Open Gates

Sermon John 10:1-10 May 7, 2017 4^th Sunday of Easter year A (Portions of this sermon first preached in 2011)

Open Gates

Fences, walls, dams, sandbags, barricades, all do well at keeping things we don’t want out.

These keep bunnies from eating our vegetables, they keep out the cold drafts, they hold back water, and they prevent people from going too close to an obstacle. But they also protect the things inside the barrier.

The Bible uses walls and barriers as illustrations all the time.

God is the One who holds fast to the children God calls by name. God keeps them within the walls of security, the walls of God’s covenant love.

I remember when we had our French scouts and later our French youth group come to America; one of the first things that visually stuck out to them, was the lack of fenced yards.

They kept saying, “All these houses next to each other and no fence, no wall?”

I realized that in the towns and cities we had lived in overseas, all the yards were marked clearly with a perimeter of some sort-wall, fence, or bushes-there was no doubt where one person’s property began and the other’s stopped.

Unlike the US- in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and other ancient places- cities, towns and villages were protected by walls to keep out invaders and those who would do harm.

Here in John 10, we notice (as we do throughout Scripture) that fences, sheep, gates, and shepherds were all a part of daily life.

In the Old Testament, we first see God introduced as a shepherd to Moses. In Genesis 48:15 Moses calls God the Shepherd who has been with him all his life. In Numbers 27:17 Moses appoints Joshua to succeed him because the people will not be like sheep without a shepherd. Moses declares that Joshua is to go out and come in before them. He is to be one who will lead them out and bring them in.

Psalm 121 God is the One who guards our coming in and our going out.

It is in this context that Jesus speaks.

The people of God belonged to God and no one or no ‘thing’ was going to separate them from the power of God’s love.

In Scripture we learn, there are always those who would try to steal away God’s people. Throughout Old Testament stories God’s people were wooed away by golden images, ephods, Asherah poles, wild ways, and doubts of God’s love.

As consistent as the people were in departing from God, so even more consistent was God’s seeking them out to return them to the fold.

Even, though most of us are not familiar with this business of sheep and shepherds we’ve seen pictures, stain glassed windows, and coloring pages, all showing the gentle Jesus as a gentle shepherd. We see him holding a lamb in his arms and carrying a staff. These images conveyed a kind and caring Jesus who loved all of creation and dared to love even the smallest and most helpless of all.

So, when we get to this part about Jesus claiming to be the gate, it throws us into a tailspin.

Jesus is supposed to be the one who brings everyone into a life of freedom.

He is the one who brings the story of Exodus forward into the lives of the Gentiles and all humanity.

These words from Jesus did not set well with me.

So, once again we meet the exclusive Jesus?

Is that who he is saying he is?

Is this there where Christians go around pointing fingers at people saying, “I’m in and you’re not-nanananana!”

Is this where churchgoers, say to others, “I’m special and you’re not.”

It all seems so country club like.

I’ve got a membership that you don’t have and so I’m better than you.

I’ll have to say, this is the stuff that kept me far away from this believing in Jesus.

It seemed like a rather cruel set of folks.

I certainly knew I wasn’t good enough for a group that acted like they had it all together. I knew that I was far from having it together.

Yes, gates, to me, were very negative.

The images of gates that came to mind were those TSA booths in the airports in those early days when they were afraid of anyone and we were afraid of them.

Or, those border patrol crossings through newly organized countries, where no matter who you were, you were labeled suspicious.

I saw the giant gates to the castles in Europe, huge doors that hide secret courtyards.

I saw cattle gates and garden gates.

I viewed all of these as a bunch of rules and mean people whose only interest was to make life difficult for everyone who dared to approach their gates.

But then I taught a class, using the book called Boundaries by Cloud and Townsend. This study talked about the boundaries that God placed as a positive wonderful gift.

The authors refer to a fence around us as God’s way of claiming us and declaring that we are unique and we are God’s special creation, not more special than my neighbor, but just as special.

A fence is a way we can protect ourselves from those who would try to harm us.

This fence is the ability to set limits with others, to declare what is rightfully ours, and the ability to say no.

The fence is the boundary of love out of which we operate in order to show love to others.

This boundary of love is the corral where we are surrounded by the safety of Jesus.

A special space that we get to choose the size of it.

A space that helps us hold it together

without the threat of somebody coming in

to steal our integrity of humanity.

Jesus is the shepherd who claims us as his own.

His protective fence, his corral for the sheep, wraps us tight, or loose, depending on those who would come in the night trying to steal from us.

It protects us from harmful words,

or abuse,

or all those hurtful things from the world out there.

He is standing at the gate calling out to all and will not stop calling their names until all have heard him. He will not stop until all turn to follow him.

This gives me hope and joy to know that I belong to a God that has not and will not leave anyone out.

That is why we have the 23^rd psalm as our reading today.

The Hebrew word in the verse that God follows us all the days of our lives

actually means to pursue us.

It means that God will never give up on us

no matter how much we run.

We might be afraid for those of our loved ones

who seem to have gone a different way.

Remember the pursuit of God.

Know that God will remain with us

coming after us

with love

all the days of our lives.

Cloud and Townsend continue in their teaching to say that a fence needs a gate.

The gate is the way to freedom.

By the gate, we learn to open our hearts to others.

We learn to open up to God.

We learn to risk saying yes without losing our character or our sense of self.

The gate provides for freedom to explore and venture out; to try new ways, and discover new opportunities with others.

Jesus is the gate to freedom.

Jesus is the gate that opens up the community and grants access to God.

Through the gate of Christ,

God’s people discover immeasurable grace

and unconditional love.

Jesus is the gate so we don’t have to be.

This text follows the healing of the blind man who was barred from entrance into the Temple because of his ‘sin’ of disability.

Jesus makes it clear that disability is not a sin.

Jesus makes it clear that there are no barriers to entering into the sanctuary of God. Jesus makes it clear that all those with infirmities are welcome in the house of God.

Yes, Jesus is the gate that makes it possible for all to enter in.

By his grace, by his love and by his continuous calling

he has made room for everyone,

short or tall,

blue or green,

one eyed or peg legged.

We don’t have to be the gate that decides who can come in and worship here because Jesus has declared that is his job.

The Gate brings us to freedom.

In this freedom, Christ guides us to green pastures and brings us into safe community. Amen.

 Note: Following this sermon, communion was served. AT the invitation to the Table, it was announced that our denomination (PCUSA) has declared as part of our new discipline, our new order of worship, there is nothing that can be a barrier to the Table of our Lord Jesus Christ. Those baptized or not may come to the Table-this opening of the gate of freedom for pastors to serve, allows the Spirit to transform those who receive the bread and cup  of Christ. 

God’s Pursuit!

Sermon Psalm 23 April 26, 2015 Easter 4 Shepherd Sunday

God’s Pursuit!

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

² He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

³ He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

⁴ Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

⁵ Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

⁶ Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Six verses.

                 That’s all there are.

                            The most famous six verses of the Bible in the King James Version.

Those who have never opened the Book or ever entered into the walls of the church know these six verses.

We heard these words recited at gravesides day after day. We know these words as they are shared at the bedside of those we love in hospitals and nursing homes. We know these words in dark shadows of the night as we whisper them to calm our fears.

Psalm 23 is a psalm we know for bad and sad times. Yet, it is more than that-it is also a psalm rich for life and for good times. In it we discover the very nature of God in a way might not have imagined before.

There is a radical nature of God exploding upon us at the very end in the last verse. And so that is where we’ll begin. “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.”

As I shared with the children, we have a God who we cannot shake. In the game of tag the end game is to catch the one we pursue. The end game is to keep chasing until we tag the intended target. Radaph or Radap in the Hebrew for follow is God’s active pursuit! God’s pursuit of us is active and unrelenting. God, like the hound of heaven, is nipping at our heels. God is chasing you and me all the days of our life!

And God’s pursuit is one of goodness and mercy.

Mercy in the Hebrew is written as Hesed. Here as we look at the letters-three letters-(to describe something about God that we lose in translation)-our English language cannot capture the fullness of this word about God.

God’s great and most amazing love, mercy, grace and kindness are all wrapped up in this one word Hesed. We aren’t being chased by judgment or a harsh God but by all that is good!

So, if we know from the beginning that God is in hot pursuit of us with goodness and hesed. God’s most fundamental nature is one of goodness and Hesed-mercy, grace, and love!!

It is then without a doubt that the psalmist could give God the most royal and kingly title of Shepherd. The Hebrew word for shepherd is ‘roi’ And so here in the very beginning this psalmist makes it clear who he is committed to and who he is loyal to-and how he is fully dependent on God. God is ours and we are God’s!

There are many names the Old Testament uses for God but in this psalm it is not Elohim or another name but the very name the Jews would not pronounce out of utter respect and awe God. The name for God used here is, the I AM, our Shepherd.

We have all learned about Shepherds and we know very well what they do and if don’t we know how to google it and find out. We heard in this morning’s reading from the gospel of John who Jesus is as the Good Shepherd and how he cares for his flock, his sheep, that he lays down his life for them.

A shepherd is responsible for a flock, to guide them and protect them. A shepherd does what it takes to keep the flock calm and keeps them from getting lost. They give their life to this occupation, they spend all day with them and if they have traveled too far to bring them home at night they will stay with them until morning. The prophet Ezekiel describes God as a loving shepherd. The prophet Isaiah also uses the shepherd to describe God’s protective care as well as God’s sacrificial love.

And isn’t that what we all need,

what we all want and

what we all hope for?

Just like children trust their parents to keep them from harm and we trust our doctors to keep us healthy and we trust our local and national leaders to keep us secure, we want to trust that our God can do the same and more.

But when bad and sad news comes close to home,

when it hits our family and our friends,

we need the promise of a psalm like this one to sustain us through these dark times.

The earthquake in Nepal,

a devastating church fire in Paris Tennessee,

a death of a child seeking a toilet in a country where homes do not have them,

a child who hurts herself because her pain within can’t find relief,

a child injured by people who are supposed to protect her,

the diagnosis of cancer,

the presence of illness and loss and pain

have done more than make the news,

they have been part of our personal family pain this week.

We need this psalm of promise to carry us through the unfairness of this world and to get us beyond the evil that seeks to prevail over us.

And that is one reason why the verse of darkness of the valley impacts us so strongly. The deep valley that has dark shadows and frightening circumstances perhaps even an abyss of threats where it seems there is no way out.

God speaks to us and affirms that even in the death shadow of the valley we do not need to fear because the I AM, t

he Good Shepherd carries a rod

that will ward off evil and knock

senseless the wild beasts who seek to attack us.

The people of Exodus remember Moses and his staff. They remember being guided through the wilderness without fail by God. The miracles of the past, the triumph over evil of the past, and the resurrection over death of the past, are the memories that strength our faith and restore our love.

Rabbi Harold Kushner tells of his son who was born with an incurable illness. He said looking back he wondered how he and his wife got through those times and he said that instead of this event shattering his faith it strengthened it. He said they used up all the resources within themselves and realized the only answer to the difficulties was to turn to God who restored their love and faith. He wrote the book “When bad things happen to good people” because of this experience. Just as God carried the people through the wilderness, God our Shepherd will bring us through our wilderness.

Jesus proclaimed that he is the Good Shepherd. He said he is the “I AM” the true shepherd that has come to gather his people and restore them to himself. As we look to God for our strength and renewal through this psalm we can also look to Christ and know that he has also been through the valley for our sake. He has come through on the other side. His death and resurrection assures us and gives us hope that he not only is there to greet us on the other side of the valley but he is with us every step of the way never letting us leave his side.

But we can’t stop here with the psalm because it is more than comfort in bad and sad times it is one that fills us with good things. So we can have a new way of using these words to refresh and fulfill us. We discover God as the one who provides us with food and drink and shelter, our most basic necessities.

We lack for nothing.

All is provided.

Our lives are fully dependent on God.

The imagery of green pastures and still waters are so strong to our senses that we can see and

feel and

even touch.

God brings us to places of healing and refreshment. The Hebrew word for lie down offers the image of being stretched out. Now those of you who do yoga, you understand this image. And those of you who have been part of one Debbie and Nina’s contemplative retreats, you get this idea of stretching out full before God.

It’s like lying on our backs, looking up at the fluffy clouds floating by in a bright blue sky while the green lush grass is beneath us filled with soft clover flowers cushioning us like a down comforter.

Some people I know who are much better at rest and quiet reflection than I am have shared with me how they have discovered the place where they can connect with God. They have a few places where they go and in those places God stretches them out and quiets their spirit.

One friend shares with me how her garden filled with flowers and working in the dirt is the way God enters as she kneels by the earth.

Another friend who goes fishing and he goes down to the river or creek he watches the water ebb and flow. He said it still his mind and refreshes him as well as a cool glass of sweet ice tea.

Another friend has an amazing workshop where he works and creates art with wood or canvas and in his workshop he finds the shelter of the Lord.

Yes, we are struck deeply by this psalm as it has become part of our own makeup, our very being ushered into the arms of a personal God. We’ve been drawn together as the flock of the Shepherd, the Church, the Body of Christ. God’s immeasurable abundant desire for us is set at the table. God brings our cups to overflowing.

God’s pursuit is unrelenting.

Goodness and mercy shall pursue me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for days without end. Amen.