Fourth Sunday of Easter, cycle C

JOHN 10:27-30
TODAY WE HEAR A VERY SHORT GOSPEL, BUT ITS MESSAGE IS SO IMPORTANT. LOOK AT THOSE PROMISES! IF YOU ARE ONE OF HIS SHEEP, HE WILL GIVE YOU ETERNAL LIFE. IF YOU ARE ONE OF HIS SHEEP, NO ONE CAN TAKE YOU OUT OF HIS HAND. IF YOU ARE ONE OF HIS SHEEP, NO ONE CAN TAKE YOU OUT OF THE FATHER'S HAND. SO IT BECOMES A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH FOR YOU AND I TO KNOW WHETHER WE ARE HIS SHEEP, RIGHT?
JESUS GIVES US A CLUE; HIS SHEEP HEAR HIS VOICE.
JESUS WAS THINKING ABOUT SOMETHING HE MUST HAVE WITNESSED MANY TIMES WHEN HE WAS OUT WALKING IN THE COUNTRYSIDE. EVERY SHEPHERD HAD A FEW SHEEP. EVERY DAY THE SHEPHERD WOULD TAKE HIS SHEEP OUT LOOKING FOR A PLACE TO GRAZE. AT NIGHT, IN ORDER TO MAKE SURE THE SHEEP WERE SAFE AND THE SHEPHERD COULD GET SOME SLEEP, EACH SHEPHERD WOULD MEET UP WITH SEVERAL OTHERS, AND THEY WOULD PUT ALL THEIR SHEEP IN A PLACE WHERE THEY COULDN'T GET TOO FAR, AND ONE OF THEM WOULD SIT GUARD FOR A WHILE, THEN WAKE UP ANOTHER, AND SO ON, THROUGH THE NIGHT. IN THE MORNING EACH SHEPHERD WOULD CALL HIS SHEEP, AND THEY WOULD COME OUT AND FOLLOW HIM OFF TO NEW FEEDING GROUNDS. IT WAS FLAWLESS; THE SHEEP SORTED THEMSELVES OUT BECAUSE THEY RECOGNIZED THEIR SHEPHERD.
NOW WHEN A NEWBORN LAMB JOINED THE FLOCK, THERE WAS ONLY ONE VOICE HE HEARD – HIS MOTHER'S. LAMBS WOULD WANDER OFF FROM THE FLOCK AND ONLY THE MOTHER COULD CALL THEM BACK. SO HOW DID A LAMB LEARN TO HEAR THE SHEPHERD'S VOICE? AS THEY GOT OLDER, THEY LEARNED FROM THE OTHER SHEEP, THAT THE SHEPHERD WAS DEPENDABLE, LED THEM TO FOOD AND WATER, SAW TO IT THAT THEIR INJURIES WERE PATCHED UP, WATCHED OVER THEM WHILE THEY GRAZED, OCCASIONALLY FOUGHT OFF WILD DOGS AND SOMETIMES HUMANS. EVEN FOR A DUMB SHEEP, IT WAS OBVIOUS THAT IT WAS A LOT BETTER TO FOLLOW THE SHEPHERD THAN TO GO OFF ON YOUR OWN.
AND THAT BRINGS US TO HUMAN BEINGS. MOST OF US ARE STILL LAMBS, AT LEAST WE AREN'T FULL GROWN SHEEP. AND THERE ARE MANY VOICES OUT THERE. WE HEAR PLENTY OF VOICES. HOW CAN WE TELL THE VOICE OF OUR SHEPHERD? REMEMBER, THIS IS A LIFE AND DEATH SITUATION. IF A LAMB DOESN'T LEARN IT'S SHEPHERD'S VOICE, IT WILL DIE. IT WILL HEAR THE VOICE OF A BIRD IN THE FOREST AND FOLLOW THAT – RIGHT TO A WOLF. SO MAYBE OUR BEST BET IF WE WANT TO LEARN TO HEAR THE VOICE OF OUR SHEPHERD IS TO LOOK HARD AND FIND PEOPLE WHO DO HEAR HIS VOICE.
HUMAN BEINGS HAVE AN INNER SENSE THAT WE WERE GIVEN BY GOD. WE CAN TELL WHEN SOMEONE IS HOLY. WE KNOW THIS ON AN ALMOST INSTINCTUAL LEVEL. IN THE MIDDLE AGES, PEOPLE COMPARED THIS SENSE TO THE SENSE OF SMELL – THEY CALLED IT “THE ODOR OF SANCTITY”. BUT LIKE ANY SENSE WE DON'T USE MUCH, WE HAVE TO TRAIN IT A BIT. WE NEED TO ASSOCIATE WITH OTHER PEOPLE WHO ARE SEARCHING FOR THE VOICE, SOME WHO HEAR IT A LITTLE BIT, SOME A LITTLE MORE. FINDING OUR SHEPHERD'S VOICE IS NOT SOMETHING WE CAN DO ALONE. WE HAVE TO HELP EACH OTHER, AND WE HAVE TO LET OURSELVES BE HELPED.
IF YOUR RELIGIOUS LIFE IS CONFINED TO 45 MINUTES ON THE WEEKEND; IF YOU ARE ONE OF THOSE CHRISTIANS WHO DOESN'T REALLY LIKE TO HANG OUT WITH OTHER CHRISTIANS, IF YOU CAN'T IDENTIFY SOMEONE WHO IS A POTENTIAL ROLE MODEL, AN EXAMPLE FOR YOU TO FOLLOW, YOU MIGHT RISK NEVER HEARING HIS VOICE, AND BEING LOST.
BECOMING ONE OF HIS SHEEP, BECOMING A MATURE CHRISTIAN, REQUIRES WORK. THE WORK IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN ANYTHING ELSE YOU CAN THINK OF DOING. IT IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOUR JOB, YOUR KIDS, YOUR SPOUSE. THAT DOESN'T MEAN YOU NEGLECT THESE OTHER IMPORTANT PARTS OF YOUR LIFE, BUT YOU BETTER MAKE TIME FOR BECOMING A SHEEP. YOU BETTER HAVE A PLAN.
IF YOU DON'T HAVE SOME REGULAR INTERACTION WITH OTHERS WHO ARE SEARCHING FOR THE VOICE, FIND AN OPPORTUNITY OR MAKE ONE. IN SOME PARISHES, AND IN SOME PROTESTANT CHURCHES, PEOPLE FORM BASE COMMUNITIES – A FEW FAMILIES WHO MEET REGULARLY FOR BIBLE STUDY, CONVERSATION ABOUT WHERE THEY ARE IN THEIR PURSUIT OF HOLINESS, OPPORTUNITIES TO BOUNCE IDEAS OFF OF EACH OTHER. IF YOU FEEL CALLED TO FORM SUCH A COMMUNITY, GET IN TOUCH WITH SOMEONE ON THE PARISH STAFF AND WE'LL HELP – I'LL HELP. IF YOU FEEL A NEED FOR SPIRITUAL DIRECTION, OR WANT TO TRY IT OUT, CALL ONE OF US AND WE'LL FIND YOU A SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR. A SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR IS NOT SOMEONE WHO IS HOLIER THAN YOU, IT'S SOMEONE WHO CAN HELP YOU SEE WHERE YOU ARE ON YOUR JOURNEY TO CHRIST, AND HELP YOU SEE WHERE YOU SHOULD GO NEXT.
THEN THERE ARE GROUPS WHO DEVOTE THEMSELVES TO A RULE OF LIFE – THIRD ORDER GROUPS, LIKE THIRD ORDER FRANCISCANS, OR DOMINICANS, OR CARMELITES. AND THERE ARE CHARISMATIC GROUPS. I HOPE BY NEXT SUNDAY YOU WILL HAVE LOOKED AT YOUR LIFE AND MADE A DECISION ABOUT PUTTING MORE EFFORT INTO HEARING YOUR SHEPHERD'S VOICE.
THERE IS A STORY ABOUT A PAIR OF OLD COWBOYS SITTING BY A DYING CAMPFIRE; THERE WERE JUST A FEW RED COALS SCATTERED AROUND. ONE OF THE COWBOYS SAID, “I DON'T NEED OTHER PEOPLE TO FIND GOD. I JUST GO OFF BY MYSELF AND PRAY.” THE OTHER COWBOY GOT TO HIS FEET AND SLOWLY KICKED THE GLOWING COALS TOGETHER. TN A FEW MOMENTS THEY BURST INTO FLAME.
IN THE WEEK AFTER EASTER WE HEAR THAT WONDERFUL GOSPEL ABOUT THE TWO DISCIPLES GOING TO EMMAUS. JESUS JOINS THEM, AND THEY CONVERSE WITH EACH OTHER. IT IS TRUE THAT JESUS TEACHES, BUT IT IS BACK AND FORTH, QUESTIONS, ANSWERS, COMMENTS, OBSERVATIONS; AND THE DISCIPLES GET LOST IN THE CONVERSATION AND BEFORE THEY KNOW IT THEY ARE HOME, AND SITTING DOWN TO SUPPER. AFTER JESUS LEAVES THEM, THEY TURN TO EACH OTHER AND SAY, “WERE NOT OUR HEARTS BURNING WITHIN US?” HEARTS BURNING! THAT IS WHAT WE WANT, THAT IS OUR GOAL, THAT IS A SIGN THAT OUR SHEPHERD'S VOICE IS REACHING US. IT DOESN'T JUST HAPPEN, IT REQUIRES OTHER CHRISTIANS, BECAUSE WHERE TWO OR THREE ARE GATHERED TOGETHER IN HIS NAME, THERE JESUS IS.
IF WE WANT TO RECEIVE THE PROMISES OF JESUS, WE HAVE TO BE HIS SHEEP, AND TO BE HIS SHEEP, WE HAVE TO HEAR HIS VOICE. AND TO HEAR HIS VOICE, WE HAVE TO LEARN FROM OTHERS ON THE WAY. THERE ISN'T ANY OTHER WAY. THERE ISN'T ANYTHING MORE IMPORTANT.