hear my voice

 John 10:22-30 is the Lectionary text for Easter IV on May 8.

They asked if Jesus was Messiah, quite plainly.

Jesus told them that He had told them, but they would not believe.  It is what Jesus DID that was testimony to WHO Jesus was.  Those who follow Him know, but those who will not believe can be told and shown over and over again but will still not believe in Jesus or Jesus' Way.

Jesus' sheep hear His voice.  Jesus is the Word, the Word of God, the Word made Flesh.  He is from the beginning, according to John's Gospel.  Jesus is the Word of Life, Life Abundant and Life Forever.  Jesus speaks life because Jesus speaks LOVE.  The Word made Flesh is all about LOVE.  Those who are Jesus' sheep are all about love also.  They hear Jesus' voice in the Gospels, and follow Jesus because Jesus knows them.

Jesus gives eternal life.  Jesus is all about that.

Jesus is all about life here and now, also, for the children of God.  

Jesus gave us guidance on how to live in this part of God's Reign, here and now.  Jesus taught, commanded and modeled how to live the Agape Love that is required to be a follower of Jesus.  That is the basis of life with God and with One Another.  To be faithful to God is to be faithful to Jesus' Way of Agape Love in how we live this life, here and now.

There are other voices out there, claiming to be upright and godly, claiming to be voices speaking for God, even for Jesus.  What are they saying?  Is it consistent with the Good News that Jesus gave us?  Is it consistent with the command to love, even stranger and enemy, and care for the most vulnerable?  Are the voices urging love or intolerance?  Are the voices refusing to judge or are they calling for you to judge?  Are the voices calling for mercy and forgiveness, or are they calling for brutal, ruthless punitive measures?  Are the voices demanding love of Neighbor or only personal salvation for self?

Does the Jesus of those voices even resemble the Jesus of the Gospel witnesses?  There are re-creations of Jesus out there, wrapped in an American flag, carrying an M-16 and standing on the dead bodies of those who do not follow the god of American Civil Religion.  There are re-creations of Jesus out there which are intolerant of many peoples, who are wall builders, instead of being a bridge builder.  There are many re-creations of Jesus out there whose voices do not sound like the Jesus of the Gospels at all, but who collect adherents who like the voices of hatred, greed, lust for power and desire for status.  There are many voices of re-creations of Jesus in our image in the world and of the world.

If we hear Jesus' voice, we hear Jesus' teaching and commanding the living of Agape Love.  If we hear Jesus' voice, we hear Jesus commanding us to love stranger and enemy and care for the most vulnerable and welcome the stranger.  If we hear Jesus' voice, we hear Jesus teach about equality and equity.  If we hear Jesus' voice, we hear Jesus warn us about false teachers, about abusing our power, about being selfish and greedy, about striving to appear to be better than others and about making our relationship with God only about what we get out of it.  If we hear Jesus' voice, then we are hearing that we are called to Love God by Loving Neighbor as self, actively committing to their well-being as children of God.

So, to which voices are we listening?

If we are Jesus' sheep, we will hear Jesus' voice.  The voice of life and love.    The Word of love and life.  The voice of God.