Eternal Life by Cheri Holdridge (with an assist by Kurt Young)

       Today’s passage comes from a larger section of scriptures in which Jesus refers to himself as the Good Shepherd (John 10:22-30 for the New Revised Standard Version for those following along from afar). A shepherd cares for his sheep and protects them from harm. In today’s passage the people are getting impatient. They want to know for sure who Jesus is and so they ask him: “Are you the Messiah we’ve been waiting for?”
 

Jesus answers first: “I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me.” I think he is losing a bit of patience with them here. How could they have been with Jesus all this time and not realize who he is?

He goes on to say: “But you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. ²⁷My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. ²⁸I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand.” He is actually trying to reassure them: “If you believe in me, you are my sheep, no one will snatch you away. I will always be with you, and you will be with me.” Isn’t this what we want? The reassurance that Jesus is with us, walking with us through life, that we are not alone? We are all facing challenges and struggles. Jesus does not promise a life without struggle, but he promises that we will not have to go it alone. He will be with us. But more than that, in this passage, he promises eternal life. He says: “I give my sheep eternal life and they will never perish.” 

Jesus does not tell us anything about what this eternal life will look like. He simply says he will give his followers eternal life. We joke around about what Heaven will look like: there will be rivers of chocolate that we can eat all day and not get fat; everyone will be beautiful and ageless; of course our dogs and cats will be in heaven because we love them so much; the streets will be paved with gold. But that won’t really matter because we won’t need money in heaven, our every need will be met. There won’t be rich or poor in heaven. Everyone will be rich. Everyone will be young and healthy. Everyone will be smart and talented.  Doesn’t that sound wonderful?  (A few us thought it sounded a little boring).

But in this passage of scripture, Jesus does not describe any of those things. All he says is this: “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish.” That means that when we die in this world, we don’t really die. There is something beyond this world. We never die. Something of us goes on forever. We think this is our spirit. Our spirit lives on through eternity. We won’t need our bodies, they can be left behind in the grave, or even cremated because we won’t need them. It’s the spirit that moves on. The spirit will never perish. 

This eternal life does not start when our bodies die, this eternal life begins right now. We are living eternal life right now. What do you think of that idea? How does that feel? Imagine that your life right now is eternal. It won’t be the same forever, but it will BE forever. 

How might we live our lives differently if we really believed this idea that we live forever? We have a sign outside this movie theater that says here at The Village we are authentic, inclusive and courageous. If we really believe that eternal life is real, how might we be more authentic, and inclusive and courageous? 

If I know that I am going to live forever, I want to be authentic in my relationships. I don’t want to go around pretending to be someone I’m not for all of eternity. Eternity is a long time to put on a charade. When we are inauthentic, we end up telling lies. And when we tell lies, we always get caught. We can’t remember the lies and soon we can’t even tell what is the truth from what is a lie anymore. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be fake for all of eternity. So we might as well start being authentic now. That means that we are honest about who we are: we admit our faults, our fears, and our foibles. We know we are imperfect people and God loves us anyway. So we stop trying to pretend we are perfect. We let our true selves show. 

Here at The Village we also value inclusivity. If eternal life is real then we need to get started on inclusivity right now, and not wait until someday far into the future. During the Civil Rights movement, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote in his classic book, Why We Can’t Wait: “The words 'bad timing' came to be ghosts haunting our every move in Birmingham. Yet people who used this argument were ignorant of the background of our planning...they did not realize that it was ridiculous to speak of timing when the clock of history showed that the Negro had already suffered one hundred years of delay.”  (Source: https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/709627-why-we-can-t-wait). 

We are living in eternity now. There is no time to waste when it comes to inclusivity. There is no time for walls of exclusion. All people must be valued and respected without regard to race, gender expression, sexual orientation, nationality, class, educational status or any other classification. We are living into God’s eternal future for us and that future involves a world where everyone is included.

The third value at The Village is courage. If eternal life is here and now, then we can live with courage. Think about it. We have nothing to fear. Not even death has a hold on us. So we can act with courage. We can stand up to bullies and oppressors. They can’t harm us because we have eternal life. We can stand up to unjust laws and those who uphold them because we have eternal life. We can stand up to unjust practices in our church and those who uphold them, because we have eternal life. We have courage to do what is right. 

Rev. Cynthia Meyer is a pastor who had the courage to do what is right, and to live with authenticity. In her first sermon of 2016, Cynthia Meyer came out as a lesbian who lives in a relationship with another woman. Because she is a United Methodist pastor this was a big deal. You see she is breaking church law and she could lose her ordination credentials. She said she was “called by God to be open and honest” about who she is. (Source: http://www.religionnews.com/2016/03/02/kansas-pastor-steps-out-of-the-closet-and-into-the-crosshairs-video/). Soon after he received a copy of her Jan. 3 sermon, Bishop Scott Jones of the Great Plains Conference asked for Meyer’s suspension. So far, the executive committee of the Board of Ordained Ministry has not approved the suspension, so Meyer continues to serve as pastor of her church in Edgerton, Kansas. Meyer and the bishop, who has the authority to appoint and remove pastors, have begun a “supervisory response process,” which involves meetings to work toward a “just resolution.” If a resolution cannot be agreed upon within a certain time, the issue will be brought to a church trial. 

Meyer said: “The church would be glad to have my services if I would be quiet and stay in the closet, and I think I’ve indicated that I will not do that. So, I recognize that I may have to leave. I’m not eager to leave. I’m not eager to stay in an abusive relationship, either.” (ibid.)  A few people have left her congregation, but most have stayed with her. Some that she thought would be upset have been supportive. On the day she made her announcement there were many hugs and stories shared of relatives and friends who are gay or lesbian. 

The issue of gay clergy and same-sex marriage will be a focus at the United Methodist Church’s worldwide General Conference in May. The UMC is the largest mainline Protestant denomination to not accept same gender marriage. Meyer plans to attend the General Conference, and she is working with Reconciling Ministries Network and its campaign “It’s Time,” which asks members of the church to send letters to their delegation and share stories, in the hopes of influencing the conference vote.

Meyer has courage. She has the courage that comes when one knows that one has eternal life. She is in this fight for the long haul. She does not have fear because she trusts that she belongs to Jesus now and forever. She knows Jesus is walking by her side. There is a confidence that comes from knowing that down to your core. 

How about you? Do you know that you belong to Jesus? Are you one of his sheep? Do you hear his voice? Do you trust Jesus when he says that you have eternal life? I can’t tell you all of what eternal life means. No one knows for sure. But I have a clue. 

Eternal life means we are not alone. We live with Jesus. We may feel like we’re alone. We may feel isolated and misunderstood. But there is one who is always with us and always understands us. That one is Jesus. Jesus was with us yesterday, he is with us today, and he will be with us tomorrow. Jesus never leaves us. We have eternal life with Jesus. 

        So do not be afraid. Live with courage. Step into that bold eternal life that Jesus offers you. Eternity begins today.