May 3, 2020
Hope Lutheran Church
Rev Mary Erickson
Acts 2:42-47; Psalm 23; John 10:1-10
I will lack nothing
Friends, may grace and peace be yours in abundance in the knowledge of God and of Christ Jesus our Lord.
“I have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”
Life. And abundant life, no less. John refers to life quite a few times in his gospel.
• At the beginning of his gospel he says that in Jesus “was life, and the life was the light of all peoples.” (John 1:4)
• John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but have eternal life. .”
• Jesus declares to Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life.” (John 11:25)
• And at the end of his gospel, John writes: “But these (stories) are written so that… believing, you may have life in his name”. (John 20:31)
Today we hear Jesus say that he has come to bring abundant life. What’s that? How is abundant life? It does not mean that we have much more material wealth than we need. The abundant life is not the lifestyle of the rich and famous.
Simon and Garfunkel performed a song called “Richard Cory.” Richard Cory is the rich owner of a factory in a small town. A man who works in the factory compares his own life with that of Richard Corey. He curses the life he lives and he curses his poverty. I wish I could be Richard Cory! But despite all his wealth, fame and luxurious life, Richard Cory secretly suffers. The final verse of the song ends, “Richard Cory went home last night and put a bullet in his head.”
So abundant life does not equal wealth. Rather, abundant life implies overwhelming well-being. When we live abundantly, we don’t just live; we prosper. The abundant life has a sense of security; it is full. Things that remind me of abundant life:
• The desert in bloom. After a rain storm, a desert erupts in a riot of activity. The once barren and dry landscape is transformed almost overnight. Each plant bursts with flowers. Abundant life.
• The sound of children playing. The composition of neighborhoods changes over time. If you live in a neighborhood where a lot of children live, there is a certain sound when the neighborhood is alive with children playing outside. Squeaky tricycle wheels, bouncing balls, screaming, occasional crying, laughter. It’s a wonderful sound. Abundant life.
• There is a summer feeling, especially at night. The chirping of crickets, lightning bugs flying past like flickering lanterns, the scent of flowers wafting up, the sky full of stars and the Milky Way. Abundant life.
The abundant life that Jesus speaks of carries with it the sense of God’s eternity. Even in the fleeting moments of this short life we have been given, there is an underlying awareness that something greater is connecting the fibers and sinews of our kingdom.
Julian of Norwich was a holy woman who lived a secluded life. She lived as an anchorite. An anchorite was a monk or nun who chose to live a very secluded life. They took a vow to live out the rest of their days within the walls of a very small cell. There they dedicated themselves to a life of prayer and contemplation.
Julian became a writer of mystical reflections. She most famously wrote:
“Everything will be fine, and everything will be fine, and all kinds of things will be fine.”
That is abundant life! Here is this woman who lived a very, very small life. She lived her days confined within four very narrow walls. She ate the few scraps of food that were sent to her. Her days were filled with a lonely monotony. But she knew abundant life! She didn’t want anything.
Similarly, many people who grew up in struggling families have told me, “We were poor, but we didn’t know we were poor.” They lived happily. His days were filled with well-being. They were not oppressed by a feeling of need. They lived fully.
Simply put, they lived from an abundance mentality. That abundance mindset can be compared to a very different mindset: a scarcity mindset. These two mindsets drive our lives and sense of well-being in two very different ways.
When we live from a framework of abundance, we have security. That security endows us with freedom. We are free to give of ourselves. We are free to create. We freely share our love, our compassion, our ideas and wisdom. We reach out to others in support and solidarity.
In contrast, a scarcity mindset is dominated by an overriding sense of fear. There is only a limited amount of resources and we are in danger of running out at any moment. This scarcity mentality puts us at odds with each other. If you don’t get it, they will. You will be left out in the cold. So we turn our cars around and go inside. We hold on to everything we can get and keep it to ourselves. But even as we gather more and more, we are shrinking inside.
We are at a time when our supply chain has been threatened. And one of the things that has exacerbated this lack of resources has been hoarding. Toilet paper hoarding, hand sanitizer hoarding, flour and yeast hoarding, and now, meat hoarding. This hoarding only makes the situation worse. But we live dominated by our fear of not having enough.
“I have come that you may have life, and have it to the full.”
Our psalm for today, Psalm 23, begins with words of abundant life: “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.”
King David writes this psalm of confidence. He knew a thing or two about herding. David grew up herding his father’s sheep. He begins his ode with these words of satisfaction: I will not fail. The phrase communicates a deep, grounded trust in God to see Him through all kinds of things.
And it’s not a Pollyanna statement at all! David is fully aware that life carries real dangers and threats. “Even in the valley of the shadow of death,” he writes, “I will fear no evil.”
David’s trust in the Lord sees both ends of the spectrum of life:
– Both good and evil,
– Both sufficiency and necessity,
– satiety and hunger,
– Well-being and illness,
– In life and even through death
David certainly experienced both ends of the spectrum! And through the wide expanse of his circumstances, David gained an awareness of God’s constancy. He felt the invisible hands of God beneath him. Those hands faithfully upheld him in all things.
It is that constancy, that steady and faithful presence of God, that leaves David with a sense of well-being. David rejoices in the abundant life he has been given.
It leaves you with a spring feeling. “My cup overflows,” she says. David has more than enough. God provides David with more abundance of life than he needs. He is overwhelmed. And so David is left with resources to share with others.
That is exactly what the first generation church experienced in our reading of Acts. They lived in abundance! Their cups overflowed with the joy and hope of the new life of Christ within them. And because of this, they were able to share their worldly riches with each other. They distributed their generosity to everyone in their community, as needed.
Friends, that same abundant life is given to you and me. The spirit of Christ comes to us even now. Listen to the voice of your Good Shepherd. He calls you by your name. Mighty is God to make all grace abound to you. In all things, at all times, having everything you need, you can have abundance. He dwells in the abundant and constant love of our Lord.