4 Easter B April
22, 2018
Lectionary Link
I would call such a narrative of the life of Jesus instantiating the spiritual theology of the church, the Gospel of John.
The Gospel of John begins with God as the Word and all things exist because of the Word. And that Word became best expressed as a human being in the person of Jesus Christ. "And the Word was made flesh...."
What are the words about existence? In English we use the verb "to be." But is being or "to be" an action? Or is being an abstraction of becoming. I become in time and I sum up becoming in time with the reduction "I am or I have been until now." The holy name of God in Hebrew "Yahweh" might be a form of "to be" expressed as "the one who has always been and who will always be." For Jews, the special name of God is holy and unpronounceable because to say the name might imply God could have even a momentary limitation in time.
My one name Phil, which names my existence, is a reduction of all of the occasions of my becoming in time, from conception until time. All of that becoming is reduced to my one name.
John is the Gospel of naming who Word of God is in time. The Word of God in time as a human being is best expressed in Jesus Christ. And John's Gospels uses lots of "ego eimi" or "I am" phrases. "I am" phrase are metaphors. A metaphor relates the identity of someone or something using something that is entirely different than someone or something.
So in John's Gospel there are "I am" phrases of the confessed identities of Jesus, the one who St. Paul said was all and in all.
I am the light of the world, the way, the truth, the life, the resurrection, the bread of life, the living bread come down from heaven, the gate, the vine; I am he the messiah, I am he, the Son of Man, I am he, the Son of God. And perhaps the most blatant "I am" phrase is when Jesus said, "Before Abraham was, I am." How could that be? Well, Word or Naming itself exists before everything that is named.
In today's Gospel, Jesus says, "I am the Good Shepherd." A shepherd is the symbol for leadership and especially spiritual leadership within the community.
In Hebrew Scriptures leaders in the community were referred to as "shepherds," a metaphor which derived from the sheep herding beginnings of nomadic tribes of Israel. Most of pre-democratic societies could be called "paternalistic" societies, that is to say, they were dominated by leaders who made most of the big decision on behalf of the highly dependent "child-like members of " society. The roles in paternalistic societies are limited to the leaders and their delegates. The dependent people of society were regarded to be lacking independent wealth, power and knowledge to be able to decide for themselves and co-determine their own existence in their societies. They relied upon "omni-competent" shepherds to tell them how to earn their livelihood, where to dwell and where to find protection from enemies. The leaders in ancient societies were tyrannical kings, conquering and exploitive tribal leaders but some of them benevolent and caring particularly to their own relatives and clan.
Israel had been given the laws which provided recommended behaviors toward God as well as recommended human social behaviors. Prophets like Moses, Judges like Samuel and Deborah and Kings like David were supposed to be the shepherd leaders to show people how to live the Torah, the law of God. The Hebrew Scriptures includes accounts of lots of bad leaders, bad shepherds who did not keep the covenant with God and who exploited their people to the ruin of the nation.
The writer of the Twenty Third Psalm wrote a poem about a personal discovery of God as the perfect shepherd. God is the one who takes care of the one who knows himself or herself to be dependent on God. How is God experienced? One who leads besides still waters; one who provides; one who protects; one who anoints with health and salvation; one who provides an eternal dwelling place. The twenty third Psalm is the experience of God as being one's Great and Good Shepherd.
And how would the good and great Shepherd look in human life? The Gospel of John presents Jesus as the Good Shepherd. He lived the life of care and concern for vulnerable people. He did not exploit the weak, the ignorant and the poor. The good shepherd discourse is a discourse on power and power relationships. Social Darwinism implies that the strong are the fittest who are destined to survive because they maintain themselves first at the expense of the weak. The Good Shepherd discourse reveals the opposite; if one has wealth, knowledge and power, one is called to follow the example of the Good Shepherd and lay down one's life for the sheep, those who lack enough power, wealth and knowledge to maintain the well-being of their own lives. This study in power is still relevant for us today.
I believe it is relevant in our days of so-called modern democracies. Modern democracies are based upon the individual having enough knowledge, power and wealth, to be able to participate to make good decisions together for the common good. But in practice, many individuals have become strong, wealthy and knowledgeable to be able to be "free economic" agents in our societies. Individuals have been wealthy and strong enough not to need community institutions. The result has been the atrophy of democracies and democratic institutions. The institutions themselves have become the vulnerable sheep because of non-participation. Only 58% of the eligible voters voted in the last elections; attendance and participation in churches has drastically declined. Why? Because independent free economic agents "don't need" the institutions and can fare well without participation. The institutions themselves have become bodies of people where 10 percent of the people give and do 90 percent of the giving and the work. The modern democratic institutions, the volunteer associations have become the weak sheep and they need the strong participation of shepherds again. People need to come to church to be shepherds; strong, knowledgeable, generous shepherds on behalf of the common good and on behalf of what we can do together if we pool our resources to make a difference in bringing good news to our world.
Today, on this Good Shepherd Sunday, we need to accept our baptismal roles as shepherd. The old church was a paternal church of passive spectator watching the leaders; and the clergy did church on behalf of everyone. Priests and bishops are called shepherds, pastors; bishops carry the crozier or the symbolic staff of a shepherd, but priests and bishops do not exhaust the roles of shepherding that the church needs to do. The entire church is to be a shepherding church; a group of people who care for one another because we first care for God and because we've come under the winsome influence of Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd.
Let us learn from the Good Shepherd discourse today. When we are vulnerable and need care, I pray that God will bring a shepherd to each of us. When we find ourselves with ability, knowledge, power and wealth, let us rise to be shepherds to those in need. And now, let us regard the vulnerable situation of the parish church, an institution which seems to be in atrophy; let us rise to be shepherds to make the body of Christ alive and well and strong to be a witness for the good news of God's love. Amen.
Acts 4:5-12 Psalm 23
1 John 3:1-8 John 10:11-16
Lectionary Link
Christ is all, and is in all. What does that mean? Is Christness universal humanity? Is Christ in us the rising the original image of God within each human being?
If this is the poetic spiritual theology of the early church, what would such poetic theology look like in a narrative about the life of Jesus? The theology and the spiritual practice of the early church was developed before the Gospels were written.
I would call such a narrative of the life of Jesus instantiating the spiritual theology of the church, the Gospel of John.
The Gospel of John begins with God as the Word and all things exist because of the Word. And that Word became best expressed as a human being in the person of Jesus Christ. "And the Word was made flesh...."
What are the words about existence? In English we use the verb "to be." But is being or "to be" an action? Or is being an abstraction of becoming. I become in time and I sum up becoming in time with the reduction "I am or I have been until now." The holy name of God in Hebrew "Yahweh" might be a form of "to be" expressed as "the one who has always been and who will always be." For Jews, the special name of God is holy and unpronounceable because to say the name might imply God could have even a momentary limitation in time.
My one name Phil, which names my existence, is a reduction of all of the occasions of my becoming in time, from conception until time. All of that becoming is reduced to my one name.
John is the Gospel of naming who Word of God is in time. The Word of God in time as a human being is best expressed in Jesus Christ. And John's Gospels uses lots of "ego eimi" or "I am" phrases. "I am" phrase are metaphors. A metaphor relates the identity of someone or something using something that is entirely different than someone or something.
So in John's Gospel there are "I am" phrases of the confessed identities of Jesus, the one who St. Paul said was all and in all.
I am the light of the world, the way, the truth, the life, the resurrection, the bread of life, the living bread come down from heaven, the gate, the vine; I am he the messiah, I am he, the Son of Man, I am he, the Son of God. And perhaps the most blatant "I am" phrase is when Jesus said, "Before Abraham was, I am." How could that be? Well, Word or Naming itself exists before everything that is named.
In today's Gospel, Jesus says, "I am the Good Shepherd." A shepherd is the symbol for leadership and especially spiritual leadership within the community.
In Hebrew Scriptures leaders in the community were referred to as "shepherds," a metaphor which derived from the sheep herding beginnings of nomadic tribes of Israel. Most of pre-democratic societies could be called "paternalistic" societies, that is to say, they were dominated by leaders who made most of the big decision on behalf of the highly dependent "child-like members of " society. The roles in paternalistic societies are limited to the leaders and their delegates. The dependent people of society were regarded to be lacking independent wealth, power and knowledge to be able to decide for themselves and co-determine their own existence in their societies. They relied upon "omni-competent" shepherds to tell them how to earn their livelihood, where to dwell and where to find protection from enemies. The leaders in ancient societies were tyrannical kings, conquering and exploitive tribal leaders but some of them benevolent and caring particularly to their own relatives and clan.
Israel had been given the laws which provided recommended behaviors toward God as well as recommended human social behaviors. Prophets like Moses, Judges like Samuel and Deborah and Kings like David were supposed to be the shepherd leaders to show people how to live the Torah, the law of God. The Hebrew Scriptures includes accounts of lots of bad leaders, bad shepherds who did not keep the covenant with God and who exploited their people to the ruin of the nation.
The writer of the Twenty Third Psalm wrote a poem about a personal discovery of God as the perfect shepherd. God is the one who takes care of the one who knows himself or herself to be dependent on God. How is God experienced? One who leads besides still waters; one who provides; one who protects; one who anoints with health and salvation; one who provides an eternal dwelling place. The twenty third Psalm is the experience of God as being one's Great and Good Shepherd.
And how would the good and great Shepherd look in human life? The Gospel of John presents Jesus as the Good Shepherd. He lived the life of care and concern for vulnerable people. He did not exploit the weak, the ignorant and the poor. The good shepherd discourse is a discourse on power and power relationships. Social Darwinism implies that the strong are the fittest who are destined to survive because they maintain themselves first at the expense of the weak. The Good Shepherd discourse reveals the opposite; if one has wealth, knowledge and power, one is called to follow the example of the Good Shepherd and lay down one's life for the sheep, those who lack enough power, wealth and knowledge to maintain the well-being of their own lives. This study in power is still relevant for us today.
I believe it is relevant in our days of so-called modern democracies. Modern democracies are based upon the individual having enough knowledge, power and wealth, to be able to participate to make good decisions together for the common good. But in practice, many individuals have become strong, wealthy and knowledgeable to be able to be "free economic" agents in our societies. Individuals have been wealthy and strong enough not to need community institutions. The result has been the atrophy of democracies and democratic institutions. The institutions themselves have become the vulnerable sheep because of non-participation. Only 58% of the eligible voters voted in the last elections; attendance and participation in churches has drastically declined. Why? Because independent free economic agents "don't need" the institutions and can fare well without participation. The institutions themselves have become bodies of people where 10 percent of the people give and do 90 percent of the giving and the work. The modern democratic institutions, the volunteer associations have become the weak sheep and they need the strong participation of shepherds again. People need to come to church to be shepherds; strong, knowledgeable, generous shepherds on behalf of the common good and on behalf of what we can do together if we pool our resources to make a difference in bringing good news to our world.
Today, on this Good Shepherd Sunday, we need to accept our baptismal roles as shepherd. The old church was a paternal church of passive spectator watching the leaders; and the clergy did church on behalf of everyone. Priests and bishops are called shepherds, pastors; bishops carry the crozier or the symbolic staff of a shepherd, but priests and bishops do not exhaust the roles of shepherding that the church needs to do. The entire church is to be a shepherding church; a group of people who care for one another because we first care for God and because we've come under the winsome influence of Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd.
Let us learn from the Good Shepherd discourse today. When we are vulnerable and need care, I pray that God will bring a shepherd to each of us. When we find ourselves with ability, knowledge, power and wealth, let us rise to be shepherds to those in need. And now, let us regard the vulnerable situation of the parish church, an institution which seems to be in atrophy; let us rise to be shepherds to make the body of Christ alive and well and strong to be a witness for the good news of God's love. Amen.
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