April 21, 2024
Indianola Presbyterian Church, Columbus
"Door to the Heart of God"
Sermon by Rev. Susan Warrener Smith
April 21, 2024 Based on John 10:1-18
As soon as our feet hit the floor in the morning, we begin our daily walk across many thresholds, both literally and figuratively. In fact, each life is a continuous series of thresholds that lead us. Through doorways that take us. From one moment to the next, from one thought to the next, from one action to the next. This morning, however, the metaphor of the door or gate – it can be either when translating from the original Greek – takes on a special meaning for us. It is a doorway into life . . . in fact, a door or gate into the very heart of God. There are a number of you who have been storytellers for the Godly Play program that has been part of our history here at IPC, and I know some of the stories from Godly Play are used from time to time during the children’s message. If you are not familiar with Godly Play, however, it is a unique, contemplative approach to the stories of our faith that invites children into a space of wondering about the profound questions these stories raise. The children enter not a classroom but a worship center where stories from both the Old and New Testaments are told, using beautiful hands-on materials. The parables of Jesus, and in particular the Good Shepherd, form the centerpiece of the curriculum.
To tell the story of the Good Shepherd the storyteller lays a piece of green felt cloth on the floor, carefully smoothes it out, and then places on it a blue circle to present water and some black shapes to represent rocks, and finally builds a sheepfold out of long strips of brown felt. Two dimensional wooden cut outs of sheep are placed in the sheepfold, and a wooden figure of a shepherd is placed along its side. Then the story is told, and it goes this way.
“Once there was someone who said such amazing things and did such wonderful things that people began to follow him. But they did not know who he was. S one day they simply had to ask him, and he said, ‘I am the Good Shepherd. I know each one of my sheep by name. And they know the sound of my voice. So when I call my sheep from the sheepfold, they follow me. I walk in front of the sheep to show them the way. I show them the way to the good green grass . . . I show them the way to the cool, clear, still water . . . And when there are places of danger, I show them the way to pass through so they can come safely home to the sheepfold. I count all of my sheep as they go inside. And if any is missing, I would go anywhere to look for the lost sheep . . . through the green grass . . . by the still water . . . calling my sheep by name, even in places of danger. And when I find the lost sheep, I carry it home . . . even if it is very heavy . . . even if I am very tired . . . When the ordinary shepherd takes the sheep from the sheepfold, the ordinary shepherd does not walk in front of the sheep to show them the way. So the sheep wander and scatter. When the wolf comes, the ordinary shepherd runs away. But the Good Shepherd stands between the wolf and the sheep and even gives his life for the sheep so the sheep can return safely home.
I have heard people say that ancient images like that of a shepherd just don’t mean anything to us today. After all, few of us are shepherds or have even been near a sheep farm. So for some of us images of shepherds and sheep and sheepfolds may seem anachronistic, out of place in our 21 st century culture. Yet I wonder how out of touch the imagery really is. James Herriot’s books about life as a Yorkshire vet are still extremely popular. Two TV productions have been made about his life, one quite recently. We still read the 23 rd psalm in almost every funeral service. There seems to be something about this pastoral imagery of life lived so close to the earth that touches our hearts in a special way. So I think it does still have meaning for us.
While the Godly Play rendition of Jesus’s discourse on the Good Shepherd makes it appear like a seamless garment, the discourse as we have just heard it from the actual words of the author of the Gospel of John makes Jesus sound like he is speaking at best in riddles, or at worst, in mixed metaphors. First, Jesus says he is the gate by which the shepherd enters. But then he says he actually is the shepherd. The thieves and bandits, he says, enter by climbing over a wall, but then later on they come to the gate and call the sheep. There is a gatekeeper who opens
the gate, but is Jesus the gatekeeper, too, and, if not, who is? The writer if John’s gospel says that Jesus is using a “figure of speech” here, but the Greek word we translate as “figure of speech” actually is almost impossible to translate in any precise way. “Proverb” is a possibility or “parable,” but neither really is open-ended enough to accurately convey the Greek word. There is an intrinsic mystery here that seems to take us perhaps into the realm even of riddle.
Trying to decipher the riddle, I find the Godly Play response to the story helpful. In Godly Play after the story is told, there is a time of responding with what are called “wondering questions.” I wonder if the sheep have names? I wonder if the sheep are happy in this place? I wonder how many sheep really could live in this place? I wonder if you have ever had to go through places of danger or were lost and someone found you? I wonder if the wolf has ever been close to you? I wonder how the sheep feel about the Good Shepherd? I wonder how the Good Shepherd feels about the sheep. I wonder if you have ever heard the Good Shepherd say your name? What I really like about these wondering questions is that they truly get at the heart of this passage about gates and doors and shepherds and sheep and wolves and thieves because this is really a story about feelings and about relationships. I wonder how the sheep feel about the Good Shepherd? I wonder how the Good Shepherd feels about the sheep? I wonder if you have ever heard the Good Shepherd say your name? Jesus’s discourse on the Good Shepherd really is about relationships.
Thinking then about the appropriateness of pastoral imagery of sheep and shepherds in the 21 st century, I would say it may fall short but not because it is anachronistic or because we don’t relate to it . . . but because the church has misused it. The church traditionally calls its clergy “pastors,” but “Jesus uses pastoral imagery in this discourse to depict the lives of ALL believers, not just some, in relationship to him.” (New Interpreter’s Bible, vol. IX) The riddle is about relationships.
“I am the gate . . . I will lead you to green pastures . . . I came that you may have life and have it abundantly . . . I am the door . . . but I am also the good shepherd. have it abundantly . . . I am the door . . . but I am also the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep – not just mine, not just ours, not just these people here or those people over there. I lay down my life for all.” The riddle is about relationships – between God and Jesus, between God and Jesus and his followers, between one follower to another, between Christ’s sheepfold and the world. I wonder then what does it mean for us to be the Body of Christ, to be his church in the world? Is the sheepfold a place of exclusion and privilege? Is the door open for some and not for others? No! Every individual has a name. Every individual is worthy of our love and care. After all, Jesus lays down his life for all. When wolves stalk us and threaten us with harm, do we abandon one another? No! We stand by each other, nurture one another, protect one another, and yes, if necessary, lay down our lives for one another.
Jesus leads the way to the door . . . Jesus opens the door . . . Jesus is the door . . . the door to the heart of God – that heart which models for us what the heart of the Body of Christ is called to be - one of love, solidarity, loyalty, commitment, sacrifice, one of respect and honor for all.
WE GATHER IN AWE AND PRAISE
PRELUDE “For the Beauty of the Earth” Conrod Kocher
arr. John Leavitt
WELCOME Rev. Susan Warrener Smith
One: This is the day that the Lord has made
All: Let us rejoice and be glad in it
*INTROIT “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee” Ludwig van Beethoven
*CALL TO WORSHIP
One: We come to God, our holy shepherd, as we come to a green meadow.
All: God prepares a place for us, and we give glory in God’s presence.
One: How excellent is this dwelling place under the eyes of God’s care.
All: We turn to God in joy. Our good shepherd provides for all our needs.
* HYMN 394 “Christ Is Made the Sure Foundation” WESTMINSTER ABBEY
*PRAYER OF CONFESSION Peter Maurath
God of life and death, we confess that sometimes we are not alive to the possibilities you offer. In the midst of pain, unfairness, and fear, we find little reason for hope. We feel despair or blame others, but we do not turn to you for help. Forgive us and show us how to share the new life you offer, through Jesus Christ. Amen.
*ASSURANCE OF PARDON
*RESPONSE OF PRAISE “Be Not Afraid” BE NOT AFRAID
*PASSING OF THE PEACE
One: The peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all,
All: And also with you.
WE LISTEN FOR GOD’S WORD
ANTHEM “Creating God” David Hurd
PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION
SCRIPTURES John 10:1-18
“Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them.
Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.
“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”
Holy Wisdom, Holy Word
Thanks be to God
CHILDREN’S MESSAGE Dorothy Kyle
SERMON Rev. Susan Warren Smith
WE RESPOND TO GOD’S WORD
*HYMN 693 “Though I May Speak” GIFT OF LOVE
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE followed by The Lord’s Prayer
TIME OF OFFERING online giving is available at www. indianolapres.org/give
OFFERTORY “Sky Song” Adrienne Foster Potter
*OFFERTORY REPONSE 609 “Praise God, from Whom All Blessing Flow”
*PRAYER OF DEDICATION
God of light and truth, we bring our gifts to this table and lay them here, compelled by the mystery of Christ to conduct ourselves as children of the resurrection. Transform these gifts of mere custom into a miracle of compassion, and may they bring hope to a suffering world in which too many still wait in pain and despair to hear the story of a cross overcome, a stone rolled away, a tomb unattended. We pray in the name and by the compassion of our again and still living Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
*HYMN 757 “Today We All Are Called to Be Disciples” KINGSFOLD
TIME OF COMMUNITY SHARING
CHARGE AND BENEDICTION
CHORAL RESPONSE “Lord Dismiss Us With Your Blessing” 18th century Sicilian Melody
POSTLUDE “Just Like the Sun” Lindy Kerby
Acknowledgments: Unless otherwise indicated, all texts and music are printed and broadcast under OneLicense.net license #A-702452