Caring Arms

The text that we hear today is a continuation of what is known in John’s gospel as the Good Shepherd discourse. There are Jews that have been gathered around him listening to him speak and watching him perform miracles and they are having a hard time understanding who he is and whether he comes from God or whether he is demon possessed. Because of that division and frustration we see in our text today that they want him to tell them plainly whether or not he is the Messiah.

To get even more context about today’s lesson and why they are divided we see that in the chapter before this one Jesus heals a man who has been blind since birth. This man after he is healed goes and tells people and some people don’t even believe he is the same blind man that they had seen begging on the street. Others say that he is the blind man. The story comes to a head when these people who may or may not know this blind man bring him to the Pharisees and find out that it was on the Sabbath that Jesus healed this former blind man. So they are divided because some of them think that the Messiah would observe the Sabbath the way that they were observing it and if he didn’t then there was no way that he was the Messiah. Others think that if someone is able to cure a blind man who had been born blind must be the Messiah.

What is interesting about this story is that they want to know more from this former blind man because they are having a hard time understanding who this man Jesus is and this former blind man calls them out on their lack of understanding and willingness to believe much like Jesus does in our text. He says that he has already told them and they don’t believe. And then when he asks them if they want to know more so that they can become his disciples they get infuriated at him and kick him out of the synagogue.

What is interesting is that we continue to experience these same kinds of situations today. In conversations I have with each of you and especially in both the Pub Theology and Coffee Theology discussion groups. It seems like no matter what kind of discussion we get into there seems to be times when we come to the same topic each time. That topic is the topic of looking around this world or the experiences of this world inform and influence our understanding of God. Sometimes all it takes is to look at this beautiful world and we can’t help but see God. Or we have experiences like we talked about just this Thursday about how people who were dying held on or gave up at just the right moment. It’s those moments that we feel and experience God’s presence in our lives and it’s hard to see people who don’t feel and experience the same thing.

There are people who see the violence in our nation with what seems like endless gun shootings and the death of an influential Christian like Rachel Held Evans and we wonder where God is whether God is alive and active in our lives. People use these moments to question Jesus and what the point of his life was if all the exists in this world is hardship and pain. People who stand around and say that if God is active then God should or would stop this or that whether on a global or local level. They want to see and experience God in these grand and earth shattering ways, and if they don’t then they are convinced that God isn’t there and that there is nothing more to this person Jesus than someone who was exaggerated by his followers.

It’s ok to have questions. It’s ok to not fully understand everything that Jesus does in our lives even today or what Jesus did as we read them in the gospels. It’s ok to wonder as the Pharisees did, but to also hold onto what Jesus tells us today. Because the words that we hear might be overshadowed by all the other stuff happening. Jesus knows us. He knows his sheep and we follow him. Amidst all the questions and the wonderings we follow his voice. Jesus is our Good Shepherd and in all circumstances we find ourselves in we follow what he says to us because we know that his word doesn’t fail. We know that in all the trouble we experience and see we do know that God is there and that God loves us and loves this world because he did give his one and only son as a sacrifice for us and for the whole world.

More importantly than us following him even in times of trouble is his promise to us. They are powerful words and should be held close to our hearts. To those who are suffering. To those people who are chronically ill. To those who are out of a job or in a job that they do not love. To those people who find themselves the victims in our societies. To those who are scared and afraid of a person or the place they find themselves in this life right now. To anyone who has questions that need answers look at what Jesus has to say to you. No matter what you are going through. No matter the questions or doubts God is bigger than all of it and offers these promises. I give you eternal life. Because you have eternal life you will never perish. Because you are my sheep and I am your shepherd there is nothing in this life or the life to come that will ever take you away from me. Since you are mine and since God gave you to me and since God is greater than anything else there is nothing....not one single thing in this life that will ever separate you from the love of God as found in Christ Jesus.

There are so many times in our lives when life itself or the people in it try to convince us to be scared or worried about the events or circumstances that we find ourselves in and there are times when we listen to them (like the voice of the Pharisees), but today we are invited to block out all the other words that we may hear and focus only on his voice. To focus only on his word and know that no matter what, Jesus is always by our side and there is truly no greater gift than that. Rest in his love, rest in his peace, rest in Christ’s arms for he loves you and he cares for you. Amen.

Amen.