What do I do when my experience contradicts what Jesus says?
Gospel Reading: John 10:1-10
For Sunday, May 15 , 2011: Year A – Easter 4
Jesus says the sheep will recognize the voice of the shepherd.
Jesus says we will recognize the voice of God speaking to us in the world.
That God will be with us.
Jesus says the sheep will run from the voice of a stranger.
Jesus says we will run from the voice of the bandits in the world.
Jesus says we will not listen to the thieves and the bandits.
Jesus says the thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy.
Jesus says he comes that we my have life.
Real life.
Big life.
That we will be fully alive.
Not True?
I say this is not true. I say there are people begging to hear the voice of God, calling them to come through the gate, to the pasture, but they don’t. Maybe can’t? I say I cannot hear Jesus’ voice calling me and that I have listened to the thieves and the bandits so many times, felt like I was being ripped off, that I was dying, being destroyed.
How can Jesus say people will recognize his voice and only follow him? It just doesn’t seem true. There are so many people, in so much pain, who have been so deceived.
I Don’t Trust My Ears
Jesus says I will hear his voice and recognize it.
That I will run from the thieves.
Jesus says I will recognize his voice.
Jesus says I will recognize only the voice of God.
You know what I think. I think that maybe I do recognize the voice of God, I hear Jesus calling me, but I ignore it.
I ignore it because I don’t trust my ears.
I don’t trust my ears because I want it to be true so much.
I want more than anything to believe what Jesus says.
I want real life. Big Life. To be fully alive.
I don’t just want it for me, I want if for everyone.
I Am Afraid
Jesus says I will recognize the voice of God and I will only follow that voice. That is what Jesus says about me.
But I ignore it because I don’t trust my own ears,
I don’t trust myself.
But maybe the real truth is I am afraid.
I am afraid that if I follow that voice it won’t be everything I desperately want it to be. That it will hurt. That I will have been ripped off.
And that would kill me.
Destroy me like the thieves and the bandits.
I would rather die at the hands of the thieves and the bandits
Or die from my own fear, than to die from the pain of realizing I had been ripped off by God.
It is just too much to risk.
The Hardest Question
What do I do when my experience contradicts what Jesus says?
Russell Rathbun is a preacher at House of Mercy in St. Paul, Minnesota, the author of Midrash on the Juanitos (Cathedral Hill Press, 2010) and the curator of The Hardest Question.
Now this preaches, brother Rathbun. Nice.
I guess that’s why it’s called a leap of faith. Also, I recommend reading Leo Tolstoy. http://www1.umn.edu/lol-russ/PopLit/where_love_is,_there_is_god_also.htm
I wonder if this was how Jonah was feeling in Jonah 4:9, Russell? “Ripped off by God.” For the very same reasons. He prefered a God that makes logical sense: crime=punishement. He refused to preach anything as messy as grace. He even acknowledged that within this system his own disobediences deserved retribution – throw me in, that makes sense. What doesn’t make sense is how God saves, how God comes, how God swallows us up and takes us in.
A THQ within a THQ – When Jonah says: “It is better for me to die than live (Jonah 4:8b), is he really just saying “I’ve been ripped off by God?
Amen! And Amen! here is a sermon title: “Fearfull listening” How can we listen for that voice that calls us but also scares us? Can we be honest enough to suggest that we feel ripped off by God…or by the church? good stuff here. Equally scary to preach this as to listen to this.
I really like direction these comments are going. Ripped of by God–what does that notion say about us and our understanding of God and the scriptures. There are certainly plenty of psalms that could go under this heading. Good stuff keep it coming, thanks.
One of my catechism kids is being confirmed this Sunday. There’s a part of me that struggles with this very question – what voice will she respond to over the next few years? There are tons of voices out there, many of them marketing garbage that is deceitful. What is she affirming, when she affirms her faith in Jesus Christ? And does she really know who this Jesus is? When will she have that experience – the one that will contradict what she’s been taught about a forgiving Christ?
Kinda scary, even for the pastor.
Russell and friends,
I definitely appreciate your collective wisdom here!
My task this week is to preach from this text as a lead-in to a time culminating our building campaign when we challenge the congregation to consider their gift.
Your words here help me connect my ambivalence about this text to my ambivalence about that task! We are afraid (ok, I am) about whether or not we’ll be able to fund the campaign. We’d rather not do it. It feels so self-indulgent and that’s just not who this congregation is.
Yet the building is used all the time by all kinds of groups! We know our building is a big piece of who we are and how we serve our community. And it really needs renovation.
I wonder now if we’re afraid to commit to the campaign because we might get ripped off. Like the fear of the bandits, maybe we’re afraid so we circumvent the potential hurt and just don’t participate…
Much for me to consider, thank you!
I say investigate Jesus. Has he done or is he doing what he said he would? Talk to the witnesses (other followers). What is there attraction? Is this Big Life Jesus offers just a pipe dream or is it the real deal? Unfortunately there is no Better Business Bureau file or Consumer Reports article on Jesus to keep us from getting ripped off, so we’ll have to do the leg-work ourselves.
Thanks for your questions they really makke you think abuot the text from a different perspective.
Does the whole thing start to unravel with our definition of what the “Big Life” really is? It seems like we don’t define it the way Paul did (godliness plus contentment is great gain, whether in plenty or in want, whether alive or dead we live for Christ, grace is sufficient, etc.) We often feel ripped off because our expectations don’t meet reality! It seems like many people of faith way over-promise! How can Jesus do anything but under-deliver if we cast “abundant life” in ways that Jesus never did?
Another thought, and this is where it gets uber-confusing for me! Often times I think I hear the voice of Jesus, but it contradicts what I’ve been taught in church, so I don’t know which way is up! If the bandits stand in pulpits, work in denominational offices, write Christian books, teach in seminaries, etc. the voice of Jesus is obscured. What do we do when someone says “This is the voice of Jesus” and it’s not the voice of Jesus?
When our focus is on our own experience, does that not put us at risk of not being able to hear the voice of Jesus? Isn’t the experience of those who do hear the voice that they try to understand their own experience within the context of the heart of Christ himself? Those who are hard of hearing cannot really complain that they’re being ripped off by the world around them.
I dropped by last week and didn’t have time to leave a comment… but today I have a few moments. I want to say how much I appreciated this post. In my life… I have been in dry places… times where I couldn’t hear God. It wasn’t that I was busy… or leaning too heavily on my own knowledge/experience… or not interested in what God had to say to me… I simply could not hear anything but silence. I believe (and I’ve been wrong before) that in general… folks don’t know that pastors sometimes don’t hear God speaking… and that sometimes our experience does say… God that’s not right.
I also believe… that we don’t talk about what to do during those silent times… or the time when our experiences are telling us… God can’t be right. If it happens to me… and it does… then it’s probably happening to other folks. I prayed a long time about writing the sermon based on what you wrote Russell… and it finally came together. I could tell… as I spoke… there were folks… who wanted to talk about the hard question you asked… and we did. Because we talked about it… and admitted that we don’t always know if God is right… people left worship knowing… it’s OK to say… I don’t know if I believe God and not jepordize their salvation.
Thank you for this post. It made a world of difference for me… and for several others in the congregation. Peace.