ETERNAL SECURITY
FATHER JIM FOSDICK
ST. MARY OF THE SNOWS ANGLICAN CHURCH
APRIL 29,2007
In the name of God…Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Vince Lombardi is reported to have said, “Winning isn’t the most important thing, it’s the only thing.” I grew up in Madison watching the Packers and when I was in high school and my first couple years in college, the Packers won 2 NFL Championships and the first two Super Bowls over a period of five years. Lombardi wasn’t just a great coach, he was a good man…definitely a good role model.
Victory was what drove him as a coach, and victory is what our gospel is about today. The gospel victory isn’t for 4 out of 5 years it’s forever. From beginning to end today’s gospel is about how with God we can be victorious. Let’s start with the circumstances of Jesus encounter with the Jews. First we’re told that it was the feast of the Dedication. Dedication of what? This is actually the only place in the Bible that mentions this feast. It was a feast that commemorated the rededication of the temple after an important victory in the history of the Jewish people. The King of Syria, Antiochus Epiphanes had tried to wipe out the Jews and had desecrated the temple putting a statue of the Greek God Zeus on the altar. Judas Maccabeus had led a revolt and defeated Antiochus and drove him out of the country. The temple was cleansed and rededicated and annually ever since, the day is celebrated. It came to be called the feast of lights because it is the custom to light lamps as part of the celebration. Modern Jews celebrate this feast as Hanukah and maintain the light aspect by lighting eight candles one each day until all eight are lit. The feast is observed in late November or early December about the same time as Christian Advent.
So our gospel takes place in the winter and because it is cold Jesus is walking in the temple in the portico of Solomon, a covered area where it would have been warmer. Jesus ministry is nearing its end and his crucifixion is approaching. He is intentionally in Jerusalem where he knows the religious authorities will be. In the verses just prior to our passage, Jesus has given sight to a blind man and we read that the Jews were divided with some believing Jesus had a demon and others recognizing the obvious that a demon couldn’t have opened the blind man’s eyes. The Jews surround Jesus and want to know if he is the Christ. This may seem innocent enough, but for some time now they have been anxious to get proof to take to the Romans so they can have him executed. If they can get him to say he is the Messiah, the King of the Jews, they will be successful. Jesus response of just nine short verses lays out the plan of salvation. For us it is a game plan for how we can achieve victory through Christ.
Jesus responds to them saying I told you who I am and you did not believe. Next he says the works he does in his Father’s name prove he is who he says he is. In other words healing a blind man among many other miracles should have proven to them that he is God but they just won’t accept it. He explains that they don’t get it because they are not his sheep. This is an important concept. Spiritual understanding comes from our relationship with Jesus. Like the Jews, we can’t understand unless we are followers of Jesus.
Jesus dialogue with the Jews presents three steps in the process of salvation. Jumping ahead a little bit, in verse 29 Jesus says My Father has given them to me in reference to his sheep. The process starts with God the Father. Jesus said no one comes to me unless the Father calls him. So step 1, For each of us as believers the process began with God. While we were still sinners God called out to us. It is not that we loved God but that God first loved us. What’s the most famous verse in the Bible? The one people hold up at football games…John 3:16. For God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. That makes it sound like we are the ones that take the initiative. Most people remember verse 16 but forget what comes next. Verse 17 For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world but that the world might be saved through him. God didn’t send Jesus to collect all the nice people who had decided to follow him. God sent Jesus to save sinners. While we were still lost in our sins Jesus was at work seeking us to save us.
In the Old Testament in Ezekiel we learn that this is God’s plan. Those whom God had given the responsibility to lead the people to him had failed. The shepherds of Israel, the religious leaders had looked after themselves and not the people and the people were lost. So in Ezekiel 34 God says, “ I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep and I will make them lie down says the Lord God.” The one who makes them lie down is the one who takes them to where it is safe to lie down, the one who truly looks after them and God says I will do that myself. This calling… this communication is a two way line. God calls those whom he gives to Jesus and those who are called hear his voice. Jesus says in John 10 verse 27, “My sheep hear my voice and I know them.”
There’s a wonderful book by Phillip Keller entitled Lessons from a Sheepdog. Keller needed a sheepdog to help with his sheep ranch. He responded to an ad and ended up taking in a completely unruly abused sheepdog. The book details how with love he gradually brought the dog under control and turned it into a working dog who could be his partner in raising sheep. He skillfully shifts back and forth from actual narrative about the ranching process to lessons he learned about his own relationship with a loving master, God. Here’s a short excerpt from the chapter on Learning to Trust. It has taken some time for Keller to love away the dog’s fears and to get the dog to trust him. He has just begun teaching the dog commands that will be used in herding sheep. Keller writes,
“For Lass, a part of this wondrous new world of hers was the sound of my voice. With the passing weeks she learned to listen for it. She came to understand its timbre and tone. She discovered that I meant what I said. Unlike her former owner who ranted and raved, screamed and threatened in angry tirades, there was none of that. When I called her, she quickly discovered that she was expected to come. She would be petted and praised. To hear my voice was to be alerted to respond to it. For, as week followed week, she rapidly realized I was not one to waste words, indulge in empty emotions or give false commands. What I said I meant. What I told her she could trust. What I commanded she was expected to carry out. This did not happen in a day. It did not take place in a week. It was a steady ongoing process in which she came to respect and to respond to my voice.” He goes on in some detail describing how the trust between the two grows and focusing particularly on how the dog Lass listens with eagerness so she can respond with immediate action.
Keller then describes the lessons he learned from working with Lass about his own relationship with God. “Most important, what I learned from Lass is how faith, likewise grows between me and God—how quiet confidence comes into play between me and my master, Jesus Christ—how acute sensitivity is established between me and the Gracious Spirit. For God does speak. God has articulated himself. His voice has gone out through all the earth. He speaks through his own written word. He speaks through his prophets of old. He speaks through Christ. He speaks through his own people today. He speaks through his own spirit within us. He speaks through the wonder of his created universe.
Like Lass do I alert myself to hear his voice? Do I set myself to be sensitive to his sounds? Do I truly concentrate on his commands? Am I ready to respond quickly to his wishes? Faith comes by hearing in this way. And hearing comes by and through the word of God to us. And the lifetime lesson learned from working with Lass was simply this: ‘Faith is my personal, positive response to the Word of God to the point where I act in quiet trust.’”
Turning back to our gospel for today let’s move on to step 2, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them and they follow me…” and they follow me. Following Jesus once we’ve heard God’s voice is step 2. Just like in the story of Lass the sheepdog, following the words we hear is a crucial part of our relationship with Jesus. Christ’s sheep hear his voice when they are in church and hear God’s word read. They hear Christ in the words of the preacher. They respond by confessing their faith in him. Thereafter the line of communication is open and they hear that still small voice of His, day by day, and they obey his Word. Jesus knows each of us. He knows how to communicate with us and he speaks to us in a way that we can understand. From the day we first believed, we grow in our ability to understand his words for us.
Let me give you an example of how I have experienced this myself. Most of you know that I have established a practice of having informal office hours out in the community. One of the places I do this is at Terra Nicole’s Coffee Shop in the Jabberwocky Bookstore. I try to get there 2 or 3 times a week and there are 3 or 4 people who come by regularly. Over the months there have been many more who have stopped by less often. One man who has come by several times, but never really stopped to talk is a guy named Sarge. That’s all I know him by. This past week he stopped in again with his usual “to go” coffee mug. This quiet voice in my head said ask him to get his coffee and then sit down and join us. Always before I had just said Hi to him and I figured if he wanted to talk he’d sit down. Anyway I asked him to join us and he did sit down and I asked him how things were going. He said he’d had a terrible week because of the news of the soldiers from the 82nd Airborne who were killed in Iraq. He went on to say he’d been in the 82nd and he then talked a lot about his experiences which in the interest of confidentiality I won’t go into. Before he left I asked him if I could pray with him and we did. I really had a sense that God had used me to bring him some healing and it was all because I listened for God’s voice and responded. This is something every one of us can do. It something Jesus is calling us to do. I have said it before, but I want to repeat that we are Jesus plan for salvation. Once we have believed and become His followers we are the means by which Jesus and God the Father plan to save the world. That’s a pretty tall order, but most of us do it by sharing our faith one person at a time.
It is not enough to follow Jesus. We have to live our faith. The Letter of James offers two ways we can live our faith as followers of Christ. First James says be doers of the word and not hearers only. As followers of Jesus we have to listen for his guiding word and then do something. If he says talk with someone talk. Many times this talking is really listening. What do I mean by that? Here’s how I’ve found it works. The voice says talk with this person. Rather than say about what or what am I supposed to say I just act. It’s not about me it’s about the other person so I ask if they’re alright or I ask if I can help or sometimes I just say as I did to Sarge sit down and then how are you doing. Sharing the love of Christ is often about listening first. In this impersonal world a lot of people just need someone to listen to them. Once you’re listening just keep asking questions. Not prying interrogating questions, but open ended questions. What was that like? How long were you there?
The second piece of good advice from James is, “pray for one another…The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects.” When people used to tell me about difficulties they were having I’d say I’ll pray for you. Most of the time I’d remember but on occasion I wouldn’t and I’d feel terrible. Now I’ve made it a policy of asking while the person is still there Can we pray together? I don’t care where it is I just ask and I’ve never been turned down. Here’s a secret I’ve learned. Praying together is one of the most loving things you can do for another person and they know it. They have an immediate positive reaction. You’ll also find it’s a real blessing for you too.
“My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me and now here comes the third piece of our victory in Christ, Jesus says I give them eternal life! I give them eternal life. This is a life changing event now and it provides eternal life with Jesus and all the saints. Jesus goes on to be quite emphatic when he says and they shall never perish and no one shall snatch them out of my hand. The saving activity of God occurs through and by Jesus Christ and only Jesus Christ. Peter says in Acts 4:12, “And there is salvation in no one else(referring to Jesus Christ), for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. I want to go back for a minute to a couple of words that may have slipped by unnoticed. Jesus says and no one shall snatch them out of my hand. It must have been important because a little later he says and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. Here’s the image that comes to my mind. Once God calls and we hear and respond by following Jesus we are in Jesus’ hand and we are also in God’s hand and they are not going to let us go.
Now the second thing I want us to pay attention to here is who is it that is trying to snatch us out of Jesus hand? Out of the Father’s hand? I’m sure you’ve read or heard this passage many times before, but have you ever focused on this idea that someone might be trying to snatch us our of Jesus hand? It seems to me that the only one who would do this is the devil. The world and our old sinful ways are there still trying to destroy God’s children. But Jesus says they’re not going to succeed. This is an incredible assurance. I have sometimes used the phrase once saved never lost. A high price was paid for our salvation. Jesus Christ the Son of God had to die a terrible death on the cross for us. He has won for us the victory. Eternal life. Jesus gives his followers eternal life. Just so we’re clear, this means life that will last forever. It is not life that is conditional on our behavior. It is eternal life and that means everlasting. I have said many times that eternal life, kingdom life begins now for believers. This is because eternal life is also a quality of life. It is the life of our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Jesus lives in us. He dwells in us. He abides in us. He lives his life through us. He gives us a life that is capable of enjoying the things of God down here and a life that will be equally suitable in our heavenly home.
Now when Paul taught things like this, people got very concerned. They said if salvation can’t be lost then does this mean you can live any way you want to. Can you indulge in all kinds of sinful pleasures and still spend eternity with God? Paul said, By no means. In today’s language No Way. The sinner who has been saved has been changed. The fancy word for it is he is regenerate. Paul says he is a new creation. Like the sheep dog who has learned to love his master the new Christian wants to follow the shepherd. We do not live the Christian life in order to become a Christian or in order to retain our salvation. We live a Christian life because we are Christians. It’s who and what we are. Becoming a Christian is not like becoming a member of Rotary. You can be a Rotarian in one town and move and be an Optimist in another. God calls and we respond to Jesus the shepherd and follow Him and the Holy Spirit changes us forever. We desire to live a Holy life not out of fear of losing our salvation, but out of love and gratitude toward the One who died for us. This idea of eternal security doesn’t encourage careless living, but rather is a powerful motive for Holy living.
In our gospel today Jesus is saying that God calls his children as a gift to His Son. Jesus says if you hear his voice and follow him he will give you eternal life. He says we will never perish. Not one of us who follows Him will perish. Jesus seals this promise with a guarantee. He says I and the Father are one. Together they assure our salvation. Alleluia Christ is Risen! |
