“Abundant Life 2”

May 22, 2011
John 10: 1-10

Jesus was teaching his followers and those who were gathered around him about abundant life and how they might find it. That’s something all of us here would like to know, right – especially those of us who are more familiar with less rather than more or who have accomplished less than we had hoped to or who have struggled to make ends meet or who have experienced life as an uphill journey? I know I would like a full, complete life, wouldn’t you? I want to have everything I need, all my hopes and dreams come true, lots of good friends, a healthy family, a fantastic job, more than enough money, nothing to worry about. I want the good life… don’t you? Isn’t that what Jesus meant when he said “abundant?”

7So again Jesus said to them,
Jesus has just explained it to everyone – this abundant life thing – about what their ‘entering” into this full and complete life would involve. And as he is telling them about what they’re looking for, he sees this look on their faces – you know, the one that says, ‘What in the world are you talking about?’ As teachers and parents, you’ve seen that look, haven’t you? You’ve said something and they just don’t get it. So patiently, Jesus tells them again – only, this time, a little differently. Like any good teacher, he tries to explain it one more time so they’ll really understand the lesson he is trying to teach them.

“Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep.
This time, Jesus says, “I am the gate. I’m the way. Enter here. I’m the real deal.” In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus even talks about this being a “narrow gate.” Bill Cotton, retired pastor of the Iowa Conference, believes Jesus might actually be pointing out the need for us to keep our focus. In his weekly Memo for Preachers, Rev. Cotton tells about going to his grandson’s graduation at the University of Northern Iowa Saturday before last and because of extra security for Michelle Obama who would be speaking to the graduates, having to “pass through one of those narrow gates like they have at airports.” He said, “Imagine seventeen thousand Iowans trying to get through those narrow gates,” which he described as “a bit of a squeeze.”

Yet Cotton said folks made it through to honor the nineteen hundred young people who were completing a milestone in their lives. They were able to do so because they kept their focus on why they were there to begin with and where they were going. Everyone made it through despite the narrow gates. Staying focused is important in education, in life, and in our faith – both as individuals and as a church. Because without focus, without knowing why we are here or where we are going, there is no direction – and without direction there is always the danger of losing one’s way when difficult decisions must be made.

So, what’s the way we are to go? When we experience bumps in the road, what is our focus as a church to be? What direction should we be headed? Simply put, “Where should we be going and how do we get there?” If your answer is: “Well, I don’t really know.” Then, what can we do to find out? How might a church discover its purpose or goal – and the direction God intends us to go?

Imagine yourself joining others who are here today on a road trip in a van. You know you want to arrive at a destination that is better than the current reality of your community of faith. Along the way you talk with one another. Sometimes you get out of the van and talk to people in your area about community needs. Along the way, you visit other churches to learn what has made them healthy and vital congregations. On your trip together, you rediscover your church setting and who you are. You discern what God is calling your church to be and to do at this point in time. And at the end of trip you have laid out a ‘roadmap’ for future ministry – a map that will set the vision, mission, and goals (the direction) for your church for the next several years.

8All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them.
Jesus says, “I am the gate (the way).” There are other ‘ways’ – or so it seems – choices made that can cheat us of what we are really looking for. ‘Other ways’ that end up robbing us of life and what might have been. All the stuff we think we need or what the world has told us over the years we need, all the things we think are so important, are really only distractions from the real wealth the apostle Paul says consists of an abundance of love, joy, and peace. Imagine an abundance of love and joy and peace right here, in this place that would emanate from us out into this community.

9I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved,… saved from being cheated and robbed of life as it could and should be, an expansion of God’s kingdom by taking to heart ‘the way’ of Jesus Christ. Whose voice is it we really hear? Jesus says it again, a third time – “I am the gate.” How clear can he be? Abundant life is not something to earn or gain or purchase by saving pennies, or cutting costs. It is a gift, the sheer gift of a God who loves us enough to have laid down his life for us. God wants more for us than merely surviving. God wants us to thrive, to prosper. That is what an abundant life means, I think… for us to really prosper as a congregation. Jesus says, “I am the way.”

And if we are to thrive and be fruitful, it’s important to remain focused on where God would have us be. That should be our desired destination. But how many of you are accustomed to go on a trip somewhere you’ve never been before without a road map? Not many I imagine.

10The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.
But staying focused can be hard. It’s not easy, by any means. It requires thinking about God and trying to understand God’s place in our lives. It requires prayer and ‘being with God’ on a regular basis. And it requires a careful examination of who we are and who we belong to, day by day. A full – abundant – life in God is hard work. Getting to where God would have us be as a church is not an easy thing. But in the end it is worth it because that is where we will find real meaning and purpose in the gate through which we find a loving and merciful God.

“I came,” Jesus said, “that you may have life, and have it abundantly.”
Let us always have direction in our lives and ever be focused on our destination, always remembering what Jesus said, “I am the way.”