Sermon preached at St. Alban's, Spirit Lake, on April 29, 2007
(Year C, Fourth Sunday of Easter, BCP Lectionary)
by the Rev. Carl D. Mann

Texts:   Acts 13:15-16,26-33(34-39)
Psalm 100
Revelation 7:9-17
John 10:22-30

Back in the 2^nd century B.C. with the intent of breaking his Jewish subjects and Judaism into submission, the Syrian Emperor Antiochus had a statue of Baal Shamem erected in the Temple on the altar of holocausts thus profaning God’s holy dwelling. Baal Shamem was the oriental version of the Olympian Zeus. And to make matters worse, Antiochus then stated that he was Zeus, and that all should bow down before him and worship. Well this was too much for Judas Maccabeus and his brothers, who proceeded to drive out the Syrians, build a new altar and rededicate it on the 25^th of Chislov.

It is in the month of December during the celebration of what is now known as Hanukkah, the annual celebration of the reconsecration of the altar and the Temple. On this wintry day, we find Jesus walking in the cloister on the outer edge of the Court of the Gentiles known as Solomon’s Porch, protected from the east wind. Some of the religious authorities in Jerusalem who were hostile to Jesus came up to him and asked, “How long will you keep us in suspense?” And of course, they were referring to the question of whether or not Jesus was the long awaited Messiah.

But let’s hold that thought for a moment and go back to the original question. “How long will you keep us in suspense?” For some reason, this question jumped out at me. So I went to the books and found that the literal translation of the Greek is, “How long will you take away our life?”

With that as the focus of the question, I can see how the translators came up with “keep us in suspense.” In context of the reading, these religious leaders were in suspense: a state of mental uncertainty, anxiously waiting for a definitive answer from Jesus. If they had been sitting they would be on the edge of their seats. They had to know his true identity because they had a lot riding on the answer. You see, according to current popular thought among the local wags around the watering hole, the Messiah would come into Jerusalem with his sword swinging, rallying the masses just like Judas Maccabeus had done 197 years earlier, and rid Israel once and for all of the occupying Roman forces. And this fellow Jesus had certainly been sending signals that he was the Messiah and more. This added to the suspense!

Now to their credit, some of the religious authorities wanted to make sure that Jesus really was the Messiah because if he was just another pretender, and Lord knew there had been plenty of those lately, they wanted him and his movement squashed before he threw the so-called civil order into chaos. But unfortunately there were many of the religious authorities, those who were not quite as magnanimous to their fellow countrymen, who had a lot to lose if Jesus were indeed the Messiah. These were the men who had brokered the tentative peace between Rome and Jerusalem and were being rewarded in finance and prestige. For them the question was, “How long will you threaten to take away our way of life?” On a religious note, it’s not that they didn’t want the Messiah to come but maybe he could wait a little bit longer because they were living large at the moment and things weren’t that bad, were they? I mean, come on! We’ve been waiting for hundreds of years for the Messiah, what’s one or two maybe three more?

And it’s exactly that kind of attitude that leads us to another possible translation of the question: “How long will you continue to annoy us?” From the perspective of the religious authorities, this may appear to be a legitimate question. Essentially they are asking Jesus, “How many times are you going to come up to Jerusalem and stir things up? It’s time to either fish or cut bait! We’ve got our own lives to lead, a Temple to operate and we can’t be bothered by hints and innuendo. We need an answer right now!” Doesn’t that sound familiar?

How many times in our own lives have we found ourselves in a situation where things just aren’t working out the way we had hoped? After a little wallowing in self-pity we pull ourselves up by the bootstraps, come up with a workable plan, and plunge steadily toward our goal. It’s not always easy; certain setbacks occur but we figure a way through, sometimes pushing the envelope of ethics and morality, perhaps even at the cost of a relationship or two but hey, the end justifies the means, right? And as long as no one gets seriously hurt, no harm no foul, right? So we keep trucking along. Everything appears to be running smooth and then, Lo and behold, God has to butt in. “Sure, now You show up! Where were you when we needed you? Don’t be distracting us with the details. And don’t be laying any quilt trip on us! We did the best we could with what we had to work with, no thanks to You. Yes, perhaps we could have handled that particular situation differently and maybe that other one, too but we did what we had to do at the time and You’ve got a lot of nerve coming around now and telling us what we did was wrong. How much longer will you be bothering us? We’ve got work to do! We’re so close to achieving our goal and now you want us to put our lives on hold to see how it fits in with your plan?”

The problem with both of these scenarios is that just like the religious authorities of Jesus’ time; sometimes we have preconceived ideas of what the world should look like. And our preconceptions don’t always allow enough space for God’s will. When confronted with the presence of our Lord, we find ourselves in suspended animation; neither taking a breath nor exhaling, whichever the case may be. Which is a third translation of the question: “How long will you take away our breath of life?”

But regardless of how the question is framed, Jesus’ answer is the same. “I have told you, and you do not believe.”

To the religious authorities he is saying, “Look, I made you a promise from the very beginning, from the moment that you were created, and you have consistently chosen not to believe me. I gave you a simple command and you chose to disobey me. Over and over again, I have given you the opportunity and you have failed to understand. Now I have become one of you in order to personally show you how my promise is to work, not only on earth but eternally in heaven and yet even with all that I have shown you, you still choose not to believe because it is not what you expected. If you were truly sheep of my flock, you would listen for my call, hear what I have to say, and then follow me.”

Today, Jesus is saying the same thing to us. I am always with you but you don’t believe me. When you were wallowing in self-pity, who do you think was there to comfort you? Who do you think gave you the strength to pull yourself up by the bootstraps? Who do you think gave you the plan for moving ahead with your life and the ability to focus on your goal? But again and again you choose to wander away from the sound of my voice. Life is difficult but you bludgeoned your way forward thinking that you had all of the answers and that you alone can achieve the goal. But I am here to tell you that you can’t get there from here. Yes, life will always be filled with difficulties. But I am always there to help you through those difficulties; all you have to do is to ask for my help. All you have to do is believe!

The psalmist tells us to believe: “Know this: The LORD himself is God; he himself has made us, and we are his; we are his people and the sheep of his pasture.”

Brothers and sisters, our Lord is the Good Shepherd. Believe this and know that it is him when he calls us each by name. When we come into his presence do not ask, “How long will you keep us in suspense?” Instead of questioning his identity, instead of questioning his judgment, instead of questioning his will for us, let us rejoice that he is in our lives, and thank him for always being there even when we turn our backs to him, and then let us follow where he leads for “his mercy is everlasting; and his faithfulness endures from age to age.” That is his promise to us if only we believe. Gloria Patri