EASTER 4C 2010
Second in our series PEOPLE OF THE WAY
Text: John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice…..
Today is our second sermon in our series that we are calling People of the Way. As we saw last week, early Christians were called those who followed the Way. Following the Way is a good image for the Christian life. We often speak of a particular way of life. By this we mean one’s conduct of life… the actions one takes in day to day life… it also connotes character, which includes moral and ethical behavior. When I think of the image of the way, I think of a path, or road that goes through life.
In this series we are going to suggest that Christians – people of the way, possess certain characteristics, and these characteristics result in a way of life – they result in conduct that exemplifies the Christian life. One of our themes here at Faith Episcopal Church is that we want to be a community that takes the Christian faith seriously. What we want to do in the coming weeks is give you some “measurements”, or some road signs, that will help you examine your own life and see how you are doing in your Christian journey.
Last week Pastor Liz began this series with by saying that Christians are people who know that they are called, they know that they are called to follow Jesus. This calling is associated with a great word, and that is conversion. Conversion, as Pastor Liz pointed out, is both an event and a process. It is a transition from one way of life to another.
A phrase I came across this week to describe conversion…which I thought was just great…is “autobiographical reconstruction.” Conversion is a reconstruction of our life’s story. If we are converted, it changes what we write about our own life. In conversion, a new principle, the Spirit of God, is implanted in our hearts, and we begin to see life differently and this changes, or converts the path or road ahead of us.
This morning we read John chapter 10, a chapter in which we see Jesus calling himself the good shepherd. One short phrase stuck out for me, and I am going to use it as the basis for my message this morning. Jesus said:
My
sheep hear my voice.
This statement tells us that followers of the way… Christians, first hear the voice of Jesus in the sense of their call to follow. Just as the early disciples, standing on the sea shore, or sitting at the tax table, or sitting up in a tree, heard Jesus saying, come, follow me.. so have Christians down through the ages. This is the beginning, the foundational event upon which the Christian life is built.
But this statement also includes what I am going to stress this morning, and that is that followers of the way, once they begin the Christian journey, strive to increase their knowledge of this way. They strive to learn and understand what it means to be people of the way. Simply, they continue to strive to “hear” the voice of Jesus.
I believe that conversion, or the entrance of the Spirit into our lives, produces a hunger, a longing, a desire to know and to understand the ways of God. We see this reflected over and over again in the Psalms. Look at the sheet that is in your booklet.
Make me to know your ways, O LORD;
teach me your paths.
Lead me in your truth, and teach
me,
for you are the
God of my salvation;
for you I wait all day
long. Psalms 25:4-5 ( NRSV )
Teach me
your way, O LORD,
that I may walk in your truth;
give me an undivided heart to revere
your name. Psalms 86:11
How sweet are your words to my taste,
sweeter than honey to my mouth!
Through your precepts I get understanding;
therefore I hate every false way.
Your word is a lamp to my feet
and a light to my Psalm
119: 103-105
In Psalm 19 we read this about the ways of God. This is not on your sheet.
More to be desired are they than
gold,
even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey,
and drippings of the honeycomb.
These passages teach us that the follower of the way has a hunger, a desire, a need, to seek out knowledge of the things and ways of God. It is a natural instinct. It flows from the inner being. It is like the dancer who needs to dance, or the athlete who needs to play, or the musician who needs to make music, or the writer who has to write. The Christian desires, longs for, and strives to hear the voice of Jesus. St Peter uses the image of a new born baby longing to drink his or hers mothers milk. It is a natural instinct. One does not need to force a baby to drink milk!
Inherent in this desire is a faith that knowing, and then following Jesus and His ways, is better than following our own devices or the ways of the culture and the world around us.
One of my favorite passages in the Bible that has helped me over the years is written on your insert. It is Proverbs 3:5-6. It reads:
Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
and do not rely
on your own insight.
In all your ways
acknowledge him,
and
he will make straight your paths. Proverbs
3:5-6 ( NRSV )
Central to this teaching is the realization that trusting in ourselves, in our own own insights, in our own home grown morals and philosophy, is the realization that these will not lead us to where we really want to go. This is a lesson that many people learn through the road of hard knocks. We live our lives making our own decisions and doing what we want, but then find emptiness with pain and suffering. But then, through the Spirit of God, we realize that there is a better way. This of course is the lesson that King David learned that he shares with us in Psalm 23
He makes me lie down in Green pastures, and leads
me besides still waters… he guides me.. he is with me even in the shadow of
death… and he is with me every day of my life.
We see this same awareness in the call of Jesus to come to him.
“Come to
me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you
rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn
from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your
souls. Matthew 11:28-29
In these two passages we see that coming to Jesus and learning from him is a better way than going our own way. Those who realize this are those who find themselves tired and weary and carrying heavy burdens, or simply feel empty inside.
The follower of the way believes that he or she will have a better more fulfilled and blessed life if they live for God, instead of living for themselves, or following the ways of the world around them.
So, first there is a hunger to know the things of God,
and then there is a realization that doing the things of God will produce a fuller and more blessed life,
thus the Christian then seeks and strives, day by day, to increase their understanding and knowledge of what it means to be a follower of Jesus.
We
ask ourselves these types of questions on a regular basis. What does it look like to be a Christian? What does Jesus say… what does the Bible say… about how we should
live our lives?
Look at this very familiar passage in the letter to Timothy
All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for
teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for
every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17
One of the greatest challenges that we American Christians face is that we think because we are born in this country, and we have attended church for some time, that we know what Christians believe and we think we know how it is that we should live. Yes, through osmosis, we absorb some correct teaching and moral values, but I have learned after many years of working in the church that unless a person is striving to learn and understand on their own, there is very good chance that they know very little about what I will call “real’ Christianity. We may be cultural Christians, but we are not practicing Christians. In this passage from Timothy, we learn that the key source book for Christian knowledge is the Bible. As we said at the beginning, conversion is not just a one time event, but it is a day by day process. The Bible teaches us a way of life that confronts our own selfish and sinful desires, and often challenges the values and morals of the culture around us. It corrects us.. It reproofs us.. as well as teaching us how to live rightly.
But more importantly it also leads us to faith and hope and teaches us to love and how to give and how to live a truly blessed life. It teaches us that we are loved and forgiven and it leads us to see how much God loves us in Jesus. It teaches us about Easter and the triumph of life over death. It is God’s gift to us.
Along with reading the Bible, people of the Way also love to read other spiritual works handed down to us through the years, whether they be biographies of devout Christians or missionaries, spiritual classics, or commentaries on the bible, or works of theology or church history. Of course not every one is a scholar.. and not everyone is a great reader, but the Christians is drawn to the Bible, and to other spiritual works, like a baby to it’s mothers milk.
So in conclusion, the second
characteristic of a follower of the Way,
or a Christian, is their desire, their longing, their day by day striving to learn more and
more about God and the ways of God. It is not duty or a painful task, but rather is a part of the blessing of being
on the way. How wonderful it is to go to the Bible and meet Jesus there, and
learn from Him, and ponder what he says and what it means for us. What a joy it
is to learn from the people of
We have the wonderful opportunity to be People of the Way, followers of the King of King and Lord of Lords, and I pray, as we prayed in our collect this morning, that we would hear the voice of Jesus, we would come to know him, and thus follow wherever he leads. AMEN!