I HAD AN ENGLISH TEACHER IN HIGH SCHOOL NAMED MISS BLEAKELY. WE WERE NOT EXACTLY FRIENDS! SHE WAS KIND OF CRABBY, AND HER CONSTANT COMPLAINT ABOUT MY CREATIVE WRITING WAS THAT MY STYLE WAS TOO LACONIC, MEANING NO FRILLS, TOO CURT. “USE FIGURES OF SPEECH” SHE WOULD WRITE ON MY PAPERS. SHE HAD TAUGHT US ABOUT METAPHOR, HYPERBOLE, SIMILE, AND THE LIKE! I THOUGH OF HER TODAY, READING JESUS’ WORDS ABOUT FIGURES OF SPEECH. I HAVE TO ADD THAT I KNOW MISS BLEAKELY WOULD HAVE HAD SOMETHING TO SAY ABOUT A PARAGRAPH THAT USES TWO DIFFERENT METAPHORS IN ONE PASSAGE FOR THE SAME SUBJECT WHICH IS EXACTLY WHAT JESUS HAS DONE IN OUR GOSPEL READING TODAY. “TOO CONFUSING,” SHE WOULD HAVE WRITTEN IN RED PENCIL, AND INDEED IT IS CONFUSING . JESUS FIRST IS HINTING OF HIMSELF AS THE GATEKEEPER, THEN REFERRING TO HIMSELF AS THE SHEPHERD, AND FINALLY, IN AN EFFORT TO CLARIFY WHAT HE HAD SAID, HE REFERS TO HIMSELF AS THE GATE. WHICH IS IT, OR CAN IT BE BOTH?

IT’S IMPORTANT TO SET THE SCENE HERE IN ORDER TO ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS. IN CHAPTER 9 OF JOHN’S GOSPEL JESUS HAS JUST HAD AN ENCOUNTER WITH THE PHARISEES. HE HAS HEALED THE MAN WHO WAS BLIND, AND THE PHARISEES, AFTER QUESTIONING THE HEALED MAN EXTENSIVELY, HAVE TRIED TO PERSUADE THE MAN NOT TO FOLLOW JESUS. WHEN THIS DOESN’T WORK, THEY DRIVE THE MAN OUT OF TOWN. THIS IS FOLLOWED BY AN ENCOUNTER WITH JESUS HIMSELF IN WHICH THE PHARISEES CLAIM THAT THEY ARE NOT BLIND, THEY CAN SEE THE TRUTH. JESUS PUTS THEM IN THEIR PLACE WITH THE STATEMENT, “IF YOU WERE BLIND, YOU WOULD NOT HAVE SIN. BUT NOW THAT YOU SAY, “WE SEE,” YOUR SIN REMAINS.

CLEARLY JESUS WAS ANNOYED BY THIS SITUATION, AND PERHAPS THAT IS WHY HE STARTS THIS VERSE OFF WITH THE ACCUSATION THAT “ANYONE WHO DOES NOT ENTER THE SHEEPFOLD BY THE GATE BUT CLIMBS IN BY ANOTHER WAY, IS A THIEF AND A BANDIT.” AVOIDING ENTRANCE THROUGH THE GATE WOULD SEEM TO IMPLY THAT THE PHARISEES ARE AMONG THOSE WHO ARE UNWILLING TO ACCEPT GOD AND JESUS, JESUS WHO IS THE GATE. AND THEN THE METAPHOR SHIFTS. I DON’T REALLY UNDERSTAND THE ROLE OF THE GATEKEEPER, BUT CLEARLY IT IS JESUS WHO IS NOW THE SHEPHERD. IT IS HE WHO CALLS HIS SHEEP BY NAME AND LEADS THEM IN AND OUT OF THE SHEEPFOLD. THE SHEEP FOLLOW HIM BECAUSE THEY KNOW HIS VOICE. THEY RUN FROM STRANGERS (THE PHARISEES) BECAUSE THE VOICE IS NOT FAMILIAR.

WHEN JESUS PERCEIVES THAT THE LISTENERS DON’T UNDERSTAND THIS FIGURE OF SPEECH, HE SHIFTS BACK TO THE GATE ROLE. “VERY TRULY, I TELL YOU I AM THE GATE FOR THE SHEEP.” AND REFERRING TO THE PHARISEES, HE SAYS THAT HIS SHEEP DIDN’T FOLLOW THOSE WHO TRIED TO GET IN BEFORE HIM. THEY, THE PHARISEES, WERE THIEVES AND BANDITS WHO CAME TO STEAL, KILL, AND DESTROY, AND THE SHEEP TURNED AWAY FROM THEM. AND THEN THERE IS THAT WONDERFUL PROCLAMATION AT THE END FROM JESUS, THE SHEPHERD; “I CAME THAT THEY MAY HAVE LIFE, AND HAVE IT ABUNDANTLY.” YES, MISS BLEAKLY, IT IS POSSIBLE TO HAVE TWO ADJOINING METAPHORS FOR ONE PERSON. AND IF WE THINK OF JESUS AS THE FULFILLMENT OF GOD’S PROMISE TO GOD’S PEOPLE, WE CAN SEE JESUS AS LEADING US AS THE SHEPHERD, AND AS A WAY, A GATE, THAT LEADS TO LIFE, AS IN HIS DEATH HE LEADS US TO LIFE.

AND WHERE DOES THAT LEAVE US FOLK? I DON’T SUPPOSE THAT IF WE WERE PICKING AND CHOOSING, THAT WE WOULD SELECT TO BE DIRTY, BLEATING, NOT TOO BRIGHT, SHEEP AS AN APPROPRIATE IMAGE FOR OURSELVES AS CHRISTIANS IN TODAY’S GLITZY WORLD. I CAN REMEMBER HAVING GROWN UP IN NEW HAVEN, WHERE YALE’S “WHIFFENPOOF SONG” WAS WELL KNOWN, WONDERING WHERE THE DUMB IDEA THAT WE ARE “ POOR LITTLE LAMBS WHO HAVE LOST OUR WAY, BAA, BAA, BAA.” EVER CAME FROM. AND THEN THERE WAS THAT LITTLE LAMB THAT MARY HAD - ONLY ABLE TO FOLLOW. IT WAS NOT HOW I LOOKED AT THINGS FOR MYSELF OR THOSE AROUND ME. AND YET IS OBVIOUS THAT THE REFERENCE TO HUMANS AS SHEEP SEEMED TO BE AN IDEAL PICTURE FOR BIBLICAL TIMES, IN THAT IT WAS SOMETHING THAT WAS FAMILIAR TO ALL. “THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD” PAINTS A PICTURE THAT IS VERY FAMILIAR TO US, AS WELL. WE SEE MANY PICTURES OF JESUS WITH THE SHEEP AROUND HIS SHOULDER, THERE WAS ONE IN THE VIA MEDIA FILM THE OTHER NIGHT. AND WE REFER TO ORDAINED PEOLE AS PASTORS IN SOME DENOMINATIONS. HERE AT ST. JOHN’S WE HAVE A COMMISSION ON PASTORAL CARE. BUT WE MUST BE AWARE, SNEAKING IN BEHIND THESE TITLES COMES A PERCEPTION OF OUR MINISTERING LIKE JESUS. AND WE THEN WE ASK, “ARE WE SHEEP OR ARE WE SHEPHERDS?” THE VISION BECOMES BLURRED AND TENDS TO BE AS MUCH ABOUT US AS IT IS ABOUT JESUS, WHEN ACTUALLY NO ONE IN THIS PARTICULAR PASSAGE IS CONSIDERED A SHEPHERD EXCEPT JESUS.

THE INTERESTING THING THAT COMES FROM ALL THIS THINKING IS, I THINK, THAT THE CRUCIAL FOCUS IS ON ISSUES OF RELATIONSHIP. THE METAPHORS OF THE SHEPHERD AND THE GATE ARE INSIGNIFICANT IF THERE ARE NO SHEEP. THERE HAS TO BE RELATIONSHIP, AND WHO WE ARE AS A COMMUNITY OF CHRISTIANS IS DETERMINED BY WHO JESUS IS FOR US, JUST AS WHO JESUS IS FOR US, IS DETERMINED BY WHO WE ARE TO HIM. AND PERHAPS A DIFFERENT WAY TO SEE IT IS THAT OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS IS MODELED ON HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD.

WHAT IS OUR CHURCH GOING TO LOOK LIKE IF WE UNDERSTAND OURSELVES TO BE JESUS’ SHEEP? I FIND GREAT ASSURANCE IN THOSE LAST SENTENCES “ WHOEVER ENTERS BY ME WILL BE SAVED, AND WILL COME IN AND GO OUT AND FIND PASTURE….I CAME THAT THEY MAY HAVE LIFE AND HAVE IT ABUNDANTLY.”

IS IT POSSIBLE TO LIVE LIFE ABUNDANTLY? IS JESUS OFFERING OF ABUNDANT LIFE MEANT FOR AFTER DEATH OR IS IT SOMETHING WE LOOK FOR NOW? WHAT IN FACT DOES IT LOOK LIKE TO HAVE MORE THAN ENOUGH, ABUNDANCE?. I THINK OF THE MILLIONS WHO HAVE BEEN FORCED TO LEAVE THEIR HOMES BY CIVIL WAR, OR WHO HAVE NOTHING AFTER A TSUNAMI OR DIE OF STARVATION BECAUSE OF DROUGHT. I QUESTION WHAT ABUNDANT LIFE WOULD BE FOR THEM. IT WILL BE DIFFERENT FOR EACH HUMAN BEING OF COURSE. WE CAN FIND OURSELVES OVERWHELMED BY THE BEAUTY OF GOD’S CREATION AT CERTAIN TIMES, OR SOMETHING CAN HAPPEN WHICH MAKES US INCREDIBLY AWARE OF GOD’S GREAT LOVE FOR US. THAT FEELS LIKE ABUNDANCE. FULFILLING THE NEEDS OF OTHERS, EXPERIENCING JUSTICE AND FREEDOM FOR PEOPLE, FEELING FULL WHEN WE SEE COMPASSION AND LAUGHTER, HOPE AND INTIMACY, ALL ARE SIGNS OF ABUNDANT LIFE. JESUS IS PRETTY CLEAR THAT ABUNDANT LIFE IS NOT AMASSING WEALTH OR MATERIAL THINGS WHICH CAN BE A STUMBLING POINT PARTICULARLY IN FOR US IN THIS COUNTRY. AND THE AWARENESS THAT MY LIFE IS OVERFLOWING IN COMPARISON TO MANY OTHERS CAN CAUSE ME TO MISS THE TRUE GATE.

I DON’T SUPPOSE THAT ANY OF US WHO HAVE SEEN THE MOVIE “BABE” WILL EVER LOOK AT SHEEP AGAIN IN THE SAME WAY. A FRIEND OF MINE BOUGHT THIS MOVIE TO SHOW IT TO HER GRANDSON AND A GROUP OF US “SPEEDERS” SAT AROUND RECENTLY AND WATCHED IT ONE EVENING. MOST OF US SAW IT FOR SECOND OR THIRD TIME. I WAS STRUCK BY THE BIBLICAL IMAGES IT RAISED FOR ME, SUCH AS BABE’S UNCONDITIONAL LOVE FOR ALL THE ANIMALS ON THE FARM AND HIS SPECIAL DEVOTION TO THE SHEEP. HIS ULTIMATE SUCCESS CAME BECAUSE HE KNEW THE PASSWORD, “BAR-AM-EWE” WHICH DREW THE SHEEP TO HIM, REASSURED BY THE PROMISE THAT THEY WOULD BE SAFE. THAT IS THE GOOD SHEPHERD.

THERE IS ONE FINAL QUESTION WHICH THIS PASSAGE RAISES FOR ME, AND THAT IS WHAT ABOUT THOSE WHO DO NOT SEE CHRIST AS THE GATE. DO WE HAVE TO INSIST THAT OUR OWN INCLUSION IN GOD’S WAY RESTS ON THE EXCLUSION OF JEWS AND MUSLIMS AND OTHERS WHO ARE OUTSIDE THE FLOCK OF SHEEP, WHO MIGHT BE CALLED THIEVES AND ROBBERS. IT SEEMS TO ME THAT DURING THE TWO THOUSAND YEARS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY THAT THERE HAS OFTEN BEEN INTENSE HOSTILITY TOWARD THOSE OF OTHER FAITHS. I TRULY BELIEVE THAT THE TIME HAS COME IN THIS MULTI-RELIGIOUS WORLD FOR US TO REPENT OF THIS HOSTILITY AND TRUST THAT GOD REACHES OUT TO ALL HUMANITY IN SOME WAY.

THAT DOESN’T MEAN THAT WE MUSTN’T HOLD FAST TO OUR OWN BELIEFS, OUR TRUST THAT JESUS IS OUR SHEPHERD AND OUR GATE. BUT JOHN TELLS US IN ANOTHER PLACE THAT JESUS HAD OTHER SHEEP THAT ARE NOT OF THIS FOLD. AND SOMEHOW WE MUST REMEMBER HOLD ON TO THIS AS WELL AS WE VIEW THE WORLD.

Rev. Ruth T. Healy - Priest Associate