Father vs God…

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way to the place where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it. (John 14:1-14, NRSV)

This text is the cause of many battles.

This text is heard at many funerals

This text brings comfort and fighting…

This is one of the many I Am statements of Jesus in the Gospel of John. I would argue it is probably the most well known I Am statement.

This passage is also well known for it’s portrayal of the Father’s Mansion of many rooms… A dwelling place that is so large there is a room for all of us.

I want to say though that the dwelling place, or the Father’s Mansion is not a place at all, but an existence. It is not a physical location we will be transported to someday, but is a way to live, a dwelling of being.

And that leads us to the I Am statement.

This statement of Jesus. Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” This statement has been used as an exclusive statement, meaning it has been used to exclude people from those going to the place of the mansion… But what if the way, the truth and the life are a tautology? What if Jesus is saying the same thing 3 times in a different manor? Meaning the way, the truth and the life are all the same thing… In Jesus the way is clear, the truth is made known and we have life. Like the place of the mansion is not a physical one, but it is absolutely being in the presence of God! For you see Jesus Himself tells us in this verse, this I Am statement is not prohibition on who is not included, but a promise to those who are, He follows the above sentence with “If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” From now on you do know and have seen.

We do know and have seen the Father, because in Jesus we have the way to the Father, the truth or our familial relationship with the Father and life in the Father.

And also notice that Jesus did not say “No one comes to God except through me.” He said no one comes to the Father… No one can have the familial relationship that I do with the Father, unless they come through me. You can have a relationship with God, as the Jews do, without having a Father/Son/Daughter relationship…

So is it an exclusive or inclusive statement? Doesn’t matter because for those of us with life in Christ we have the familial relationship and the promise. And that promise is for all who know and have seen. It is a promise and not a prohibition!

Worship

worshipMake a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth. Worship the LORD with gladness; come into his presence with singing. Know that the LORD is God. It is he that made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him, bless his name. For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations. (Psalm 100, NRSV)

We can not come to church…

We tell our children on Saturday night and Sunday morning that we will be going to worship, because we can not go to church. We are the church. All of us together are the church.

We gather in an assembly to worship. And that is something we do. Not something that is done for us, or to us. It is an action we do to the Lord. We give Him honor and respect, and deem Him worthy of our praise.

The psalmist of Psalm 100 has a lot of action we do:

Worship
Come
Singing
Enter
Give

We do these things in honor and glory for God. These are not things done to or for us, they are things we do for God!

So do not think you are coming to worship to recharge your battery, you are coming to be a full participant in a declaration of how worthy our God is! We are not spectators but full on participants in an adoration of the one who made us!

So Worship the Lord with gladness and let the whole world know how much you love Him by show it!

other sheep

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.” (John 10:11-18, NRSV)

I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice.

Who are these other sheep?

Well look around your neighborhood…

We see many different denominations, and even in the denominations sometimes we have more than one congregation…

Do we all look alike?

Do we all worship in the same manner?

Do we all say the same prayers?

Sing the same songs?

Many of us will have the same readings every week, but there will still be differences among us…

Yet we all worship the same God and participate in the Eucharist. And when we do that we are joining together at God’s table as one united holy and apostolic church! We are one flock, with one shepherd.

It is not hard to see who the other sheep could be. Jesus has other sheep beyond what we see, and He loves them as He loves us.

So let us accept the others who will be coming, as Christ accepted us, and look upon what unites us (Christ) instead of the differences we think separate us!

lost

“Take care that you do not despise one of these little ones; for, I tell you, in heaven their angels continually see the face of my Father in heaven. What do you think? If a shepherd has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. So it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost. (Matthew 18:10-14, NRSV)

When a shepherd losses a sheep, they leave the rest on the mountain and go looking for the one that is lost!?!?!?!?!?

Really! they leave the rest of the flock in the open country for wolves and other hunters to come and take them down with no protection and go looking for the one lost one!

Well there is safety in numbers, but a wolf or pack of wolves could come in and take them down…

But the point here is the love the shepherd has for all the sheep, and how He will do anything to make sure the fold is complete.

When we wander away He will be looking for us. Until we are no longer wandering lost, and we are found!

So know that when you feel lost, in order to find Jesus, and your way again, all you need to do is turn around and He will be there waiting and looking for you!

Showers of Blessings

Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD to them: I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. 21 Because you pushed with flank and shoulder, and butted at all the weak animals with your horns until you scattered them far and wide, I will save my flock, and they shall no longer be ravaged; and I will judge between sheep and sheep. I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. And I, the LORD, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them; I, the LORD, have spoken. I will make with them a covenant of peace and banish wild animals from the land, so that they may live in the wild and sleep in the woods securely. I will make them and the region around my hill a blessing; and I will send down the showers in their season; they shall be showers of blessing. The trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield its increase. They shall be secure on their soil; and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I break the bars of their yoke, and save them from the hands of those who enslaved them. They shall no more be plunder for the nations, nor shall the animals of the land devour them; they shall live in safety, and no one shall make them afraid. I will provide for them a splendid vegetation so that they shall no more be consumed with hunger in the land, and no longer suffer the insults of the nations. They shall know that I, the LORD their God, am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, says the Lord GOD. You are my sheep, the sheep of my pasture and I am your God, says the Lord GOD. (Ezekiel 34:20-31, NRSV)

Today I heard in the locker room at the gym, “I’ll be glad when the rain is gone…” It is not unlike any other day, but maybe it would be “I’ll be glad when the snow is gone…”

“It’ll be better when it is colder, or hotter…”

“Things would be better if we just got some rain…”

We are finicky people and are never satisfied it seems. We complain about the weather as if we could control it. The Bible tells us that God sends the rain on the saints and the wicked, so we should all be prepared and have our umbrellas with us.

You see God sends the rain to be a blessing. Even when we curse it and call it bad and want it to go away.

We see the things that happen in God’s timing and plan as things that shouldn’t be happening. We want things our way.

And when we control the weather, will things in nature work the way God intended?

Who is better to be on control, us or God?

So see the rain as a blessing, the way God intends it, and love the fact that He wants the world around us to flourish and to feed it, just like He wants us to flourish and to feed us!

 

Who is it about?

The word of the LORD came to me: Mortal, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel: prophesy, and say to them—to the shepherds: Thus says the Lord GOD: Ah, you shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fatlings; but you do not feed the sheep. You have not strengthened the weak, you have not healed the sick, you have not bound up the injured, you have not brought back the strayed, you have not sought the lost, but with force and harshness you have ruled them. So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd; and scattered, they became food for all the wild animals. My sheep were scattered, they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill; my sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with no one to search or seek for them. Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD: As I live, says the Lord GOD, because my sheep have become a prey, and my sheep have become food for all the wild animals, since there was no shepherd; and because my shepherds have not searched for my sheep, but the shepherds have fed themselves, and have not fed my sheep; therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD: Thus says the Lord GOD, I am against the shepherds; and I will demand my sheep at their hand, and put a stop to their feeding the sheep; no longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, so that they may not be food for them. For thus says the Lord GOD: I myself will search for my sheep, and will seek them out. As shepherds seek out their flocks when they are among their scattered sheep, so I will seek out my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places to which they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses, and in all the inhabited parts of the land. I will feed them with good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel shall be their pasture; there they shall lie down in good grazing land, and they shall feed on rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will make them lie down, says the Lord GOD. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with justice. (Ezekiel 34:1-16, NRSV)

Who do you feed?

Now that is an interesting question. I know people who will give their kids peanut butter and jelly and then go out to Burger King for themselves… This just doesn’t set right with me. Seems like the kids should get the good stuff, but maybe they are…

But I digress… Who do we look out for?

Do you only look out for yourself?

Is it really all about you?

If that is the case, you are just like the shepherds that fed themselves, and took the wool for themselves, and left the sheep to fend for and feed themselves.

You are not doing what God has called you to do. You are really focused on not number one, but yourself.

So focus on God and that will help you see others the way He sees all of us, as those who are worth the time and effort to help. That is how He looks at you and wants you to look at others.

Bad shepherds…

Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! says the LORD. Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who shepherd my people: It is you who have scattered my flock, and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. So I will attend to you for your evil doings, says the LORD. Then I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the lands where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. I will raise up shepherds over them who will shepherd them, and they shall not fear any longer, or be dismayed, nor shall any be missing, says the LORD. The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. And this is the name by which he will be called: “The LORD is our righteousness.” Therefore, the days are surely coming, says the LORD, when it shall no longer be said, “As the LORD lives who brought the people of Israel up out of the land of Egypt,” but “As the LORD lives who brought out and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the land of the north and out of all the lands where he had driven them.” Then they shall live in their own land. (Jeremiah 23:1-8, NRSV)

If you have scattered the flock of the Lord then you are to be attended to by God…

God will attend to you for your evil of driving His flock away, by telling them to do things they need not do, or follow traditions that need not be upheld. If you have led a little one astray it is better for you to tie a millstone around your neck and throw yourself into the sea…

For the righteous Shepherd is coming and when He comes then all of the sheep will be brought back to Him and the bad shepherd will have no footing, no place to stand.

So do not lead others astray, but hold fats to Jesus and help others to see Him too.

the gate

“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. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.” Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. So again Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. (John 10:1-10, NRSV)

Sheep are dumb animals. We have all heard that and I don’t know about you but that does not make me feel good when Jesus seems to refer to us as sheep…

But this passage shows they have some understanding of who is worthy to follow and who isn’t. They know the sound of their masters voice. And when He calls them they follow. Even when they are scared, they follow.

But the thing I thin we miss is the gate. In the USA we think of fences with gates that swing open and closed to keep the good stuff in and the unwanted stuff out. But in Jesus day, there were no fences that had gates like we know them. Or at least that is my understanding. Jesus was the gate, and the shepherd was the gate. the shepherd got his sheep into the penned in area then he laid down in the opening. This kept the sheep in and the wolves out. He protected them.

Just like Jesus will do for us if we will follow His voice.

shadow

Your steadfast love, O LORD, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your judgments are like the great deep; you save humans and animals alike, O LORD. How precious is your steadfast love, O God! All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights. For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light. O continue your steadfast love to those who know you, and your salvation to the upright of heart! (Psalm 36:5-10, NRSV)

The steadfast love of the Lord is all encompassing!

How many ways can we say that God’s love for us is unchanging and surrounds us every where we are?

I love the image of in the shadow of your wing… Like a mother bird protects her young by sheltering them from whatever danger is upon them, God holds us close to Him and surrounds us with His warmth and protection.

He is always there for us to find shelter and refuge from the world around us!

So hide in the shadow of His wing.

Search the scripture…

And the Father who sent me has himself testified on my behalf. You have never heard his voice or seen his form, and you do not have his word abiding in you, because you do not believe him whom he has sent. “You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that testify on my behalf. Yet you refuse to come to me to have life. (John 5:37-40, NRSV)

You refuse to come to me and have life!

How is it we get life? According to verse 40 it is by coming to Jesus. He will give us life. God sent Him and whoever believes that God sent Him will have life. The promise is there from God.

Yet we search the scripture to find the answer, even though the scriptures point to Him.

But here in John Jesus says ” “You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life…” They didn’t get that He was the fulfillment of scripture. That it is not about fulfilling the scriptures on our own. We can’t do that, He has done it for us.

Search the scriptures for the right rules, for the right way to worship, for the right things to say, for all of the right things and you will not find it. Scripture points to Jesus. If you want life you have to follow Jesus and give up control, and understanding. He will not be confined to your understanding of scripture.