Sermon - Abundant Life - Fr. Dean Mercer - Easter 4 - May 15, 2011

Is anger bad? The Bible says: “Be angry, but do not let the sun go down on your anger.”

Anger alerts us to danger and dishonesty and unfairness. A speeding car whizzes by, weaving in and out of lanes, narrowly missing your car and others nearby, and you get angry. Danger lurks.

But anger is also a powerful force. Left unattended it can quickly become poisonous, destructive and self-destructive. And so far as possible, the Bible teaches, settle the fight as soon as possible. Put the rottweiler back in the cage. “Do no let the sun go down on your anger.”

Bishop Tom Wright says that something like this is at work in our Gospel today (John 10.1-10). The desire for life in abundance, abundant life, is a force meant for our good. But it is likewise a powerful force and not to be trifled with. In John’s Gospel, people are in search of a King who will give them abundant life. The gospel describes how powerful this force can be for good, how dangerous it can be if misdirected and disappointed. Our desire for life must aimed in the right direction and at the right One, otherwise, like anger, it too can become a corrupting and destructive force.

Notice a little contrast in our lesson today.

“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. (John 10:1)

The word which is translated ‘sheepfold’ or ‘sheepyard’, as well as the words for ‘gate’ and ‘gatekeeper’ direct our attention to the only other ‘yard’ mentioned in the gospel. It is in chapter 18 where the word is translated as ‘courtyard’ and where enemies have taken Jesus and plot against him. ‘Sheepfold’ and ‘courtyard’ are the translation of the same word.

So the . . . police arrested Jesus and [took him] . . . into the courtyard of the high priest [and] . . . the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out, spoke to the woman who guarded the gate, and brought Peter in. (John 18:12-16)

In John’s gospel, we have two yards to consider and to good effect. Start with the second. It is the court yard where Jesus was taken after his arrest. And what do we know about it?

Well, we know it was a place of darkness and destruction. It was the place where authorities gathered at night in order to secretly plot the death of an innocent man. It is the place where the advice of the chief priest was taken up that it was better that one man die than a nation, even if that one man is innocent.

The ‘courtyard’ was a place of destruction.

But secondly, it was a place of injustice.

Repeatedly, it says, Pilate appealed to the crowd to free Jesus against whom he could find no charges. Repeatedly Pilate was shouted down by the crowd who preferred Barabbas the bandit. Repeatedly Pilate betrayed the fundamental principles of justice to which he, above all others, was obliged. And when his appeals to public opinion failed, Pilate betrayed the law and “he handed [Jesus] over to them to be crucified.” (Jn 19:16)

The court ‘yard’ was a place of destruction. It was also a place of injustice. And thirdly, it was a place of betrayal.

“Aren’t you one of his disciples?” the gatekeeper asked Peter.

“No,” he said, “I am not”, and repeated his denial again . . . and again.

This dark and wicked yard of malevolence is also a place of corruption, turning the bravery of Peter to pudding, the loyalty of Peter to treachery.

The courtyard stands as a warning to those who seek ‘abundant life’ apart from the sheepyard of Jesus.

And so, consider by contrast, the sheepyard of Jesus.

First, the sheepyard of Jesus, Jesus says, is a yard of grace.

Our lesson today is closely linked to the passage we read on the fourth Sunday of Lent about the blind man healed by Jesus who is subsequently interrogated, persecuted and driven from the temple by the false shepherds about whom Jesus warned. And it says, Jesus came and found him. The word ‘find’ is rarely used, but it includes the search of Jesus for his disciples, the earlier search of Jesus for the lame man he had healed, and here the search of Jesus for the blind man, healed of blindness, and persecuted for it.

I told you that the word ‘yard’ only appears here and in the passage about the courtyard of Jesus’ arrest. The same is true for the word ‘gate’ and ‘gatekeeper’. But the word ‘gate’ or ‘door’ appears one other time in John’s gospel.

Can you think of another famous door in this Gospel.

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” (Jn 20:19)

Our Lord has come into the world to give life and the determination of the Good Shepherd to bring life is greater even than the doors that the fearful may swing shut behind them.

First, the sheepyard of Jesus is a yard of grace.

Secondly, and by sharp contrast, the sheepyard of Jesus is a place of truthfulness.

I mentioned a couple weeks ago that in our study of Romans that following Jesus Christ does not lead to a life of secrecy and cover-up. Rather, the consequence is peacefulness within society, a clear conscience before God. This transparency and truthfulness begins with Jesus. The sheep respond to the voice of the Good Shepherd because he speaks the truth - a truthfulness that leads Jesus to the judge’s bench of Pilate, where fearlessly he would present himself openly and guilelessly before a magistrate of Caesar himself.:

“For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” (Jn 18:37)

Secondly, and by sharp contrast, the sheepyard of Jesus is a place of truthfulness.

Thirdly, the sheepyard of Jesus is a yard of mercy. It is a yard where the sinful and the crooked get a second chance.

In the courtyard, one of Jesus’ apprentices, Peter, did everything wrong that he could do wrong. He betrayed Jesus, he abandoned his responsibilities, he fled.

But what does Jesus do with sinners? What does Jesus do with those everyone else has given up on, with those who have given up on themselves?

It says,

“After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias . . . [and when] they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter - [three times] “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” repeating the question in a threefold reversal of Peter’s threefold betrayal. (Jn 21:15) What does Jesus do with sinners? He offers them the mercy of God. He offers them a second chance.

The Gospel of John is sharp with its warnings of judgement and separation. But the judgement is a judgement of inevitability. Separate ourselves from God, the Gospel says, and we cannot live. Separate ourselves from God, we separate ourselves from life, truthfulness, and mercy. And I can’t help but think that the courtyard of Pilate challenges us even more seriously to discover what exists in the sheepfold of Jesus.

Life! And life to abundance. And life to be shared with the lame, the blind and the outcast.

Truthfulness. A life lived happily before God and humbly and transparently with others. A life that shares freely what we’ve received and delights in what God has given to others.

And finally, in the sheepfold of Jesus the mercy of God and a second chance.

And with the courtyard of Pilate in the background - this solemn question stands: is there anyone else, anywhere else, who will keep us better tethered to the grace, justice and mercy of God?

Late Thursday afternoon, Stanley Emerson passed away in his 86th year. Stanley is the husband of Leela, and a longtime member of the Centre and Parish. We’ll be hearing more about him over the course of the coming week, but Fr. Isaac mentioned to me that during a time of sharp distress during the Sri Lankan civil war, one of the Anglican orphanages lost its directors. And so Stanley and Leela were the ones to come and manage and direct the orphanage and to love the children. And so, possibly a little surprising to the eye, this unassuming couple have children around the world, abandoned little sheep they sought out, loved and protected.

The desire for life - abundant life - is a powerful force. And misdirected, aimed at the wrong one, it has the power to corrupt and destroy. But in the sheepfold of the Good Shepherd, it is a desire that will unite our lives with the grace, truth, and mercy of God. It is life and life in abundance.