Renewal of the Church

NOVEMBER 12 SUNDAY RENEWAL OF THE CHURCH
READING: HEBREWS 9:11-15 GOSPEL: JOHN 10:22-42

A PREACHING NOTE:
The most important point here is the comment that the sermon is not “about the gospel”, but is itself the preaching of the gospel. One might rephrase it slightly, and more provocatively: unless the gospel has been preached, there has been no proclamation of the gospel, even though the particular passage from the gospel has been read!
There is an important difference between the gospel and the four texts that we have as the Gospels: the gospel is essentially a proclamation; it is not just a report about things that happened in the past, but the proclamation of the Good News of the work of God in Christ. This, of course, also goes for the four Gospels themselves: they are proclamation. But, as they are given as historical narratives, they need to be “interpreted” to make them into a proclamation in the present. As Origen put it, the gospel is not simply the narrative of the deeds, sufferings, and words of Jesus, but that which “presents the sojourn of Christ and prepares for his coming (parousia), and produces it in the souls of those willing to receive the Word of God, who stands at the door and knocks and wishes to enter their soul.” Christ is present throughout the Scriptures, ready to dwell in those who open themselves to him; it is the task of the homily to present, and effect, the coming of Christ, on the basis of the Scripture read.
…a homily delivered after the Gospel reading and before the anaphora itself, has a very particular, and indispensible, role to play: it is that which prepares us for the reception of the Eucharist. The Word of God to be proclaimed – on a particular occasion to a particular congregation – must work as a double-edged sword, like a surgeon’s scalpel, dissecting in order to be healing. On the one hand, it must be convicting – sharp and discerning, disclosing and revealing, bringing the hearers to an awareness of their sinfulness. On the other hand, it must be redeeming and healing, so that the hearers know themsleves as forgiven sinners. In this way the congregation is fashioned into the people of God, those who will be able to approach the chalice with the worlds “sinner of whom I am first,” and receive the body and blodd of Christ the “medicien of immortality” as St. Igantius of Antioch put it. The homily must elevate the minds of the congregation, so that they are ready to perceive what will be done in the eucharistic anaphora, bringing about a spirit of contrition with which they can then encounter their Savior, so that their hearts of stone can indeed be repalced with hearts of flesh, and themsleves become the flesh of the Word.
– Fr. John Behr, Dean of Theology, St. Vladimir Seminary, Yonkers, New York

Reading: Hebrews 9:11-15

11 But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that have come to be, passing through the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made by hands, that is, not belonging to this creation, 12 he entered once for all into the sanctuary, not with the blood of goats and calves but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls and the sprinkling of a heifer’s ashes can sanctify those who are defiled so that their flesh is cleansed, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from dead works to worship the living God.
15 For this reason he is mediator of a new covenant: since a death has taken place for deliverance from transgressions under the first covenant, those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance.

Exegesis:

a 9:11–14 Christ, the high priest of the spiritual blessings foreshadowed in the Old Testament sanctuary, has actually entered the true sanctuary of heaven that is not of human making (Hb 9:11). His place there is permanent, and his offering is his own blood that won eternal redemption (Hb 9:12). If the sacrifice of animals could bestow legal purification (Hb 9:13), how much more effective is the blood of the sinless, divine Christ who spontaneously offered himself to purge the human race of sin and render it fit for the service of God (Hb 9:14).
b 9:11 The good things that have come to be: the majority of later manuscripts here read “the good things to come”; cf. Hb 10:1.
c 9:13 A heifer’s ashes: ashes from a red heifer that had been burned were mixed with water and used for the cleansing of those who had become ritually defiled by touching a corpse; see Nm 19:9, 14–21.
d 9:14 Through the eternal spirit: this expression does not refer either to the holy Spirit or to the divine nature of Jesus but to the life of the risen Christ, “a life that cannot be destroyed” (Hb 7:16).
e 9:15–22 Jesus’ role as mediator of the new covenant is based upon his sacrificial death (cf. Hb 8:6). His death has effected deliverance from transgressions, i.e., deliverance from sins committed under the old covenant, which the Mosaic sacrifices were incapable of effacing. Until this happened, the eternal inheritance promised by God could not be obtained (Hb 9:15). This effect of his work follows the human pattern by which a last will and testament becomes effective only with the death of the testator (Hb 9:16–17). The Mosaic covenant was also associated with death, for Moses made use of blood to seal the pact between God and the people (Hb 9:18–21). In Old Testament tradition, guilt could normally not be remitted without the use of blood (Hb 9:22; cf. Lv 17:11).

Gospel: John 10:22-42

22 The feast of the Dedication was then taking place in Jerusalem. It was winter. 23 And Jesus walked about in the temple area on the Portico of Solomon. 24 So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” 25 Jesus answered them, “I told you and you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify to me. 26 But you do not believe, because you are not among my sheep. 27 My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one can take them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can take them out of the Father’s hand. 30 The Father and I are one.”
31 The Jews again picked up rocks to stone him. 32 Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from my Father. For which of these are you trying to stone me?” 33 The Jews answered him, “We are not stoning you for a good work but for blasphemy. You, a man, are making yourself God.” 34 Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, “You are gods”’? 35 If it calls them gods to whom the word of God came, and scripture cannot be set aside, 36 can you say that the one whom the Father has consecrated and sent into the world blasphemes because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? 37 If I do not perform my Father’s works, do not believe me; 38 but if I perform them, even if you do not believe me, believe the works, so that you may realize [and understand] that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” 39 [Then] they tried again to arrest him; but he escaped from their power.
40 He went back across the Jordan to the place where John first baptized, and there he remained. 41 Many came to him and said, “John performed no sign, but everything John said about this man was true.” 42 And many there began to believe in him.

Exegesis:

a 10:22 Feast of the Dedication: an eight-day festival of lights (Hebrew, Hanukkah) held in December, three months after the feast of Tabernacles (Jn 7:2), to celebrate the Maccabees’ rededication of the altar and reconsecration of the temple in 164 B.C., after their desecration by Antiochus IV Epiphanes (Dn 8:13; 9:27; cf. 1 Mc 4:36–59; 2 Mc 1:18–2:19; 10:1–8).
b 10:23 Portico of Solomon: on the east side of the temple area, offering protection against the cold winds from the desert.
c 10:24 Keep us in suspense: literally, “How long will you take away our life?” Cf. Jn 11:48–50. If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly: cf. Lk 22:67. This is the climax of Jesus’ encounters with the Jewish authorities. There has never yet been an open confession before them.
d 10:25 I told you: probably at Jn 8:25 which was an evasive answer.
e 10:29 The textual evidence for the first clause is very divided; it may also be translated: “As for the Father, what he has given me is greater than all,” or “My Father is greater than all, in what he has given me.”
f 10:30 This is justification for Jn 10:29; it asserts unity of power and reveals that the words and deeds of Jesus are the words and deeds of God.
g 10:34 This is a reference to the judges of Israel who, since they exercised the divine prerogative to judge (Dt 1:17), were called “gods”; cf. Ex 21:6, besides Ps 82:6, from which the quotation comes.
h 10:36 Consecrated: this may be a reference to the rededicated altar at the Hanukkah feast; see note on Jn 10:22.
i 10:41 Performed no sign: this is to stress the inferior role of John the Baptist. The Transjordan topography recalls the great witness of John the Baptist to Jesus, as opposed to the hostility of the authorities in Jerusalem.
Sample Homily:

Wolves among the sheep make shepherding difficult. Yet even under the weight of wolves Jesus says, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give eternal life to them. They will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all….” (10:27-29).
We find comfort in these words of Jesus, and then again we might not. I mean, if it’s your loved ones who died, your child who died, your friend who was maimed — suddenly you have more questions than answers the age old questions rise up in a swirl of emotion and immediacy:

• If God is really in charge, why does He allow such horrible things to happen?
• If God truly stands in opposition to evil, why does He permit evil to exist at all?
• If God really is all-powerful and omnipotent, why doesn’t He act to save the lives of the innocent?
• Jesus promised no sheep would be snatched from His hand. What happened?

These are the wrestling questions of faith. There are answers to these questions but most grieving people usually find such answers to be inadequate and unfulfilling. So maybe the answers we’re looking for are those that speak more to the heart than to the intellect. Truth be told, there is no “explaining” why two brothers thought it was a good idea to kill and maim innocent people by planting bombs in the midst of a large crowd. There is no “explanation” that would lead us to say, “Oh, now I understand. That makes sense.”
But we still struggle with God’s role in all of this. Does God’s apparent inactivity, God’s lack of intervention, make God complicit? What possible good could come from all of this?
Our hearts know and trust the God we have experienced most fully in Jesus Christ. That doesn’t mean we don’t struggle to understand. That doesn’t mean we don’t shake a fist at God? That doesn’t mean we don’t continue asking the tough questions.
What it means is that in our hearts we trust; we in the promises of a God who came among us in Jesus Christ for the sole purpose of defeating sin and death. Because of God’s work in Christ we are no longer slaves to sin and death. As counter-intuitive as it sounds, we know, we believe that through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, God somehow, some way, defeated death. It’s not that we don’t still experience death, we are mortal after all. Rather it’s that death is no longer the final word. There is life beyond death, Jesus calls it “eternal life.” In a strange way we can say that in the resurrection of
Jesus God redeemed death, He re-created death and made it into life. This is the heart hope we share with the grieving. We don’t ever deny the pain and anger grieving people feel when they are forced to stand at the threshold of death. The emotions are real. But so is the promise, the promise of eternal
life.
Jesus proclaims Himself a shepherd, a good shepherd, whose sheep know His voice. But upon closer examination we discover that the only reason the sheep know the good shepherd is because He knows them. Jesus initiates the relationship. Jesus knows His sheep. He knows you and He knows me — and that is why we are here today. And I believe with every fiber in my body that Jesus also knows those who died in Boston, He knows the maimed and hurt. He holds us all in the palm of His hand.
It’s a fascinating metaphor. We tend to hold the most precious things in our hands:

•We hold tightly the hands of children when crossing the street.
•Often when we pray we hold hands.
•When we pass the peace we grasp hands.
•When we have something valuable we hold it carefully — in our hands

Jesus says He’s clutching us, His sheep, in His hand. He seeks to protect us, shelter us, safeguard us for eternal life. But that does not mean we are shielded from the trials and tribulations of living; we are not shielded from the world we live in, the very world God entered into in the person of Jesus Christ. No, we are called to live in this world as sheep of Jesus’ flock. That means we look to God in times of great crisis, the very God who calls us to live into a hope that constantly reminds us that we are known, we are cherished, we are priceless, and we have been rescued for eternal life.
Knowing that we are known; believing that we are saved for eternal life — frees us to persevere in faith. We continue to ask the tough questions (most of which have to with the reality of evil), but we find solace in knowing that we have been saved for eternal life; knowing that our existence in this world is temporary but our life in God is eternal. Knowing these things to be true is an act of faith and faith is what we have to offer the hurting and grieving. For many of us this can be a hard thing to do, because to enter into the suffering of others is to shoulder the burden, it is to be a co-sufferer after the example of Jesus Christ who suffered with and for sheep like you and me.
Now, please don’t misunderstand. We’re not saying that suffering is good. Rather, we are saying that suffering is a part of our existence and that through the redeeming power of love we do not suffer alone. We are held tightly in the hand of the Good Shepherd who has promised us that no one or no thing can ever snatch us away from the divine grasp.