Jonathan Edward Lys. That’s my full given name. Looking at it on paper it has some meaning. My first name was chosen because of how it fit with my last name. AS you can imagine LYS is a hard last name to match with a first name. Also, my dad, who is Robert Lys Jr, didn’t want a Robert Lys the III. My middle name is one that I share with my late grandfather and my uncle. My last name is unique and often mispronounced, because really…how many words have a “y” as the only vowel? On paper, it’s my name and really not too much more. When it really begins to take shape and have identity is when voice is given to it.
It’s amazing how the way that others say your name can really tell you something. I know that when I was growing up if I ever heard my mom’s voice say “Jonathan Edward” I knew that I had better find her as quickly as I could because it was something important. In the same way, if I ever heard mom say “Jonathan Edward Lys!” a chain of events happened. First, I would freeze up and my mind would start racing with one simple question “What did I do?” Then I had a choice, do I wait for her to come find me or do I move as fast as humanly possible to find her. I usually did the latter because that’s the smarter of the two choices. Personally, one of the scariest things in the world is hearing your mom say your full name. I’m pretty sure that’s why middle names where created in the first place.
We are surrounded by voices all of the time. Voices of our family and friends. Voices of those we work with or go to school with. Voices from the media and politics. Voices of those who agree with us and those who disagree with us. Voices that swirl around in our head. There is no shortage of voices in our life. All of these voices tell us different things. Some of the voices are supportive. They congratulate us on the things we accomplish. They say encouraging words when we are struggling. They give us questions and things to think about when our life needs direction. For me, my mom is a voice that continues to be a voice of encouragement, reason, and comfort when I need those words the most. The same voice that was able to strike fear in me as a child is also the voice that has always been there as a comforting presence when I had messed up.
Our Gospel lesson this morning gives us the chance to hear the voice of Jesus again. It also gives us a chance to reflect on how his voice stacks up with all the other voices. The context of this passage in the gospel of John is that it immediately follows the story of the healing of the man who was blind from birth. We often hear the voice of Jesus as one who lays out things in a very authoritative fashion. “This is the way it is” That’s because we see the words of Jesus written in the gospels. When Jesus was speaking these words his audience would have been his disciples, the man who had been healed and more than likely some of the Jewish leaders. He is speaking to them in a personal way. They would have heard the voice of Jesus providing comfort. Teaching them and helping them to understand what they could find in him. Jesus starts with one metaphor that he is probably most known for, a shepherd. I am the shepherd who enters by the gate. The sheep know my voice and they follow me. I go ahead of them and they follow because they know my voice. I lead them out to pasture and look after them. The gospel writer tells us that those who were listening didn’t understand so Jesus tries a different metaphor. I definitely understand this because I have to try different things when I teach. You can ask the Junior High or High School youth and they would tell you that almost every time I teach I ask , “Did that make sense?” and when I’m met with blank stares I pivot and try again.
So Jesus gives us another metaphor that we don’t talk about all that much. I am the gate for the sheep. This is a different way of talking about Jesus. Now, Jesus didn’t mean that he is shepherd and gate simultaneously, but that he can be seen as both. The gate offers protection and security. The gate helps to control the flow. The gate gives the sheep something to aim for to figure out where they are going. Jesus then says two really big things. “Whoever enters by me will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture.” Taken out of context that verse could easily be wielded as a weapon. It could be one of those absolutes that we like to hear, but that is when it is taken out of context. In context, what Jesus says brings up a question, saved from what? For the man who was blind, who was healed and listening to Jesus say those words it meant being saved from a life outside the community. A life of begging and surviving. What does it mean for us?
I didn’t mention the other voices earlier. The voices that many people hear far more than any other voice. The voices that say: you’re not good enough, life isn’t as good unless you buy this, you’re too fat, you’re too skinny, you have to do it all on your own, you are in charge of saving yourself, you have to fix it all, it’s all your fault and many, many, many more. Sometimes they are voices that are in plain sight. Often they are really well hidden. Masked with the pretty, seemingly innocent exterior that they are just trying to do what’s best for us. Sometimes they aren’t voices we hear, but rather voices we tell ourselves. We listen to them. They dominate our hearing so we follow along. We try and save ourselves. We buy things that we think will make life better. We strike out on our own because we think we’re the only one we can rely on. We alter our clothing, our hairstyle, our body with a new diet or even surgery because we think that will be what brings us back into good graces. We work and we work and we work to appease those voices. To appease those bandits and thieves who climb in by another way. That’s what those voices are. They are thieves and they are bandits with their only goal being to steal, kill and destroy.
By entering through the gate we are saved from these voices. They don’t have the last say on things. They cannot lay claim to us. This is what Jesus, who is the gate, says, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” The gate offers protection and security. The gate helps control the flow of the voices that we hear so that the voice that we hear the strongest is the voice of the shepherd. The gate gives us something to aim for…namely the abundant life here and now. That abundant life is a gift. It’s not something that we work for. It’s given to us by the shepherd. Amongst all of the other voices we hear we know that voice, the voice of the shepherd, because it is the one that enters through the gate. It’s the voice that speaks straight to our heart…to our very being. You are mine. I know you. I know your name. I will lead you. Follow me. This is the voice that gives us our identity that cannot be taken away. This is the voice that brings an abundant life that is overflowing with joy, grace, peace and love.
When I was a kid I would go help my Poppa, my dad’s dad, work with the cows and do work on the various pieces of property he owns. One of my standard roles that I had, as soon as I was able, was to open the gate. We would pull up to the gate of the next pasture that we were going to work in and I would jump out of the truck to go unlock it and hold it open as the truck went through. After the truck passed through I would close the gate and lock it behind us so the cows couldn’t get where they weren’t supposed to go. Often we find ourselves in the role of the gate keeper. We are there to help open the gate to others. Just as Jesus can be seen as both shepherd and gate, we can be seen as both sheep and gatekeeper. If you notice, the gatekeeper knows the shepherd. They know the shepherd and open the gate so that the sheep can hear the voice of the shepherd. They are the catalyst for the sheep following the shepherd when he calls to them. We have experienced the voice of our shepherd calling to us. We have experienced the gate that saves us from all the other voices we hear. Having experienced these things we are prime candidates to be gatekeepers. To open wide the gate for the shepherd. To be the catalyst so that others might hear, see and experience abundant life. It’s a part of our identity. Let me tell you, it looks good on paper, but it gets even better when we give voice to it. May you always hear the voice of Jesus louder than the other voices. May you experience the gate that saves us and brings us the gift of abundant life. And may you give voice to these promises as a gatekeeper so that others may experience the gift of abundant life through you. Amen
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