Easter 4, Year A

April 13, 2008

The Rev. Dena Cleaver-Bartholomew

Many of us are happy with our lives, or at least happy enough. While things may not be perfect, life is good in many ways. Yet, if we are honest, we know that there is an awareness of dissatisfaction. Is this it? Even if we have the outer trappings of success, there is an inner voice that questions the quality, the meaning of our lives. It is this interior sense of seeking that advertising addresses. If only you had these clothes, that car, this house, you would feel the completeness for which you long. A quick scan of television shows also belies our desire for life to be more, to be different. If you have ever watched What Not to Wear you have seen the power of a new wardrobe, haircut, and makeup to change someone. The same is true for those who participate in The Biggest Loser, a show in which people who are significantly overweight compete to lose their excess pounds. Frequently the change on these television shows is more than just an exterior event; it occasions the beginnings of an interior transformation as well. These shows are popular not only because they are entertaining. They appeal to us because they show us, quite visibly, that people can change. And, as logic tells us, if they can do it, then there’s hope for us.

If ever we were looking for a dramatic Before and After story, we find it in the Book of Acts. In last week’s reading we heard of the people who were described as “devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem.” When they heard the hubbub caused by the arrival of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost they didn’t know what to make of it. Peter addressed the crowd, proclaimed the Good News of Jesus Christ, and pointed out their part in Jesus’ death. It is possible many of these people were the same as those who shouted “Crucify him!” on Good Friday. Three thousand people responded by taking his message to heart, repenting and being baptized. That was Before. Today we hear the After. They have been transformed and it shows, both inside and out. “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” The people were learning, spending time in community, participating in the Eucharist, and praying. They were doing exactly what we promise to do in our own baptismal vows. And, not surprisingly, what they do shapes who they are. What is surprising is the degree to which they are changed. Their entire attitude toward money and possessions is shifted away from the self and to the common good. They reorganize their time and prioritize living out their faith together. Finally, “they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts….” They have truly had a change of heart.

Not everyone starts out as devout, as the people in Acts were. Not everyone undergoes radical transformation. Yet the point of our own baptismal vows is that we are all intended to be transformed. The purpose of preaching the Good News, as Peter did, is so that everyone is aware of the invitation to change. Transformation, however, requires our participation, in whatever form that might take.

There was an older man named John who spoke of his own slow process of change in an AA meeting. He said:

Back when I was drinking I used to think that I knew everything. AA’s great gift to me, what you people gave to me…you helped me be…you made me…teachable. Teachable. Thank you. Thank you.

If we are willing to be taught, then God is willing to teach us. The first thing we have to learn is to listen, to hear the voice of God in whichever way we may be called. In today’s Gospel reading Jesus uses the metaphor of a shepherd and sheep to illustrate the importance of hearing and following the right voice. In ancient Palestine the sheep spent their days grazing freely in a pasture. At night they were called by their shepherd and enclosed in a pen called a sheepfold. The sheepfold was built out of mud bricks or fieldstone with walls high enough to keep out thieves and predators and to keep the sheep from jumping out. As each sheep entered the pen they were watered, examined for illness or injury, and treated if necessary. Once all of the sheep were inside the sheepfold the shepherd then closed the gate, blocking the only opening. Some shepherds would then lie down across the opening to sleep through the night. The shepherd thereby becomes the gate. In this case the shepherd places himself between the sheep and anything or anyone who might wish to harm or steal them, literally laying himself down and risking his life to protect the sheep. It is this kind of shepherd Jesus calls to mind when he says “I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture.” Jesus has literally laid down his life for us, so that we can come into a safe place and go out again into the world.

If we are to be the people of God we need to respond to the voice of God. We are called into this community, this sheepfold, to participate in the process of transformation. Jesus has already done his part, showing himself to be the One we are to follow. If we have been baptized we have committed ourselves to the ongoing process of living out our faith in our daily lives. One priest highlighted the importance of choosing to participate in our own transfiguration this way:

A Christian style of living that prizes intellectual vibrancy, economic generosity, and communal caring does not happen casually or automatically. It requires intentionality, effort, and choice, or what the apostle Paul called “working out your salvation (Philippians 2:12).” Dan Clendenin

We are, or at least we can be, teachable. First we have to admit that we need to learn, that we need to change. This Christian community could be as vibrant and full of abundant life as the early Christians we read about in the Book of Acts. God is willing and able to work in us and through us to transform us. The question is: How willing are we?