Psalm 23, Acts 2: 42-47, John 10: 1-10
Please pray with me: Loving God, I pray that these words of mine might have some of your truth in them, where they do, I pray that it might reach the heart of someone in this congregation this morning. Where these are merely my words and of no account, I pray that no harm would be done.
What does it mean to live life abundantly?
What does it mean to live? To really live? To live abundantly? Not a life of struggle, not just hanging in there, not grasping for every last shred of wispy, fragmented strand of possible security… but to really live abundantly?
This is a question that I have posed to myself time and time again. Maybe you have had the experience yourself when one thing in your life seems so overwhelming that it blocks out all of the other good things. It doesn’t matter if it is health, finances, a crummy job, or a flooding lake - sometimes it seems like everything else is dimmed in its shadow. What does it mean to live abundantly?
I have heard tales of people returning from mission trips to developing countries and time after time they come back and say, “I just can’t believe how happy those people were even though they had so little.” What does it mean to live abundantly?
I have met homeless folk who greet me with wide grins and accepting arms and well off folk who forget to say hi when I pass them on the street. What does it mean to live abundantly?
We all know examples of hospitable and generous people who as soon as you walk through their front door they surround you with good food, passionate company, and gracious love. The kind who never think you’ve had enough to eat even though you couldn’t possibly take another bite. What does it mean to live abundantly?
And what do sheep have to do with it?
Both the Psalm and the Gospel reading today have to do with sheep and shepherds. In both, we humans are compared to the sheep and God or Jesus are the shepherds and gatekeepers. Why sheep? Well, they are pretty common animals, ever body knew what they were and basically knew what they were like. We do now, too, right? They are those cute and fuzzy white creatures that seem so docile and sweet in all the picture books that we grew up with. Just like us humans… docile, sweet… hmmm…
My dad has been a pastor now for 35 years. About 35 years ago, shortly before I was born, he was called to serve his first congregation in the town where I would come into the world. It was a little church in upstate NY about half way between Buffalo and Rochester, right in the thick of dairy farm country. My dad had grown up just outside of Detroit so had approximately zero experience with farm animals prior to this parish experience. He was pretty excited as they approached their first Christmas in this little country church, as he tells the story, because he wanted to have a live nativity scene in the sanctuary. He had a real live shepherd in his congregation and asked him to bring in a few sheep for the experience, you know, the sweet, docile, little sheep he had grown up reading about. Well, this city boy had just signed up for some unexpected education. The shepherd, an older man in his mid eighties, hears my dad’s idea out and immediately responds with, “You don’t know anything about sheep do you?” Nonetheless, he agreed but with the condition that dad come to his farm and help load the animals into the truck. Now, I’ll be honest, I’m really hoping that heaven TIVOs stuff like this, because I would be delighted to watch this scene actually unfold someday. The idea of my dad at about 26 years old wrestling, coaxing, pleading with, getting knocked about by, and otherwise not quite failing to get a bunch of sheep into a truck and then into his first church sanctuary simply puts me into a state of pure glee. I think it is a good thing that our family was gifted with a healthy dose humor so I’m sure it didn’t take him long to start laughing at himself over this and I know that he still does from time to time. But dad had a major epiphany that day when it came to all of these passages about sheep. Sheep are not sweet and docile, no, he will be the first to tell you, they are stubborn, cantankerous, smelly, obnoxious, frustrating, hard to move and motivate, and not exceptionally bright, especially when traveling in groups. Clearly nothing like us sweet and docile humans…
Actually, maybe Jesus knew us better than we care to admit. We see imagery about sheep and shepherds all through the gospels: the parable of the lost sheep; Peter’s commission to feed Jesus’ lambs and sheep; as Jesus takes compassion on the crowds and likens them to sheep without a shepherd… Over and over Jesus looks about him and sees us, all of us, and longs to gather us to himself as a shepherd cares for his sheep. And why does Jesus long to do this? Because, as the passage says, so “that they may have life, and have it abundantly!” It isn’t about obedience, it isn’t about power, or money, or prestige, it is so that we can live whole, and meaningful lives. Abundant lives. Because he loves us.
So, what does it mean to live abundantly?
Three weeks ago I was invited, along with my family, to a potluck across the street from our home. It was a beautiful sunny day which was perfect as the potluck was celebrating May Day – complete with a beautifully ribbon bedecked May pole. There was laughter, a shared meal, ritual, music, and an abundance of genuine neighborly love. There was nothing intentionally Christian about it, I honestly don’t really know the beliefs held by the young women who live in the house and organized this party. But sitting there, singing, laughing, talking, loving in community, I experienced church in its purest form. As I was reveling in this, I told the organizers what I was thinking, “This is what church is about and what Jesus was teaching way back when.” I went on to tell them that this was an example of what I hoped to bring back into the church; and that this congregation, First United Methodist, was considering hiring me to be the pastor for all of the youth and young adults in and around Burlington, including them, this lovely motley crew of young adults at a May Day potluck. The idea was warmly accepted and somehow, I think my words may have, in a way, baptized this little event. I admit that I could be deluding myself, but one potlucker there almost immediately took me up on my words and asked for ideas on where he could participate as a volunteer in the community and I was delighted to help direct him to Spectrum. Another told me that she was glad that she knew where to find me. It was ministry in the moment in a context that I felt blessed to be a part of. A gathering where I was invited to be because my children had befriended this lovely group of people across the street.
It was a moment of abundant living.
Sometimes we don’t need to bring church to others but, rather, we need to recognize the church that is already present. And sometimes we need to offer church to those who are lonely on the outside. Remember the Beatles song that goes “Ah, look at all the lonely people.” It talks about Eleanor Rigby, the song’s namesake, who wears “a face that she keeps in a jar by the door.” And Father McKensie who writes “a sermon that no one will hear.” I play this song as spiritual practice because it reminds me of the church I pray we are not becoming. A church of lonely people who forgets to reach out to all the other lonely people.
But we are not that church. We are a church of hope, of faith, of love out in the midst of a sea of lonely faces. We are a church called to live abundantly, called to call others to do the same, and called to create a world where everyone has the possibility of doing so!
I would love to initiate a practice of potluck for young adults in our community. You know how every Sunday is supposed to be a little Easter. Well, what if every Thursday was a little Maundy Thursday? A little mandate Thursday – where we are called to love the world as we have been loved. What if?
Abundant life is about gratitude. It is about wholeness. It is about loving God, our neighbor, and ourselves as we have been loved. It is about seeing life as a great adventure and inviting others onto the journey. There is an adventure out there, out on the streets of Burlington among college kids and young professionals, high school students and high school dropouts, homeless teens and sheltered kids who are just coming out from under their parent’s wings to see the world. Every single one of them needs to be invited to live abundantly and change the world with us. Every child of God should have the chance to experience the peace of grace that then ripples out into the world.
Would you join me for the journey? May I join you on the journey?
“When [Jesus] saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few…”
The good Shepherd has called us. He came that we might have life, and have it abundantly. He commissioned us to lead others into the same, in part because it will make our own lives all the more so, in part because that is how we give back. The path is before us. May the adventure begin.
Amen.
Please pray with me: Loving God, I pray that these words of mine might have some of your truth in them, where they do, I pray that it might reach the heart of someone in this congregation this morning. Where these are merely my words and of no account, I pray that no harm would be done.
What does it mean to live life abundantly?
What does it mean to live? To really live? To live abundantly? Not a life of struggle, not just hanging in there, not grasping for every last shred of wispy, fragmented strand of possible security… but to really live abundantly?
This is a question that I have posed to myself time and time again. Maybe you have had the experience yourself when one thing in your life seems so overwhelming that it blocks out all of the other good things. It doesn’t matter if it is health, finances, a crummy job, or a flooding lake - sometimes it seems like everything else is dimmed in its shadow. What does it mean to live abundantly?
I have heard tales of people returning from mission trips to developing countries and time after time they come back and say, “I just can’t believe how happy those people were even though they had so little.” What does it mean to live abundantly?
I have met homeless folk who greet me with wide grins and accepting arms and well off folk who forget to say hi when I pass them on the street. What does it mean to live abundantly?
We all know examples of hospitable and generous people who as soon as you walk through their front door they surround you with good food, passionate company, and gracious love. The kind who never think you’ve had enough to eat even though you couldn’t possibly take another bite. What does it mean to live abundantly?
And what do sheep have to do with it?
Both the Psalm and the Gospel reading today have to do with sheep and shepherds. In both, we humans are compared to the sheep and God or Jesus are the shepherds and gatekeepers. Why sheep? Well, they are pretty common animals, ever body knew what they were and basically knew what they were like. We do now, too, right? They are those cute and fuzzy white creatures that seem so docile and sweet in all the picture books that we grew up with. Just like us humans… docile, sweet… hmmm…
My dad has been a pastor now for 35 years. About 35 years ago, shortly before I was born, he was called to serve his first congregation in the town where I would come into the world. It was a little church in upstate NY about half way between Buffalo and Rochester, right in the thick of dairy farm country. My dad had grown up just outside of Detroit so had approximately zero experience with farm animals prior to this parish experience. He was pretty excited as they approached their first Christmas in this little country church, as he tells the story, because he wanted to have a live nativity scene in the sanctuary. He had a real live shepherd in his congregation and asked him to bring in a few sheep for the experience, you know, the sweet, docile, little sheep he had grown up reading about. Well, this city boy had just signed up for some unexpected education. The shepherd, an older man in his mid eighties, hears my dad’s idea out and immediately responds with, “You don’t know anything about sheep do you?” Nonetheless, he agreed but with the condition that dad come to his farm and help load the animals into the truck. Now, I’ll be honest, I’m really hoping that heaven TIVOs stuff like this, because I would be delighted to watch this scene actually unfold someday. The idea of my dad at about 26 years old wrestling, coaxing, pleading with, getting knocked about by, and otherwise not quite failing to get a bunch of sheep into a truck and then into his first church sanctuary simply puts me into a state of pure glee. I think it is a good thing that our family was gifted with a healthy dose humor so I’m sure it didn’t take him long to start laughing at himself over this and I know that he still does from time to time. But dad had a major epiphany that day when it came to all of these passages about sheep. Sheep are not sweet and docile, no, he will be the first to tell you, they are stubborn, cantankerous, smelly, obnoxious, frustrating, hard to move and motivate, and not exceptionally bright, especially when traveling in groups. Clearly nothing like us sweet and docile humans…
Actually, maybe Jesus knew us better than we care to admit. We see imagery about sheep and shepherds all through the gospels: the parable of the lost sheep; Peter’s commission to feed Jesus’ lambs and sheep; as Jesus takes compassion on the crowds and likens them to sheep without a shepherd… Over and over Jesus looks about him and sees us, all of us, and longs to gather us to himself as a shepherd cares for his sheep. And why does Jesus long to do this? Because, as the passage says, so “that they may have life, and have it abundantly!” It isn’t about obedience, it isn’t about power, or money, or prestige, it is so that we can live whole, and meaningful lives. Abundant lives. Because he loves us.
So, what does it mean to live abundantly?
Three weeks ago I was invited, along with my family, to a potluck across the street from our home. It was a beautiful sunny day which was perfect as the potluck was celebrating May Day – complete with a beautifully ribbon bedecked May pole. There was laughter, a shared meal, ritual, music, and an abundance of genuine neighborly love. There was nothing intentionally Christian about it, I honestly don’t really know the beliefs held by the young women who live in the house and organized this party. But sitting there, singing, laughing, talking, loving in community, I experienced church in its purest form. As I was reveling in this, I told the organizers what I was thinking, “This is what church is about and what Jesus was teaching way back when.” I went on to tell them that this was an example of what I hoped to bring back into the church; and that this congregation, First United Methodist, was considering hiring me to be the pastor for all of the youth and young adults in and around Burlington, including them, this lovely motley crew of young adults at a May Day potluck. The idea was warmly accepted and somehow, I think my words may have, in a way, baptized this little event. I admit that I could be deluding myself, but one potlucker there almost immediately took me up on my words and asked for ideas on where he could participate as a volunteer in the community and I was delighted to help direct him to Spectrum. Another told me that she was glad that she knew where to find me. It was ministry in the moment in a context that I felt blessed to be a part of. A gathering where I was invited to be because my children had befriended this lovely group of people across the street.
It was a moment of abundant living.
Sometimes we don’t need to bring church to others but, rather, we need to recognize the church that is already present. And sometimes we need to offer church to those who are lonely on the outside. Remember the Beatles song that goes “Ah, look at all the lonely people.” It talks about Eleanor Rigby, the song’s namesake, who wears “a face that she keeps in a jar by the door.” And Father McKensie who writes “a sermon that no one will hear.” I play this song as spiritual practice because it reminds me of the church I pray we are not becoming. A church of lonely people who forgets to reach out to all the other lonely people.
But we are not that church. We are a church of hope, of faith, of love out in the midst of a sea of lonely faces. We are a church called to live abundantly, called to call others to do the same, and called to create a world where everyone has the possibility of doing so!
I would love to initiate a practice of potluck for young adults in our community. You know how every Sunday is supposed to be a little Easter. Well, what if every Thursday was a little Maundy Thursday? A little mandate Thursday – where we are called to love the world as we have been loved. What if?
Abundant life is about gratitude. It is about wholeness. It is about loving God, our neighbor, and ourselves as we have been loved. It is about seeing life as a great adventure and inviting others onto the journey. There is an adventure out there, out on the streets of Burlington among college kids and young professionals, high school students and high school dropouts, homeless teens and sheltered kids who are just coming out from under their parent’s wings to see the world. Every single one of them needs to be invited to live abundantly and change the world with us. Every child of God should have the chance to experience the peace of grace that then ripples out into the world.
Would you join me for the journey? May I join you on the journey?
“When [Jesus] saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few…”
The good Shepherd has called us. He came that we might have life, and have it abundantly. He commissioned us to lead others into the same, in part because it will make our own lives all the more so, in part because that is how we give back. The path is before us. May the adventure begin.
Amen.
