JUST, a bad habit. (Easter 5B)

Some people who run have a very bad habit. I was one of those runners.

Runners are often asked, “How far did you run today?” “Or what is your next race?”  Runners with the very bad habit say, “I just ran 5k today.” Or, “My next run is just a half.” –referring to a half marathon, 21k.

The very bad habit is the addition of the apologetic, qualifying, embarrassed encompassing word, JUST.

Consider: JUST a half.  21k is a race unto itself, as is a 10k, or a 5k. Each distance has its peculiarities, specific skill set needed, and nuances to running the distance well. Each distance although seemingly ordinary during much of one’s training, can get complicated on race day and pose eons of surprises.  Running or walking any distance is not JUST anything.  Any of these distances is exercise, work well done, and an accomplishment; often ordinary, yet, filled with potential.

Some people who are Christians have a very bad habit. From time to time I am one of those Christians.

Christians are asked, “How did you share the Good News today?” Or, “where is your next mission?” Christians with the very bad habit, either don’t have a reply, or respond, “I just go to church.” “I just make prayer shawls.” “I just try to be a good person.”

The very bad habit is created as Christians assume various cloaks – humbleness, meekness, servitude, martyr status – sometimes the cloaks are so thick Christians fail to realize their contributions to bringing God’s kingdom and sharing the Good News.  JUST loving a neighbour, just going to church, just praying, just consoling a friend, just feeding someone who is hungry, giving someone a glass of water, just visiting the prisoner, the sick, just holding the hand of someone suffering.  Each item in this list has its peculiarities, specific skill set needed, and nuances to completing the tasks well.  Each item although seemingly ordinary during much of one’s day to day living, can get complicated from time to time, and pose eons of surprises.  These items are not JUST anything.  These items – those things that grow out of loving God and loving neighbour – though often feeling ordinary, are full of potential.  They are sharing the Good News, being missional, and bringing God’s kingdom.

The Psalmist writes Psalm 22, part of which we read earlier, as just an ordinary expression of an individual, who in suffering feels abandoned. Until, that is, there is a surprise in the ordinary– the section we heard. The understanding of the world at time of the Psalm was that the dead do not praise the Lord.  In the difficult Hebrew at the end of this reading, the words press on the understanding of the time and provide a vision of what is possible.  Here something happens.  People are given a new understanding, as the psalmist has the sufferer bear witness to a vision of beyond, of salvation – in this, dying is brought into the realm of God’s reign, such that in the throes of death and suffering the person can do no other than praise the Lord. Just an ordinary day, and ordinary event, is not so ordinary after all.

Many of you have heard the song, Ordinary Day, by Great Big Sea;

The song presents the listener with an attitude for viewing an ordinary day.  The lyrics reflect on goodness:

a smile on one’s face, the sun in the sky, water, and four walls around- shelter; there is an acknowledgement of sorrow, and reminder there is a tomorrow. And then repeated is the chorus:

And I say way-hey-hey, it's just an ordinary day
And it's all your state of mind
At the end of the day,
You've just got to say... it's all right.

It’s JUST an ordinary day.

This might have been true, until the ordinary day, when the women went to the tomb to anoint Jesus’s body and found the tomb empty.

This might have been true, until the ordinary day, when the disciples were behind locked doors and Jesus appeared among them and said, “Peace be with you.”

This might have been true, until the ordinary day, when followers were on the road to Emmaus, talking with a stranger, who opened scripture to them, and in the breaking of bread recognized it was the risen Christ.

It’s just an ordinary day.

This might have been true, until the ordinary day, when the resurrected Christ was resurrected for us, in us around us, to us, or through us.

It was just an ordinary day, for Philip.

Now ordinary had taken on new meaning after Jesus’s death and resurrection.  Ordinary was no longer spending his days, and often his nights, with eleven other men hanging off the words of Jesus; following Jesus around; watching Jesus debate, teach, heal, pray, and do normal things like eat, sleep, work a little, or go fishing.  The Easter event changed ordinary.

Ordinary now included living a life that was shaped by a community of believers who were trying to figure out and put Jesus’s words and vision into practice. Just an ordinary day, involved articulating the story of Jesus’s life and death and resurrection; and in telling the story being careful because it caused persecution, trial, or imprisonment.  Just an ordinary day, had Jesus’s followers watching out for each other, sharing their resources, eating and praying together. 

For Philip, just an ordinary day, quickly became an exercise in being pushed out of Jerusalem, on his way through Samaria, where each day he was led to new people and new places to share the Good News. The author of Acts, has Philip, on a number of occasions, moving the Gospel beyond the originally intended audience. Just as Jesus had suggested, the message was to move from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth.

On what had become, the new “just an ordinary day,” the potential in the day exploded into surprise.

William Willimon says it well, “it is the angel whom we see first, ordering Philip around, ordering him to do an absurd thing --- travel down a deserted road at noon! This is not the first nor will it be the last time in Acts that someone will hear a seemingly absurd order from the Lord.”

Philip listens to the angel and travels into the wilderness, where he just happens upon an Ethiopian eunuch sitting on a chariot reading the book of Isaiah. At the nudging of the Spirit, Philip goes over to the Ethiopian official and discusses the scripture with him. Discussing scripture was an ordinary part of Philip’s life, remember, one of the practices of the Apostles has been articulating the Good News.  What makes this event more than JUST an ordinary day is that the Ethiopian – a person considered exotic; this particular one, powerful with significant influence- is that he is a foreigner. Philip’s, “just an ordinary day,” where he moves farther from Jerusalem bringing the kingdom of God, became a world that much bigger than a moment before.

Each movement in the story of Acts, has the potential of the day exponentially increasing: the Ethiopian official asks to be baptized, the Spirit provides the presence of water – in the wilderness of all places, and then Philip is spirited away and finds himself in Azotus on the Mediterranean Sea.

Just an ordinary day in Philip’s life, unexpectedly exploded into surprise, and opened into its full potential, having Philip in the oddest of places with the most interesting of people.

There are no ifs, ands, or buts, about it – living after the Easter event – participating in the Easter event, changes everything.  There is no such thing as “just an ordinary day.” Resurrection has infused so much potential – hope, grace, love- in each moment, each action, that a sentiment of JUST, JUST doesn’t cut it!

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, describes it this way: “Your ordinary acts of love and hope point to the extraordinary promise that every human life is of inestimable value.” 

God demonstrated the ultimate act of love, -suffering, dying, rising- giving us the extraordinary promise that every human life, -including you, including me – is of inestimable value. 

God loves. We love. You love. I love.

This love opens our hearts and beings, to have attitudes that welcome the unexpected surprises in the potential of each day. In fact, to crave, even seek out resurrecting hope and extraordinary promise, through sharing the Good News and bringing the kingdom… in the actions that “just” define the moments of our lives.

Because of Easter, just an ordinary day, is simply a gift – a day- full of potential where angels and the Spirit have us in the oddest places with the most interesting of people. May we open our hearts to see these places and people, to share the Good News and bring the kingdom in all that we say and do; for the love God, from the love of God.  Amen.

The Black Sheep

 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

We began the Gospel reading with the 10^th verse of John 10. The verse sets the stage to contemplate Jesus’ words, “I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down his life…” We hear the “Good Shepherd” discourse in the shadow of these words, with the pointed focus that I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

For a moment I would like you to think about the “black sheep” of your family or the groups to which you belong.  If this phrase is new to you: Black sheep is an idiom for a disreputable person in a family or a group.  The person referred to as the black sheep is regarded with disgrace and distaste by other group members. Often this is the case because the rest of the family has deemed that the person has brought shame or embarrassment to the family name, through some action. The black sheep recurrently acts in ways that are counter to family values and norms, or takes risks beyond regular operating procedures.

The black sheep adds drama to the family system, gives the family an outlet, a scapegoat. Regularly black sheep are outcasts, shunned, become family secrets; other times they are accepted at gatherings but are the brunt of jokes.  The black sheep, in relation to verse 10 of John, would be the one blamed as the thief – the one accused of stealing, killing, destroying.

Who is the black sheep in your family? In groups to which you belong?  Is there a black sheep in our midst?

Jesus declares, I am the Good Shepherd, I lay down my life for the sheep.

Jesus’ perspective has been infused with God’s understanding of kingdom, relationship, and shalom. Jesus’, as presented in John’s Gospel, has Jesus on a divine mission.  He is about finding and saving the lost ones of Israel. Being shepherd to the sheep, is a metaphor that describes the communal life of the people, joined in covenant with God. The Good Shepherd is about bringing the covenant into all that it is to be.

Now, this is all well and good, from Jesus’ perspective, but,

Jesus is the black sheep.  Consider the thought for a moment. Jesus stands in contrast to his counterparts. Through healings and teachings and risky conversations, Jesus acts outside of the status quo. This nobody from Galilee has a troupe of disciples – fishermen, zealots, seekers. Remember, Jesus is run out of the town of Nazareth, the place he grew up, for words he speaks in the synagogue. Jesus, embarrassingly causes trouble for religious leaders and puts pressure on relations with political authorities. Jesus is a black sheep.

Within his family group, Jesus perhaps could be deemed the black sheep as he had alternative ideas, challenging positions,  he did after all follow in the footsteps of the black sheep cousin – John the Baptist, who managed to get his head cut off – now, there, is family shame and embarrassment; yet, the family, his Mother Mary being the example stays through to the end and continues in the early church; as does his brother James carrying on Jesus’ work in Jerusalem. The disciples do not see a black sheep, they follow curious and trusting of Jesus’ leadership.  For certain groups of people – the black sheep of their own communities- outcast for being blind, forgotten because they were poor, shamed for working unclean or treasonous jobs, abandoned because of illness, shunned for heretical ideas, deserted for political ideologies, black-balled for risking action – to these, Jesus is not the black sheep. Jesus is a source of life, Jesus is a Good Shepherd, laying down his life... that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. Relating the Good Shepherd declaration to this statement, being shepherd – a good shepherd- is black sheep territory.

The focus of this fourth Sunday of Easter is having life and having it more abundantly.  The metaphor of sheep and shepherd, alongside the black sheep idiom, channel our energies to reflect on how life brought through the Easter event, is applied and lived out in our everyday lives and relationships. It is in living life with the Risen Christ -shepherd and black sheep-, front and centre, that relationships are resurrected, and the fullness of God’s covenant comes alive. And in this there is life abundant!

Earlier we reflected that Jesus was, as he said, the Good Shepherd, while others around saw him as the black sheep.  It was in his very “goodness” that he was hailed as both shepherd and black sheep. His actions of inclusion, wholeness, and connecting with all sorts of people, made some shun him, others praise him. What does this suggest to us? As followers of the Good Shepherd what is the expectation of our relationships?

With those whom society has cast aside as black sheep?

With those we personally consider black sheep?

Living life with the Risen Christ, there is an expectation for resurrected relationships.  Scripture sets Jesus as the example: touch the sick, heal, stand up for the widow, make people whole, talk with outcasts at common gathering grounds like the village well – in our case the coffee shop; feed the hungry, confront injustice, question religious authority, tell the Easter story and include the words, do not be afraid, peace be with you.

To have life abundantly follows actions that have us being present with black sheep, who because of family circumstance, have found themselves alone, forgotten, sick, living on the street, eccentric, addicted, in prison, beaten upon, making poor decisions, or having crazy ideas. Because of the Easter event, the Risen Christ, through us is resurrected in relationship…in this there is life, life abundant.

Closer to home, what do you do with your family’s black sheep - abusive Uncle Joe, the parent accused of breaking up a family, the sibling who always seems to start the fights, the secret pregnancy, the family manipulator, the drama inducing member, the cousin always down-on-their-luck, Auntie Sue stealing and profiting from other family members? Once again, we reflect that through the Risen Christ, we are called to live through relationship with others and in this we will be closer to the kingdom of God.

It is risky to enter relationships with society’s black sheep, your personally deemed black sheep, and even more so having relationship with the black sheep of your own family system. In doing so, in being a follower of the Good Shepherd, like Jesus you end up becoming a black sheep.  Being of the Good Shepherd- is black sheep territory.

Somehow, black sheep, became an idiom that has a negative or derogatory connotation attached to it.

Before the 19^th Century, in England, shepherds considered black sheep, “omens of good fortune.”  With Jesus as the example I would have to agree, the positive nature of being labelled a black sheep.

Consider those who have had an impact on us, they were likely black sheep – Martin Luther, Martin Luther King Jr, Bonhoeffer, countless martyrs, are some famous ones; then there are musicians, advocates, teachers we most respected, mentors. Black sheep because they do some or all of the following things: they posit ideas, tackle challenging issues, create social change, drive advocacy initiatives, build community equity, and do this from a sense of mission and purpose, disregarding what others will think, or say, or label them. They are the people who choose relationship no matter the risk, whether it be losing other relationships, losing job, and if need be they are willing to give their life. This is black sheep living and the result is life abundant.

There is a story that goes along with the children’s rhyme: baa baa black sheep/have you any wool/yes sir, yes sir, three bags full./one for my master/one for the dame/one for the little boy who lives down the lane.  The story goes that the black sheep, who usually only produced two bags of wool (both taken by the farmer and his household) asked the farmer if she grew enough wool for three bags, could one be given to the little boy who lived at the end of the lane – their family was poor and lacked the resources to get him a winter coat. She spent the spring taking care to eat well, to sun herself, to stay clean, to drink lots of water, she thought happy thoughts.  Another sheep said, “Why bother? Just grow enough.  The farmer takes it all anyway.  Why should someone profit for us?” The black sheep kept on, focusing on the gift of wool for the little boy.  When it came time for sheering, the black sheep and her nouveau ideals, her standing apart from the other sheep, had her able to produce three full bags of beautiful wool.  The farmer honoured his promise and gave it to the little boy and his family.  The nay-sayer sheep, ended the summer with not enough wool and what wool there was was in terrible condition --- that sheep was taken away to be turned into food. Later the little boy – from the black sheep family of the community- came by the farmyard to thank the black sheep, and he was wearing the wool coat his mother had felted for him.

Black sheep live, following the Good Shepherd, who is in many ways a black sheep. Jesus said:  I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. And the same can be said from our lips, for in living life in the Risen Christ, we are called to this action.  Living in the Risen Christ, we act, for we have hope in the fullness of God’s covenant.  Resurrection is felt  and lived in relationships and in this there is life and in this life, there is abundance.

Thanks be to God.