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This Sunday, I preached on John 10:1-10.  As I have said, there was strong connection with the congregation this week. 

This evening, I ran across this comment from Brother Maynard over at www.subversiveinfluence.com. 

In John 10, the thief is anyone who claims authority they don’t have — they look at the sheep for their own ends. These are those who would call to the sheep as if they owned them… yet they do not.

This makes a lot of sense in the greater context of John 9:1 - 10:21, which is the story of Jesus healing the man born blind.  It’s interesting to see the Pharisees saying to Jesus what he can and cannot do - and when - with the blind man.  They seem to declare that “this is our synagogue, and we won’t have this kind of stuff going on here.”  They have taken ownership of the people under their care. 

Jesus comes with the natural authority of Creator and Son of God, ruler of the Kingdom of God.  Like it or not, Jesus has the authority to do as he pleases.  Yet, he declares himself to be the Good Shepherd.  Moreover, thoughout the book of John, he declares that he is there not to do his own will but the will of the one who sent him.  (See John 6:38, et passim.)

It seems that in this passage Jesus lays claim to God’s people over against the claims of authority by the Pharisees.  When faced with opposition, Jesus declares that he is following the Father step by step.  This is where the other phrase Jesus uses comes in: he says anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs over the wall is a thief and an insurgent.  Anyone who does not follow the Father here is actually working against him. 

It seems that Jesus uses these two words, thief and insurgent, to describe how his opponents are behaving relative to the people he has come to save, and relative to their own relationship to the Father.  Since they cannot claim “son” or “disciple,” these leaders are left with “thief” and “insurgent.” 

If this were not Jesus, many Christians would be uncomfortable with the polemic nature of much of what Jesus says in John.  We must take care, though, to take his words to heart: let us collaborate with the shepherd, or become sheep, not thieves and insurgents.

Today, I really think I connected with a large portion of the congregation.  At the end, someone stood up and told me it was the best sermon he’d ever heard me preach.  The congregation applauded.  I didn’t quite know what to do. 

All I can say is that God is at work to transform our congregation into a missional community of disciples who reach out to those who normally get left out of what God’s up to.  And that was the content of the sermon, basically.  Since that’s connecting now with the whole group, that means we’re on the right track.

Praise God!

As I said last week, Saturdays are often my days to prepare the sermon. 

It’s not procrastination.  Really, it’s not.  I actually worked ahead on the sermons for Advent, so that they were done well before the time of delivery.  And that worked pretty well.  That’s actually my preferred mode of operating, truth be told.  Work ahead, be ready, make sure all the widgets are in a row, or whatever.

But several things conspire against early sermon prep these days.  First of all is busyness.  Sad excuse, right?  Well.  That’s the one I have control over, and I do think that if busyness were the only factor, this would all be dealt with summarily. 

Second, we have groups that read the Bible together.  These groups read the passage I’m preaching on, along with the other lectionary passages, in the week prior to the big preach.  (Ok, so maybe just the preach…)  I draw from the reflections in those groups as the sermon takes shape: sometimes from what is heard and said, and sometimes from what is not.  It is an important exercise in exposition and interpretation to listen to the voices of those who are reading the Scriptures around you.

Third, there’s the Holy Spirit.  He shows up when he’s good and ready.  Sometimes, it’s the middle of the night.  Other times, it’s not.  Whatever the case, I usually need some good “getting quiet” time to hear him.  Which probably goes back, in part, to the busyness thing.  Well. 

But the sermon for tomorrow is done, and we’re going to hear from God.  Amen?

Over the course of this week, I have met with several groups to do Bible reading.  The object of these groups is to read the Bible together and listen for what God is saying to us individually, as a group, and as a congregation.  This particular time, I worked with two groups, our Men’s group on Wednesday evening, and a couple of teen guys on Thursday afternoon. 

Listening to the voice of the Spirit is an essential part of the life of a disciple; it is also a necessary part of congregational life.  Those of us who landed on the Free Church/Congregational side of the Reformation understand that all who have the Spirit of God are able, at least at a basic level, to discern God’s will, both individually and together.  This is the theological basis behind having meetings of the congregation to make decisions. 

This practice applies to the sermon process as well.  As we listen to the Bible together, we hear God speaking to us by the Holy Spirit.  Hearing others contextualize what they hear in the passage, and applying it to their lives gives me a stronger sense of connection to what the message must look like or sound like to be able to connect to the people who will be a part of the audience, in the end. 

What this does, however, is push the final sermon prep to the end of the week.  This is not a very good situation, as I believe the Sermon should not be hanging over my head during my days off - theoretical though that concept often is.  But at the moment, it is a practice for me of connecting with the congregation to “do the faith together,” as so many have said. 

In order to pull this off, we use the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL), so that everyone can be on the same, albeit arbitrary, page.  And, really, this helps us live the story of Jesus’ life as we cycle through the seasons and the Gospels together, which I find to be a really good thing. 

Therefore, tomorrow we will be hearing from 1 Peter 1:17 - 23.  What do you hear God saying there?