for all who come to him.

The people of Jesus’ time lived in a society full of uncertainty and anxiety. There were political parties who promised to save people: the Sadducees and the Zealots were two such parties – the former advocated complete compliance with the political authorities, and the latter advocated complete rebellion. Jesus says, “You’re both wrong. Your efforts lead to destruction: ‘The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.’” There were also spiritual parties who claimed that they could save the people: the Pharisees and the Essenes were two such parties – the former emphasized Torah Law with their guidance, while the latter took holiness even further and insisted on even greater ritual purity. Jesus rejects their efforts as well.

To the Pharisees, Jesus said that he was the gate through which any such party would enter, if they really meant to help the people of Israel – the sheep of God’s sheepfold. To the disciples, Jesus said that safety and security were found only in him, not in any other religious or political group or program.

The larger text in John 10 includes these words (v. 17f): “The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.” A basic point in Jesus’ words is this prediction of his own death, which is the true way of salvation for the world.

The Writer’s Context. John wrote these words many years later. My own guess is that he wrote the gospel near the end of his life, perhaps 50 years or so after the events. I believe that John, the writer, is the same John who was Jesus’ disciple – “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” You might call this book “the gospel of love” – but I get ahead of myself. He had thought about these events all his life. He had told the stories many times, and the details were clear in his mind. John lived in Ephesus and probably wrote his gospel down in that city, on the coast of modern Turkey, within the Roman Empire of his day. The island of Patmos was not far away in the Aegean Sea.

Just as there had been when Jesus walked this earth, there were significant dangers facing the early church as John wrote his gospel. Some years before (in the mid-60s), Nero had struck out against Christians, leading to the executions of the apostles Peter and Paul. As John was writing, a new Emperor controlled people’s lives, the Emperor Domitian. This is the same period in which the book of Revelation was written, and we can see behind the gospel record the same awareness of those who would indeed seek to “steal and kill and destroy” the church.

In this context of persecution, many parties promised salvation. Some advocated collaborating with Rome, even if it meant going against faith in Christ. Others wanted to fight against Rome. Some offered new religious answers, saying that they alone knew the special spiritual meanings of the teachings of Jesus. Some said that Jesus was not really the Son of God and that they could tell you what God really wanted everyone to do.

To all of them, John says clearly: Jesus is the gate by which a true shepherd comes in. Indeed, Jesus is the true Shepherd. If your answer to the problems of life does not go through Jesus, the Son of God, you are an impostor, and we should not listen to you. Jesus is the Messiah, the Chosen One of God; all other “saviours” are impostors.

Our Context Today. As I said at the beginning, we also face real dangers today – political, economic, and spiritual. Although many of us have lived relatively safe lives, this year, our world has been turned upside down by the corona virus, and many now experience trouble much like the days when Jesus walked in Palestine and the days when John taught as an old man in Ephesus. Such times bring out the usual constellation of people and movements who think they can save us. We have economic saviours and political saviours. We have religious saviours and psychological saviours. I’m not interested in analysing them this morning: We don’t need to argue politics or psychology as part of the sermon. I am interested, however, in one characteristic they all share: They tell us that they and they alone can save us.

John reminds them and us of Jesus: “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.” Whatever our political views and whatever our economic plans, salvation and real life comes only through Jesus. We’ll explore what that means after we consider the Old Testament reading.

Psalm 23

Psalm 23 is perhaps the best beloved passage in all Scripture. In the old Mennonite Hymnal, the psalm appears four times in the space of five hymns in four different arrangements!

¹ The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want for anything. ² He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, ³ he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.

⁴ Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. ⁵ You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

⁶ Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

One notes that the psalmist lacks nothing even in the darkest valley, even when surrounded by enemies. This is a Psalm for troubled times. It has one clear theme: That “the Lord”, the Ruler of the Universe, is on our side. The Psalm never suggests eliminating the problems or the surrounding enemies. This is not a good text for the prosperity gospel! “Goodness and love” follow the faithful every day – not just when times are good, but also when times are hard; not just when the sun shines, but also when storms gather and threaten to sweep us away.

In this Psalm, we hear a foretaste of Jesus’ words promising safety and peace to his disciples. Safety and peace are found only in belonging to the Lord, who is the true shepherd. The figure of the shepherd is often identified with the king in the Old Testament; here “my shepherd” is God, the true king of Israel. There is no substitute for faith in God.

Synthesis

We return now to the question I hinted at a bit ago: What does it mean to come to trust in God alone (as Psalm 23 calls us to do)? What does it mean to rely on Jesus as the true Shepherd (as John 10 calls us to do)? It is not enough to say, “I believe in Jesus.” That is a necessary first step, but it must be acted on and lived out in concrete terms. What then does it mean?

A Tangent: We could talk about how we find protection and safety – what it means to “rest in God’s presence” and be in the sheepfold. “Be still and know that I am God” is a basic step in knowing God’s love and peace. I am asking, “Once we do that, what do we become? How do we act?” Not, how do we find peace, but how do we live when we have received peace from the true Shepherd?

John, the writer of the gospel and the disciple of Jesus, was clear about what he thought this means. In John 13, he recalls Jesus’ words: “Love each other as I have loved you. This is how people will know that you are my disciples.” In John 17, he recalls the way Jesus prayed for unity in the garden, preceding his crucifixion. In 1 John 2, he writes, “⁴ Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. ⁵ But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them.”

John’s letters are full of exhortations to love. Among many other verses, I refer to just one more set of verses, in 1 John 4:

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. ¹⁷ This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. ¹⁸ There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. ¹⁹ We love because he first loved us. ²⁰ Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. ²¹ And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.

It is clear that at least so far as John is concerned, we show our faith in God by living lives of love – love for God and love for all people around us, love “for the household of faith” and also for every person in the world.

So What?

I began the sermon with memories of Facebook conversations about the Corona Virus. As I reflect on the fear all around us, I am reminded that Jesus promises protection; and we all need protection. I am reminded that Jesus promises safety to those who come in through the gate, that is through him; and we all need safety. Jesus tells us that no one else can offer safety and life. These are available only in and through Jesus.

Many Christians would agree with me that far, but I am pushing the point further. Responding to people in love means that I do not attack them. I do not suggest that my “enemies” are bad people who want to destroy me. I treat them always with respect and concern for their good. This is harder than it sounds. In times of distress, people often attack others indiscriminately.

Families know this truth. When a parent refuses a child’s request for something that would be bad for the child, the child may respond with an angry “I hate you!” Yet the parent knows that the outburst represents frustration rather than rejection. A good parent responds with love, not with an attack in return. The point is that when someone attacks us, we respond in love – even as parents do to their children and as Jesus has done for us.

Jesus wants us to embody love and care for the people around us. In the political arena, danger leads us to divide and attack. Jesus says, “Love each other as I have loved you.” In the business arena, danger and the threat of failure leads us to fight for our lives. Jesus says, “Love each other as I have loved you.” In all of our relationships, danger leads us to be suspicious of each other; Jesus says, “Love each other as I have loved you.”

Conclusion

You will have to work out for yourselves what this means in practical terms. The sort of thing I remember is how I felt in one of my job interviews as a pastor. I felt as though the board interviewing me treated me unfairly, and I told my bishop about it. He reminded me that the community makes these decisions and we can trust them to do what is right under the Holy Spirit’s guidance. He was right. Several of the board members who interviewed me are personal friends, and I know that they were seeking to do what was best for the church. I’m reminded of the old BIC Bishop who went to a particularly contentious conference. Afterwards, his son asked him what he thought of the decisions made there. He replied, “I don’t like what they did, but I trust the Brethren.” That is the response of love. When we to the true Shepherd, we follow his desires in our lives, and we live in faith and love for all people around us.

Steinbach Mennonite Church

3 May 2020

Psalm 23

A Psalm of David.

¹ The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. ² He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters, ³ he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.

⁴ Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. ⁵ You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

⁶ Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

John 10: 1-10

The Good Shepherd and His Sheep

10 “Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. ² The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. ³ The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. ⁴ When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. ⁵ But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” ⁶ Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them.

⁷ Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. ⁸ All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. ⁹ I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. ¹⁰ The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

·         Focus statement: Everyone needs help, but where we get it from and what we use it for is what matters most.

·         Thought provoking question: Where do you turn for help with the current pandemic, and what do you do with the help you receive?

·         Going Deeper Questions:

1) What are some of the sources of help you see people around us turning to in crisis?

2) What are the beneficial and negative effects of the help we receive?

3) How can we respond to fear and anxiety in life-giving ways, so that we grow stronger, not weaker?