- `the stone that was rejected by you, the builders;
- it has become the cornerstone.'
There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved."
(Acts 4:5-12)
Very quickly, the question becomes one of power. A disabled man has been healed. It should be a source of wonder, or at least happiness. But the high priests and the members of the Sanhedrin do not ask "What does this mean?", they ask "Where did you get the power?" "By whose authority did you do this (because it sure wasn't ours)?"
We shouldn't judge too harshly: these religious authorities were responsible for the spiritual well being of their community. Naturally they would want to check out anything that was creating such a stir among the people.
But are there times when our desire for control blinds us to the work of God? Are there times we have trouble seeing the work of the spirit, when it comes in unexpected forms, or even challenges the ways we have always done things? What do you think?
We know love by
this, that he laid down his life for us—and we ought to lay down our lives for
one another. How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and
sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?
Little
children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. And by
this we will know that we are from the truth and will reassure our hearts before
him whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he
knows everything. Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness
before God; and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his
commandments and do what pleases him.
And this is his
commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love
one another, just as he has commanded us. All who obey his commandments abide in
him, and he abides in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the
Spirit that he has given us.
1 John
3:16-24
John appears to be engaging in the
great faith versus works debate that continues to plague church with division
today. At the Reformation, the voice of the reformers (Martin Luther, John
Calvin) supported the view that our salvation was received by faith alone
(sola fides) and that the
works—indulgences, requirements of penance, etc.—were not necessary to gain
entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven.
Jesus teaches on this subject in a
number of different ways. Nicodemus comes and asks Jesus, “What must I do to
inherit eternal life?” The Lord taught that God loves the world so much: his
only Son would be sacrificed so that who ever believed in him would inherit
eternal life. Jesus also gave us the story of the separation of the sheep from
the goats: those who called Jesus Lord and served their neighbor were treated
differently from those who called Jesus Lord and ignored their neighbor (cf Matt
25). Jesus explains that there are only two commandments: love God and love
your neighbor… simple, right?
And my practical experience tells me
that this is true. People are people. But this is where I must now ask myself,
am I willing to put my experience and reason ahead of the teaching of the
Gospel? It seems counterintuitive. But at the same time, tough love didn’t
work out too well with us. The cycle of the Judges is a testimony to that:
people don’t get it and continued walking outside of God’s ways. It took God’s
love taking on flesh in the person of Jesus, and the outpouring of his life for
us so that we might even have a chance.
John knows the answer is not faith
or works, but faith and works. We must let what we believe change how we act.
We must let our faith in Jesus to become our works as the body of Christ.
Scott D.
Parnell
Director of Youth
Ministries
Jesus said, "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away-- and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father." (John 10:11-18)
The image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd is one of the most familiar and beloved in all the Gospels, and of course it holds a special place in our hearts at Church of the Good Shepherd. But as with all familiar and beloved symbols, it is important to reflect seriously on its meaning. First, we shouldn't get too romantic about shepherds. Shepherds were not the most respected people in Jesus' day. They were routinely ritually impure, and many were migrant workers, looked down on by people with steadier jobs. I know a parish that commisioned a new nativity scene for their front lawn at Christmas time. The artist took the word 'new' very seriously. Joseph wore an open plaid flannel shirt (known as an 'East Toronto dinner jacket') and construction boots. The wise men from the east were Japanese business men with computers. And the shepherds were... bikers, complete with leathers. There was controversy over the painting, but it wasn't too far wrong.
Jesus often asks us to see God at work in unexpected people: Samaritans, tax collectors, you name it. He works in unexpected ways as well. Like a shepherd, he is an outsider. He is not quite the messiah people were expecting. And yet he will be the most perfect embodiment of God's love: a disrespected shepherd, who nevertheless lays down his life for the sheep. There is a parallel with our first reading: Jesus will not be contained or restrained by our expectations. And it raises a similar question: when have you encountered God in someone unexpected?
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