Horizon - Mission, John 10:1-16
Jordan Byrd
Marco. Polo. Marco. Polo. Marco. Polo. This game is a classic example of being guided by listening for a voice. It’s also an example of having to make sense of direction based on many voices being spoken all at once. Using voices like a compass.
In a sense, we are always caught up in an ongoing game of Marco Polo. It’s not played in the traditional sense. But, it has some of the same dynamics. All of us are desperate for the fullest life possible. And we’re desperately searching for it. In a sense, “calling out”: “ABUNDANT LIFE!!!” And waiting for voices that say: “FIND IT HERE!!!” We encounter these voices all over the place. Most recently: from politicians, political ads, and political commentary. “We have the abundant life you’re looking for.” Or, how about medical advertisements? “We have the key to the abundant life you’re lacking.” Or, the manufacturing industry: “We have the thing missing from making your life feel full.” Or, the entertainment industry: “We have the best version of life you’ve never imagined.” Or, other voices: “You just need more money.” “You just need more luxuries.” “Your kids just need one more opportunity.” “You just need to be happy.” “You just need ______” to experience abundant life.
We hear these voices of abundant life, and we’re tempted to listen to them – to live with them – to be shaped by them. And in pursuit of these voices, we end up stressed, anxious, and tired – as our lives are pulled in many directions at once. The abundant life we believe we’re getting ends up feeling more like an illusion.
Good news that comes from God’s word in John 10 is that Jesus claims to be the one voice above all others that is the abundant life we’re longing for. Jesus says in John 10:10b, I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. (John 10:10b). Jesus has come so that all people may have an abundant life. Jesus is the voice of abundant life. In John 10, Jesus invites us to respond to him by listening for his voice and following him for an abundant life. God’s word in John 10 invites us to consider: Whose voice is guiding you to abundant life? More specifically, John 10 invites us to consider: Is Jesus’ voice guiding us to abundant life?
Jesus’ words in Matthew 28:19-20 are understood to be the action-step instructions that followers of Jesus are to live into: …go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. (Matthew 28:19-20)
But what does that look like right now in our day and age? What does that look like in the United States right now? What does that look like in WNY right now? What does that look like in our lives right now? How would you describe a disciple of Jesus? Your definition would likely include the elements of Matthew 28, like baptizing, teaching, and obedience. Your definition might include other descriptors like, fishers of people, or someone who listens to Jesus, does what Jesus does, and teaches others to do the same.
The reality is that we might come up with many definitions of how to be and make a disciple of Jesus. And they all could be biblically-based definitions. But they might differ in their contextualization. Contextualization is where principles take on a particular shape. Where principles are lived out in the particulars of everyday life. When Jesus called Peter and Andrew to leave their fishing nets, and fish for people – Jesus was contextualizing discipleship. Jesus illustrated what it means to be a disciple in a fishing culture. A definition of discipleship based on fishing probably seems antiquated, unrelated, or impossible to us. Because fishing isn’t our daily context. While fishing for people who aren’t in God’s net may not be our context, guiding people who aren’t in God’s abundant life is very much our context.
The leadership of CCC is refreshing the church’s vision. And part of that process is refreshing, or reframing how we speak about being a disciple in our particular context. And what the leadership team has been analyzing is what does being a disciple in our context, right now, look like?
And what’s stood out is that we live in a time, and in a local culture that is increasingly secular (meaning, that many people are disconnected from organized and formal faith practices, such as the worship found in Christian churches). but a local culture that is still very spiritually religious (meaning, that many people still seek meaning, purpose, and direction beyond themselves, often through specific habits and practices that are more privatized or set in non-traditional religious contexts, such as personal spirituality, astrology, science, or politics, rather than a church setting).
We live in a time and in a local culture that is seeking meaning and purpose in affluence, success, materialism, human progress, and earthly experiences. Collectively, it’s a desire for an abundant life apart from the God revealed in Jesus. We live in a time and in a local culture that doesn’t need people who can fish, but people who can guide people to hear the voice of Jesus, and follow him for an abundant life. We live in a time and in a local culture that has a lot of voices claiming to offer abundant life, and we need help being guided toward the ONE, true voice – Jesus – who can actually offer us abundant life. Jesus, who can offer the fuller and broader meaning and purpose that our lives long for.
Clarence Church of Christ is focused on guiding all people to abundant life in Jesus. Sometime this past year, I was at Panera Bread near Transit and Greiner, and a guy stopped me and asked if I knew how to get to the Amberleigh Retirement Community. He showed me a map on his phone and indicated that it was near where we were. I eventually figured out the place he was referencing, and I guided him there as best I knew. I knew roughly that it was a few drives past Lowes (behind Panera). I didn’t know exactly how many, but I guided him as best I knew, from the experience that I had of that area, and driving by it every day; and that was good enough to help him on his way.
CCC’s mission uses the term “guiding” intentionally. The term captures that no matter our skill, we all can play a role in helping people encounter Jesus, where they can find abundant life. For some people we may play a big role in people encountering Jesus. For others, we might play a minor role. Either way, we can evaluate our active engagement in the mission by any form of guiding people to encounter abundant life in Jesus. Guiding people to Jesus from the experience that we have, and as best we can, with the abilities that we have.
As Jesus points out in John 10, our ability to recognize abundant life in Jesus, and point others to experience the same, is dependent on our ability to recognize whose voice we’re listening to. Whose voice is guiding you to abundant life? And, is it Jesus’ voice that’s guiding you to abundant life?
In our house, mine and Julia’s bedroom is on the main floor, and our kid’s rooms are all upstairs. Many nights, before we’re in bed, and sitting in the living room, we’ll hear a sound. And the more we hear the sound, we can start to make out which kid is making noise. We know each kid’s voice because we are with our kids all of the time.
This is similar to Jesus’ illustration in John 10 about the sheep knowing the voice of their shepherd. The context of Jesus’ illustration comes from first-century, middle-eastern shepherding in a wilderness area. Shepherds of this time were very close to their sheep, and the sheep with their shepherd: shepherds spent lots of time with their sheep, as they grazed. Shepherds talked to their sheep, and the sheep were so familiar with the shepherd’s voice that the sheep could be guided by voice alone. This shaped and formed the sheep to know they were cared for by the shepherd. So much so, that they would not respond to the voice of another. They could be called by name, but if the voice isn’t the shepherd’s voice, they wouldn’t respond. Shepherds spent many nights with their sheep. Shepherds protected their sheep, fencing them in with rocks and brush at night, and placing themselves as the gate – to protect the sheep from predators. The only way to get to the sheep, was to climb over the fence – to go around the shepherd – to pull the sheep away from the shepherd and tempt them toward new voices.
Over 150 years before Jesus was born, Greek rulers infiltrated the Jewish priesthood, and instituted corrupt priests. This led to the eventual manipulation of Jewish worship to fit Grecian philosophy. To do so, the Jewish temple was defiled with pig’s blood (which is unclean in Jewish law). Jewish identity practices, like circumcision, were prohibited. Copies of Jewish scripture were destroyed. And, a pagan idol was set up in the Jewish temple. In response to this corruption of the temple leadership, a man named, Judas Maccabeus, led a rebellion to recapture the temple and rededicate it back to the customs of the scriptural law. The memory of this event became commemorated by a Jewish winter festival of dedication (known more commonly today, as Hannukkah, which means “dedication”). This festival is also a reminder of a time of failed spiritual leadership – where other voices were allowed to tempt the Jewish people away from the one voice of the Lord God. The group that led the rebellion to re-capture the Jewish worship from corruption eventually evolved into the religious leaders known as the Pharisees. The same Pharisaical group Jesus addresses in John 10:1.
In the background of John 10, the audience would already have been focused on recalling the poor temple leadership from over 150 years earlier. The words of Ezekiel 34 became a common rallying text, warning the Jewish people to stay vigilant against "false shepherds" who could lead them astray. And while the Grecian infiltration of the Jewish priesthood was a temptation away from God, the conservative reaction of the Pharisees led to a polar temptation. The temptation to be so hyper-focused on the preservation of what God had already done, that they were missing what God was doing in the present. Their human rules of preservation became the dominant voice that drowned out the actual voice of God that was now speaking to them in the life of Jesus.
Ultimately, all of these scenarios are examples of failed leadership – failed attempts at meaning and purpose – failed attempts at abundant life. The Greeks did not provide abundant life. The Pharisees did not provide abundant life. The affluence, success, and materialism of our day do not provide abundant life. All of these are voices competing against hearing the voice of Jesus – the one voice that is abundant life. Whose voice is guiding you to abundant life? Is it Jesus’ voice that’s guiding you to abundant life?
Jesus claims to be the one voice above all others that is the abundant life we’re longing for. Jesus is the voice of abundant life. In John 10, Jesus invites us to respond to him by listening for his voice and following him for an abundant life. God’s word in John 10 invites us to consider: Who’s voice is guiding us to abundant life? More specifically, John 10 invites us to consider: Is Jesus’ voice guiding us to abundant life? Is Jesus’ voice guiding you to abundant life?
In our smartphone age, it’s not uncommon for phones to be left on silent, or vibrate, so they aren’t loud and obnoxious in public settings. The problem comes when the phone is misplaced. With the ringer off, it’s difficult to call and hear where the phone might be. If the phone is set to vibrate, you have to tune out all of the other noises and life and just focus on hearing the vibration of the phone.
In a lot of ways, this is the picture Jesus is giving us in John 10. Jesus is saying, “I am abundant life.” “To experience my abundant life, you need to listen for my voice.” “You need to follow where I’m leading.” “You need to follow what you hear me doing.” But that doesn’t happen by accident. Listening for Jesus is an intentional, willful response. It’s only by intentionally being with Jesus that we can respond in obedience to his way. This is why our strategy for participating in our mission of guiding all people to abundant life in Jesus focuses on meeting consistently with Jesus (privately, communally, and corporately). If we don’t meet consistently with Jesus, we’ll struggle to live out His call to abundant life amid the competing voices of: affluence, success, and materialism in our day. If we don’t spend time with Jesus, we’ll get sucked into the anxiety and stress that comes with those versions of abundant life.
If the voice of Jesus is drowned out by competing voices in the world, the mission not only will be squelched in our own lives but also in the lives of those we interact with. It’s hard to guide other people to hear Jesus when you’re not listening to him yourself. But, the more time we spend with Jesus, the more we’ll be able to hear Jesus’ voice in everyday life; and the more we’ll be able to guide other people to notice Jesus’ voice in their everyday life.
Finding abundant life in Jesus is a daily and moment-by-moment choice of belief. Abundant life is a choice that Jesus' followers have to continually make, amidst competing voices. The confidence we can have is that Jesus, himself in John 10, confidently believes that the more we hear his guidance to abundant life, the less likely we are to succumb to guidance to false abundant life. Abundant life, according to Jesus, is also for all people. In John 10:16, Jesus references sheep that are not yet under his guidance. Jesus invites us, as his disciples, to partner in guiding all people – all people, backgrounds, races, and situations within our sphere of influence and interaction – to encounter abundant life in Jesus. Whose voice is guiding you to abundant life? Is it Jesus’ voice that’s guiding you to abundant life?
How will you recognize Jesus’ voice of abundant life when he speaks? If you’ve never recognized and surrendered to Jesus as abundant life, I invite you to consider surrendering to Jesus through faith in baptism. Please find me, or another trusted follower of Jesus, to help you take that step of faith in having Jesus guide you to his abundant life.
If you’ve already surrendered your life to Jesus, I invite you to affirm once again that Jesus is abundant life. I invite you to confess to God that it’s tempting to be guided by other voices. I invite you to invest sacrificially in meeting with Jesus, so that you can know him more, and he can shape you to experience all of his abundant life; and empower you to guide others to experience his abundant life too.
At Clarence Church of Christ, we’re guiding all people to abundant life in Jesus. Whose voice is guiding you to abundant life? Is it Jesus’ voice that’s guiding you to abundant life?