John 10: 1-10 The Abundant Life”

The college faculty gathered for their weekly meeting. A professor of archeology brought with him a lamp recently unearthed in the Middle East. It was reported to contain a genie, who, when the lamp was rubbed, would appear and grant one wish. A professor of philosophy was particularly intrigued. He grabbed the lamp and rubbed it vigorously. Suddenly, a genie appeared and made him an offer. He could choose one of three rewards: wealth, wisdom or power. Without hesitating, the philosophy professor selected wisdom. “Done!,” said the genie and disappeared in a cloud of smoke. All the other faculty members turned toward the professor, who sat surrounded by a halo of light. At length, one of his colleagues exclaimed, “Say something. What wise insight do you now have?” The professor, much wiser now, sighed and said, “I should have taken the money.”

Our scripture lessons for today include the best known Psalm and one of the best-known sayings of Jesus. Psalm 23 starts out, “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.” The well known saying of Jesus is the second half of John 10:10, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” Too often people get confused about what these passages mean.

At the time the King James Bible was translated the word “want” meant “to be needy or destitute.” Nowadays the word "want" regularly means "to desire," and we often forget its original meaning. The same can be said of our understanding of God's provision. When we read, "I shall not want," we sometimes think it means that we will have everything we desire, but that's not the meaning at all. This verse teaches us that God cares for us and provides for our needs, but not necessarily our wants. No one can deny the beauty of the King James translation which is preserved in many modern translations as well. But shifts in the English language itself require us to revise the wording, at least in our minds, to say: "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall lack nothing that I need."

It is also often the case that people equate the “abundant life” Jesus promises with living in the lap of luxury. Too often, like the philosophy professor, we think money is the answer to our needs for happiness, security and a good life.

TV evangelists and other proclaimers of the so called, “Prosperity Gospel” tell us that God wants us to be rich. They say, “God wants His people to have nice things!” Often the TV evangelist lives up to this creed. Many of them live opulent lifestyles.

I’m not going to be hypocritical here. I like nice things. My guess is that you like nice things. All God’s children like nice things. But does that mean that we can use this verse from justify rampant materialism? No, it does not.

We are apt to confuse the ““abundant life”,” that Jesus taught, with what is often referred to in our culture as the “good life.” “The good life” consists of things; the accumulation of toys.

Our current economic situation is threatening people’s hope of obtaining “the good life.” So many people have lost their homes to foreclosure that there is a glut of houses on the market. People have seen the value of their homes drop dramatically. The volatile stock market has people scared. High fuel costs are contributing to people not having money to spend on other things. There is a lot of fear out there. There is fear that we won’t experience “the good life.”

It is very easy to confuse “the good life” with the “abundant life” that Christ promised. We need to realize that money and nice things can’t ultimately satisfy our deepest needs. The “abundant life” has nothing to do with a materialistic lifestyle. Our lessons for the day tell us how to have the “abundant life”.

All three of our lessons for the day compare us to sheep. In Psalm 23, “The Lord is our shepherd . . .” In I Peter we are like sheep going astray. In John’s gospel, we are sheep herded into a pen for the night. Being compared to sheep isn’t very complimentary, but it is probably a good description of the human condition. The point is that we have a Shepherd - One who looks after us and protects us. And there are some powerful insights in these lessons about abundant living.

Our Gospel text tells us that the person who has “abundant life” recognizes Jesus’ voice. John writes, “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.” The key to “abundant life” is not the accumulation of many things. The key to “abundant life” is to recognize the voice of Jesus. It is to know you are walking in the light of his revelation. It is to live as Christ would have you live.

One of the most admired men ever to make their living as a professional basketball player is former San Antonio Spur David Robinson. He is also a man who knows the difference between “the good life” and the “abundant life”.” Robinson was the NBA Rookie of the Year in 1990, Defensive Player of the Year in 1992, Most Valuable Player of the Year in 1995. When he is eligible, Robinson will probably be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. David Robinson is considered one of the greats. As a professional athlete, he surely enjoys “the good life.” But David Robinson also enjoys the “abundant life”.

In 1991 Robinson visited the Gates Elementary School in San Antonio and challenged the kids to go to college, promising each one who did a $2000 scholarship. Many took him up on his offer - and he ended up giving each of them $8000 instead of $2000. He and his wife then started the Carver Academy in San Antonio. They donated $9 million to get the school started. This is believed to be the largest charitable contribution ever made by a professional athlete. Carver Academy is dedicated to academic excellence - but because Robinson is a Christian he wants the kids to understand that spiritual values are as important as academics or athletics.

The person who has “abundant life” listens for the voice of Jesus. They also seek to follow in Christ’s steps. The author of I Peter writes: “For this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps.” (I Peter 2:21) We show love for Christ by how we treat each other. Not only by how we treat those closest to us, but by how we treat all people, those we like and those we dislike; those of whom we approve and those of whom we do not; the neighbor and the complete stranger.

One day a man stopped in a convenience store to get a newspaper. He noticed that the owner of the store had tears in his eyes and kept looking out the window. He asked what was going on. The store owner said, “Do you see that bus bench over there? There’s a woman who comes there every day around this time. She sits there for about an hour, knitting and waiting. Buses come and go, but she never gets on one and no one ever gets off for her to meet. The other day, I brought her a cup of coffee and sat with her for a while. Her only son lives a long way away. She last saw him two years ago, when he boarded one of the buses right there. He is married now, and she has never met her daughter_in_law or seen their new child. She told me, ‘It helps to come here and wait. I pray for them as I knit little things for the baby, and I imagine them in their tiny apartment, saving money to come home. I can’t wait to see them.’”

The owner was looking out the window at that particular moment because the son, his wife and their small child were just getting off the bus. The look on the woman’s face when this small family fell into her arms was one of pure joy. And this joy was compounded when she looked into the face of her grandchild for the first time. With a tear running down his cheek, the store owner commented, “I’ll never forget that look as long as I live.”

The next day the same man returned to the convenience store. The owner was again behind the counter. The customer went up to him and said, “You sent her son the money for the bus tickets, didn’t you?” The store owner looked back with a huge grin on his face and replied, “Yes, I sent the money.” Then he repeated his statement from the day before, “I’ll never forget that look as long as I live.”

This store owner had discovered a measure of the “abundant life”.

You see, following in the footsteps of Jesus means living a life for others. It is a paradox. The more selfishly we live our lives, the less satisfaction we feel about our lives. The more we are open to others, the better we feel about ourselves.

The person who lives life abundantly hears Christ’s voice and walks in Christ’s footsteps, performing acts of love as Christ performed acts of love. The person living the “abundant life” also places their ultimate trust in the Good Shepherd.

The author of the 23rd Psalm reminds us that we can trust God to provide us, not with everything we want, but with everything we need. And he is not just talking about spiritual needs here. The psalm is filled with images of eating and drinking, guidance and protection.

We trust God because as our Good Shepherd God is one who leads but also one who walks "with us." The Psalmist proclaims that God with us even "through the darkest valley." We typically translate that "through the valley of the shadow of death." However, one commentator suggests that the Hebrew is probably best translated in the broader sense of "the valley of deep darkness" or "the darkest valley." That way it refers not only the threat of death, but to any deeply terrifying or threatening experience. Thus, Psalm 23 is not just a funeral psalm but a psalm for all the seasons of one's life.

Psalm 23 does not promise us that we will experience “the good life” and get all the things we want. But it does promise the “abundant life” where God provides everything we need. It does not promise us we will avoid all problems and troubles, pain and sorrow. It admits that we will walk through some valleys of deep darkness. But it promises that we can trust completely in the Good Shepherd who always walks with us.

A man was seated on a plane next to a little boy who was apparently flying all alone. They ran into some turbulence. The “Fasten seat belt” sign came on and the plane was bouncing around pretty good. Occasionally, you could see lightening flashes. But the little boy just kept reading his book. The man, who was getting frightened himself, was amazed at how calm the boy was. Finally, he asked him, “Aren’t you afraid flying in this storm?” The little boy looked at him and said, “No.” The man asked, “Why not?” The boy said, “Because my Daddy is the pilot.”

He wasn’t afraid because he had ultimate trust in his father. We don’t need to be afraid in life, even when we walk through the darkest valley, because we can have ultimate trust in God, our Good Shepherd. He has promised to be with us, to lead us, guide us and protect us. He will lead us beside still waters. He will lead us in the paths of righteousness. He will lead us to the “abundant life.” We will enjoy that “abundant life” if we will just listen to the voice of Jesus and if we will follow in Christ’s footsteps. Amen.

GUIDED BY THE GOSPEL: GATHERING • GROWING • GIVING