“Blessed…To Be A Blessing”

Date:  April 25, 2010

Script:  John 10:11-18

Revd William F. Meier    ~   First United Methodist Church of the Saint Cloud Region, Minnesota

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‘I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. ¹²The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. ¹³The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. ¹⁴I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, ¹⁵just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. ¹⁶I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. ¹⁷For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. ¹⁸No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.’

Those of you who know anything about the founder of Methodism, John Wesley, realize the good news that God can use imperfect people, even those who speak about the importance of “going on to perfection”, in bringing something of the Kingdom into this world—of being a blessing, because of being blessed by God.  I’ve been reading a biography of old J.W. by Stephen Tomkins.  It is astounding to see how God can use even our compulsions and workaholism.  This was clearly a driven man.  The frenzy of his body (arising at 4:30am for prayer, preaching 2-3 times, traveling through brutal weather on horseback for miles, and tirelessly working for the poor and forgotten everyday) is matched by the frenzy within his mind—endlessly obsessing over his actions, motives, thoughts, passions and beliefs.  A driven man.

The spiritual wellbeing of his flock was always at the top of his obsession list.  He was a good shepherd.  He cared for the poor (who were neglected by the Church of England) distributing healthcare, money, food, clothes, education and coordinated employment opportunities.  He respected those folk, built up their self-esteem, leadership skills, and developed their sense of self-discipline and hard work.  The result was that these poor folk worked themselves out of poverty.  When John saw this, he really began to worry.  He saw a clear and present spiritual danger in wealth.  One of Wesley’s mottos was “Earn all you can, save all you can, give all you can.”  He said that the Methodists were good at the first two parts of that discipline, but not so good at the final one.  Well, two out of three isn’t so bad is it?  For John, the earning and the saving was so that one could give all one could. 

Wesley saw a spiritual danger in relation to money.  We’ve begun to call it affluenza.  My dad used to say that “Whether you are rich or you are poor, it’s always nice to have money.”  The problem isn’t so much how much money we have—it is our relationship to it that is problematic.  Managing finances is the number one stressor on marriages.  Our wider society has shown itself short-sighted and ego-sighted when it comes to managing finances (in government and business).  We have a problem with money, and as Dr. Phil says, “You never solve a money problem with more money.”  Something deeper—spiritual—needs to be involved.  It is a spiritual matter to develop a healthy relationship with money.

Jesus understood this clearly.  If you listen to some “Christian” commentators, you might get the impression that Jesus must have been primarily concerned, obsessed, with sexual immorality or sins almost exclusively.  Yet, if you crack open the Bible you see that he rarely taught about those sins.  The second most often concern he mentions is our relationship with money and the poor (the first being the Kingdom of God).  Jim Wallis has calculated that the Bible has over 2,000 verses concerned with poverty, justice for the poor, and how we relate to wealth & money—dwarfing all other concerns.  He’s right; poverty is a moral issue.

In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus (chapter 6) invites us to a basic relationship of trust; do not be anxious about what you will eat, or drink, and what you will wear.  God knows you need those things.  Seek God’s Kingdom first, and the rest of these things will be taken care of (my paraphrase).

This sense is also captured in Proverbs.  These teachings indicate that there is a moral or spiritual structure to the universe, and that we can live in-tune, in harmony with it or we can work against the grain.  To go with the flow of this structure is wisdom—to go our own selfish way is foolishness, frustration and death. 

Now sometimes this comes across as being mechanical, cause and effect, magic—if you live a good life God will bless you.  But what is going on here is something more nuanced…more Zen-like.  Go with the flow and God’s energy fashions a life of blessing.  Blessing that is not measured in dollars and cents.  Tom Sibley wrote in our Devotional booklet about teaching in Africa and helping a young student with tuition money.  He was blessed by Tom’s open and generous heart, enabling him to stay in school.  On his way to the school to pay the tuition with what Tom gave him he met a second cousin who was distraught, carrying his two-day old infant.  The mother had died in child-birth.  The student instantly took his tuition-bound money and purchased the formula, clothes, diapers and other supplies to ensure they would survive that dark valley.  He was acting in-tune with the spiritual structure of the universe, doing Kingdom work first, trusting that all of “these things” would work out—which they did, and he returned to school a week later after the tuition money was raised.  He was blessed…to be a blessing. That is the kind of flow, trust…that Jesus was encouraging on that mountain.

Six years ago this month Linda and I made a trip to England.  We flew into Gatwick airport outside of London and rented a compact car.  We’re talking compact here folks, for the roads are ancient, narrow, ditchless.  I was expecting a leisurely drive through the picturesque green countryside.  What I found was a stick-shift in my left hand, the wrong side of the road I was expected to drive on (contrary to habit and God’s intention), and polite English natives who knew these country roads and wanted to drive 85 miles an hour!  It was a challenge navigating those dusty B roads, and after a week in the countryside we drove that filthy little car back to the rental center.  I stopped at a gas station before returning it to save money, but do you think I took it to a car wash first?  Nope.  It didn’t belong to me.  I was just renting it.[1]

Jesus taught in a “compare and contrast” style one day about a true shepherd or good shepherd and a hired hand.  “The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away – and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.”

For the hired hand, shepherding is only a job, a means to an income.  He has no genuine commitment or care for the sheep.  They are not his.  He has the same mentality as I did about that rental car. 

This whole shepherd – hireling contrast is a metaphor for Jesus, the good shepherd, but it can also be an image for our relationship with the church.  Here we are in our “A Time to Build” campaign, and we have to ask ourselves about our relationship with the Church.  Do we have any responsibility, investment in and commitment to the body of Christ we call First United Methodist, or is it a rental church?  Like a leased car, is it something we use for a while for our enjoyment and then walk away—with no commitment to its mission, its future?

Jesus said, “The good shepherd lays down—sacrifices—his life for the sheep.”  Why?  Because the sheep belong to him.  He cares for them.  He knows them.  He calls them by name.  In a word, he loves them, and is willing to give his life for them!

No one in this campaign that I know of is being asked to give up their life, but we are all being invited to partner with God in doing this significant thing.  Out of love and gratitude for what God is doing, what does sacrifice look like to you?

We are being invited to see some ownership in our church—to work with God in what God is bringing about in creation, namely, the Kingdom.  I believe that the church, at its best, is a sacrament of the kingdom, meaning that it is a small physical body/act that participates in and points to what God is doing in the world.  I believe First Church, at its best, does just that. 

In our devotional booklet you will find countless examples of what God is doing in our midst; creating a place of healing for those who have been hurt or disillusioned by religion…creating a welcoming hospitality for all persons…providing care in a time of crisis and pain…offering art and music that is transcendent…facing the complexities of life and faith head on…working for understanding and cooperation with others and other people of faith…wedding heart and head and hands in loving acts of mercy and justice…in our small but significant way this is a community that offers hope for a different way of being in the world.

Six years ago we drove a rental car for five days and returned it a little worse for the wear.  Not long after we got back from that trip, we put $1,400 into our car for a major tune up with timing belts, water pump, brakes, and assorted other work to ensure that it would continue strong and safely get us around.  We did this because it belonged to our family, we wanted that safety for our children, we wanted it to last and serve us a long time. 

First Church is no rental Church my friends.  This is a community worthy of commitment, sacrifice, engagement.  God has entrusted us with this unique ministry to do our small part in building the Kingdom.  May our lives and our sacrifices be sacramental—may they point to, and participate in what God is doing in creation.  So be it.  Amen.