8^th April 2011

The reading I chose today from the Gospel of John fits between two of the major lectionary passages recommended for Lent and I believe it is very appropriate for us today. When He spoke the words we have heard today, Jesus was in the midst of strong discussions with some of the Temple leaders - the Pharisees.
In John chapter 9 we read of Jesus healing a blind man and then that man being questioned at length by the Temple leaders as to what had happened and who had healed him. The Temple leaders were out to get Jesus.
Then, in John chapter 11, we have the amazing story of Jesus raising his friend Lazarus from the dead. Lazarus had become ill and had died while Jesus was away. Jesus came back to Bethany after the burial and said to Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus, those profound words now used at many funerals...
"I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me will live, even though they have died; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die."
Lazarus had been buried for four days before Jesus arrived back and then called him out of the tomb. "Lazarus! Come out!" (As one of my friends wrote, "God! His voice was loud enough to wake the dead!") Still wrapped in his burial shrouds Lazarus walked out of the tomb. Stunning... amazing... powerful... an event full of life!
Today's reading from John 10 is headed in many Bibles, "Jesus the Good Shepherd" or "The Shepherd and His flock". For me, however, one verse from the whole of chapter ten stands out. I love verse 10;
"I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."
The older King James Bible - a translation that is 400 years old this year - says it this way:
"I have come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."
Or, as it is translated in the newer Message version,
"I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of."
Can you see that it doesn't matter how you say it - full life, abundant life, or a better life than you can even dream of, the message is clear; Jesus is about life!
Faith in Jesus is life-giving whereas the world around us, a society under the domain of the evil hold around us is about death, emptiness, and destruction. Why would you want to choose that instead of life?
I don't know about you, but I enjoy living a full life... an abundant life...a better life than society can offer me. Not only that, but the kind of life lived in the world around us ends with death. For all of us who believe in Jesus, however, there is the promise of eternal life... life never ending, life getting better and better and better!
One of the things that we hear today from sociologists and anthropologists is that most young people - those under age 40, the so-called generations X, Y, and Z - find religion boring. Hey! I'm an old bloke and I can till find religion boring!
We have a book in our church library entitled "Surprised by the Spirit's Power" by Professor Jack Deere. In that book, Jack Deere - who was Senior Pastor at a major evangelical church in the USA - asked himself the question, "Would I bother coming to this church if I wasn't paid to be here?' He answered himself, "No!" Then he had to ask, "If I wouldn't be here without the pay cheque, why should I expect others to be here each week?" Good question!
What Jack Deere was facing was the difference between habitual religion and life-giving faith. Religion was sapping his life and ministry...he needed the Spirit's renewal.
Friends, the sad reality is that many Australian churches meeting today around our nation are mediocre at best. In many places the worship life is staid and uninspiring, traditions are so locked in that change never occurs, they are habitual in their practices rather than innovative, and so while many younger people around our communities have an aching spirituality crying out for meaning, hearts crying out for God, they ignore the church and its structures. Why?
Because they want life, not just organised religion.
Is your life abundant, enriched, empowered, and excitedly reaching for the future that God has laid out, or is mediocre organised religion your experience?
I am certain that our city has much potential. We are told that because of our rich local mineral resource base there are possibilities of tremendous growth for us as a community. The church in our town should be just as exciting ...just as strong... just as influential as any mining or resource industry that comes here - our resource is Jesus!
Jesus said, "I come that all who believe might have life and life to the full."
I believe that! I hope and pray you will also be able to believe in it, live it, and help others find it.
The church is - or should be - a life-giving organism; not just a religious organisation!
• Christians are Easter people - people of the Resurrection.
• We believe Jesus is alive!
• We don't just remember a long-dead carpenter.
• We don't simply adhere to a philosophy developed from the teachings of an itinerant preacher from ancient Israel.
• Instead we have a living God... a life-giving and resurrected Lord.
The church should reflect that fact and we should proclaim it. Our future as a congregation is not one of simply hanging onto what we have, but rather our future is one of demonstrating to our community that life in Christ, life in its fullness, is here for the taking.
Jesus gives life!
Let's start living.
Amen

Rev. Rob Tann, Whyalla (SA). 10/4/2011