The secret to abundant living is not private ownership, but trusting Jesus: that it isn’t only about my life, but all of our lives.
Trusting the shepherd inside a pandemic
Easter 4A | Acts 2:42-47, John 10:1-10
Getting called a sheep is usually an insult.
The image of a sheep implies ignorance, stupidity, and gullibility. They can’t be trusted to keep from wandering off; always getting themselves into danger.
The image in the public imagination is only one step better than lemming.
And yet Jesus likes the image. He uses it constantly. We are always being compared with sheep.
But instead of thinking of how we hear it, maybe we should think about the way Jesus actually uses it. What does Jesus think of sheep?
He loves them, like a shepherd.
We see that in the parable of the lost sheep. It’s an incomprehensible example of great love and seemingly reckless regard. The parable’s shepherd goes after a single lost sheep, leaving ninety-nine to fend for themselves.
Of course, sheep have a herding instinct, so they are bound to stick together. But I think the teaching is deeper. The shepherd trusts the sheep to look after each other.
Both a Shepherd and a Gate
In John’s depiction of Jesus, we see a shifting meditation on a theme. First he compares himself to the shepherd, protecting the sheep from thieves who sneak in. Then he describes himself as the gate which lets in sheep and keeps out thieves.
The shifting identity of Jesus, from shepherd to the gate, is strange. We want the security of a single image. Because we think that better knowing Jesus in this image is comforting.
And yet what is consistent in this set of teachings is the sheep. Us. Our part is the same in both examples. We’re the one being protected by him.
And in that way, Jesus is describing different aspects of himself in relation to us. He isn’t just protecting us. It isn’t only that. He speaks to the growing flock, the capacity of the flock to change, and the meaningful community can be continued in spite of those external threats we might worry about.
Even that doesn’t encapsulate the whole of Jesus’s message.
A Shepherd’s Trust
Just like the parable of the Lost Sheep, Jesus is not only speaking about safety, but in trusting the shepherd. In particular, hearing him when we can’t see him. Heeding his commands when he isn’t there. Following his way beyond the whims of our environment.
The threat of these thieves, after all, is not simply theft of a sheep or two. It’s that we would follow them rather than the shepherd. Their siren call would be attractive. Or maybe we’re just stupid animals who forget.
And to that, Jesus stridently objects.
“All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them.”
This is profound confidence in his followers. This isn’t Hey, watch out! You’re going to be tempted! This is You’ve already refused their temptation!
Jesus is speaking so confidently about us, about his trust in us; it’s a given. We’ve got this.
And that is the true comfort that Jesus is offering us now. That we’re not only protected, like dumb sheep with a smart shepherd. But that our love for Jesus means we know how to find him. We know what he keeps teaching us. We already know the way to go.
In Common
Our first reading this morning from Acts is a prefect example. These followers didn’t just see Jesus die. And be reborn. And ascend into heaven. They are sheep who hear the voice of their shepherd.
They kept a common purse with him long before he left. Now they’re keeping it without him. Jesus continues to shepherd them as they continue to follow his lead. In gathering as one; sharing without distinction, offering a radical equality that transcends class or gender.
For many, this is the most feared passage in the whole Bible. The one that seems to be against private ownership, predating Karl Mark by 1800 years.
And if we took it too literally in this moment, we would cause a public health crisis.
As it is, I like having a home for my family; the resources to furnish it; and the idea that I don’t have to lend out my TV when someone else wants to stream Netflix. Private ownership is coming in really handy during social distancing.
And yet our common understanding of private ownership also obscures our vision and keeps us from hearing the shepherd’s voice. A voice that not only predates socialism, but capitalism. And democracy. And monarchy even. The voice that reminds us what he has always taught about love and compassion and generosity.
Abundant Life
I never quite appreciated the pairing of these two readings as much as I do this morning.
Jesus spoke confidently about his trust in them—that they would hear his voice above the sweet-talking of those who would divide and privatize their world. He was confident that they would continue in what he taught them: to share. To grow. Be willing to be intimate. Sacrifice.
And because of that, they would all have what each wanted.
“I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”
In the present and with each other: abundant, vibrant living requires us all.
And after Jesus left them, they continued what he taught them. And explored new ways to practice those teachings.
It took another seven decades before the church began to lose its egalitarian character and embraced hierarchies. The failure of the church to maintain its early trajectory is no less of an endorsement of what they tried to do. Speaking more about what Jesus’s vision of abundant life is truly up against.
Here, Now
And in the same way, we are here, nearly two thousand years after the Christ event and we are still hearing the shepherd’s voice. And we are still receiving his trust in us; that we will be the sheep he knows we will be.
Not billions of individual lost sheep, stuck in the wilderness alone. Even the wilderness of these mundane homes. Sad and lonely—hardly living.
But instead, as a flock, protected, listening, to the shepherd. More and more concerned with being the beloved community. Hearing his voice and following his ways. Trusting the true shepherd.
And trusted by the shepherd to love and share and make peace and justice the very heart of our world.