Abundantly Sheepish Life

Lectionary Reading: Gospel of John 10:1-10

Jesus said, “Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.” Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.
So again Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

Warning: I kinda ramble a lot in this one, and I’m still not sure I’ve answered any questions.

Jesus starts by emphasizing that there is truth in what he is about to say. The fact that Jesus is the only one in the bible that uses the phrase, “very truly” or some versions say, “verily verily” either it is his own or since it is only found in the gospel of John and none of the other gospel writers quote Jesus as using this phrase, I wonder if it isn’t John’s way of perking up his readers to prepare for a crucial truth that is about to come.
Who are the sheep?
Who are the thieves and bandits?
Who is the gatekeeper?
Who is the shepherd?
In what He just tells us, Jesus is none of these. Surprisingly, He is the gate! He says it twice; v.7 & v.9.
In v.9 Jesus says that the sheep that enter by Him (being the gate) will be saved. His audience is listening to Him talk about sheep. What are they hearing? What are they thinking he means by “saved”?

When Jesus says, “all who came before me are thieves and bandits” who is he talking about? He can’t be talking about Moses and the prophets.

“but the sheep did not listen to them”

Past tense. it is part of his statement that all who came before Him were thieves and bandits. John is alerting us that there is important truth here. So I don’t think that the important thing that Jesus is trying to communicate is the same thing that the prosperity gospel preachers preach; you should be having life to the full. To make their case, they often use the second half of verse 11 “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” Little do they realize that the first part of that verse points to them!*

In v.1 Jesus is saying something that everybody already knows is true, any other way than the gate, you are up to no good. This is something everyone knows is true. Shepherds who are legit, enter through the gate. The thieves and bandits that come only to steal, kill and destroy are those that want to lead through power and dominance and oppression. No one is following them because they want to. They are those that hold their power over others. In a few successive chapters in John’s gospel, Jesus describes himself in several different ways:

I am the light — 8:12, 9:5

I am the gate — 10:7, 9

I am the good shepherd — 10:11, 14

I am the resurrection and the life — 11:25

I am the way the truth and the life — 14:6

I am the true vine — 15:1, 5

Speaking to the agrarian culture, he uses metaphors that they have a deep knowledge of. Gate, shepherd, vine.

Jesus, coming to us as God in the flesh, is here to convince us of a better way than how we are doing things. We’re sheep, it’s in our DNA to follow along. But being God, the nature of God it seems, is to allow us always free will. So it would be that the nature of God is to lead us by calling us to follow Him and never by extorting us through fear and punishment. God never demands. All of creation is God’s. So why would God need to steal, kill or destroy. Why would God ever destroy and kill His own creation? Can God even steal from God? Jesus is speaking their language, relying on the truths that are contained within, to speak to their hearts as a voice they recognize and trust. Jesus know that they are going to kill Him. I have to wonder if by saying what he is saying in v.10 there is the idea that you can kill and destroy whoever you think I am, but the life-giving truth that I am speaking remains, providing life abundantly to all who take hold of it.
When we are used to the status quo, it can be difficult to imagine life any other way. Again, we are sheep, we follow along. Even though we might be miserable with how things are going, we’d rather stick with what we know than risk something different because we fear it might be worse. Jesus is saying, “There is a different way but you have to trust me. It is going to look like it is not going well for me and it is going to seem that way for you too. But trust me, I am offering a life of abundance.” If we think that a life of abundance means nice cars, nice homes, no struggling or suffering, the perfect family, a great career, trips to fancy places, the latest clothes, jewelry, status and the favor of those that hold power over others then we are going to forever be chasing Jesus for something that he doesn’t have so He can’t give. Jesus clearly didn’t live a life like that so why would we look to Him to provide that for us?! The abundant life He offers is one that is abundant in love, truth, kindness, relationships, healing, caring, feeding.

Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me, For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.” Luke 9:23

The abundance that Jesus is talking about is found in laying down our lives for others. Losing our life to find it. When we accept the status quo, we are not living life the way God designed. We are living the life that we think we are supposed to be living because we just don’t know any better. And when it fails to satisfy, we blame ourselves or we try to fix this way of life or improve it. But Jesus tells us we can’t fit it, we have to abandon it all together and start a new one. Jesus promises us that if we are willing to risk what we have in life, we will realize we are only giving up a life we were destined to lose anyway. Life as God designed it is abundant. But we can’t get there and hold on to this life too.
God has given us free will and He will never take it away because free will is part of who God is and God being love, taking it away would be to be something less than love. We always have the choice to trust God no matter where our choices have taken us. Our choices are driven by what we really value. Our values are kind of a trap. We want what we want because we believe that those are the things that everybody else wants. And if we have them, then we are living the life everybody wants to live. We only want them because we think everybody else wants them and by having them, we will have everyone’s admiration and respect. but once we get them, we now want the admiration an respect of those who have more. And on it goes. Jesus calls us to change what we value!! How does anyone do that?!
Perhaps it is in the letting go of what we are trying to hold on to. We’re holding on to it not so much because we want it but because we are afraid to lose it! Do we really want a life of keeping up with what everybody else is striving for? Can we really just let go of everything in hopes that we find our new life, the one we are supposed to live! Not putting our hope or trust in ourselves and our abilities and our position in life, but shifting our hope to other things? Perhaps Jesus give us a glimpse of what our life looks like when we let go of our current values and take hold of what God values.

Blessed are the poor in spirit,
     for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
     for they will be comforted.
blessed are the meek,
     for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and this for righteousness,
     for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
     for they will be shown mercy
Blessed are the pure in heart,
     for they will see God
Blessed are the peacemakers,
     for they will be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
     for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kids of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Matthew 5:3-12

“You never change things by fighting the existing reality,
to change something, build a new model
that makes the existing model obsolete.”

Buckminster Fuller

Essentially I believe that what Jesus and Buckminster Fuller are saying is one and the same. We can’t live into a new reality by changing the old. We have to create a whole new one. For us to lose our lives so that we gain them is not something Jesus is talking about that has to do with dying and going to heaven. I believe eternal life starts here and now for us. He is saying you can’t inherit eternal life by trying to improve this one. You have to let this one die and your soul be born again. Instead of valuing things, value people. Instead of ignoring the hardships of others, mourn with them. Instead of gouging the earth for what you can get out of it, care for it. Don’t feast on the shallowness of vanity and status, reject it and hunger for what sustains us and others. We are called to completely change what we value, what we give our time, money and heart to. We really can’t do this even though we must. It is only God that does this, Our only part is to let him. We can only die, and it is only God who gives life. We just have to trust Him and not cling to this life.