Henrietta United Church of Christ

Scripture: John 10:7-10

7 So again Jesus said to them, `Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. 9I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. 10The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

Sermon:

“I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” What would it take to experience life abundantly? I think everyone is struggling to do that in one way or another. But few people seem to be succeeding. I think of people you occasionally read about who lived shriveled up little lives, pinching every penny, but when they die it turns out they were sitting on a fortune. But somehow they had missed the secret to abundant living.

Or I think of people who live a lavish lifestyle, but who never seem satisfied with what they have and are always grasping for more. The economic slump that was almost an economic meltdown and has cost so many people their jobs was caused by people in this category. The richest 1% of the American population own as much as the combined wealth of the bottom 90%¹. Even now they are lobbying against instituting regulations that could help prevent future economic disasters. It’s as though they won’t be satisfied until they have it all. Have they found the secret to abundant living?

And then I think of all the reports I have heard from people who have spent time with people in third world countries who literally have nothing that we would consider of any value, but who seem to be happier and freer and more joyful than most Americans.

What is it, really, that can give our lives that quality of abundance? And what in the world does Jesus’ image of the sheep and the gate have to do with it?

Let’s do a little Bible study here. What Jesus and his listeners would have been picturing is a primitive sheepfold that shepherds called their sheep into after a day of grazing. The enclosure would have been made out of stacked, and its purpose was to protect the sheep from wild animals or thieves. These ancient sheep folds out in the hills didn’t have gates and hinges. As the sheep entered the fold at night, the shepherd had them pass under his staff as he counted them and quickly examined them for any injuries or problems. When the sheep were all inside, the shepherd himself would lie in the opening, so that even if he were asleep, he would know if any sheep tried to get out or any intruder tried to get in. The shepherd was quite literally the gate.²

“Whoever enters by me will be saved,” Jesus said. They are known and cared about by the shepherd, and he will keep them safe. “And,” Jesus says, his sheep “will come in and go out and find pasture.” Coming and going freely was the Jewish way of describing a life that is secure and safe, with the community in a state of peace³. Finding pasture means finding the green pastures of plenty, where all their needs will be met.

In verse 8, Jesus says “All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them.” The thieves and bandits are the false messiahs that kept springing up in Palestine in those days, promising victory over the Romans and a new golden era if people followed them. But the people didn’t listen to them, just like a flock of sheep will ignore the voice of anyone but their own shepherd.

So how does all this help us find the abundant living Jesus is offering us? Well, Jesus said that he is the gate we need to pass through to find green pastures. When you think about it, we all have gates through which we enter the world each day. If our gate is the mind set that the world is a hostile, unsafe place, where the only way to get ahead is to not trust anyone, push your own advantage, and get them before they get you, not only will we find confirmation of our fears, but we’ll also add scarcity, strife, and insecurity to the world around us because of how our greed affects other people. As Jesus said, “As you sow, so shall you reap.”

Now listen to this quote: “The experience of scarcity is not God punishing you. It is you showing yourself a belief that needs to be corrected.”

Those words were written by Paul Ferrini, who was an atheist until he desperately turned to God when he was at the point of suicide. His desperate plea to God cracked his hardened, bitter shell open, his spirit blossomed, and he began receiving inspiration from a source of wisdom far higher than his own that he believes is the mind of Christ. He has some very helpful things to say about living abundantly, so I’ll share some of the insights I have gained from his writing.

“The experience of scarcity is not God punishing you. It is you showing yourself a belief that needs to be corrected.”⁴ Our belief in our fears of scarcity and threats is corrected as we use the gate that Jesus offers us.

What happens if we enter the world through Christ’s perception? What would it be like to perceive the world and go into the world, not through cynicism and fear but through gratitude for a world filled with beauty and potential; through love for every person, no matter how needy or greedy they seemed; and through faith that the kingdom of greed can be transformed into the kingdom of God? How different things would look from the dark world of scarcity we see through our lens of fear! Let’s look at Jesus’ approaches to the world one by one.

Jesus’ gate of gratitude opens our awareness and appreciation to the gifts that are already right around us. This is the point of Jesus’ teaching about the birds of the air and the lilies of the field, that don’t anxiously reap and sow, toil and spin, or store up food in barns, but are part of God’s abundant creation and are therefore provided for.

Now Jesus knew that bread doesn’t appear on the table and clothes don’t materialize on our backs unless someone works to make it happen. Jesus isn’t saying we should walk away from our jobs; he’s inviting us to let go of the strife and anxiety that hound our work and our lives. Where does that strife come from? Check this out. Our spirit gets fed by savoring life with a gratefulness, which creates in us a feeling of great fullness and peace. It says; “Yes, I’m in the now, the now”. But our ego says “Now what?”. It much prefers struggling, wrestling, overcoming, and going after what we don’t have, and it gets charged up by anxiety and fear. We could say that Jesus invites us to “go out of our mind”–our striving and fearful mind–and “come to our senses”–wake up to the feeling of the sun warming our skin, the taste of the food in our mouths, the exhilaration of exercising. Life presents us with gifts like this all the time, but we have to be present to the present to receive these presents.

If we can replace our feeling of deprivation for what we don’t have and fears of what we might lose, with grateful appreciation of what we do have, we will wake up to the abundance of life that we are a part of and that is a part of us at every moment.

Now let’s think about entering the world through the gate of Jesus’ love. Jesus told us to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Holding both our neighbor and ourselves in love rather than judgment or fear is an essential part of living abundantly. Whatever love we withhold from our neighbor, we also withhold from ourself. And whatever we withhold from ourself we withhold from our neighbor. In fact, think about the things that bring you the most satisfaction and fulfillment. Are they things you hoard for yourself or do by yourself, or are they things or experiences that you have shared with someone?

Paul Ferrini wrote,

Those who are generous toward others find true happiness. Because they serve others, love serves them. Because they give without thought of return, the universe brings to them unexpected gifts. Because they live joyfully in the present, the future unfolds gracefully before them. When challenges come, they rise to meet them. When disappointment arises, they look within, and surrender the barriers to love that prevent them from feeling love’s presence in their lives.⁵

Or as Jesus put it, “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back” (Luke 6:38).

Now let’s try entering the world through the gate of faith that the kingdom of greed can be transformed into the kingdom of God. Is this pie in the sky, or is it possible for us humans to create enough for everyone?

You’ve heard of preachers and gurus that tell you that living abundantly is about using faith to gain personal wealth. Tithing–giving 10% of your income to God–through their church, of course--is like planting seeds that produce 100-fold, and God will put many times the value of your tithe into your stock portfolio. Or just visualize that Mercedes in your garage with enough clarity and faith, and the universe will create that reality for you.

But one look at Jesus’ life and teachings will tell you that’s not the abundant living he had in mind. Abundance happens when you have what you need, appreciate it, use it wisely, and share what you don’t need with others. In fact, that’s the only way abundance can really be created; otherwise we create a world where we’re all in competition for more, leaving some with less, and leaving everyone motivated by the fear of losing what they have managed to get for themselves.

The abundance Jesus has in mind isn’t self centered individual prosperity, and it can’t be created by political power, like communism or democratic socialism. It has to be created by spiritual power.

Paul Ferrini explains how it starts:

Love opens the mind/body consciousness to its maximum energetic potential, enabling others to “feel” the energy of acceptance, gratitude and kindness flowing directly to them. This opens their hearts and minds to their own potential and empowers them to share their creative gifts with others. This is how abundance is generated in the world.⁶

I think this is what we feel when we gather together as a church. We each come here and receive what we need to nourish our spirits, and we each give what we have–our time, talents and treasures, to create all the things that happen here that feed and empower us all. This energy is contagious, renewing, and empowering. Whenever we freely give it and receive it together, we have stepped out of the kingdom of greed and into the kingdom of God, and we experience fulfillment and abundance.

That’s what makes HUCC such a special place for me, and I sense for you too. That’s why we included “celebrating our present” as part of our stewardship theme this year. In the midst of economic hard times, greed and exploitation, we have continued to create this place of abundance for each other, which inspires us to live our lives abundantly and generously, and create pockets of God’s kingdom in our world. Thank you–each of you--for each gift of your time, talent and treasure that makes this miracle possible!

Our minds, bodies and spirits were created not just for existing, not just for getting by, but for living abundantly. Do you hear the voice of your Shepherd inviting you to enter the green pastures of abundance by going through the gate of gratitude for a world filled with beauty and potential, of love for every person, and faith that the kingdom of greed can be transformed into the kingdom of God? Let’s keep on creating, savoring, sharing, and spreading this abundance together. Isn’t this what people are really looking for?