April 21, 2002
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The Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church John 10.1-10 There is one picture and one voice that have made a great impact on me last year. I think a lot of you may recognize the voice. It comes from an amateur video and the man that spoke had no idea that he spoke on an open microphone to the whole world. He cried in incredulous horror: "Oh, my God, oh, my God!" as a passenger airplane was changed into a living bomb and steered deliberately into the World Trade Center. Who can forget September 11th? It’s written about Adam and Eve: "Then their eyes were opened." September 11th opened the eyes of a whole world. Behind the terror attack we suspect a hate and determination in evil as deep as a precipice. Jesus says: "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy." To be a human being is to be vulnerable. We are in danger. We have an enemy. There are powers that want to do us evil. In our media based time we think that evil should have a face. Some say Osama bin Laden has given evil a face. Exactly as Adolph Hitler did in the middle of the last century. But I don’t think we go deep enough if we limit evil to outside enemies. Paul says: "Our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Ephe 6.12. I’m afraid that Adolph Hitler and Osama bin Laden are only errand boys compared with our real enemy. The Bible makes it very clear that God has an opponent: The devil who wants to destroy our lives, the thief that Jesus talks about in today’s text - it’s he that climbs in through another way. He is the one with the strange voice. It was the voice that tempted Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. You and I also hear different voices inside. Don’t misunderstand. I don’t think we are schizophrenic. But we know the lust to do both evil and good. The frontline in the fight between good and evil is within us. Paul says: "I do not understand my own actions. For I do not what I want, but I do the very thing I hate." Rom 7.15. This must be the closest we come to describe man as a wandering civil war. The cry "Oh, my God " is similar to what we pray in the Lord’s prayer: "Rescue us from the evil one." Rescue us from the evil inside us and around us. In the liturgy of the service it sounds like this: "Kyrie eleison. Lord have mercy on us." That is the same cry. It’s the cry from the blind beggar Bartimeus who sat by the road to Jericho. It’s the cry from the church in the whole world, the cry to God for help for every one that suffers, the victims of violence and war, the ill, the poor and the hungry. We cry to him who can forgive sin and free us from our darkness. But is there an answer? Yes. The cry that matters the most comes from God. He does not forget us. "Adam, where are you?" God called when they had lent an ear to the lying and tempting voice. They had become children of the lies, with all its denial, accusations and bad conscience. God called upon them to give them the opportunity to repent and come to the truth. In today’s text Jesus says that the good shepherd is known by his voice. It is the good shepherd who calls us out of concealment and lies. He calls us into light and forgiveness. He calls his sheep by name, it’s written. When I first came to Mindekirken in December last year, I got to know John Casey. He told about his first meeting with Mindekirken. Quite accidentally he came to a service one day. He liked what he experienced, and the next time he came someone remembered his name. Then he really felt welcome and valued. You and I are not nameless to God. We are valuable in his eyes. The good shepherd gave his life for us. We are loved so much. You were called by name when three hands of water were poured over your head in the name of God, the Father, the Son and The Holy Spirit. Jesus came so that we should have life and have it abundantly. The good shepherd will lead us through life. He does it through the words of the Bible. The good shepherd feeds us. That’s what he does for instance in Holy Communion today. To be guided by the good shepherd is not the same as to live a life without problems. But we’re never on our own. "Who can separate us from the love of God?", Paul argues with a taste of triumph. No one can. And when we some day shall die, Jesus is the door to everlasting life. Recently I visited a man who was near death. It was as if he were sleeping deeply. But the family said: "He may still hear your voice." So I mentioned his name and gave him the Lord’s blessing. Did he hear it? The thought struck me: Maybe it is the same way on the other side of death that the first thing we register is a voice: The voice of the good shepherd, who carefully mentions our name. Then it will be exactly like when Mary Magdalene recognized Jesus’ voice when after the resurrection he called her by name and said: Mary! "Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. Isaiah 43.1. Glory is to God, the Father, the Son and The Holy Spirit, one true God, now and forever. Amen. |
The Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church · 924 E. 21st St, Minneapolis, MN 55404-2952 · (612)874-0716 |