Father Riley's homily from May 12, 2019 and CEC News Alert!

CEC  News Alert:
…  May 19 we will have Morning Prayer.  Father Riley will lead us in Holy Eucharist May 26.   Services at 10am as usual. 

EASTER IV - C - 19                          JOHN 10. 22-30

The fourth Sunday of Easter is traditionally referred to as “Good Shepherd” Sunday. The gospel reading for the day is always from the tenth chapter of Saint John. Today’s passage is toward the end of the chapter. Jesus is in the Temple in Jerusalem during the festival of the Dedication; also know as Hanukkah, or the festival of lights.

The festival commemorated the purification of the Temple by Judas Macabee in 164 B.C. after it had been polluted by the Syrian king, Antiochus. At the festival the leaders of Israel’s past were remembered many of whom were shepherds. Ezekiel 34 was also read during the festival to remind the people that God is their true shepherd.

The verses that precede today’s passage contain Jesus’ having already identified himself as the “Good Shepherd.” He does so in contrast to the false shepherds, the present leaders of Israel, that is the Pharisees, to whom Christ’ remarks are being addressed.

Throughout the tenth chapter, Jesus has had a running conversation with the Jews over his true identity. Today’s passage picks up with their questioning him once again. “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”

What has really got them stirred up is Jesus’ recent healing of the man born blind. The people’s reaction to Jesus is a mixed bag. Some say he has a demon and is mad, why listen to him? Others said, ‘these are not the signs of one who has a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?’

With the crowd standing around him, the Pharisees again confront him. They want a simple “yes” or “no.” However, Jesus does not comply with their request. His response is in line with all that he has previously said. To his inquisitors his answer is veiled. Their eyes are not open to his words.

John contrasts their spiritual blindness with Jesus’ ability to give kingdom insight to those who are open to receive it. In this case, his works speak for themselves. “The works that I do in my father’s name bear witness to me…”

The climax to the passage is found in Jesus’ final remarks to the Pharisees that he and the father are one, a statement of the very essence of Christ’ being. The Pharisees have their answer. Could he speak more plainly? Both what Christ told them and the works he has done have already answered their question.

Even though they have heard what he has said and seen what he has done, most recently his having opened the eyes of a man born blind, they do not believe him. “I told you, and you do not believe.” No matter how openly Jesus speaks, those who are not of his sheep will not believe; no matter how obscurely he speaks, those who are his sheep will understand.

The cause of misunderstanding lies not in him but in his listener. How many times have we wished that God would give us a simple “yes” or “no?” especially when we have prayed or asked for something, we deem as necessary and expedient?

We pray. We listen. We wait and nothing appears to be forthcoming. It is as though God is not listening. Can we be so sure? The Pharisees could not bring themselves to believe that Jesus was the Son of God, the Messiah, because of their pre-conceived notions of whom and what messiah would be and do.

What about us? How do we conceive of God? Do we see Him as the one who comes to our every beckon and call? Does He exist simply to satisfy our needs, our wants, and our desires? Do we hear Him when He speaks? Do we accept His “no?” when we are looking for His “yes?”

Many years ago now I went on a Lenten retreat to a Trappist monastery in northern Iowa. When one arrives, he is met by the guest master at the entrance and signs in to receive his room assignment. On this particular occasion, the guest master was a delightful old Irish monk who sat at his table and warmly greeted us as he handed out the keys to our rooms.

I could not help but notice that taped to the wall behind him was a tattered and faded piece of yellow notebook paper with words in large print that read: “Sometimes God Says No. Sometimes God says yes. Sometimes God says not now. Sometimes God says I thought you would never ask.”

God always answers. There are times when we misinterpret or misunderstand what God is saying. The fault lies not in what God says but in us as listener. We are often blind to His hand at work around us as we are often deaf to what He is saying to us and to the world.

All because it is not what we want to see or hear. It is not what we expect from God. God is a God of surprises. Look at Easter. God takes an instrument of death and transforms it into a means of redemption. God chooses the unlikely to carry out His work. Look at Peter and Paul. At the same time, God allows things to go on that cause us to pause and ask why?

God’s answers are not always that simple. His ways are not our ways. God is mystery. He owes us no explanation. We who have been called by Him, who are his sheep, have been given the gift of Faith that enables us to believe even when we do not understand; to accept that we now know in part with the Hope that we will one day know in full.

By God’s grace, we are able to hear the voice of the Good Shepherd above the clamor and noise of this world. No matter how obscurely he speaks. We need to listen for his voice. We need to hear what he is saying.

Moreover, we trust in God’s Love and mercy that He will forgive us of our times of intermittent spiritual blindness and deafness to his word. For God is Love and it was the Love of God that sent His Son, Jesus Christ into the world to save us from sin and death. It was by his death and through the power of his resurrection; he has opened to us the way to eternal life.

“My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. What my father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the father’s hand. The Father and I are one.” AMEN+