Father Gary’s Sermon

Inspired from John 10:1-10

Proclaimed on April 17, 2005

There was a sheep rancher who decided that it might be a good idea to play music to soothe the nerves of his sheep. By doing this he hoped that his sheep would be able to produce better wool. He also thought that his sheep might produce offspring of a higher quality. As he searched for a way to make this happen, he discovered an old Hi-Fi in one of his closets, along with a stack of old vinyl records. He set the record player up in his barn and played his old records on it during the evening hours after the sheep had gathered.

The music seemed to be having a positive effect on his sheep the first week. However, soon afterwards he was awakened by a terrible sound outside his bedroom window. When he looked out he was shocked to see his prize ram slamming his head into a post. Immediately he went out to try to put a stop to this bizarre and destructive behavior. No matter what he tried, however, was to no avail. He was too weak and too small to stop the ram. When he stopped to reconsider his next option he heard something very strange coming from out of the barn. The needle on the record player had become stuck in a groove. Therefore, the same phrase of a song kept being repeated over and over. It was a phrase from a popular Frank Sinatra song, “There will never be another you.”

This is the same kind of problem that Jesus ran into in our Gospel reading. He was in Jerusalem debating with the Pharisees. They were incensed because Jesus had just healed a man born blind on the Sabbath. The reason for their anger was the fear that their nation may have to face another exile again because of actions like these of Jesus. When the Babylonians exiled their nation some four hundred years earlier, the prophets had stated that it was due to the nation’s lack of observance of the Sabbath. In order to avoid such a problem again, the Pharisees compiled many volumes of commentaries minutely detailing how to keep all of the laws in their Scriptures. By becoming hypercritical they hoped to avoid a future exile. Therefore, the actions of Jesus were spurred on by their almost obsessive fear of a God of judgment.

Interestingly, the picture of God that Jesus paints in his debate with the Pharisees is very different. He characterized God as being very caring, like that of a shepherd to his sheep. By using this metaphor Jesus reminded them of the great leaders that had created their nation and how much like God they were. They were the patriarchs, Moses, and especially David. All of these were shepherds. He then shared how a shepherd cares for the flock. At night the sheep are kept in a pen, which may have been a cave or a box canyon. The sheep would single file through the opening of the pen. As they would go by, the shepherd would talk to each of them by name, as well as examine them for wounds or other injuries. These he would wash and anoint with oil. Then he would feed and water them for the night. Then Jesus made the statement that most infuriated the Pharisees. He identified himself as the Great Shepherd! He did this by identifying himself as the “door” and as the “way, the truth, and the life.” In essence, he was not only the Messiah, but he was very God! To this the Pharisees reacted, much like the buck ramming his head into the post when it heard the words, “There will never be another you.”

Today these words remain controversial. Many of the leaders of our very own church are behaving like the ram beating its head on the fence post by teaching that there are no absolute truths. Rather there are many truths on equal footing. Even our Presiding Bishop, the Most Reverend Frank Griswold recently stated, “My truth needs your truth even if it is difficult.”

Statements such as these create problems in trying to understand the words of Jesus when he said, “I am the door” and “My sheep hear my voice.” Jesus proclaims an exclusive understanding of truth. His truth is not just one among many. He is the truth! This is clearly understood by the writer of the Gospel of John, especially when Jesus says to Pilot, “Everyone who belongs to truth listens to me.” To which Pilot responded, “What is truth?” Jesus did not answer him with words, but by his actions that followed. He laid down his life that all might be saved. When commenting on episodes like this in the Gospel of John, Goodspeed’s Introduction to the New Testament states that the writer is neither being historical nor biographical. Rather the writer is simply providing a “library of devotion,” or a reflection on the “Jesus experience.” Why? Because Jesus was both historical and beyond history.

A child who was being grilled by his mother clarified this approach. She asked, “Where do you go when you want to see God?” The child answered, “To Jesus.” She then asked, “Whose words do you hear when you hear Jesus?” The child responded, “The Words of God.”

The message of Jesus is exclusive. It is both a message of love, as well as one of judgment. It is a message that causes us to butt our heads on a new reality. That reality is simple, “There will never be another Jesus.”