May 15, 2011
Whose Voice Is That? - John 10:1-10
Pastor: Luke Maybry
DownloadMy family and I got a new dog recently named Marlie. Marlie is having some problems. The biggest problem is that we don’t have a fence. We have an invisible fence right now, but she’s not trained on it. So, she wanders, and wanders, and wanders. And that’s not good, either for her, or for us. Fortunately for all of us, we live on a cul-de-sac of a very quiet street and we have very dog-friendly neighbors. But it gets to be a real problem when you take Marlie out and the next thing you know, she’s out of sight. Making matters worse, Marlie doesn’t recognize my voice yet. And even when she does, she gets interested in something else, a scent, or a squirrel or another dog, and she completely blows me off. So Marlie and I have some work to do this week, lots of it actually.
I just read the only parable in John’s Gospel. And it’s somewhat similar to what I just described. It’s all about sheep, and shepherds, and fences, and gates. Lots of things in it are not clear to me. First of all, fences serve two purposes. They protect the sheep from outside threats like thieves. Fences also serve as boundaries. They keep order. I’m not real sure what this fence is for. Maybe it’s for both. I’m also not real sure who determines what those boundaries are. Jesus first told this parable to the Pharisees, and Jesus questioned their boundaries all the time. It’s unclear to me, then, about who makes the fence. So I’m not real sure what our role is. I’m also not real sure what God’s role is. Is God the shepherd, or the gatekeeper, or the gate itself? Jesus mentions all three in this passage, but we’re not exactly sure.
It does seem sure to me, though, that we are the sheep, which is not a compliment. Sheep are some of the stupidest animals in the world. Therefore, and secondly, whoever controls things around there, it’s not the sheep. Also, God is the shepherd, the gate, and the gatekeeper. I’m not sure how all of that works in this parable, but those roles belong to God and not us. Also, God loves the sheep very much. In fact, Jesus goes further say that this particular shepherd would lay down his life for his sheep. Finally, unlike my dog, Marlie, the sheep recognize the shepherd’s voice. They know that voice and they follow it. So even if a crook does break in the fence somehow, the shepherd’s sheep stick with the shepherd, because they know his voice.
There is a question that I’ve been stuck on for a very long time. What are the sheep supposed to do when they think they hear the shepherd’s voice, but they aren’t positive it’s the shepherd’s voice? I remember when I was called to ministry. How did I know that it was God who was calling me? Not everyone who thinks he is called to ministry really is, and I knew that. So how did I know that it was God who was calling me? And could I ever know for sure? Just whose voice is that, and how do I know whether it’s God’s voice? We confuse the two sometimes.
I’ll have to say that I picked a very fine week to go out of town. I went to Montreat this week from Tuesday through Thursday to meet with a group of fairly recently ordained pastors. This was our third year, and it was an incredible week. It was somewhat providential that I was at Montreat because Montreat has a gate, and the Presbyterian Church has been hotly contesting gates. The Presbyterian Church has been hearing voices for its entire existence. It has always been a matter of debate whether those voices were from God or not.
Central Steele Creek is a vastly different Church today than it was when it was founded in 1791. Things around us have obviously changed, but so have we, solely because we heard God’s voice calling us to change. For example, there was a time when all of the hymns that we sing were prohibited in this Church. We were founded as an Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church. ARPs got started because they disagreed with the larger Church when it started singing hymns outside of the Psalms. It was a degradation of worship, they thought, a mixing of the profane with the holy. We thought that for about a hundred years. But then we heard God’s voice saying that maybe there was more than one way to worship, and that maybe singing hymns were okay after all.
There was also a time when we, believe it or not, supported slavery. Then we heard God’s voice telling us that slavery was wrong. There was also a time when we would not allow a minority to become a member here. Yet, we heard God’s voice telling us that that was wrong. Finally, and many of you remember this, there was also a time when you had to be a male to be an ordained elder, deacon, or minister here. Yet, we again heard God’s voice calling us to something different.
Every one of those examples was hotly debated. Both sides read the same Bible and prayed to the same God and I believe sincerely listened for God’s small, still voice. Yet over time, God’s voice became more and more clear. Now we as a denomination are engaged in another debate, this time over sexuality, specifically homosexuality. I really do think that the rub of the whole thing is that one side believes homosexuality to be a sin, while the other side thinks that it’s a blessing. Now some of you might not find it possible that some people can read the Bible, and pray, and listen for God’s voice and come to reach the conclusion that they have reached. I think it’s fair to say that most of you come down fairly squarely on the traditional side of marriage and that we continue to legally prohibit homosexuals from holding office in the Church. I come down on that side, too. I’m not ashamed of that, and I trust that you will not write me off as a homophobic bigot. Some of you in this sanctuary come down on the other side. I do not regard you as a heretic, or as anything other than a deeply committed Christian.
Both of us do read the same Bible and pray to the same God. Both of us give the Holy Bible an equal amount of authority. And yet we interpret it very differently. Both of us think, as we read in John 10, that we hear God’s voice. One of us is wrong. Maybe both of us are wrong. I do know that we both cannot be right. But I am convinced that all of us are genuinely seeking God’s voice. And that keeps me at the table.
Besides, I don’t see this as a big issue for Central Steele Creek. I don’t mean to act as if marriage is not important. It is. But we have debated a lot of things in this Church, but this isn’t one of them. We need to have a serious conversation on how to reach Steele Creek for Christ. Our neighborhood has changed almost overnight, and we’ve got to find a way to engage this new thing that God has done here. We’ve got to build our children and youth ministry. In the three years that I have been here, we have baptized five babies, two of whom were mine. Somehow or other, we’ve skipped a generation in this Church and we really need to listen for God’s voice on how to reach them.
I’m not comfortable with the decision that our denomination made this week. I think we blew it this time. But what I am comfortable with, though, is that this is not about us. It’s the shepherd’s deal all along. The shepherd has gone to ridiculous lengths to keep his sheep. He’s built this fence to both protect us and to keep us in line. He knows us all by name. If you read in Luke 15, you’ll read that even when we go astray, then he goes and looks for us. He drops everything that he’s doing to look for just one. And somehow, at the end of the day, the shepherd takes care of his sheep.
Ed Newberry has become a very good friend of mine. He is the pastor of Memorial Presbyterian Church here in town. He has become a mentor somewhat of mine. He’s seen a lot of things in the Church. He was ordained in the old United Presbyterian Church, or the black Presbyterian Church. He saw the integration and the ordination of women and so on. I was bemoaning to him recently the other day about all of our turmoil, and he told me something that I’ll never forget. He said that for him, it all comes down to theology. He either believed that it was God’s Church or that it was his Church. If it was God’s Church, then somehow, despite all of our mistakes and misinterpretations, that God would care for his sheep. “If I didn’t believe that,” he said, “then I may as well go ahead and turn my keys in.”
Well my keys are firmly in my pocket. And my ordination is hanging firmly on my wall. We have a lot of opportunities and challenges in this Church, and we’ve got a lot of work to do. I’m coming back to work tomorrow. We are going to keep listening for God’s voice. Sometimes we’ll get it right, and sometimes we’ll blow it. But we’re not going anywhere, only because God isn’t going anywhere. Jesus even told us, “These things I have spoken to you that you might have peace. In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world.”
In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.
