The Bible is a dangerous book. People use it for their own purposes. The slave owner found a passage that said, “Slaves, be obedient to your master…” (Ephesians 6:5) and ignored the passage that said, “There is no longer slave or free for all are one in Christ” (Gal 3:28). Male chauvinists quote St. Paul, “Wives be submission to your husbands” (Ephesians 5:22) and gloss right over the fact that right before that verse the Apostle says, “Submit to one another in the fear of Christ” which speaks of mutual submission. The Bible is dangerous because we usually have our minds made up about what we want to do and then find the Bible verse that conforms to our prejudices. Instead of sitting under the word, asking what it demands of us, we use the Word to justify our own actions and use the Word as a stick to beat another person over the head. “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,” anyone, instead of “turn the other cheek”?
This is relevant because another Bible quote that is abused is found in today’s reading, John 10:10. “I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.” Google “abundant preaching” and you will find that God wants to bless you abundantly with wealth. If you say these prayers your income will rise by ten percent. If you join this church you will have abundant investments. If you make this offering wealth and abundance will be your reality. What google apparently doesn’t understand is that the abundance Jesus talks about has nothing to do with wealth, with possessions, with stuff, with what we own. In fact Jesus said not to worry about wealth at all – what you are going to eat, what you are going to wear – but to seek first the kingdom of God. The abundance Jesus promises is not of wealth but of life. I came so that you might have more abundant life. So what does the abundant life Jesus is talking about look like?
To answer that question look at a different question addressed to St. Peter, on the first Pentecost Sunday. After the crowd heard him preach “they were cut to the heart and they asked Peter… ‘What are we to do?’” The passage suggests that in order to have “abundant life” we need to be cut to the heart. Choosing life, abundant life only happens after we are cut to the heart. We need to notice the fact that we’re bleeding. We are made for so much more than what we have. Imagine if you went into the doctor and to every question you answered: “I’m okay.” How are you feeling? OK. How are you dealing with pain? OK. How are you eating and sleeping? OK. If we don’t tell the doctor what is going on we’ll never get the proper diagnosis. If all the divine physician hears from us is, “I’m okay,” we’ll never get the healing touch that Jesus wants to give us. We should be cut to the heart that anger and resentment and criticism sap our spirit. We should be cut to the heart that division, argument, conflict characterize some of our interactions. We should be cut to the heart that greed and selfishness and cravings dominate our actions and decisions. Once we notice our wounded hearts, then we can cry out “What are we to do?” What are we to do in order to move beyond doing okay to feeling truly alive? What are we to do in order to have abundant life? The gospel for this Sunday suggests that the Good Shepherd will lead us through the dark valley of wounded hearts to the green pasture of abundant life.
Jesus says, “The sheep hear his voice as the shepherd calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.” So what are we to do? Hear the voice of the shepherd call us by name and follow where he leads. That’s what leads to abundant life. First, we hear the voice of the shepherd by reading the Bible. When Jesus in the Bible says things like “forgive seventy times seven times” or “if someone strikes you on one cheek turn and offer the other” or “Your heavenly Father knows what you need” he is instructing us on how to move beyond being okay to being alive. Reading the Bible we hear Jesus’ prescription for abundant life. We can also hear the voice of the shepherd in prayer. It is essential for the Christian to spend at least some time quieting our minds and hearts so that we can be open to the word of love that Jesus wants to speak to us. Notice that the voice of the shepherd calls “his own sheep by name.” That means that there isn’t some kind of generic pill that everyone takes in order to have abundant life. It is very specific for each one of us. My way of life in Jesus will not be the same as yours. What Jesus expects of a teen-ager will be different from what is expected of a golden-ager. What God looks for in parents will differ from what one anticipates for a child. One of the most important aspects of prayer is hearing the personal and unique call that God has for each one of us. Prayerful attention to our particular invitation from God leads to abundant life. So hear the voice of the shepherd call us by name and then we follow where he leads. Jesus puts it, “the shepherd walks ahead of them.” As Christians we know that Jesus in his humanity has walked ahead of us, even up the hill of suffering, and that did not prevent him from having abundant life. Nothing we are going through, even our personal Good Friday, keeps us from having abundant life because Jesus, our Good Shepherd, accompanies us on the journey.
