Sermon from 4/30/23 at FUMC: Prairie Campus John 10:1-10
I decided to preach the assigned lectionary texts for this
Sunday and as soon as I started reading this Gospel I had a memory from a Bible
class I took in seminary. We were studying this passage from John and we had to
read a very lengthy article on the sheep gate. It was about what a sheep gate
was and all the historical specifics. Somewhere between the logistics of how it
would have opened and closed and the specific measurements that were typical of
sheep gates at that time, my eyes got very heavy and it was a struggle to
finish it. I did not like that article at all. I figured I would just avoid
preaching on this passage for my entire ministry career and forever block out
all historical sheep-gate related information for the rest of my life. So when
I opened up to John 10 and saw the sheep gate I first sighed and then thought
“I kind of wish I had paid more attention to that article.” But, because I
didn’t, you will be spared from a sermon about the dimensions of a historical
sheep gate and hopefully spared from heavy eyelids.
But maybe you have a more mechanical type brain than I do
or perhaps you are fascinated with historical details and so you are really
wishing I had paid better attention to that article so we could talk more about
sheep gates. Well don’t worry, I do think we should spend some time reflecting
on the sheep gate, maybe not the dimensions and mechanics of it but meditating
on it none the less. Jesus often speaks in parables but we don’t always get
clear guidance on understanding those parables. But in this explanation of the
sheep gate Jesus directly says (multiple times), “I am the gate.” So it is
certainly worth spending some time on.
Jesus as the gate is not the most popular metaphor in
Christianity. I have never seen a stained glass window with a beautifully
colored and reflective gate at the front of a worship space. I have never seen
Christians wear necklaces with gate charms or put gate stickers on their cars.
And yet, Jesus tells us “I am the gate.” It is much more popular and
understandable to focus on the other metaphors in this passage. Jesus as the
Shepherd is a much more relatable image. This idea of a shepherd and his
pasture clearly has a deep influence on how we do church as we call our
ordained leaders “pastor” and the work of caring for one another as “pastoral
ministry.” It is a beautiful model of Christian leadership and evokes images of
green rolling hills and a calm and steady presence guiding the herd through
both peaceful and uncertain times. And in the verses following this passage
Jesus says “I am the good shepherd.”
But, for now, we have a gate. And the image of a gate might
not conjure up warm feelings for everyone. My first thought when I think of a
gate is a closed gate, a locked gate or being left outside of a gate. I am
guessing we all have had experiences like that. Maybe it is an experience of a
literal gate being closed. Like arriving late to something and not being let in
or wanting to go somewhere but it’s closed. Or maybe it reminds you of any
experience of being not being let in- but not because you are late or at the
wrong place but because of who you are- your background, your race, your
gender, your socio-economic class. When I was growing up my mom would tell me
about when she and her siblings weren’t allowed in to the public pool as kids
because they are Lebanese and their skin was brown. I thought about that every
time we went to the public pool and walked through the entrance gate. For some,
the gate is a painful memory, a symbol of exclusion.
But in the Gospel reading today that isn’t the function of
the sheep gate Jesus is talking about. Yes, gates can be used for keeping
people out, but Jesus is talking about a gate that lets people in. This is a
gate that is open. A gate that protects the sheep from those who wish to do
them harm. It is the way in.
That makes us the sheep. In this passage, along with the
one following it and many others throughout the Gospels, sheep are used as a
metaphor for Christ’s followers. In fact, I remember singing songs about being
a sheep during Sunday School when I was a kid. The image of Jesus as the good
shepherd caring for the sheep is a popular image on stained glass windows and
church wall portraits, and it isn’t because Jesus really liked sheep or was
exceptionally skilled at petting sheep. It’s because the idea of Jesus as the
shepherd leading his flock of followers is an important image in the Bible and
in Christianity.
But as you all probably know, the idea of “being a sheep”
is not exactly popular right now. In fact I have seen bumper stickers and t
shirts proudly proclaiming “I am not a sheep.” We live in a very
individualistic society where we are constantly told that the purpose of all
things and what truly matters is you, who you are, what people think of you,
what you accumulate, how you feel and your right to do whatever you want to do.
And so this idea of finding one’s place in a big group and blindly following
the shepherd while walking along with the other sheep- happily unaware of where
you are going or what is happening- is not very popular. And it’s not just
unpopular, it makes people really angry.
And none of us wants to be mindlessly following the person
in front of us right off a cliff. We honor and seek to emulate those who boldly
spoke for justice rather than maintaining the status quo. Sometimes we need to
go against the grain and question the direction of the flock.
But as Christians we are called to be part of a community
and we are called to follow Jesus, to listen to his voice, discern where he is
calling us and follow … right through the gate, and right alongside with our
brothers and sisters. And sometimes that means giving up some of our
individualism to be part of the community. Giving up some of our stubborn
insistence and confessing that we do not know all the answers and that we are
dependent on God.
And we find that when we walk through this gate, when we
follow this voice … we are more than just another sheep. We are called by name.
I love that line in this passage, in verse 3 where it says “He calls his own
sheep by name and leads them out.” One of the commentaries I read suggested
this could be referring to “pet names” or “nicknames” that a shepherd has for
each sheep. This isn’t what I would typically think of when I think of a
shepherd calling in sheep. I picture a tired shepherd herding the sheep into a
single file and hurrying them along before slamming the gate and walking away.
But this is something different. He is calling them each by a name, a beloved
name. He sees them, he knows them, he makes sure they know they are seen and
known. We are named, we are valued and we are loved … and we are part of a
larger body, a community, a flock.
The passage ends with Jesus saying, “I came that they may
have life, and have it abundantly.” This is what the gate opens to, this is
what we are called by name to. What does it mean to have life abundantly?
Sometimes I think there is this idea that if you are a Christian and you are
really strong in your faith you should never have fears about death or whether
or not life has meaning or if we have a purpose. But those are all really human
questions. Sometimes when I realize how quickly my children are growing, how
fast the last few years have gone by or when I have to tell someone in their
twenties that I am in my forties and see the look on their face- I start to
think about life … aging . . . death . . .whether or not I’m doing it all
right. You see I am the kind of person who has always tried to do things
“right.” I always got good grades, tried to follow the rules and do my best to
make others happy. But life is tricky. We don’t get progress reports and the
“right” path forward isn’t always clear … if there even is one. Sometimes life
is moving so fast and I wonder what am I even doing and what should I be doing
and how do I know … anything really?
And we often are the stubborn sheep who goes the wrong way
or the lost sheep. At the end of the day sometimes we replay things we did or
said or didn’t do or didn’t say and it all swirls around in our head and the
darkness can feel really dark.
But Jesus tells us he is a gate, a gate that opens, a gate
that protects and that we are called by name to walk through. We are called to
be embraced into the fold of God’s mercy and love. And we see that yes our
story and our life matters but it is about so much more than that. We are
called to be part of the body of Christ that extends across space and time,
that lasts into eternity. We are part of a salvation story that is bigger than
us and yet is very much a part of us and we are an important part of it. This
is life abundantly. This is life through the gate. A life lived knowing that we
are seen and valued and we are not alone. That we are called. And we don’t need
a checklist or a progress report, we don’t need to agonize over what we did
wrong or right, we don’t have to make all the right decisions, or live up to
everyone’s expectations or never make mistakes, we don’t even need to have it
all figured out, all we have to do … all we get to do … is walk through the gate.
