Reading for Easter
4C: John 10:22-30
May 6, 2001
The Rev. Karen Siegfriedt
St. Jude the Apostle Church, Cupertino CA,
Jesus said: "The Father and I are one." (John 10:30)
Today is the fourth Sunday of Easter, also known as Good Shepherd Sunday. You'll notice that there are a lot of sheep and shepherd images in the readings, offering us one way to understand the purpose and ministry of Jesus. During the Easter season, we read not only stories about post-resurrection experiences of Jesus, but also stories about doubt and resistance. These are natural human responses to new and difficult ideas as well as unfamiliar circumstances. Easter does not relieve the church of the task of discussing and engaging opposition and unbelief. Hence we read today's gospel story where Jesus is being pressured by some of his opponents to reveal his true identity. What I would like to talk about today is faith and doubt in God and where Jesus fits into all of this.
When I was in college many years ago, I was a chemistry major. There were certain assumptions that had to be embraced in order to be successful in this field of science. One of the assumptions is that an atom is made up of protons, neutrons, and electrons. Electrons are negative charges of energy that circulate around the nucleus of an atom. Since electrons are very small and mobile, they are basically impossible to see. However, even though a person can not see an electron, it does not mean that they do not exist. Electrons can be measured, manipulated, stored, and their behavior, predicted. Because we see the effects of electrons, we affirm their existence.
As a student, I was very open to learning about electron behavior although at times, I had trouble comprehending it all. Before completing an equation on electrical circuits, I needed to rehearse in my own mind, where all the electrons were flowing. When predicting an organic chemical reaction, I sought to understand how the electrons moved from one atom to the next in the bonding process. As I began to study advanced chemistry, predicting electron behavior became more and more difficult. At times like these, I took the professor's word at face value and hoped that someday I too would have that kind of intimate knowledge of electron behavior that they had. And since I was student who was open, ready, and willing, it was easier to take that leap of faith until such time as I was able to fully understand.
In today's gospel story, we read about the opponents of Jesus who were unable to take such a leap of faith. They did not fully understand Jesus' relationship to God and wanted hard core, indisputable proof that Jesus was the messiah, the anointed one. When asked directly, Jesus refuses to affirm his status as messiah for two reasons. First, his questioners would not believe him even if he told them. They had already witnessed Jesus' works and works of healing, love, mercy, inclusivity, and peace but were still unconvinced of his identity. Unlike a student who is ready, willing, and open, they were not.
Second of all, Jesus does not tell them that he is the messiah because the word "messiah" or "Christ" is not an adequate term to identify who Jesus is. The Jewish notion of a messiah was that of a royal leader who would lead the people of Israel to political victory such that Israel would be an independent nation, free from the oppression of Rome. Jesus was clearly not that political liberator. Thus, it wouldn't have made sense in this context to say "yes" to the question without creating false hopes. Instead Jesus tells his resistors, "The Father and I are one."
"The Father and I are one." This statement seems to be a stumbling block, a problem of faith, for many people here at St. Jude's. When it comes to affirming the divinity of Jesus and the doctrinal statements of the Nicene Creed, many folks in this parish are filled with doubt and resistance. And because of this struggle of doubt and resistance, they think they have to deny themselves the experience of the fullness and power of God in Christ.
So let me address this issue head on. In today's gospel, when Jesus says, "the Father and I are one," he is not speaking about the metaphysics of his nature or substance. He is not speaking to the Christological debates of the 4th Century where the Nicene Creed declared that Jesus was fully human and fully divine, being of the same substance of the father. All that ontological, metaphysical speculation may have been important to the early Church Fathers who wrote the Nicene Creed, but Jesus (being a first century Jew) is talking about something else in today's gospel.
In the fourth gospel, Jesus does not claim to be a second God or somehow to replace God or to "make himself" God. Rather, Jesus claims to know God as no human has ever known God, to be one with God in will and work for the salvation of the world. Jesus has done the works of God, spoken the words of God, and identified himself with the "I AM" of God.
Like electrons which are invisible to the eye, so is God. But just because we can not see God with the human eye, does not mean that God does not exist. We have seen the revelation of God through creation, through life, through loving relationships, through communities of faith, through the prophets, and most of all, through Jesus Christ. Through the person of Jesus, God is available to the world in ways never before possible.
So for those of you who allow the metaphysics of the Nicene Creed to be a stumbling block in your journey of faith, I suggest you do what I did as a student of chemistry. Let those who have a deeper understanding of the ontological nature of God, carry that understanding for you until such time that you are ready. You on the other hand do have faith and an important role to play in ushering in the kingdom of God. In baptism, you have promised to follow Christ by resisting evil, following the path of love, striving for peace and justice, and respecting the dignity of every human being. Allow this to be your creed.
Don't allow your doubts to prevent you from opening up to power of the Holy Spirit who can fill you with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self control. Be willing and ready to receive grace upon grace even if you do not fully understand. And in this posture of receptivity, you will begin to experience the peace of God which passes all understanding.
"Christ has risen. The Lord has risen indeed, alleluia."
| Updated 5/7/01 |
|