Easter 4 2013 - Winter ?

I don't know how good you are at imagining things - Helen's really good at it, but I'm not ! But today I want you to imagine something - and this one is not too difficult really - I want you to imagine its winter - in other words skies are grey, it's dark and miserable outside, the rain is coming down and it's cold... See I told you it wasn't too difficult to imagine !

The subject of weather is always a popular topic, but rather unusually today the subject of winter comes up in our gospel reading (John 10:22-30). We are told it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, a feast that happens in winter time, celebrating the rededication of the Temple by Judas Maccabeus in 165BC.

And so it was probably cold and maybe that's why John, the gospel writer, tells us Jesus was walking in the Portico of Solomon, a covered area in the Temple.

Or perhaps it's rather more likely that John was referring to the fact that the spiritual temperature seemed rather cold. This was a great feast - a feast of victory and celebration, a time to think again about God's goodness and how he provided for his people.

But no... The Jews instead gathered around Jesus to quiz him. 'How long will you keep us in suspense - if you're the Messiah, tell us plainly'.

There's a story about a farmer who lived on the same farm all his life. It was a good farm but as the years went on the farmer got a bit fed up and longed for something better. Every day he found a new reason for criticising the farm and finally he decided to sell.

The estate agent came and took notes and prepared the advert. As you'd expect it emphasised the farm's advantages - ideal location, modern equipment, healthy stock, acres of fertile ground etc..

The agent showed the advert to the farmer who quickly said, 'I've changed my mind. I'm not going to sell. I've been looking for a place like that all my life'.

The Jews were waiting for a Messiah but when he was standing right there in front of them they missed him. And when they asked for a sign Jesus told them that he'd given them all the signs they needed - if they would only look.

But they failed to see the Messiah in the changing of water into wine, in the feeding of the 5000, in the healing of the lame and sick, in the raising of Lazarus, in the commandment to love God and each other.

The people that questioned him were blind to these things - they wanted not just a dramatic sign but they wanted something that would benefit them, and benefit them immediately. They had their own idea of what a Saviour would be like... And Jesus didn't look like him !

And yet those who could see him had their lives transformed - they would see Jesus as the Great Shepherd, totally dedicated to caring for his sheep, guiding them, helping them, loving them - nothing could ever snatch them away from the shepherd...

And today there are lots of people who are just the same - the negative people, people who will moan and question everything, people who are so cynical of everything that life just seems hard work...

There was a magician working on a cruise ship. Each week the audience was different so the magician did the same tricks - this was fine except for the fact that there was the Captain's parrot watching each week - and once he understood the trick he began to shout out, 'look he's hiding the flowers under the table' or 'hey why are all the cards the ace of spades' and other answers to how the tricks were done.

The magician was furious but couldn't do anything because it was the captain’s parrot. One stormy day though the ship had an accident and the magician found himself adrift on a piece of wood in the middle of the ocean... And of course the parrot was on the very same piece of wood... The two stared at each other with hate, but didn't utter a word... This went on for a day,then another and then another... After 3 days the parrot finally said, 'ok. I give up ! Where have you hidden the boat?'

Sometimes the answers aren't too clear ! The cynical and the moaners often think they have an answer for everything and yet so often, they are people who lack hope and peace...

Jesus didn't intend to bring academic proof of who he was - he came to bring hope and peace. He came to build relationships. He came to transform lives through the example of his life, and through his death and resurrection… He came to transform lives by showing how much he loved people, and that still applies today...

And that is what people then and people now are being asked to judge about Jesus and about the incredible saving power of God.

It was the power that did those miracles I mentioned earlier. It was the power that overcame death on the cross, it was the power that was transferred to Peter in the reading from the Acts of the apostles that we heard earlier (Acts 9:36-43)... There Peter was used to bring back Tabitha to life, and many people believed because of it...

And today miraculous things still happen - some receive unexplained healing, but so many more just see their lives miraculously transformed by a God whose very love is miraculous.

What ordinary person would love when people hurt them, not just a little but but hurt them badly and regularly. What ordinary person would lay down their lives for people who didn't seem to care for them, who mocked them and abused them. What ordinary person would keep extending their arms out seeking a relationship when those arms just keep getting pushed away.... That is the miraculous power of God who loves without limits... Who loves us wherever we are and whatever we have done...

That is the God who is our shepherd, who allows us to lie in green pastures, leads us beside still waters, refreshing us, guiding us...

That is the God who walks with us in every journey of life - good or bad, easy or hard... That is the God who has prepared a home for us for all eternity...

And in the reading from Revelation (7:9-17) we are reminded of the heavenly vision - a community where there are people of every nation and tribe and people and language - people who will hunger no more and thirst no more....

Our readings today give a wonderful invitation for us to really follow Jesus for the first time or to commit ourselves to growing closer to him... Look to Jesus and when we see him as he is, as our saviour, then we can never be the same again...

And our response will surely be to seek to become more like him, to praise him, to glorify him, to proclaim his love and gospel for all, and to know that in all we do he is with us, and that 'surely goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our lives, and we will dwell in the house of The Lord forever.' Amen