The Sheep of His Flock - 4th Sunday of Easter Year C

The Sheep of His Flock – 4^th Sunday of Easter Year C

It has become fashionable nowadays to speak of “adult faith” as opposed to a less developed understanding of the faith that we may have had earlier in our lives.  Properly understood, there is nothing wrong in speaking of an adult faith in the sense of growing more deeply in a relationship with the Triune God and the Church.  However, there can be a tendency to overlook or become repulsed by passages in scripture that refer to disciples as children of God or as sheep.  Do those appellations not contradict the whole notion of adult faith that we seek in our lives?

In today’s Gospel text we find Jesus making reference to his followers as sheep.  This passage is an extension of Jesus’ earlier teaching on him being the good shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep.  Hence, there is a great deal of consolation for the follower of Jesus that we be considered sheep in this sense, for we have a great protector in the Lord Jesus.  What is more, Jesus asserts that he is one with the Father, meaning that our protector is not merely another fallible human being, but is in actuality God himself.  There can be no greater assurance for the believer than to know that God is our protector in the person of Jesus the Lord.

At the same time we cannot forget the fact that Jesus is not just the good shepherd, but is also the Lamb of God.  John the Baptist announces this fact in the beginning of John’s gospel, a fact that comes to full realization in John’s presentation of Jesus’ crucifixion.  In the passion narrative of John, the evangelist has Jesus’ crucifixion coincide with the slaughter of the lambs in the Temple for the Passover celebration.  Jesus, then, as the Lamb of God, replaces the original Passover Lamb.  Whereas the Passover Lamb was sacrificed in order to protect the Israelites from the angel of death, now Jesus the Lamb of God is sacrificed so that all might be protected from the death of sin. 

To be called a sheep by the Lord Jesus, then, is the greatest honor a Christian can receive, for it means that we have been called to share in the ministry and work of the Lord Jesus in his work of redemption.  We are tempted to think that our adult faith qualifies us to be shepherds of the flock of Jesus, but Jesus tells us that in order to be a shepherd we must first be a lamb, i.e. we must die to ourselves and to offer ourselves for the sake of others, even to the point of death.  Just as Jesus the Good Shepherd was called by the Father to be the Lamb of God and die for others, so too we must be sheep and rejoice in being so, for we are called to the ministry of Jesus the Lord.

This ministry involves rejection, just as it did in the life of Jesus on earth.  The first reading recounts the ministry of Paul and Barnabas, who faced ridicule and rejection, but notice that Acts states that they were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.  Very often we see Christians bewailing the opposition the Church faces in proclaiming the Gospel in our age.  Complaint against such opposition has become a cottage industry in itself, and yet it is utterly contrary to the Gospel and the spirit of Christ.  We encounter these readings in the Easter season, for in Easter we find our joy and raison d’etre.  The joy of Easter pushes aside the darkness of Good Friday, for as St. Augustine said, “We are an Easter people and Alleluia is our song.”

In being a sheep of Jesus’ flock we know that the Lamb who is in the center of the throne in the vision of Revelation will shepherd us.  If we have been a sheep, then at some point we will have washed our garments in the blood of the lamb, for it is the vocation of every sheep at some point to suffer death so that another living thing may continue to live.  So it is with us, just as it was for the Lord Jesus, who came to be an example to us in fulfilling our human vocation.  We can then rejoice in anticipation of being part of the great multitude that worships the Lamb day and night, for the joy we experience now will be fully realized in heavenly glory.

As we seek to be faithful sheep of the Lord Jesus, we come together in the midst of this Easter season to pray for the grace we need to persevere in fulfilling our human vocation.  “Let us pray to God our helper in time of distress.  God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, though your people walk in the valley of darkness, no evil should they fear; for they follow in faith the call of the shepherd whom you have sent for their hope and strength.  Attune our minds to the sound of his voice, lead our steps in the path he has shown, that we may know the strength of his outstretched arm and enjoy the light of your presence forever.  We ask this through Christ our Lord.  Amen.”

 

Mercy and Peace - 2nd Sunday of Easter Year C

Mercy and Peace – 2^nd Sunday of Easter Year C

When we hear and read the Gospels we often find ourselves thinking critically about the disciples in many passages.  How could Peter, who had seen the Lord Jesus in transfigured glory, deny his master three times?  How could all the disciples run away and abandon Jesus to die alone on the cross?  And in today’s Gospel reading, how could Thomas refuse to believe in the risen Jesus after hearing the testimony of so many?  We might be cured of this temptation when we realize that the Gospel writers intended for us to see ourselves as the disciples in the story, i.e. that all of us in one way or another deny Jesus, abandon him, and doubt His identity and resurrection. 

Consequently, it is appropriate that the Church asks us to reflect on the themes of mercy and peace in the Sunday after Easter, for it is precisely these gifts of the Lord Jesus that we need so desperately.  In appearing to the fragile disciples, Jesus imparts to them His peace in the sending forth of the Holy Spirit.  Then he commands them to forgive the sins of the people, thereby connecting the idea of peace with mercy.  It is indeed true that once we have experienced the mercy of God that a sense of peace comes upon us, but more is at stake than the subjective feeling of peace in such moments.  The Lord Jesus has much more to teach us in this episode.

The acts of denial, abandonment, and doubt in the days before the resurrection are acts that we cannot redeem on our own.  In what way could we show God that we have learned the lessons of these falls and will not commit them again?  Each and every one of these men declared their allegiance to Jesus and vowed that they would die for Him, and yet they all failed, as they did so often during Jesus’ public ministry, as we have in our own lives.  Hence, only the free gift of Jesus’ own forgiveness can lift them up from the dregs in which they find themselves.  It is in their acceptance of this gift that leads the disciples to find peace in their own lives.

Now, however, their lives must be committed to the ministry of mercy and reconciliation that they experienced from the Lord Jesus.  By forgiving the sins of others – not just once per year in the annual observance of Yom Kippur, but in the daily practice of mercy in the prayer Jesus taught them – the disciples, and we too, can bring peace to a world disfigured by conflict and strife.  We can do this only by making the entire life and ministry of Jesus our own.

Some people may say that we must also stress God’s justice in addition to His mercy, implying that these two things are somehow distinct or represent a necessary dualism in the world.  However, God’s justice is always directed towards mercy and to bringing the person back to a full relationship with Him.  What is more, the justice of God is not some magical curse inflicted upon a person for breaking the law.  It is the natural consequence of following our own devices instead of God’s will.  The parable of the prodigal son highlights both of these realities – that the degradation of the son was the natural consequence of his own actions, and that this justice of God is directed toward the reconciliation of the son that takes place at the climax of the story.

Throughout Lent we heard the prophetic tradition remind us that God does not desire the death of the sinner but rather in the sinner’s conversion.  We must ask ourselves whether we truly have this desire for ourselves and for others as well.  We have experienced the mercy and peace of God in the death and resurrection of Jesus the Lord.  We are commanded now to be ministers of mercy and peace to others.  The very fact that our world and church remain torn by conflict and wars indicates the extent to which we have not appropriated this mission into our lives.  The fact that people who claim the name Christian have the same rates of divorce, abortion, support for war and capital punishment as the rest of society means that we are those very disciples who deny, abandon, and doubt and whom we look askance at in our reading of the scriptures.

Yet, we must rejoice and give thanks for receiving these gifts of mercy and peace these Easter days.  At the same time, we pray for the ability to live our mission as ministers of mercy and peace more effectively in our lives.  “Let us pray as Christians thirsting for the risen life.  Heavenly Father and God of mercy, we no longer look for Jesus among the dead, for he is alive and has become the Lord of life.  From the waters of death you raise us with him and renew your gift of life within us.  Increase in our minds and hearts the risen life we share with Christ and help us to grow as your people toward the fullness of eternal life with you.  We ask this through Christ our Lord.  Amen.”

Following the Crowd - Holy Week 2013

Following the Crowd – Holy Week 2013

 

“But Jesus did not entrust himself to the crowd, because He knew them all.  There was no need for anyone to tell him about them, because He himself knew what was in their hearts.”  John 2: 24-25)

 

In 2003 my wife and I were given tickets to the final round of the Byron Nelson Golf Classic in Las Calinas, TX.  We sat atop the 15^th green which sits atop a hill, providing us with an excellent view of the approach and to a fair amount of the course.  As the afternoon progressed we saw a large sea of humanity snaking its way along the course, heading our way.  As the massive crowd approached we could not help but become enveloped in it.  After all, who wouldn’t want to see Tiger Woods make a charge at the top of the leader board?  The experience was intoxicating and sobering at the same time.  On the one hand we felt connected to a major sports figure, a movement, and a group of people enveloped in the moment.  But on the other hand there was a certain guilt attached to that intoxication, a feeling that the same crowd experience could produce something quite awful.  Holy Week provides us with an opportunity to reflect on the phenomenon of the crowd.

 

Many preachers during Holy Week will point out the fickle nature of the crowds that converge on different days of this week.  The overwhelming support for Jesus on Palm Sunday so quickly turns to an angry mob seeking his death five days later.  How do we explain such fickleness?  One answer is to suggest the presence of two different crowds.  The Palm Sunday crowd was composed of the common people who experienced the mercy of Jesus in his teachings and miracles.  They turned out in a mass movement to show their support for the Son of David.  They disappear five days later because of the power and influence of the second crowd, composed of the authorities and religious leaders of Jerusalem.  Fear led the first crowd to stay away or join the second crowd.

 

However, this explanation overlooks the fact that throughout Jesus’ public ministry He did not trust crowds because their motivation is entirely wrong in making the most fundamental decisions of human existence.  There is a false security in crowds.  The presence of so many people leads us to think that joining them is a safe decision.  In fact, cheap Christian apologetics uses this argument of many members of believers to falsely bolster Christian faith.  Such decision making results in an accidental stumbling upon a correct decision, but one that cannot last because it is grounded in nothing more than the false security of the crowd.

 

The Lord Jesus declared himself to be the way, the truth, and the life.  He told Pilate that His kingdom rested on truth, not on violence, emotion, or numbers.  He who listens to the truth hears the voice of Christ and is a member of His kingdom.  Consequently, the follower of Jesus bases their decisions of fundamental importance on the truth, on what is, and not on a crowd mentality.  How many examples of authentic discipleship are found in the Gospels where the character overcomes the presence of the crowd in order to follow Jesus – Zacchaeus, Bartimaeus, the man born blind?  It is no wonder that the number of disciples at the Cross is small – Mary, John, a few other women, Joseph of Arimethea, Nicodemus.  Peter and the other apostles succumb to the fear of the crowd and stay away.  For at the end of the day it is the cross that determines whether we are a disciples grounded in the truth or a random member of the crowd. 

 

In every age, but especially our own, we are called to be active, engaged, and fully conscious followers of Jesus who do so out of the truth and for no other reason.  Only such engaged discipleship grounded in the truth can achieve holiness and transform the world.  How many Christians in name only, however, attempt to reduce Christianity to a crowd mentality by making of the faith a political ideology tied to one agenda or another?  Such an enterprise is not new – it was present in the crowds of Holy Week two thousand years ago, and look at what it produced. 

 

As we strive this Holy Week to be active, engaged disciples grounded in the truth and shunning the logic of the crowd, we pray together for this holy gift:  “Almighty Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, you sent your Son to be born of woman and to die on the cross, so that through the obedience of one man estrangement might be dissolved for all men.  Guide our minds by His truth and strengthen our lives by the example of his death, that we may live in union with You in the kingdom of your promise.  Grant this through Christ our Lord.  Amen.”