LIVE LIFE TO THE FULLEST

      In the last few verses of John 9 and in the first half of chapter 10, we find a rare sermon preached by Jesus. It is rare because it was directed primarily toward the Pharisees. They had asked Jesus a question, which had opened the door for this unusual sermon. We should never ask Jesus a question unless we are prepared for a very honest and sometimes exposing answer.

      As we read the words of Jesus, we begin to see where the Pharisees fit into the picture, the role of Jesus as the Good Shepherd, and the church as his sheep. We can visualize this peaceful scene that Jesus gives us in these verses. There are green pastures, the safety of the shelter for the sheep, and the Good Shepherd who goes before the sheep. There is an intimacy between the shepherd and the sheep. They know each other by name. The relationship is personal. Then Jesus reminds us that things are not always as they seem. There are thieves and outlaws, false shepherds, and those who are trying to destroy the flock.

      When Jesus looked at the Palestinian countryside, he saw the peaceful sheep, the green pastures, and some of the people loving one another as he had intended from creation. However, Jesus also saw the hunger, oppression, sin, and violence in a world that had rebelled against the very person who had made all things possible. Yet, almost surprisingly, in the middle of all this Jesus spoke of the abundant life, a life lived to the fullest.

      I find it interesting that a sermon about thieves, outlaws, and wolves trying to scatter the sheep in the church, and directed to the hypocritical Pharisees, would have a promise of something so precious as life. We find this promise in verse 10, “I came so that they could have life—indeed, so that they could live life to the fullest.” This is the picture of the church and the life Jesus promises each of us if we are in his flock—a promise even for those outside. Jesus brings life, not just eternal life, but life lived to the fullest now.

      Jesus is our example of how we can live the full life today in the middle of pain, disappointment, sin, and evil. Jesus moved through this life reaching out through the suffering and lostness of humanity, rebuking the evil, ministering to the pain, and giving people hope and a taste of the abundant life—the same life each of us can live today. So you see, it is all about Jesus. It all begins with Jesus. This is what Jesus said he died for, “I came so they (you and I) could have life—and have it to the fullest.”

      Jesus lived and died to give us this gift of abundant life, so how do we go about receiving it? We see the need to change direction in our lives, the need forgiveness for past sins, and the need to start down the path of discipleship with Jesus. But that is only the beginning. The next part is the “following” part, the “imitating Jesus” part. We begin to realize that there is left in our life a root of sin, from time to time we act unchristian, and we know that there must be more that God has to offer us than what we have. So we ask God to take a certain habit away, to prune away a particular behavior, and as God takes away those undesirable traits in our life, we ask him to fill those spaces with his love, his “likeness,” and his presence. It is then that we find ourselves becoming more and more Christ-like as we give up more and more of our self.

      I believe this is life lived to the fullest, the life God intended for each of us, and the life for which Jesus died. This is the life that we can claim today.

Rev Tim McConnell Long’s Chapel UMC, October 20, 2013