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“Abundant Life is _____”; Rev. Melissa St. Clair, May 11, 2014

“Abundant Life is __________”

A sermon preached at

Heart of the Rockies Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

Fort Collins, CO

by the Rev. Melissa St. Clair

John 10:1-10

May 11, 2014

 What kind of car do you drive?  What kind of bike do you ride?  What kind of computer do you own?  What kind of clothes and shoes do you wear?

What do any of those things have to do with this morning’s gospel lesson?

READ JOHN 10:1-10

My hunch is you answered at least some of the question about the car, the bicycle, the computer, the apparel, with a brand name, not just a generic description.  Why? Because for most of us, for at least a handful of products, brands matter.

A couple years ago, PBS’s long-running public affairs show FRONTLINE did an episode called The Persuaders.[1]  The episode explores how the nature of advertising and culture started to change dramatically beginning in the 1990s.  There was a time when advertising was focused primarily on promoting the quality of the product it featured.  Seems reasonable.  But then a shift started to occur.  Ads became less about brand quality and more about the quality of life brands could offer.  Always a certain kind of life, of course.  A life that was happier, more fun, safer, more adventurous, more secure, more enviable than life BP – before product.  This phenomenon became known as emotional branding because, well, it appeals to your emotions to get you to buy.  You’re no longer purchasing a product, you’re investing in an experience.

Brand management then became all about creating and maintaining a system of meaning for people.  It wasn’t enough to simply be a fan of a brand.   Brands wanted people to join and – in the words of an expert on the episode – to become “devoted disciples.” And people wanted to join, because they wanted that meaning and that sense of belonging that was promised by purchasing this good or service.

FRONTLINE referred to this as “pseudo-spiritual” marketing, and claims that in some ways, it’s filled the places in our lives that school and church might have once filled in terms of that sense of being part of something bigger than ourselves, of belonging to something meaningful, of believing in something beyond ourselves.  “You can build mystery as long as you believe in the story,” said one commentator – not as description of faith but as an assessment of a Cheerio’s commercial.

All of that to say – and I probably shouldn’t be saying all of this in the past tense: While what these ads are selling might be useful, well-made products, they don’t provide the abundant life of meaning and purpose that we seek, no matter how compelling the promise or pitch.

When Jesus said that “[he] came that [we] may have life and have it abundantly,” I’m 99.6% sure he wasn’t promising a pair of Nikes or an iPhone for all.

So what is abundant life then?  Based on our reading from John’s gospel, it seems like it must have something to do with sheep and thieves and gates. Shepherd imagery is nothing new in scripture. Think about the 23^rd Psalm: The Lord is my shepherd…

 But why sheep?  What do they have to do with abundant life?  My mom grew up on a farm, but I’ve spent my entire life living in places where there’s sidewalk outside my front door and the closest livestock is what’s available for purchase at the grocery store.  But I have read about sheep – and it’s not all good news.

1) Sheep are filthy animals, generally covered in mud and their own waste. Their wool can tangle around all sorts of nastiness and hold onto it until the shepherd shows up to get it clean. It’s a good thing that Woolite works on wool whether it’s in a sweater or still on the sheep.  Shepherds use it on both.

2) Lambs bleat a gentle “bahhh.” Sheep, it seem, grunt, snort, and blurt other noise so loud, sudden, and disturbing that the author attributes many embarrassing falls to being startled by them.

3) Sheep aren’t exactly the greenest grass of the pasture. A West Texas shepherd says, “Sheep are just born looking for a way to die.” He can recall countless stories that involve sheep putting themselves in unnecessary peril, much of which could usually be avoided by doing something crazy like…turning around.

4) But perhaps that’s easier said than done, because sheep also have poor depth-perception and have a hard time distinguishing a partially open gate along a fence line. Unless a gate is wide open, they need a shepherd to lead a couple sheep through.

5) Sheep are hard-wired to follow the sheep in front of them. Sheep do know the voice of the shepherd, but will only sometimes follow him or her. They follow other sheep far better than they follow a shepherd. Sometimes, however, sheep will follow a stranger—especially sheep who do not yet know the shepherd well. It takes time for a shepherd to know sheep well enough to tell them apart. Sheep apparently see us the same way.[2]

Jesus is clear in saying he knows his sheep by name.  He can tell them apart.  And they follow him because they know his voice.

This probably isn’t a surprise, but it’s worth saying  out loud: Names are important.  Being known by name is significant.  That’s why last week when I was at camp training, we were reminded that one of our expectations as counselors is that we know our campers by name very early in the week – and the names of kids in our cabin and family groups that first day.

We say the same to our adults who work with our kids here – names matter.  Taking the time to learn them is a way we show God’s love to our young people – and to each other.  The nametags we ask folks to wear in worship?  Same idea.

There are many congregations this morning who are praying by name for the nearly 300 Nigerian schoolgirls who were kidnapped and vanished into a dense forest in mid-April by a radical organization known for terrorizing the region.  Their abduction sparked a global movement in the streets and on social media.  The names of the missing girls, presumed to now be victims of human trafficking, were published online. It made the situation somehow seem more real and more heartbreaking to see those hundreds of names.

And then came the concerns that publishing the names of the girls presents a danger to the girls and their families, because from a cultural perspective, when these girls are returned, they risk being isolated and stigmatized because of the sexual violence that may have occurred. It could also endanger their families, because these protests and demonstrations are seen as ‘not cooperating’ with the government.

And so the churches that had planned to pray for these girls by name are still doing so – but now using first names only.  They adapted the prayer discipline rather than discard it all together because names are that powerful.  They connect us.  They convict us.  They help remind us that issues and tragedies we hear about in the media aren’t faceless or voiceless; that what we all share in common is our humanity.[3]

The invitation Jesus issues to follow is by name, but the promise is a bit more universal: Whoever enters by me will be saved (10:9).

So often salvation has been understood primarily as a taking away – the removal of our sin and shortcomings – rather than the creation of something: of new life and possibility.

We need forgiveness, of course, or at least I do, but if that’s the totality of our understanding of salvation, then we’re missing out on a life-giving promise.  Jesus isn’t here solely to take away the parts of our life that cause us shame, separation, embarrassment, rejection.  That’s part of it, of course.  Thanks, God.

And.  And. We are offered life.  That’s the promise of resurrection – new life, abundant life. Possibility, potential, power. The Living Water, the Bread of Life, the Light of the World, the Good Shepherd, not only saves us from something, but for something. For abundant life, right here, right now.

The thing is, Jesus doesn’t explicitly define what that abundant life consists of.  But we do have some context.  We know that this story follows the one we heard a few weeks ago during Lent – the story of the man born blind being healed.  For this man, abundant life is sight.  It’s the release from dependence that comes along with that.  It’s freedom and light and new opportunity.

We know that context matters – why would it be any different when it comes to abundant life?

For the bullied teen, it might be acceptance and an advocate.  For the low-wage worker, it might be dignity and the chance for self-sufficiency.  For the foster or adoptive family, it might be a night out with childcare provided.  For the retiree, it might be involvement in a project or cause that feels worthwhile.  Even if I’ve missed the mark with the specifics here, you get the idea.  Abundant life looks different in different places to different people.

The front of your bulletin was left intentionally blank this morning.  All week, I kept thinking that I’d find some great quote that cut to the heart of what abundant life really is.  And then I realized that my version of abundant life might not be the same as yours, or yours, or yours.  Create your own definition based on your own experience – and feel free to write it on there.

There is common thread that runs throughout life abundant, however.  It is that release from whatever threatens to rob God’s beloved of our inheritance of life, purpose, and joy – each of which are God’s intentions for all of us.

If we believe these things to be true:

• that salvation is more than forgiveness; it’s abundant life itself;
• and that abundant life is contextual, defined by release from whatever robs us of God’s intentions for us

then there’s one more piece to this story.  So it is in scripture too.  If we continue on in chapter 10, we hear Jesus explain that he lays down his life not only for his own sheep, but for the sheep that don’t belong to this fold.

This promise of abundant life goes beyond receiving to it to living it.  To join ourselves to Jesus’ mission to bring abundant life to all God’s people, no matter what pasture they might graze in.  To pay attention to what it is that is robbing the ones God loves (that is, all of us and all those around us).  To notice what or who is stealing purpose and joy from these dear ones and to stand with them in rejecting that which oppresses and in reclaiming that which gives life – abundant life.

Because here’s the thing about abundant life – it isn’t simply a promise about some distant, eternal future.  It’s a concrete invitation to discover life RIGHT NOW by affirming it in those around us.][4]

This is who we are created to be, Resurrection People.

Broken ones who are known by name,

who receive abundant life

and rather than storing it up

or admiring how nice and new and shiny it is,

we take it out into the world with us,

knowing that it will get scuffed up

by fear, hate, resentment, insecurity, and injustice,

but we take it out anyway,

so that when people hear that

Jesus came so that they may have life, and have it abundantly,

they might actually believe it’s true.