Fourth Sunday of Easter, cycle B

JOHN 10:11-18
JOAN AND I JUST GOT BACK FROM SEVERAL DAYS WITH FIVE TEENAGE GRANDCHILDREN IN THE COLONIAL WILLIAMSBURG AREA OF VIRGINIA.  DURING THE DAY WE WOULD GO OUT AND ENJOY THE HISTORICAL SITES OR ONE DAY RIDE BICYCLES ON A BIKE PATH BY THE OCEAN.  DURING THE EVENING AFTER SUPPER AND SWIMMING IN THE HOTEL POOL, WE WOULD GO INTO DOWNTIME MODE.  WHEN I WAS YOUNG DOWN TIME ON A VACATION WITH MY COUSINS CONSISTED OF PLAYING BOARD GAMES OR CHARADES.  WE DID A LOT OF TALKING.  SINCE WE USUALLY HADN'T SEEN EACH OTHER FOR AT LEAST SEVERAL MONTHS, THERE WAS A LOT TO CATCH UP ON.  IT'S STILL THAT WAY WHEN I MEET UP WITH A COUSIN.
MY TEENAGE GRANDCHILDREN, THOUGH, PULLED OUT COMPUTERS AND IPODS AND SOON IT WAS DEATHLY QUIET AS ONE PLAYED A GAME, TWO LISTENED TO MUSIC, AND TWO WATCHED A SHOW ON NETFLIX.  A PERIOD OF A QUIET IS GREAT FOR OLD PEOPLE LIKE MY WIFE AND I, BUT I COULDN'T HELP BUT FEEL THE KIDS WERE MISSING SOMETHING.
THE PHILOSOPHER MARTIN BUBER SAID THAT HUMAN BEINGS EXIST IN RELATIONSHIP.  WE ARE IN FACT DEFINED BY RELATIONSHIPS WE HAVE.  THERE ARE TWO KINDS OF RELATIONSHIP.  ONE IS WHEN YOU RELATE TO SOMEONE OR SOMETHING BECAUSE THE OTHER DOES SOMETHING FOR YOU OR SATISFIES YOUR DESIRES IN SOME WAY.  BUBER CALLED THIS AN I-IT RELATIONSHIP.  IT CAN HAPPEN WITH YOUR CAR OR YOUR DOCTOR.  THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT KIND OF RELATIONSHIP, EVEN IF THE “IT” IS A HUMAN BEING.  THE OTHER KIND OF RELATIONSHIP IS WHEN TWO PEOPLE MUTUALLY OPEN THEMSELVES UP TO THE POSSIBILITY OF BEING AFFECTED BY THE OTHER PERSON.  THIS RELATIONSHIP IS UNCONDITIONAL AND TAKES A LOT OF WORK.  IT IS FRIGHTENING AS WELL, BECAUSE WHEN YOU OPEN YOURSELF UP UNCONDITIONALLY, YOU RISK BEING HURT AS WELL AS BEING ENHANCED.  MOST PEOPLE HAVE FEW IF ANY I-THOU RELATIONSHIPS.  WE DON'T LIKE TO SURRENDER OURSELVES, WE DON'T LIKE TO RISK PAIN, WE DON'T LIKE TO ALLOW SOMEONE ELSE'S WILL TO AFFECT OUR OWN DECISIONS.  IN A TRUE I-THOU RELATIONSHIP, THERE IS A BLURRING OF THE BOUNDARIES BETWEEN YOU AND THE OTHER.  THAT'S FRIGHTENING AS WELL.  WHERE DO WE FIND I-THOU RELATIONSHIPS?  MAYBE IN A FEW MARRIAGES.  BUT EVEN GOOD MARRIAGES CAN EXIST AT THE I-IT LEVEL, WHERE EACH PARTNER PROVIDES SOMETHING TO THE OTHER, BUT THERE IS LITTLE IF ANY OF THAT DEEP MUTUAL INTERACTION THAT EXISTS IN AN I-THOU RELATIONSHIP.  MAYBE SOME FRIENDSHIPS ARE I-THOU RELATIONSHIPS.
CHRISTIANITY IS ALL ABOUT LEADING A HUMAN BEING INTO THE ULTIMATE I-THOU RELATIONSHIP, BECAUSE GOD IS THE ETERNAL THOU.  JESUS HIMSELF WAS ALWAYS FORMING THESE KINDS OF RELATIONSHIPS.  MARY MAGDALEN, THE APOSTLES, MARTHA AND MARY, THE SAMARITAN WOMAN – WE FIND HIM INVITING PEOPLE INTO THAT SPECIAL INTIMACY.  AND WE FIND SOME WHO REJECT THE INVITATION, LIKE THE RICH YOUNG MAN WHO WENT AWAY BECAUSE HE HAD MANY POSSESSIONS; LIKE JUDAS, WHO ULTIMATELY REJECTED THE INVITATION.
UNFORTUNATELY MANY CHRISTIANS HAVE AN I-IT RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS.  FOR THEM JESUS IS THE ONE WHO ANSWERS PRAYERS, WHO FORGIVES SINS, WHO CONSOLES, WHO OFFERS ETERNAL SALVATION.  CERTAINLY JESUS DOES ALL THESE THINGS.  BUT IN TODAY'S GOSPEL, HE POINTS TO A MUCH RICHER POSSIBILITY, AN I-THOU RELATIONSHIP WITH HIMSELF.  HE COMPARES HIMSELF TO A SHEPHERD AND HIS FOLLOWERS TO SHEEP.  AND THE CHARACTER OF THIS RELATIONSHIP IS MUTUAL KNOWING.  I KNOW MY SHEEP AND MY SHEEP KNOW ME.  FROM OUR MODERN PERSPECTIVE WE SOMETIMES GET CAUGHT UP IN THE IDEA THAT JESUS IS THE MASTER AND WE ARE HIS PETS, BUT I DON'T THINK THAT'S WHAT JESUS MEANT.  IN HIS TIME SHEPHERDS LIVED WITH THEIR SHEEP, KNEW EVERYTHING ABOUT EACH ONE, GAVE EACH ONE A DISTINCT NAME; THE SHEEP KNEW THE SHEPHERD AS WELL, AND TRUSTED HIM WITH THEIR WELFARE.  CERTAINLY ONE WAS A HUMAN BEING AND THE OTHER AN ANIMAL, BUT JESUS SAW IN THIS RELATIONSHIP SOMETHING OF THE RELATIONSHIP HE WANTED WITH HIS FOLLOWERS.  HE COULD HAVE CHOSEN A PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIP, OR THAT BETWEEN A KING AND HIS SUBJECTS, OR PERHAPS THAT BETWEEN A TEACHER AND HIS PUPILS.  BUT PERHAPS HE CHOSE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN A SHEPHERD AND HIS SHEEP BECAUSE HE WANTED TO EMPHASIZE THAT IN THIS RELATIONSHIP, THE SHEPHERD WAS PREPARED TO LAY DOWN HIS LIFE FOR THE SHEEP, AND THE SHEEP IN NO WAY DESERVED THAT.  IN FACT, WHILE A SHEPHERD MIGHT OCCASIONALLY BE KILLED WHILE DEFENDING HIS FLOCK FROM WILD ANIMALS OR ROBBERS, I DOUBT A REAL SHEPHERD WOULD HAVE WILLINGLY DIED FOR HIS SHEEP.
JESUS COMPARES THAT RELATIONSHIP TO THE ONE HE HAS WITH THE FATHER.  IT TOO IS A RELATIONSHIP OF KNOWING – KNOWING EVERYTHING ABOUT EACH OTHER, WHICH IN TURN LEADS TO LOVE AND LOVE LEADS TO OBEDIENCE, EVEN TO THE POINT OF LAYING DOWN ONE'S LIFE.  JUST AS JESUS LAYS DOWN HIS LIFE FOR HIS SHEEP, HE DOES SO AS WELL AS AN OBEDIENT RESPONSE TO HIS FATHER.
WHEN JESUS INVITES US INTO THE I-THOU RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM, HE PROMISES TO DO ALL THE HEAVY LIFTING.  HE WILL DO EVERYTHING, EVEN UP TO DYING FOR US.  BUT IF WE WANT TO BE IN THIS RELATIONSHIP, IT IS OUR JOB TO KNOW HIM, WHICH MEANS TO DO MORE THAN COME TO MASS ON THE WEEKEND.  WE KNOW HIM BY KNOWING HIS STORY; BY LEARNING FROM OTHERS WHO ARE IN THAT KIND OF RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM.  WE KNOW HIM BY SHARING OUR FAITH WITH OTHER PEOPLE, BECAUSE IN DOING SO WE ALLOW HIS SPIRIT TO GROW WITHIN US.  WE KNOW HIM BY LEARNING FROM THE SAINTS.  BUT MOST OF ALL WE KNOW HIM IN PROPORTION TO OUR WILLINGNESS TO SURRENDER OURSELVES TO HIM, TO LET HIM GUIDE OUR LIVES.
THE RELATIONSHIP JESUS WANTS WITH US IS THAT OF AN INTIMATE FRIEND, OR A SPOUSE IN A GOOD MARRIAGE.  LIKE ANY I-THOU RELATIONSHIP, IT IS FRIGHTENING AND TAKES WORK BUT IT IS WORTH IT.
AND I THINK THAT THE MORE WE ENTER INTO I-THOU RELATIONSHIPS WITH HUMAN BEINGS, THE MORE WE UNDERSTAND THE RELATIONSHIP JESUS WANTS WITH US, AND THE LESS FEARFUL WE ARE OF IT.
MY TEENAGE GRANDCHILDREN, I THINK, ARE MISSING SOMETHING IN THEIR RELATIONSHIPS WITH EACH OTHER.  AND I WONDER IF IT WILL BE HARDER FOR THEM TO DEVELOP THE DEEP HEART TO HEART RELATIONSHIP WITH THE LIVING LORD.  BUT LIKE ALL GRANDPARENTS I WILL HAVE TO TRUST IN THE HOLY SPIRIT.