SAVED

John 10:1-10

One of the most tender images in the bible are those of Jesus as a shepherd.  Throughout John 10 we hear Jesus refer to himself the shepherd who cares for and calls his sheep.  It is such a loving metaphor – the good shepherd who keeps the flock safe and watches over them and even lays down his life for them. In today’s passage Jesus is the gate and the gatekeeper for the herd. He is leading the way into safety and even abundance. What a compelling way for Jesus to illustrate his concern for us. And of course, this passage echoes the most famous psalm of all – Psalm 23:

The LORD is my shepherd;

I shall not be in want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures

and leads me beside still waters.

   But also, in today’s message Jesus warns us not to follow thieves or bandits who do not have our safety and care in mind but their own agenda that is self-serving and greedy – the opposite of the loving shepherd. He says we must be careful not to listen to strangers who have come to steal and kill and destroy. This is a strong warning against following people and systems that are not holy or healthy for us. It seems today that this is deeply relevant. Who do you think of when you think of voices that are thieves and bandits in today’s time? I think of social media, conspiracy theories, and the billionaires making more and more money without paying their share of taxes and who don’t pay enough to their employees.  There are many thieves and bandits pretending to care about us.

   But it is Jesus who is always the sure thing. He invites us to put our trust in him and to follow his voice that will lead us to salvation.

   One of the things I love about being a priest is the regular wrestling with ideas about God and God’s message to us. This word “saved” that Jesus uses is filled with meaning and loaded with expectation in the lives of Christians.

   For our Evangelical siblings Salvation is a crucial and foundational concept. In this view, being saved is the turning point in life for a believer. There is a core belief that if you are not saved or haven’t accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior then you will not be going to heaven.  

   I honestly don’t have much experience with evangelical theology. I have never been to an evangelical church, but my dad was somewhere in this form of Christianity, and he sent me numerous copies of the book Left Behind in the hope, I assume, that I would not be left behind. But for me – someone who spent most of my adult life in the Eastern Traditions, I find the idea that a loving God would send good people to hell for not being saved according to a belief in Jesus is, well, just not okay. I follow the teachings of Jesus who breaks bread with the outcasts and heals anyone, certainly not checking on what they believe. I love that Episcopalians seek to be radically inclusive, like our signs say: The Episcopal Church Welcomes You.

   The Greek word for “saved” is sṓzō, which means deliver out of danger and into safety; to rescue or protect. It encompasses preserving life, healing and making whole. Being “saved” meant something like to be “whole” or “complete.” Jesus uses the word saved primarily to refer to spiritual deliverance from sin and its consequences, emphasizing faith in Him as the pathway to eternal life.  I love the concept of being made whole and what it means to not be broken in our walk with Christ.

   The Episcopal Church website has a section called An Episcopal Dictionary of the Church. It has an alphabetical listing and if you look up what we believe about salvation you will read this; “Salvation is deliverance from anything that threatens to prevent fulfillment and enjoyment of our relationship with God.”  

   Episcopalians believe that salvation is a dynamic, lifelong journey involving faith in Christ, participating in the sacraments, engagement with scripture and tradition, and active living of God’s love in the world. It is both a personal transformation and a communal calling, culminating in union with God, which will be fully realized in the eschatological (meaning end times) of the Kingdom of God.

   I love our Anglican theology. We use a metaphor of a “three-legged stool” for our theology. The three legs of the stool are: Scripture, Tradition, and Reason. It is this that makes us Anglicans uniquely open minded to evolving and not beholden to literalism.

   I love our church and its commitment to inclusion. We may fall short, but we try to walk in love and be a truly welcoming church.  

   These are challenging times we are living in. We have bombs dropping, wars in multiple places, more and more people living without their needs being met. It is all the more important that the church stay steadfast to the call to love with our eyes and ears on the Good Shepherd. We need to be living examples of love in our walk with Christ. We can demonstrate the promise of salvation and the abundant life that Jesus is offering us by our living our lives of love and generosity.

   Let us be God’s love in the world.

The Reverend Sister Greta