4 Easter A May 7, 2017
Acts 6:1-9, 7:2a 51-60 Ps. 23
1 Peter 2:19-25 John 10:1-10
Lectionary Link
The Bible is a book of diverse forms of language use. Things like stories of what happened when people did not have modern science to explain things. It is includes what might be called history, the kind of history of writing down ancient oral stories of what happened from prehistoric times when there was no actual contemporary written sources. The Bible includes poetry, proverbs, erotic literature, letters, narratives, allegories, prayers, songs, wisdom literature, essays, even philosophical writings like the deeply skeptical writings in Ecclesiastes, and really humorous passages such as the dialogue of Jonah regarding a bush and a worm, or the passage of Jeremiah hiding his underwear as proof of a sign from God. There are even books in the Bible which don't mention God. Even the Gospel of John includes humorous passages using double entendre. When Jesus said Lazarus was sleeping, the literal disciples said, "but isn't sleep good." And Jesus said rolling his eyes, "Guys, Lazarus is dead....sleep can mean sleep or death. You guys are so literal."
The first writings of the New Testament are the writings of Paul and his letters include practical advice to the members of the various churches where he had ministered as a missionary apostle. Some of his writing includes dealing with disciplinary issues within the various churches. He wrote about the competition which existed among different leaders and parties within the early church.
St. Paul is generally assumed to be the primary theological architect of the church. And some of Paul's writing can be what we would call "didactic." Didactic meaning teaching. The didactic writings of Paul are just his way of giving explanation about the meaning of Jesus Christ and the church. Paul's didactic writing does not include lots of literary devices. Paul in fact, noted that many people were intimidated by his "weighty" writings and were a bit more surprised by his more personable appearances. This might be his way of saying that his writing was rather dense theology while when he was in person, he would use more personable devices of communication.
St. Paul was involved with the church in Ephesus early on in its establishment. Much later, many scholars believe Ephesus was the final home of the beloved disciple and the community responsible for the writings associated with the Gospel and Epistles of John.
If St. Paul was the early theological architect of the Christian Church, then one could say that the Gospels were the literary devices used by early church leaders to communicate the theology of church in ways in which were accessible to a mostly illiterate audience.
The Gospel of John includes writing with rhetorical devices to disseminate the more "heady" theology of St. Paul to make it accessible to more people.
The Gospel of John uses long discourses of Jesus to illustrate theological teaching and church practice. Two of the famous discourses of Jesus uses allegories from animal husbandry and from horticulture. I am the vine, you are the branches. This is a teaching allegory for the mystical theology of St. Paul.
Today, we have read from the Good Shepherd discourse. Jesus is the Good Shepherd. Jesus is also the Gate or door of the Sheepfold. The ancient shepherd used to be a personal gate. He would sleep across the opening of the sheepfold so that the sleep could not get out without going through him and the wild animals could not get in without going through him. The shepherd was the ultimate regulator of the lives of the sheep.
Let us look at the teaching devices of the Good Shepherd discourse. Good Shepherd, Sheep, wolves, gate and thieves and hired hands. Hidden in these allegories are the main issues of human community and the church communities. The wolves signify the wildness of the free conditions which enable powerful beings to have their way over weaker beings in life. We might observe, like Darwin, that survival of the fittest is the principle of Nature. Those who are the strongest can and will make the weak their prey.
There are people who in human community want to mirror survival of the fittest as the main principle of economic and community life. Yes, there might be a more or less general agreement that infants and children are not subject to the survival of the fittest rule, but some people believe that when one is an adult, then it is dog eat dog world and survival of the fittest is the rule. If you can't find a way to survive as an adult, then you don't deserve to.
The message of the good shepherd discourse is this; the Christian message is different. It is true to the real roles that occur in our lives. The roles are good shepherd, sheep or bandits and hired hand. Whether we are adult or children, all of us at times are in the role of sheep. Why? Not one of us is Omni-competent. We cannot exist alone. Everyone is at sometime in the condition of need. What do we want when we need something? We know what we don't want. We don't want to be exploited in our time of need. The situation of need makes people vulnerable. The bandits and hired hand are those who exploit needy. Thieves steals and hired hands are better than thieves but they will not sacrifice their lives for the sheep because they have no connection with the well-being of the ones they are paid to take care of. For the hired hand, it is "just" a job and he is one who will bail if it costs him to protect the vulnerable.
The good shepherd is one who cares for the vulnerable and does not even regard it to be a sacrifice to care in even heroic ways. Why? Because there is a love which is much higher than the natural principle of the "survival of the fittest."
A society which is a good shepherd society is a society where the most powerful, the wealthiest, the healthiest, the people with the most knowledge take responsibility for the most vulnerable and needy in society. Why? A good shepherd society is motivated completely by love and justice.
There is not and has never been a completely successful good shepherd society. Why? We still have society where there is wild power, thieves and hired hand exploiters. There has not been enough good shepherds to fully tend to all of the human need in our world.
So why was the good shepherd discourse written? Because, the church is supposed to be a good shepherd society and then spread this good shepherd practice way beyond the walls of the church.
The good shepherd discourse is really about our relationship to power. We as sheep are often without power. And when we are vulnerable we want people with ability to come to our aid. The good shepherd discourse is also about ministry. When God gifts us with knowledge, wealth, ability and strength, then we are to be good shepherds who follow our Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, who lived his live sacrificially for others.
May God help each of us today hear the voice of the Good Shepherd call us to be good shepherds to those whom we need to care for today. Amen.
Acts 6:1-9, 7:2a 51-60 Ps. 23
1 Peter 2:19-25 John 10:1-10
Lectionary Link
The Bible is a book of diverse forms of language use. Things like stories of what happened when people did not have modern science to explain things. It is includes what might be called history, the kind of history of writing down ancient oral stories of what happened from prehistoric times when there was no actual contemporary written sources. The Bible includes poetry, proverbs, erotic literature, letters, narratives, allegories, prayers, songs, wisdom literature, essays, even philosophical writings like the deeply skeptical writings in Ecclesiastes, and really humorous passages such as the dialogue of Jonah regarding a bush and a worm, or the passage of Jeremiah hiding his underwear as proof of a sign from God. There are even books in the Bible which don't mention God. Even the Gospel of John includes humorous passages using double entendre. When Jesus said Lazarus was sleeping, the literal disciples said, "but isn't sleep good." And Jesus said rolling his eyes, "Guys, Lazarus is dead....sleep can mean sleep or death. You guys are so literal."
The first writings of the New Testament are the writings of Paul and his letters include practical advice to the members of the various churches where he had ministered as a missionary apostle. Some of his writing includes dealing with disciplinary issues within the various churches. He wrote about the competition which existed among different leaders and parties within the early church.
St. Paul is generally assumed to be the primary theological architect of the church. And some of Paul's writing can be what we would call "didactic." Didactic meaning teaching. The didactic writings of Paul are just his way of giving explanation about the meaning of Jesus Christ and the church. Paul's didactic writing does not include lots of literary devices. Paul in fact, noted that many people were intimidated by his "weighty" writings and were a bit more surprised by his more personable appearances. This might be his way of saying that his writing was rather dense theology while when he was in person, he would use more personable devices of communication.
St. Paul was involved with the church in Ephesus early on in its establishment. Much later, many scholars believe Ephesus was the final home of the beloved disciple and the community responsible for the writings associated with the Gospel and Epistles of John.
If St. Paul was the early theological architect of the Christian Church, then one could say that the Gospels were the literary devices used by early church leaders to communicate the theology of church in ways in which were accessible to a mostly illiterate audience.
The Gospel of John includes writing with rhetorical devices to disseminate the more "heady" theology of St. Paul to make it accessible to more people.
The Gospel of John uses long discourses of Jesus to illustrate theological teaching and church practice. Two of the famous discourses of Jesus uses allegories from animal husbandry and from horticulture. I am the vine, you are the branches. This is a teaching allegory for the mystical theology of St. Paul.
Today, we have read from the Good Shepherd discourse. Jesus is the Good Shepherd. Jesus is also the Gate or door of the Sheepfold. The ancient shepherd used to be a personal gate. He would sleep across the opening of the sheepfold so that the sleep could not get out without going through him and the wild animals could not get in without going through him. The shepherd was the ultimate regulator of the lives of the sheep.
Let us look at the teaching devices of the Good Shepherd discourse. Good Shepherd, Sheep, wolves, gate and thieves and hired hands. Hidden in these allegories are the main issues of human community and the church communities. The wolves signify the wildness of the free conditions which enable powerful beings to have their way over weaker beings in life. We might observe, like Darwin, that survival of the fittest is the principle of Nature. Those who are the strongest can and will make the weak their prey.
There are people who in human community want to mirror survival of the fittest as the main principle of economic and community life. Yes, there might be a more or less general agreement that infants and children are not subject to the survival of the fittest rule, but some people believe that when one is an adult, then it is dog eat dog world and survival of the fittest is the rule. If you can't find a way to survive as an adult, then you don't deserve to.
The message of the good shepherd discourse is this; the Christian message is different. It is true to the real roles that occur in our lives. The roles are good shepherd, sheep or bandits and hired hand. Whether we are adult or children, all of us at times are in the role of sheep. Why? Not one of us is Omni-competent. We cannot exist alone. Everyone is at sometime in the condition of need. What do we want when we need something? We know what we don't want. We don't want to be exploited in our time of need. The situation of need makes people vulnerable. The bandits and hired hand are those who exploit needy. Thieves steals and hired hands are better than thieves but they will not sacrifice their lives for the sheep because they have no connection with the well-being of the ones they are paid to take care of. For the hired hand, it is "just" a job and he is one who will bail if it costs him to protect the vulnerable.
The good shepherd is one who cares for the vulnerable and does not even regard it to be a sacrifice to care in even heroic ways. Why? Because there is a love which is much higher than the natural principle of the "survival of the fittest."
A society which is a good shepherd society is a society where the most powerful, the wealthiest, the healthiest, the people with the most knowledge take responsibility for the most vulnerable and needy in society. Why? A good shepherd society is motivated completely by love and justice.
There is not and has never been a completely successful good shepherd society. Why? We still have society where there is wild power, thieves and hired hand exploiters. There has not been enough good shepherds to fully tend to all of the human need in our world.
So why was the good shepherd discourse written? Because, the church is supposed to be a good shepherd society and then spread this good shepherd practice way beyond the walls of the church.
The good shepherd discourse is really about our relationship to power. We as sheep are often without power. And when we are vulnerable we want people with ability to come to our aid. The good shepherd discourse is also about ministry. When God gifts us with knowledge, wealth, ability and strength, then we are to be good shepherds who follow our Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, who lived his live sacrificially for others.
May God help each of us today hear the voice of the Good Shepherd call us to be good shepherds to those whom we need to care for today. Amen.
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