Thoughts going in, Sunday April 29th

John 10:11 "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. 13 The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14 "I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me-- 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father--and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. 17 The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life--only to take it up again. 18 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."

            On the 3-year lectionary the 4th Sunday of Easter, every year, is designated "Good Shepherd Sunday." The particulars of the readings vary, but the theme remains the same. This year (Year B) the Gospel selection begins as the Good Shepherd discourse is already underway.

            As many commentators point out, it's a bit difficult for us in the hustle/bustle of 21st century suburban life to fully grasp all of the nuances of this discourse and the examples of 1st century agrarian living. Shepherds...sheep... wolves... we can sorta get it, but these are not things that we encounter on a daily basis. If Jesus were speaking to us today in the western burbs of Chicago, one wonders if he'd use precisely the same lingo. Maybe he'd say something a little different, like... "I am the Good life-coach,".... or "I am the good family counselor" ... or something of that nature.

            Regardless, it wouldn't be too long before we'd begin to understand that the statement as uttered by Jesus reflects TRUE NEED on our part. One inescapable fact about being a sheep is that a SHEPHERD IS NEEDED. People do not seek out "life coaches" or counselors unless there is a pressing NEED. In other words, there's not much point in even beginning to examine the Good Shepherd discourse if we don't begin with the idea that Jesus is there, and precisely embraces the identity he does, out of loving recognition of OUR IMMENSE NEED. How does that make you feel?

            But wait, there's more. I recently read an account of the horrific scandal-ridden administration of President Warren G. Harding. It's almost laughable how today's sound-bite political pundits throw around accusations of scandal--whether of President Obama, or his predecessor, President Bush. You want to hear about scandal? You want to hear about unbridled greed and corruption in high office? Study the Harding administration. Not that President Harding was directly responsible per se. Many think that he was a hapless dupe who surrounded himself with "loyal friends" who, like foxes, proceeded to ravage the henhouse. Regardless, the point is that at some level we can all relate to being taken advantage of; we can all relate to being at the point of NEED, and, instead of being helped, we were ravaged.

            In this and so many other ways, Jesus proves to be the exception. Jesus isn't the fake shepherd, nor is he the hired hand. He is the "good" shepherd... and by "good," much more is meant than simply competent at the job. Good means the IDEAL; the shepherd of all shepherds; the shepherd par excellence! Why? Because he lays his life down for the sheep (us). It's easy to imagine the crucified Christ at this juncture--as after all, he literally died for the sheep. But a dead shepherd is no more use to the sheep than fake shepherd, a hired hand, or no shepherd at all. And so this line must be seen as encompassing MORE than simply a willingness to die. It is more to be understood as an identity embraced. He is the good shepherd precisely because he willingly and lovingly WANTS TO BE! (Think in terms of Philippians 2 Who, being in very nature God, Jesus did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, etc.)

            Lastly, his role as the good shepherd isn't something that's consigned to the pages of history past. Just how "ideal" could the ideally good shepherd be .... for us.... if he's not around anymore? What makes this passage such a great EASTER PASSAGE is the present tense of it all. Jesus could, in all truthfulness, say: I am the Good Shepherd two thousand years ago. Today, NO PASTOR, least of all me, would say that Jesus **was the Good Shepherd. He himself, our RISEN SAVIOR, still utters those words in present tense:  I **am** the Good Shepherd.

Cheers

TM

Thoughts going in, Sunday April 22

Well, it's been a while since I've blogged my 'thoughts going in.' Passion Sunday, Easter Sunday etc., are such that their themes etc. just seemed not to need any help from me. Then last week was the preschool's easter program, so again, not much for me to say. So.... finally.... here I am again with some thoughts going in:

Luke 24: 36 While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you." 37 They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. 38 He said to them, "Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? 39 Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself ! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have." 40 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. 41 And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, "Do you have anything here to eat?" 42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43 and he took it and ate it in their presence. 44 He said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms." 45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He told them, "This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things.

I love NT Wright's comments on the resurrection of Jesus. He talks about how 'natural' it would be to have post-death sightings of a person in this 1st century culture. No big deal. Whether or not the sightings were legitimate, **belief in them was common enough. As with old castles in Victorian England, evidently 1st century Palestine was the perfect setting for a ghost story. Yet, as Wright points out, there's an important distinction (or two) between a good ghost story and what the disciples claim to have seen. For one, when a person claimed to have seen the ghost of a dead relative, or whoever, there was no denial of the fact that the person was physically dead. In other words, the exclamation was, "I saw his ghost!" not, "he's alive!" Indeed, the presence of his ghost was as good as any proof that the person really was dead.

The other distinction Wright mentions is that even should there be post-death sightings of a person's ghost in this culture, such phenomena constituted no substituted for the physical; life in the physical world goes on. For Wright--a creedal Christian who does battle among the school of skeptics--it is highly significant that the early Jesus movement (a) not only continued on after the death of Jesus, but (b) did so without appointing a new "leader." In other words, even if people were having occasional 'visitations' by the ghost of the dead man Jesus, in order for the movement to continue on and continue its vibrancy, surely they would need a new leader; a new messiah to take the place of the fallen one. And yet no new messiah was ever proclaimed. Wright's conclusion is that the disciples were not claiming to have seen the ghost of Jesus. They were claiming what's written in this Sunday's gospel in Luke 24. That Jesus was alive. And not just alive in the resuscitated sense, but alive in some new/different don't-fully-know-how-to-explain-it sense.

For us... I know that it is common to envy those first disciples. They got to see the risen Jesus and we have not. But it's important to remember that they were not entirely sure of what it was they were seeing. There was clearly something less-familiar ... something other ... something mystical about him than what they had experienced prior to his crucifixion. I see this as a 'leveling' aspect. Perhaps he has not physically appeared at our dinner tables lately, but the mystical ways in which we experience the risen Jesus (in the sacraments, through the Word, in prayer, in the acts of kindness of others, in solidarity with the poor & suffering, etc.) are pretty close to what those first disciples experienced. Often there are more questions than answers; the experience is fleeting; it's entirely on his terms. And then he's gone before we know it, and we're left trying to make sense of it and integrate it into our faith life.

And then he tells the little group that they're to be "witnesses of these things." They're to give testimony about it. But how? How do you testify about something you don't understand, something that's never happened before, something that most people aren't going to believe (or better yet, will believe that YOU'RE CRAZY for saying it)? He doesn't say. The irony is that in 2000 years of church history it hasn't really mattered too much. In the end Jesus wasn't asking them to testify to something they couldn't explain or make up answers to difficult questions. He was really only asking them to testify about what they experienced. In our own day/age I think we over-complicate "witnessing." Instead of trying to memorize a sales pitch, or a certain number of 'spiritual truths,' or a string of verses from Romans, why not just give testimony as to how we have experienced Jesus? After all, if we are people of faith, we HAVE EXPERIENCED him in our lives... and there is NO OTHER JESUS to experience than the RISEN ONE!

He is risen! He is risen indeed, alleluia!

Cheers

TM