‘… My sheep hear
my voice. I know them, and they follow me.… (John 10:27)
John 10:22-30 (Year C: Easter+4)
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Today’s sheep seek new pastures
What is John trying to tell us in today’s Gospel passage? He is suggesting that the question of
discipleship is – in the first place – about relationship. There is no point in talking about a ‘call’
or a path of service in the Christian community without relationship. Relationship
defines us as who we are in relation to others and in relation to our God. The
image used by John is one of sheep following a Shepherd because they belong to
Him and they are known by Him and they know Him. Language about sheep may be off-putting to
our 21st century, urban and individualist mindsets especially as
people quite rightly associate ‘groupthink’ with images of ‘sheepthink’. In former times and not so long ago people in
advanced economies were born into a particular social class, tribal identity or
religious denomination. One was raised,
schooled, socialised, matched and despatched according to pre-determined
scripts. The odd person who broke these
conventions and crossed boundaries was very often shunned, condemned or
excluded as much by silence as by any explicit show of contempt.
We need to humbly access the scriptures but as thinking and
struggling 21st century beings recognising the pervasive influence,
even today, of social, tribal and religious culture. The essence of being a
disciple and a follower of Jesus, today, is in being part of a movement of the
Holy spirit that works with people and transform people. This means accepting
where people are at while showing a way forward.
Four verbs spring up in the one verse 27 of the 10th
chapter of John (at least in the English-language version of the Bible I am
using):
-
To belong
-
To hear
-
To know
-
To follow
To belong
We read that those who hear the voice of the Shepherd
already ‘belong’ to him. For a change
John is being very concise in his reporting of what Jesus said to the ‘Jews’ by
way of response to their questioning. At the risk of labouring a point, to
belong to Jesus as his ‘sheep’ is not to be confused with belonging to a
particular tribal, ethnic, social or cultic group. Neither is the question of
belonging a matter of some divine lottery where God, arbitrarily, elects from
all eternity some to be his sheep while others not belonging are predestined to
go to hell. Such distorted and reactive
theology does not help and does not sit with that other saying attributed to
Jesus in John
3:17:
Indeed, God did not send the Son into the
world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through
him.
To hear
But, the idea of following and being called together is key
to understanding a call in the Gospel of John. While each one must listen and
be still and wait, the question of calling is essentially a communal one and no
better place to start from than the Gospel of John full as it is with ideas of
communion, reciprocity, faith understood as relationship and life understood as
togetherness in the very life of a God who is community in three persons.
In times past the fourth Sunday of Easter, which is still
referred to as ‘Vocations Sunday’, coincided with the last school of term when
Leaving Certificate/A Levels or Intermediate Certificate/O Levels or the rest
were preparing for what lay ahead. ‘Vocations Directors’ were extra busy. In an average Irish boys’ secondary school it
would have been unusual if at least a few in the class were not seriously
thinking about ‘a vocation to the church’. Of course, in the years following
Vatican Council II in the Roman Catholic church teachers, priests and others
were anxious to emphasise that ‘vocation’ is for everyone in the royal
priesthood of Jesus and that everyone was called to holiness of living – a
point long emphasised in the churches of the reformation.
In these mature times a young woman or man of 18 years would
be sent away for help if they dared seek entry to a seminary, monastery or
convent as the case may be. For sure
there has been a huge crisis here in the Western world with parishes
amalgamating, religious houses closing, churches being turned into grotesque
pubs and houses of training and formation been sold off to hotels or other
institutions. Yet, there is a
flourishing of many different forms of ministry ‘at the edges’ and among people
who traditionally were excluded either by reason of custom or some convoluted
and questionable theological system of ideas. We see, today, large numbers of
lay women, for example, following courses in theology and/or pastoral care for
priest-less parishes. We see people in their fifties and even older turning up
to vocation workshops and other events to explore a possible calling.
This is the context for Vocation Sunday 17th
April. The Church of England recently posted the following on its website here:
The young are called; the elderly are called. There is no retirement from the Christian pilgrimage. …...Women are called and men are called…..God 'has no favourites' ….We are all called no matter what our occupations may be. There is no special status in the Kingdom for those in 'top jobs' or 'important responsibilities'
On this side of the Irish Sea there are encouraging signs of
life in at least one diocese of the Church of Ireland where scores of lay
people of all ages and conditions of life are preparing to become
‘evangelists’. Apparently, a sustained and intense period of prayer over many
months and years has yielded fruit. One should never despair.
To know
But how does anyone ‘know’ their calling? We are where we are by reason of God’s plan.
Even if we think we have messed up and are in the wrong place or situation we
must recognise (‘know’ or ‘relate to’) the mysterious hand of God who writes
straight on our crooked lines. To know
our calling means allowing the flow of life in our given situation to lead
us. The first step in ‘knowing’ is
honestly accepting our ‘not knowing’. Full immersion in the sacrament of the present
moment with all its unknowing is the gateway to knowledge of grace. We are
never alone. Others arrive at the right time and in the right way to nudge us
and confirm our inklings. Others might
also be sent to try us by putting obstacles in our way and opposing the very
idea of a particular path.
To follow
The hardest bit is saying ‘yes’ (with an honest and open
heart). The not so hard bit is following. However, at a certain point of
following fresh trials arrive in the form of significant doubts and obstacles
including our own brokenness. ‘It was
all an illusion’ a voice whispers to us various plausible objections and
reasons to go no further. In the end, if
the Shepherd calls you He calls you and nobody including yourself can stop you.
And he calls you not because you are intelligent, holy or meritorious but
because He has placed particular gifts in you for sharing with others.
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