Bible Text: John 10: 22-30 | Preacher: Rev. Jenn Geddes
Most cat owners will tell you that while you might be the owner-the cat could often care less. What I mean is, unlike dogs, cats are willing to live rather independent lives from their owners. It matters little to them who cleans the litter box or puts food in the bowl so long as it is done. You might think I’m wrong, but a 2013 study by the University of Tokyo published in the academic journal entitled “Animal Cognition” discovered that cats are able to recognize their owner’s voice but they choose to ignore them. I am not making this up. Now, I don’t need to spend a lot of time or money figuring that out with our two cats but researchers tested cats by waiting until their owner was out of sight and then played recordings of three strangers calling the cats name, follower by the owners voices, followed by another stranger. The researchers then analyzed the cats’ responses which included things like ear twitches, tail movement, eye dilation. When hearing their names being called the cats displayed that they understood it was a call for them and they reacted more when it was their owners voice. But they did not seek out to follow or find that voice. The study actually goes on to state that the reasons for this are rooted in the evolutionary development of the cat. Turns out that cats have been domesticated for 9,000 years but it was actually the cats who domesticated themselves as humans became more sedentary the cats moved into the grain fields to catch rodents. So, rather than the humans adopting them as pets for pest control, the cats adopted the humans to make sure their basic needs were met. This makes a lot of sense to me since indeed my cat Charlie adopted me well before I adopted him. But I bet there would be some debate in our house about whether the cats can determine who their owner is, especially which one of us gives them treats, and whether they are intentionally ignoring us or not.
Sometimes people have very distinctive voices and it is easy to recognize them. I’m thinking voices like Morgan Freeman, Jimmy Stewart, or Sean Connery. Sometimes it can be rather difficult, especially distinguishing between Father and Son or Siblings. Sometimes people are loud talkers, like yours truly, and so are often heard over the hum of a crowd, sometimes there are soft voices that should be heard. In fact, often what we hear and what is said can be different. This seems to be the case for Jesus in our Gospel reading this morning.
It is the time of the festival of Dedication, which as I mentioned is actually translated to the celebration of Hanukah, which celebrates the re-dedication of the temple in Jerusalem in 165 BCE, following a successful revolt led by four brothers named Maccabees. While it was nothing like the modern celebrations the festival of dedication was a large gathering within Jerusalem, where Jesus is currently preaching and teaching. In fact Jesus is at the temple, preaching on the eastern side of the temple’s outer court, which is where the portico of Solomon was located. I began to wonder why it was relevant for the Gospel author to include little details like that, why mention the time of year or the detailed location. There is a juxtaposition of Jesus preaching during a season that celebrates trust in God. It is also important to point out that Jesus is not only preaching and teaching in Synagogues in the outlying areas but is in THE temple, preaching at important celebrations, that do indeed celebrate God’s presence with the people during difficult times and encourages people to re-commit themselves to the practices of faith. Despite this authority entrusted to Jesus, there is some division among the people about who Jesus really is, what gives him the authority to be there at that time? And so they blurt out, “How long are you going to keep us guessing? Are you the Messiah or not?”
The thing is that Jesus has already told them and they’re still debating, so what’s the point of telling them again? They will choose to ignore the answer- again. In the verses preceding our lesson, Jesus had related himself as the gate for the sheep and as the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep- intentionally using metaphors that refer to Jesus as the way to salvation. Jesus feels he has given these followers enough details for them to come to this conclusion on their own. Not to mention that he has also said he is the light to the world, the bread from heaven and, oh yeah, that he is going to die because he is the Messiah. Or the fact that he has performed miracles that only someone with a direct line to God could perform. None of that seems to matter as Jesus states that it he has not only told them with his words but showed them with his actions. In fact, everything he has said or done has been to the glory of God and in his Father’s name. But, like so many, they just refuse to believe and therefore can’t or won’t hear or see who Jesus really is. Perhaps, they aren’t quite ready to believe it or they aren’t willing to believe it and therefore are unable to truly know who Jesus is.
There is, however, something rather interesting that Jesus says. He says, “but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me.” How do we determine who belongs as a one of those sheep? It all depends on God’s initiative, not ours. It is God who reveals Christ to those eyes that are open, it is God who opens the ears of those who wish to follow, it is God who gives us that voice recognition. The fact that God is portrayed here as the one in control of Jesus’ flock may raise some difficult questions. And how difficult it is to hear over all that other noise.
Elisabeth Johnson, a missionary in Cameroon, says, “there are many voices that tell us how to grow closer to God: by having a prescribed religious experience, by believing in the correct doctrine, by reaching a higher level of knowledge or higher level of morality. By contrast the Good Shepherd tells us that everything depends on belonging to him.” How true it is. It is not up to us to determine God’s doctrine, it is not up to us to determine what kind of experiences one has to have, it is not up to us to determine who belongs and who does not. All of that is placed simply in the hands of our shepherd. Perhaps this is cause for concern in that it means we may have it all wrong. But I like to point out that we are not talking about just any shepherd but the Good Shepherd. For goodness and mercy will follow us all the days of our lives. The promise in this reading is in the deep assurance of the unity of Jesus with the will, heart and purposes of God. In the midst of this hostility in which people are unable to hear his voice, Jesus gives words of comfort to his flock, “No one will snatch them out of my hand.” We have eternal well-being as sheep with the Good Shepherd to guide us.
The good shepherd liberates us from those kinds of concerns. What a relief to know that our status in God’s presence is not dependent on a prescribed doctrine, or based on how we feel, or experiencing the right religion, and even more to the point thank goodness it is not determined on our works. It depends on one thing and one thing alone, that we are known, by name, by the good shepherd, by the grace of God.
The trick is of course, how many times do we hear that voice, maybe even recognize that voice, but choose to ignore it. We are no better than our household cats if all we do is twitch our ears. I know, that I can shut down, and close my ears off to hearing something important, especially when faced with challenge. But in following the Good Shepherd we need to be reminded that Jesus grants us liberation and peace. No matter how dark the valley, we have a guide walking in front of us, walking behind us, walking with us and talking to us everywhere we go. Amen