"Why Is Jesus the Gate?"

Sermon Preached By Rev. Richard E. Stetler - April 17, 2004

Psalm 23; John 10:1-10

    
    One-day colleagues from the Jewish, Muslim and Christian faiths were sitting at a table located outside of Henry’s restaurant on Pennsylvania Avenue, S.E., in the District.  They were exploring their faith traditions attempting to find some common ground upon which to stand to communicate.  They struggled because each was holding on to beliefs he considered essential to the integrity of their respective heritage.            

     The Christian spoke very emphatically about Jesus being the only way, the truth and the life.   His point of reference was the section in the Gospel of John that we are using as the basis for today’s message.  He told the other two that those who resonated with Jesus’ teachings would find life in abundance.   

     However, the name of Jesus has become such a strong sacred code word for Christians that those representing other belief systems often find it difficult to engage in substantive dialogue.  The problem for Christians is that we have concentrated so much on the name and personhood of Jesus that we often miss his emphasis on the consciousness he taught.    

     As the three were eating, a car went through the intersection against a red light and crashed into another car carrying several passengers.  Instantly, the three abandoned their food and went into action.  The Muslim ran into Henry’s to call 911.  The Jew tried to keep people calm as he advised them to remain in their badly damaged car until emergency personnel arrived.  The Christian went to the other driver, a trembling elderly man who had not seen the traffic light change to red.             

     After a very brief period of time a fire truck and an ambulance arrived.  Police were on the scene immediately to redirect the traffic. The work of the three was done.  They returned to their table to find their food gone.  Their smiling waiter approached them with news that fresh, hot food was on the way.   

     With the excitement of their adventure still lingering the Muslim asked, “What motivated the three of us to become involved immediately?”  After a brief hesitation, he answered his own question. He said, “Maybe we were listening to the same voice that urged us to do everything we could  help our brothers and sisters who needed us.”  The three agreed, and that is where their search for a common ground began.             

     In our lesson today, Jesus used an illustration that would have been well known to his listeners.  Sheep always know the voice of their shepherd.  His listeners knew that.  Equally, they knew that sheep scatter if someone else tries to lead them.             

     At first, the disciples did not understand Jesus’ teaching or his intent for using this parable.  In response to their questions Jesus said, “I am the gate.  All others who come are thieves.  They come in order to steal, kill and destroy.  My sheep know my voice; they will not follow someone else.  I have come in order that you might have life – life in all its fullness.”           

     The lesson Jesus was teaching has a universal appeal to all members of the human family.  Who would not want a full abundant life?  Jesus told his listeners, that helping them find this pasture is why he came. Today it would not matter if they were members of Islam, Judaism or Christianity.  Perhaps some might even be agnostic.  Again, who would not want the abundant life? 

     A threshold question is:  “Do we Christians have the exclusive right to the consciousness Jesus taught?”   Some of us may think so, but we do not.  Jesus came to guide all of humanity to find the infinite pasture where fears and tears will be no more, a pasture where the desire to live in community will be mutual among all people.             

     We are the ones who have created the theologies that divide the human family.  All three major religions have created such barriers.  Have we missed hearing Jesus’ core message and its underlying values?  We bring to the table not what Jesus taught but rather the guidance our separatist views and beliefs suggest that we follow.    

     This is why Roman Catholics and Protestants have their moments of great division.  This is why the Jews did not want to be labeled as “Christ killers” when Mel Gibson’s movie The Passion came to theaters.  This is why Muslims live in fear each time destructive deeds are performed by terrorists who claim to be listening to the voice of Allah.                

     It is very obvious to us that we do not all hear the same voice.  I believe the three men did as they sat at their curbside table at Henry’s that Friday afternoon, even though their faith traditions might suggest otherwise.  We know this because of what they did. 

     Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’ will know who I am or be able to enter the Kingdom of God.”  Snap shots throughout Church history have taught us that often we have not entered the pasture through his gate.  For all the bridge building we have done in the world, we Christians have had our moments when we were not listening to the voice of our shepherd who was leading us into community. Let me give you several examples. 

     Emperor Constantine was the first Christian ruler.  He coerced the faithful, murdered members of his own family, suppressed non-Christians and to insure nothing less than a thorough cleansing, he postponed baptism until an hour before their death.  What voice was he listening to?           

     The Pope crowned Charlemagne “King of the Romans” as he reconstituted the Holy Roman Empire.  While Charlemagne’s priests engaged in massive baptisms, his troops beheaded 4,000 Saxons in the year 800.  What Shepherd were they listening to?           

     Martin Luther, whose words inspired the Reformation of the Church, sanctioned murder during the Peasants’ Revolt in 1525.  He wrote a tract entitled, “Against the Murderous and Thieving Hordes of Peasants.”  He advised, “All people who can to smite, slay and stab the rebels as they would a mad dog.”           

     We fear the terrorists of Islam while forgetting that in 1573, the Pope was jubilant on St. Bartholomew’s Day when Roman Catholics slaughtered 10,000 Protestants in the streets of Paris.  What Shepherd were Luther and the Pope listening to?   

     When the Puritans entered New England, they celebrated that finally they could worship God in total freedom and build their churches according to the biblical pattern.   And yet anyone who disagreed with their beliefs and creeds was vigorously suppressed or violently driven from their colonies.  Again, whose voice were they listening to?  What interpretation of the Scriptures were they using for guidance?  What happens to us when the world’s people are not responding in a way that we believe God would prefer?           

     All of us should understand that Jesus’ teachings have not been responsible for guiding people who steal, kill and plunder any more than the prophet Mohammad and the Qur’an do so among most Muslims.  We bring to our faith traditions exactly who we are.  We interpret the Scriptures by lifting up those passages that support our passion for our world-view.  Jesus taught what would promote community.  He showed us what loving our neighbor looks like even when that neighbor happens to be a Samaritan.         

     Why is Jesus the gate through which every person must one day enter?  Are we wrong in teaching this as we try to follow him in bringing the world’s many families into community? Not at all!  His way, i.e., the consciousness he taught is the only way.  We need to recognize, however, that the quality of our lives is directly proportional to the way we choose to perceive.   

     For example, several weeks ago the media repeatedly showed the television audience footage of Terri Schiavo that was 15 years old.  We never saw the media reveal to television viewers how old those images were. Such a viewing experience tends to mold our perceptions.   

     We have been told repeatedly about the failings of our intelligence community in keeping America safe, while members of the various branches of our Office of Homeland Security cannot publicize the plots they have foiled, the number of terrorist cells they have disrupted or the countless arrests they have made.  Those activities are and must remain off the record.  Again, sensational headlines have the tendency to mold our perceptions.  

     The gate Jesus represents is a new way of perceiving, i.e., viewing everyone and everything through the prism of love, compassion and forgiveness is the consciousness he taught.  This is the gate to our minds.  What we let through that gate governs the quality of our thoughts, opinions and actions.  Jesus pointed to a consciousness that would create community.   

     All of us can come to the table with other religions armed with references from our sacred texts, but what have those references caused us to become?  Do they represent the voice of our Shepherd or do they represent our predispositions, our needs and wants, our judgments, our righteousness, our smoldering need to be right and our joy that others will one day be punished for their stupidity, ignorance and arrogance?            

      Most of us know John 3:16.  We may need a refresher course on John 3:17, “For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but, that through him, God might save the world.”  When we think of ourselves as being channels through which flows God’s love and compassion, we will understand Jesus’ meaning of the gate.  We are here to heal not build and continue to extend barriers that prevent community.               

     Some years ago, St. Matthew’s fielded two teams in Juarez, Mexico.  I happened to be with a team that had fallen behind in our construction of a house.  A family was counting on us to finish, but fierce sandstorms challenged our timeline.  The sand was so fine that it blew through the fibers of all articles and layers of clothing.  Little mounds of sand collected inside our ears. There were times when visibility was ten feet or less.           

     Earlier in the week we took several lunch breaks with work crews who belonged to the Assembly of God denomination.  They were working on a house about 200 feet from ours. They talked freely about their style of worship and a number of their beliefs, some of which were different from ours.   

     What was remarkable about them was that whatever their relationship with God looked like to them, it inspired them to come to Juarez, Mexico and build houses for the poor.  Both our groups had decided to come there because of a desire to give back, to be in mission and to help people enjoy what most of us take for granted.  We took away their houses made of cardboard and shipping pallets and gave them ones built of cinderblock and concrete.             

     Our new friends happened to have a portable generator and a cement mixer.  Our crew normally had to engage in the time consuming process of mixing cement on the ground.  Since they had finished their house, we asked if we could borrow their equipment.  There was not the slightest hesitation.  They said, “Absolutely!  Help yourself. When you’re done, we’ll send a crew to pick up the equipment.”  They saved the day.  Our crew was able to finish the house because our friends from the Assembly of God extended to us their generosity and kindness.             

     The Gospel really is this simple.  Jesus’ way of caring, helping, and nurturing is the way to build a wholesome community.  When this spirit, this consciousness becomes “the gate” to our minds, we hear the voice calling us to enter such a pasture.   

     If what we believe does not enable us to embrace each other without judgment, maybe we have nothing that even remotely resembles what Jesus came here to give us.   However, if we listen to our Shepherd’s voice, he will lead us into a united world community where our differences will not matter.  We cannot radiate loving energy to others without also being blessed by the experience of community.  Perhaps one day we will awaken to a world that recognizes that all people are one. 

THE CONGREGATIONAL PRAYER

     Eternal and ever faithful God, thank you for loving us so completely.  You have taught us to trust you.  You have taught us that when we extend your nature from within us, our emotional and spiritual resources will never be depleted.  Yet often we do not risk.  We seek to express your wisdom while allowing fear to reign in our awareness.  We desire a greater sense of your presence, while clinging to our need to remain in control of our lives.  We want to become more Christ-like, yet often we choose hurt feelings when others fail to meet our expectations.  Each day creates moments to make a healing difference in our world.  Help us to become aware of them by recognizing that this is our moment to shine.  Amen.

THE PASTORAL PRAYER

     Eternal and creative God, thank you for this oasis of peace in the midst of so much that preoccupies us.  We enter our house of worship to draw closer to your presence.  It seems as though we constantly need to be reminded who we are.  It is comforting to remember we are your children, when the death of a loved one pulls us into the valley of the shadows.  It is comforting to sense your presence when reversals in life take us into venues where we never thought we would be. 

     Give us guidance, O God, to carry our energy with peace, to shoulder our perceived burdens with confidence and to enter moments of uncertainty with faith.  Surround those of us who experience fragile moments.  Heal those of us who feel it is “our duty” to hold on to painful memories and hurt feelings that delay our growth.  May we trust you with what we fear we can no longer handle.   

     As we move into our tomorrows, may we keep a discerning eye on where and how to be helpful.  Inspire us to forget labels, judgments and differences.  Teach us how to extend ourselves so that your love might become more visible.  Please give our trust in you hands and feet.  Through us, O God, walk among us so that our world’s many families might one day be one.  We pray these thoughts through the spirit of Jesus, who taught us to say when we pray . . .