The Rev. Neale L. Miller

Sermon for April 29, 2007

Texts: Psalm 23/John 10:11-30

Title: “The Body of Work”

              Let’s try a word out that I’m guessing many of you do not know.  The word is “synoptic,” which means to “give an account from the same point of view,” but can also mean, “to see together.” 

              The Christian church has appropriated the word using it in reference to the three gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke.  The three “give an account [of Jesus] from the same point of view.  Chronology of events in each of the three books differ, each reports scenes from Jesus life not mentioned in the other gospels, and each gospel is written to take into account the background of the particular audience to whom it is addressed.  Three books, but the message of Jesus emerging in the pages of each would, without alteration, fit into the other two.   

              We might say in careless exaggeration that the Jesus we meet in the Gospel of John is an entirely different Jesus than the Jesus of the synoptic gospels. We will avoid such carelessness.  The Gospel of John is clearly kin to the other three, its depiction of Jesus consistent overall, but the fact of the matter is that Gospel John emerges from a world of thought and experience foreign to Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

              The consensus among scholars is that John was written about three decades later that the other gospels, and influenced by currents of thought the presence of which are not to be seen in the other three.  While a kin to his three brothers, he might be likened to the better traveled younger brother who has enjoyed time and opportunity to explore more of the world than the others.

              Scholars find it difficult to trace where his travels might have taken him.  But from the very opening words of his gospel, “In the beginning,” those scholars definitely marvel at what he brought back.

              “In the beginning.” This beginning is to be differentiated from the one to which the book of Genesis refers. John does not set out to review God’s work of creating at the beginning of time, not, at least, in the same way that Genesis does it.  “In the beginning” [he states], was the Word (capital W), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”  Second verse “He (the Word) was in the beginning with God.  All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being (present tense) in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.”

              He was there, in the beginning, from the start, moreover creation itself arose through him.  This “Word,” “this new creation,” “this light of all people,” John has just introduced to us, we soon discover, has a name, and his name is Jesus.

              John, dispensing with the birth narratives of Matthew and Luke, and the baptism of Jesus that opens the Gospel of Mark, puts his cards on the table in the very opening verses of his gospel. He anticipates three important questions the reader of his gospel might be prone to ask, namely, who is Jesus? Why did he come? and what does his coming have to do with me?

              Who is he? Word, existing with God in the beginning.  Why did he come? To bring life.  What does his coming have to do with me? His life, John declares, is the light I need to direct my life.

              Barely into the Gospel and the architectural design of the book is revealed, with the details of design soon to be thoughtfully elaborated. John knows the truth about life, and he wants us to know it. 

              However, and this “however,” is not an insignificant detail.  John tells us that there is one reality that stands in the way of the realization of his vision.  One reality stands to thwart the good news John wanted to bring. John informs us in the eleventh verse of chapter one that “He [Jesus] came to his own, and his own people did not accept him.”  No, his own people didn’t accept him, but (in the very next verse he tells us), “all who [did] receive him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God.”

              “He came to his own” and was not accepted, but, yet, some received him.  There is this great tension in the Gospel of John existing between those who believe and accept Jesus and those who reject and do not accept him.  While this tension is to be seen in the other three gospels, John addresses the tension more persistently than the others.

              The Gospel of John employs metaphors by now deeply set in the consciousness of the Christian community to help his reader acquire a more fully developed picture of his Jesus.  We have been introduced to the metaphor Word.  Jesus is the pre-existing Word that was spoken at creation.  Jesus is this word embodied.  But John also refers to him as the “bread of life,” the “Good Shepherd,” the “gate to the sheepfold,” and the “true vine.”           

              John used metaphors by now deeply set in the consciousness of the Christian community, but the original audience who would have been exposed to the metaphors where challenged through John’s words to test what the community knew of Jesus in the flesh, (remember Jesus’ resurrection had occurred a mere generation before John’s Gospel was composed)[they were challenged through John’s words to test what the community had known of Jesus in the flesh] against certain images “bread of life,” “true vine,” and “Good Shepherd” to see whether they offered a good rendering of their subject.

              “I am the good shepherd.  The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep.”  John has Jesus put it right on the line. How would the first century audience to whom John’s Gospel was directed react to that characterization?

              “I am the bread of life.  Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”  John is making a substantial claim.

              “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower.  He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit.  Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit.”

              “I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”

              “Word,” “Good shepherd,” “bread of life,” “true vine,” and “light of the world.” Search the other three gospels, the synoptic gospels, and you will come up empty. The metaphors I have identified are to be found in John’s gospel alone.

              Why does he use those metaphors in reference to Jesus? People knew about shepherds, vines, light and bread, and he wanted to make certain connections. Jesus is the word spoken from the very mouth of God.  Jesus is the shepherd who gives up his life for his sheep.  Jesus is a vine producing abundant fruit.  Jesus is a light illumining the world’s darkness.

              Not merely a good man, not merely a prophet, not merely a king, John asserts that Jesus transcends all attempts to fit him into pre-existing categories.  He is God himself drawing human breath.   He is God himself calling out to the world through the human voice.  He is God himself befriending the friendless.  He is God himself calling brothers to his work on earth. He is God himself experiencing all the joy and, yes, all the suffering to which the human race is exposed. 

              Jesus is God himself, so why doesn’t the world get it? But even more disturbing than that, why don’t his own people, the Jews, get it? The tenth chapter of John has Jesus taking aim at the disbelieving “Jews.”  John is quite decidedly anti-Jew, arousing charges that his Gospel is an anti-semitic book. We won’t enter that argument accept to say that the Jews Jesus put in his crosshairs were those members of the Jewish religious establishment who erected barriers to his message. It is members of that group that we hear him addressing in today’s lesson.

              His exchange with them in the temple was prompted by a question: “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”  Jesus is entirely unsympathetic to their appeal. Instead he refers to his body of work, all those things upon which his reputation had already been built.  This body of work was not compiled by a charlatan but by the son of God, through whom God was working. 

              “Were you not listening?  I am the bread of life.  I am the good shepherd.  I am the vine.”  “Messiah, oh yes, that too.  I am each of those things and more, so why don’t you get it? Jesus supplied the answer himself, didn’t he?  “You don’t believe, because you do not belong to my sheep.”

              Each year new players are inducted into to the football and baseball halls of fame.  Election to the Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown, New York, or the Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio is an honor reserved for the most outstanding athletes of a generation. When considering a candidate for Cooperstown or Canton, the voters are asked to base their judgment, not on the best year the player played, or a particular set of records the athlete put up, they base their judgment on his body of work, what that athlete did over the entire span of his career.

              Jesus was incredulous that his own people, those closest to him, could not see what his body of work should have made clear.  The Jews in the temple did not see, but, what was even more extraordinary; his own disciples shared the same blindness.  And so we read in the fourteen chapter of John’s Gospel that Jesus’ own disciples were scrambling to understand what Jesus was trying to say.  “Philip [one of the twelve] said to him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.’” His request was prompted by Jesus’ announcement that he would soon be moving on to be with the father.  Philip and the others needed assurance that Jesus would not leave them behind and stranded.

              The Jews in the temple, “How long will you keep us in suspense?”  Philip and the disciples, “Show us the Father and we will be satisfied. Satisfy us, Lord, make it easier for us to understand.”

              “He came to his own, and his own people did not accept him.”  

              He comes to us, “good shepherd,” “true vine,” “bread of life.”  The metaphors, the teaching, preaching, and the miracles, are meant to aid our acceptance.  But we fall short, don’t we?  “His own,” us, people baptized in his name, do not accept him. Oh yes, we are exposed to the word, but the word doesn’t move us, not, at least, with the potential it has to move us.

              Jesus compiled a body of work but we just aren’t convinced that he is who he says he is, and can do what he says he can do.  “Don’t keep us in suspense. Do more. Say more. We are somewhat satisfied, but we need a little extra help.”

              The great Albert Einstein was a trail blazer in the field of science. He was able to formulate theories that fundamentally changed the way we look at the universe.  One of his discoveries was revealed in the formula, E=mc2, Energy=mass at the square of the speed of light.  Don’t ask me to explain it. I doubt that I possess the aptitude to explain it if I devoted the rest of my life to that single task. Fact of the matter is, however, when Einstein’s theory wasn’t presented to the scientific community, people in that community patiently went step by step through the process that led to Einstein’s conclusion.  And you know what?  They discovered Einstein formula was correct.  E=mc2 was validated by the scientific community.              

              E=mc2, but the complete body of Einstein’s work has been validated by the scientific community. We cannot validate Jesus’ body of work with the mathematical apparatus Einstein’s peers brought to his work. There is no independent review board we can consult that is prepared to certify that the things Jesus said about himself are true. But we want someone, if not Jesus, someone, to prove to us that Jesus is trustworthy. 

              My sheep hear my voice. Our questions persist.  “What would it mean to give my life to the shepherd?  Loss of control.  Outcomes unknown. Risky business.

              Any testimony I might offer to you to validate Jesus’ claims in the space of a Sunday morning is unlikely to be terribly substantial. I would remind you, however, that there is a body of work that supports a decision to give our lives to the shepherd, a body of work that has braced the weak, given hope to the hopeless, promoted forgiveness, and reconciliation, and is making this world a better place in which to live.  One tentative soul after another is saying “yes” to Jesus’ invitation to a new life. Consult Jesus’ body of work; delve into his word, but not just today, but tomorrow, and the day after.  You may well discover that your tentative soul has become far less tentative then you supposed.  And if by God’s grace that happens to you, may the new faith you acquired be for those of us who know you a source of encouragement and hope.  AMEN

              PRAYER

              O Christ, our risen and reigning savior, we gather beneath the cross on this Sabbath remote in time and place from the events the cross commemorates, yet we know the message of the cross is not bound to time or place.  The victory and hope the cross announces are blessings renewed generation to generation. Victory over sin and death has been declared and hope is ours to claim, so why is the intimidating presence of sin and death so immediate and threatening? Grant us courage, O Christ, to believe that as you triumphed over the grave we are empowered to do so also.  Even as you charge us to believe and have faith, you daily come to us with an open hand bidding us, “come,” and “walk with me.”

              Come and walk with us.  O God, we thank your for this ministry of Lakeview Presbyterian Church over which you have made us stewards.  Our doors are open to the community with an invitation for the community to come and walk with us. Yet, we know, O God, that an open door does not constitute a church, but rather open minds and open hearts receptive to the community we would welcome into our midst. Accustomed to well established traditions and rituals it is often difficult for us to adapt, to seriously reappraise our attitudes and priorities as a faith community. I pray, O God, that you will be with this pastor, the session, and other leaders in this church that we may venture out of the zone of comfort we have occupied to explore new ways to minister to our community and world.

              Lord, even as the city moves along to the rhythm of festivals and events that make this city distinctive, and a destination of choice for visitors from around the world, discordant notes disturb the rhythm.  Crime, inadequate housing, deficient schools, and ineffective leadership from elected officials continue to stall the progress New Orleanians desperately want to see. Discouraged as we might be, help each of us recognize our individual obligations to make our city a more livable place through the hour or hours we might commit to tutoring, work with our church’s Katrina Crew, or some other form of volunteerism.

              Living God, even as the White House and the Congress are embroiled in battles over our commitments in Iraq, a destructive war continues, innocent lives destroyed by the score, our service men and women killed, or sent back to us maimed by serious injuries. Even as exit strategies from a war are debated the nation faces the menace of hunger and poverty, millions of uninsured deprived of adequate health care, a growing debt to the environment that is rapidly coming due.  Wisdom, O God, political courage, bipartisanship are in short supply, even as candidates for the next presidential election seek to align themselves with constituencies capable of delivering an election. The consequences of such folly should be apparent, O God, but blindness reigns.  In your mercy, O God, intercede to disclose new ways to live as a society.

              Many are the individual issues we have carried with us into this sanctuary.  Though you have promised, O Christ, to bear our burdens with us, we struggle to make sense of so much that impacts us.  Health issues, family issues, jobs, school, church and civic responsibilities, our lives are so absorbed that by these things that we feel that we have no lives we can call our own.  Lord, grant us peace amid all that is so destabilizing in our lives, and the wisdom to set priorities that are life enhancing rather than encumbering.

              For the gift of this day, O God, the word, song, and fellowship we give you thanks in the name of Jesus, praying the prayer …