In college, like most students, I tended to look up to my professors and believe what they told me. After all, they had doctorates in subjects that I was just starting to learn. I felt that what a professor said was more informed and more authoritative than my own opinion.
To our knowledge, Jesus had little formal education or training. He held no positions of power or authority. He didn't live in a major metropolitan area. He didn't really start or operate any kid of formal organization. Yet his life and Spirit have inspired billions of people over thousands of years. How can this be?
In today's Gospel reading, Jesus tells his followers, "Whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice, as the shepherd calls his own sheep by name and leads them out."
Somehow, even centuries after his death, we recognize the voice of God in the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Like sheep know the voice of their shepherd and will instinctively follow that voice, we do the same with the voice of God in Christ. Sheep don't check the diploma of their shepherd. They simply respond to a voice that they have learned to trust. Christ's message is authoritative not because it is supported by academic credentials, but because it expresses the truth that we know in our hearts is real.
"I came that they might have life, and have it more abundantly," Jesus concludes. Jesus' teachings are not meant to deprive us or deplete us. Jesus, like shepherd tending sheep, wants to guide us and protect us. The question you and I must ask, I suppose, is whether we will let him.
Do we trust his voice more than we trust the other voices that promise a rich and rewarding life? Do we trust his voice even when it seems like following him might not lead to the abundance and protection that he promises?
I don't know about you, but I'm pretty good at following Jesus when things are going well in my life. When my family is happy, my job is satisfying, and my relationships are strong and stable, it is easier for me to be thankful and to feel cared for by God. When any one of these things starts to unravel, I start to wonder if living by God's word is a worthwhile endeavor. It is hard to believe at these times that Jesus came to bring me an abundant life.
In today's second reading we're told, "If you are patient when you suffer for doing good, this is a grace before God." Apparently, the abundant life does not mean one without hardship. We are challenged in times of difficulty to understand how God is leading us when we feel so abandoned. How is the shepherd guiding us when we feel surrounded by predators?
I tend to stop listening for God's voice at these times, and simply focus on escaping difficulty. Perhaps it is at these times that I should be listening hardest for the shepherd's call. Bill Peatman writes from Napa.
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