John 14:15-21 for Sunday, April 27, 2008

Translation:

(15)If you love me you will keep my commandments.  (16)And I will ask the Father and he will give to you another Paraclete, so that it may be with you into eternity, (17)the Spirit of truth, whom the world is not able to receive because it does not see him* nor does it know him*.  You know him*, because he* abides in your presence and will be in you.  (18)I will not leave you as orphans, I am coming to you. (19)Yet in a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live you also will live.  (20)In that day you will know that I am in my Father and you in me and I in you. (21)Those who have the commandments and keep them, they are the ones who love me.  And the ones who love me will be loved by my Father and I will love them and I will reveal myself to them.

*Though I am not sure it is theologically accurate to call the Paraclete a "he," the Greek uses a neuter pronoun, and there doesn't seem to be a good English alternative.  I suppose I could call the Paraclete "it," but that gets redundant to a point.  I apologize for the political incorrectness, and I'm open to other translation possibilities--so leave a comment!

I think this Scripture addresses every human being's most primal fear:  separation.  At some level, we have all been afraid of being separated from those we love.  There's the fear of physical separation, like getting lost in the grocery store as a child or fearing that someone may abduct you.  Then there's everyone's fear that their parent, grandparent, spouse or best friend might die and leave them alone in the world.  Certainly this thought must have crossed the disciples' minds a time or two as Jesus' teachings continued to cause outrage.

But Jesus says that there is no need to be afraid of being alone.  Jesus will never let that happen.  Verse 18 is probably my favorite.  The Greek literally reads "I will not allow you [to be] orphans."  It might not be that Jesus is physically very near, but another Paraclete is coming!

Being alone is one thing.  It seems unlikely that any of us should be absolutely alone, without any human contact, for very long.  But being loved by those that share your company--that is something totally different.  But Jesus even promises that love will continue.  In verse 21 he says that those who follow the commandments (which are not restrictive rules, but life giving--another blog altogether!) will be loved.  Not just loved by Jesus, but by the Father as well. 

The only thing worse than feeling alone is feeling alone and unloved because when you feel alone and unloved you're pretty sure you don't matter to anyone else.  The wonderful gift Jesus gave his followers was assurance that this would never happen.  Even when Jesus died, the disciples were not alone or unloved.  Even today, the many disciples of Jesus are not alone or unloved.  To my way of thinking, that alone is a tremendous gift of life!

John 14:1-14 for Sunday, April 20, 2008

Translation:

(1)Do not let your heart be troubled.  Believe in God and also believe in me. (2)In my father's house there are many rooms, and if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.  (3)And if I go and I prepare a place for you, I will come again and I will take you to myself, so that where I am you maybe also. (4)And you know the way where I am going. (5)Thomas said to him, "Lord, we do not know where you are going.  How are we able to know the way?" (6)Jesus said to him, "I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the father if not through me. (7)If you know me, you will know my father.  And from now on, you know him and have seen him." (8)And Philip said to him, "Lord, show us the father and it will satisfy us."  (9) Jesus said to him, "All this time with you and you have not known me, Philip?  The one who has seen me has seen the father.  How can you say 'Show us the father'?  (10)Do you not believe that I am in the father and the father is in me?  The words which I said to you I do not speak myself, but the father who dwells in me does his works. (11)Believe me, that I am in the father and the father in me.  But if not, on account of these works, believe.  (12)Truly, truly I say to you, the one who believes in me, the work which I do also he will do and he will do greater [works] than these, because I am going to the father.  (13)And whatever you may ask in my name I will do, in order that the father may be glorified in the Son.  (14)If you ask anything in my name, I will do [it].

Jesus never speaks simply, does he?

I think if there is one word that we can choose as the most important word in this section of scripture, it might be "believe."  By my count, this word crops up five times in these fourteen short verses.  That's quite a lot.  

Jesus is speaking in some very ethereal terms here about "going to the father" and "I am in the father and the father is in me" and the "father's house."  It is pretty clear that Thomas and Philip do not know what Jesus means by all this, and I think it is safe to say that 2,000 years later, we are in no better position to definitively say what Jesus means.  Some have said that the "father's house" is heaven, which would be a typical Jewish interpretation of this kind of language.  But, in the Gospel of John many times Jesus uses metaphors of location to describe relationships.  Perhaps the "father's house" and "preparing a room" are all metaphors for close, intimate relationship with God.  Similarly, it is difficult for us to imagine that Jesus could be "in the father" or that the father could be in Jesus.  It just seems physically impossible.  This is probably also a metaphor for the close relationship between Jesus and God.   

Jesus tells Thomas "I am the way and the truth and the life."  This, coupled with last week's scripture about Jesus as the gate seems to mean that Jesus is the access to and embodiment of life with God.  

None of these words and metaphors are probably any clearer now than they were before you came to this blog.  But, I think Jesus knew that this was difficult to understand even as he spoke these words.  He simply kept telling the disciples "believe."  Somehow, I think that nothing Jesus could say would make any of this any clearer.  We do not have language or appropriate earthly conventions to conceive of exactly what Jesus meant.  Our task is to simply believe.  Grammatically speaking, Jesus commands (use of the imperative) belief.  Jesus does not use the imperative in other senses (except in the first verse, "do not let your heart be troubled").  The rest will come with spiritual maturity.  For now, just believe.

This is true for so much of our lives.  When we are faced with enormous life decisions, or the uncertainty of the future the only thing we can really do is rely on God and believe.  This week at Trinity, we will all be participating in a survey administered by your Visioning Team.  The Visioning Team has been meeting regularly to talk and pray together about where God may be leading Trinity as a faith community.  This survey is one way the Visioning Team wants to engage the congregation at large in this process.  We also want you to be engaged by your prayers, presence, gifts and talents.  

Even as we try to discern God's vision for Trinity together, it is hard for us to see too far into the future.  Thankfully we are not asked to do much more than believe.  As we walk this road together, may our faith always guide us.

John 10:1-10 for Sunday, April 13, 2008

Translation:

(1)Truly, truly I say to you, the one who does not come through the gate into the sheepfold, but comes up another way is a thief and a robber.  (2)But the one who comes through the gate is a shepherd of the sheep.  (3)The gatekeeper opens the gate and the sheep hear his voice and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.  (4)When he has brought out all his own, he goes in front of them and the sheep follow him because they have known his voice. (5)But they will never ever follow a stranger, but they will run away from him because they have not known the voice of a stranger."  (6)Jesus said this figure of speech to them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.  (7)Therefore, Jesus said again, "Truly, truly I say to you that I am the gate for the sheep.  (8)Everyone who came before me is a thief and a robber, but the sheep did not listen to them.  (9)I am the gate, whoever enters through me will be saved and will come in and go out and will find pasture.  (10)The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy.  I came in order that they may have life and have it abundantly.

This is a complicated story.  It is no wonder that no one understood Jesus the first time he told it.  It is hard to understand on one telling and I encourage you to read it several times, in many different translations so that you can try to understand it too.

I think what is at the center of this story is a warning about who (and what) we choose to follow.  Jesus gives us this imagery of sheep and a shepherd.  The shepherd herds the sheep and keeps them safe.  At night, a shepherd puts the sheep in a sheepfold so that they cannot wander off in the dark of night where many dangerous scenarios lurk.  We may want to jump at thinking of Jesus as the shepherd, or the one who cares for us (the sheep), ensuring our safety.  However, Jesus says explicitly "I am the gate." 

Jesus is both the gate for the sheep and the gate for the shepherd.  Those sheep that enter through the gate (Jesus) will be protected by the sheepfold, or the enclosure that ensures they will not wander out of the shepherd's care.  The shepherd must also enter through the gate (Jesus).  Many commentators think that the shepherd is imagery for the leaders of the religious community who were followers of Jesus, rather than the Pharisees who seem to climb into the sheepfold from other directions by thwarting Jesus' message at every turn.  A shepherd or a true Christian leader will come through the gate (Jesus).  A false leader will find another way into the sheepfold (Christian community) and will exist only to do harm.

I think this serves as a warning to us about who to follow and how to determine authentic Christian leadership.  Jesus lived in a time filled with false prophets and teachers who claimed "true" knowledge.  We also live in a time of false prophets.  Those who claim to offer us safety and protection but do not enter through the gate (Jesus) are false prophets. 

In a culture where information can be disseminated in a matter of minutes, there are false prophets everywhere.  We are offered protection by financial advisors who promise to keep our money safe.  We are offered protection by our government who claims to have our best interests at heart.  We are offered protection by our doctors who want to keep us healthy.  We are offered protection by the FDA who promises to keep our food safe for consumption.  In some sense, all of these forms of protection are good, and very necessary.  But, Jesus warns that if we choose to put all of our trust in these forms of protection, we will be disappointed and even harmed.  Only those who enter through Jesus can point us toward abundant life.

This is an important message for me to hear because it reminds me that many of the things I rely on every day are not ultimately going to give me abundant life.  Yes, antibiotics from my doctor may save me from a life-threatening infection, and wearing my seatbelt will save me from a fatal collision but if these are the things that I put all my trust in, I will never have abundant life.  I will simply be living from one contained fear to another.  It doesn't mean I should cease to do things that make good common sense (like wearing a seat belt or consulting a doctor), but it does mean that these things cannot give abundant life.

This scripture gives me pause to think about the people and things that I trust.  Where have you put your trust?  Who is your shepherd?  What gates have you entered?