[greetings –
great to be back here St. Augustine’s by-the-Sea, Santa Monica]
In this
morning’s Gospel lesson from John, Jesus is being confronted by religious
leaders during a celebration (Hanukkah) in which observant Jews remember the
heroic faith of their ancestors (Maccabees) who reclaimed Jerusalem and
rededicated the temple that had been desecrated by Greek conquerors two
centuries earlier. Understandably, the
people confronting Jesus in the portico of the temple want to know if this
charismatic guy from the rural country presumes to be the messianic leader who
will reclaim Jerusalem from the now Roman occupiers.
There’s
something beguiling about them putting such emphasis on words in order
to grasp the truth about God’s love in action among us. And, Jesus knows this.
Although he
will use words to help people understand his identity and intentions, he is
aware how words can be misused and can mislead.
Rather than merely explaining what sort of messiah he is (which was a challenging
paradigm shift given the prevailing messianic expectations of his time), he has
been demonstrating what true ‘kingdom’ salvation is (beyond nationalistic or
tribal restoration) when the rules of righteousness and laws of love are truly
fulfilled through actions rather than words.
Jesus has
been preaching pretty plainly about positions and roles in the kingdom of God through
focusing on restorative relationships among divinely beloved and blessed people
previously separated by ideological presumptions. When Jesus does testify to the truth with
words, he prefers using parables that require active inquisitive communal
engagement to fully comprehend – again, emphasizing that working through new relationships
together is how we will come to know the truth about God’s desire for us to be
reconciled as a family.
To those who
want to know his identity and mission, Jesus responds with, “I have told you…the works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me”; essentially
saying “hey what more do I need to tell you with my mouth; I’ve been
showing you with my living everything you need to know about me and how to
realize the kingdom of God at hand.”
How are we
telling people plainly through our living who we are in Christ’s name and what this
church thing is all about? About what
truth do our works testify?
Consider this
more contemporary parable that says something about the perils of speaking
about our faith within the walls of the church (our temple) without telling it
through action in the community (God’s vineyard):
Parable of the
Lifesaving Station: On a dangerous seacoast
where shipwrecks often occur, there was once a crude little life-saving
station. The building was just a hut, and there was only one boat, but the few
devoted members kept a constant watch over the sea, and with no thought for
themselves went out day and night tirelessly searching for those who were lost.
Some of those who were saved and various others in the surrounding area wanted
to become associated with the station and gave of their time, money, and effort
to support its work. New boats were bought and new crews trained. The little
lifesaving station grew.
Some of the members of the lifesaving station were unhappy that the building
was so crude and poorly equipped. They felt that a more comfortable place
should be provided as the first refuge of those saved from the sea. They
replaced the emergency cots with beds and put better furniture in the enlarged
building.
Now the lifesaving
station became a popular gathering place for its members, and they decorated it
beautifully because they used it as a sort of club. Fewer members were now
interested in going to sea on life-saving missions, so they hired lifeboat
crews to do this work. The lifesaving motif still prevailed in the club’s
decorations, and there was a liturgical lifeboat in the room where the club’s
initiations were held.
About this time a large
ship wrecked off the coast, and the hired crews brought in boatloads of cold,
wet, and half-drowned people. They were dirty and sick. The beautiful new club
was in chaos. So the property committee immediately had a shower house built
outside the club where victims of shipwrecks could be cleaned up before coming
inside.
At the next meeting,
there was a split among the club membership. Most of the members wanted to stop
the club’s lifesaving activities as being unpleasant and a hindrance to the
normal social life of the club. Some members insisted upon life-saving as their
primary purpose and pointed out that they were still called a life-saving
station. But they were finally voted down and told that if they wanted to save
the lives of all the various kinds of people who were shipwrecked in those
waters, they could begin their own lifesaving station. So they did.
As the years went by, the new station experienced the same changes that had
occurred in the old. It evolved into a club, and yet another lifesaving station
was founded. History continued to repeat itself, and if you visit that seacoast
today, you will find a number of exclusive clubs along that shore. Shipwrecks
are frequent in those waters, but most of the people drown.
We can talk
about our doctrines and theology… yes, we can embellish our spaces with symbols
that should speak to the heart of our collective purpose and work… yes, we can
even enact beautiful rituals and rites that are to be visible signs of spiritual
truth (particularly as Episcopalians)… Let’s not be tempted into believing that
‘saying it plainly’ in common prayer alone, or acting it out in here once a
week, is sufficient testament to the world of salvation through suffering and
loving together with our living, resurrected Christ.
It’s not that
our words are not important – indeed, professing our faith and sharing our
stories are powerful testimonies. And,
there’s nothing more revealing and persuasive about new life in Christ than
what our charitable actions toward our neighbors communicate out there, beyond the
walls of this place. If a picture is
worth a thousand words, acts of self-sacrificing love speak more than any
amount words along can express.
I imagine
that most of us yearn to participate in a life-saving station more than merely
contributing to the maintenance of yet another clubhouse along the coast… that rather
than just trying to tell people what this is all about through, we’re more
enlivened when we’re explaining who Jesus is through healing, restorative love,
acts of charity and justice, and life-affirming relationships.
Whether reaching
out to our neighbors who are adrift or shipwrecked… or tending to lost sheep
among our friends and family… how do others understand you speaking plainly
about new life with, in, and through Jesus Christ?
Where is the Good
Shepherd? Is Christ still at work in our
world? Tell us plainly?
Which says it
most clearly… a talking-head trying to explain God’s presence in the midst of
tragedy, or the witness of people at the end of the Boston marathon,
immediately after bombs have gone off, running back into harm’s way to help others
in the shadow of death?... platitudes about innocent children at Sandy Hook
Elementary being lifted to heaven by angels, or stories of courageous teachers
who dared sacrifice their own bodies as shields for the innocent in the face of
evil?
This morning,
we heard from Revelation (7:9-17) of a sacrificial Lamb becoming the heavenly
shepherd for people from all nations who have survived great tribulation and
now enjoy fellowship in a new, heavenly pasture where this is no more hunger,
thirst, scorching heat, or tears – just perpetual worship in a new kingdom
defined not by the things that have previously separated us, but by a purity
and unity in victory over death itself.
We also heard
again one of our most memorable metaphors in the pastoral assurances of Psalm
23. The Lord is our shepherd who walks
with us through fear, guides us through imminent danger, and leads us toward
generous and abundant nourishment in greener pastures.
In the Gospel
reading (John 10:22-30) Jesus likens himself, in contrast to misleading or
nefarious leaders of the vulnerable , as a good shepherd, unified with God in
heart and mind, who gathers and protects all sheep who follow his voice.
In what we
heard from Acts, a community which believes that death does not have the final
word seeks assistance when they are in need.
Peter doesn’t pontificate in the face of their needs; he uses very few words
while demonstrating the power of faith in Christ and the Holy Spirit.
And, remember that in our Gospel lesson last week,
Jesus commissions his disciples to be good shepherds to others (“feed my sheep
/ tend to my flock”).
As it is
written, it’s not enough just to say the right things or merely to claim to
have faith – faith without action based in/on that faith is as good as dead
(James 2:16-26).
Our faith
expressed through action with Christ is what revives us as well as what is
otherwise thought to be dead.
Gathered
together in the name of Jesus, our true messiah and Good Shepherd, we are in
the business life-saving - serving as good shepherds to, for, and with our
neighbors.
Let us tell this
plainly first through courageous and faithful actions out there… then we have
more cause to celebrate our work with Christ through elegant and comforting words
when we gather in here at his table each week.
AMEN.
