Experiencing a Flourishing Life

(Michael) I love reflecting on how God chose you to be a mother to your children. He trusts you to love and care for them, and to teach them all about life.

(Becca) And so we just want to celebrate you today. And we want to encourage you and bless you…

(Becca) Remember that you are way more than what you do… and what you do is vitally important.

(Michael) I once read my Great-grandmother’s journal. She was a pastor in Salem, Oregon. And I found prayers for her great-grandchildren, who were a long way from being born. Her faithful prayers for me are still bearing fruit today.

Jesus invites us into a flourishing life

(Michael) The picture throughout the scriptures is pretty clear… we are meant to flourish under the care of God…

In the Torah (first five books of our bible) the basic view of the good life is obedience to God. The righteous are blessed and the wicked are cursed.

In the Wisdom Literature, especially the books of Psalms and Proverbs, we see detailed attention on the nature of human well-being and guidance towards the good life.

Living this good life is like being a “tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither” (Psalm 1:3). I taught this passage in detail a couple weeks ago.

As part of wisdom literature, Job asks the question about why the righteous suffer… and we learn that God is God, and we are not… and that many of our experiences are mysterious, transcending human comprehension…and we’re invited into a life of faith in God rather than in our ability to figure everything out.

The OT introduces us to the concept of shalom; often translated as peace.…meaning that things are as they ought to be: physical well-being, social/relational well-being… all of human existence is working well.

(Becca) In the gospels we are introduced to the Kingdom of God, the rule and reign of God coming through the person of Jesus—we see in Jesus the ordering of human life under the rule/ authority of God. This re-ordering will eventually result in the renewal of all creation—its as wide as the entire cosmos, and as detailed as each human life.

Becca’s version: In the Gospels in the NT, the writers introduce us to the Kingdom of God, which is the rule and reign of God manifested in Jesus. Through Jesus, we see the re-orienting of humanity under God’s rule. And this order change will on day result in making everything new: a new creation, from everything as big as the entire universe and also as intimate as the in and outs of our lives as humans

(Michael) In John’s gospel, the good life is referred to as abundant life, or eternal life—and its all tied together with loving Jesus and keeping his commandments. And just as the Father and Son are one, we are meant to enter, to abide in that oneness.

John 17:3 “Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”

Today, we’re looking at a passage that has this verse…

John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

To experience life to the full points to experiencing considerably more than one would expect or anticipate; over and above; more than enough; and extraordinary life…

Does this seem too good to be true?

This brings to mind one of my favorite quotes…“Christ did not die to make us Christian, he died to make us human.” –Hans R. Rookmaaker

(Becca read passage) Let’s read the passage and talk about it a bit!

John 10:1–18 (NIV)

“Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them.

Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”

(Becca) Here’s our problem, we want the good life, but we want it without Jesus!

(Becca) But here’s the issue. Like the Pharisees, we want the good life but practically speaking, we actually want it without Jesus.

This idea of flourishing that Jesus talks about sounds incredible. Like the tree planted by streams of water in Psalm 1:3. We want it all, but if we’re honest with ourselves, we want it all on our own terms. We want to be in control of what our flourishing looks like and we want to control the journey we take to get there.

(Michael) I think it might be helpful to put the passage we just read in context.

This conversation Jesus is having comes on the heels of a bit of a confrontation. We have to go back to the beginning of chapter 9 to understand the context…

John 9:1-2 “As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?””

The view was that any experience of something less than perfect shalom, someone somewhere must’ve done something wrong!

We often thing similarly today… have you ever thought, when something goes wrong, what did I do to deserve this?

Jesus responds that there’s not a direct correlation in this…and then heals the man.

John 9:13-16 “They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man’s eyes was a Sabbath. Therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. “He put mud on my eyes,” the man replied, “and I washed, and now I see.” Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others asked, “How can a sinner perform such signs?” So they were divided.”

And because this instance of healing seems to have broken one of their God-given rules, Jesus is obviously not of God. so they continue to challenge the blind man about Jesus’ identity…

John 9:30-34 “The man answered, “Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will. Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” To this they replied, “You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!” And they threw him out.”

(Becca) Dang Pharisees! As the blind man challenges them, their response is to say he’s steeped in sin and they threw him out.

(Michael) Jesus then finds the man who had been blind, hearing that he’d been thrown out, and he discloses that he’s the Messiah. Some Pharisees who had been following the man around and heard what Jesus said to him, and Jesus’ response is the passage we read in John 10. Jesus is talking directly to the Pharisees as he using the various metaphors of sheep and shepherd.

(Becca) Like the Pharisees, some of us work really hard to have a flourishing life by following all the rules.

We in essence think if I follow the rules perfectly, my life will be perfect.

Think about this another way. Parents, as we think about our children, is your biggest hope and desire for their lives that they’d be professional rule followers? Of course not!

We want them to live rich and fulfilled lives!

And let’s be clear, there are rules we teach our kids to keep them safe and protect them, like look both ways before crossing the street or wearing a helmet. And this does help create a safe place for them to flourish.

While rules help ensure our kids don’t get hit by a car or a concussion riding a bike, not getting hit by a car and avoid a concussion is not a flourishing life. All the OT laws are meant to direct us towards a flourishing life. And in the Gospels in the NT, we find that the thriving life we’re all searching for for ourselves and our kids is found in the fulfillment of those laws, in Jesus. Matthew 5:17

Matthew 5:17 NIV

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.

(Michael) Maybe for you it’s not following the rules, maybe its something good that God has given you, like food, that has become all consuming.

you know how great a lil bit of ice cream tastes at the end of the day? And how after a few days, to be without that dollop of ice cream feels like a fate worse than death? And then after a while you hide bits of ice cream throughout the house so that you never have to experience not having it? And then you need freezer space in every room? or chocolate?

(Becca) Or, It’s like those tortilla chips they bring you at a Mexican restaurant when you haven’t had anything to eat all day and you just can’t stop eating them because you’ve lost patience for how long it’ll take to get your food out. Wow, that’s super specific, this may or may not have happened to me this week. Sometimes a little becomes something we obsess about. We start hiding food all over our house so we never have to feel a pang of hunger or we try to fill ourselves up with ice cream or chocolate so we don’t have to be in touch with what we’re feeling or how we’re really doing.

Or, at the end of a long day, you just have to have a glass of wine. And then maybe another. And then that’s not enough.

If we’re not careful, the things we consume will consume us instead.

For some of us, it’s our thoughts. We imagine a completely different life than the one we’re living, we imagine cheating on our spouse or hurting someone who hurt us or living in our dream mansion or being the main character in an imaginary story we want our life to be.

We can miss the flourishing life by taking control ourselves and desperately trying to fill ourselves more and more with the things we think will satisfy, but never actually do.

In the middle of all this confusion, we have John 10, Jesus points us right back to himself as the source of a flourishing life…

The only way to experiencing flourishing is Jesus himself

(Michael) In the gospel of John there are seven times where Jesus puts himself right at the center of all of life… seven times he makes an “I AM” statement:

John 6:35 – "I am the bread of life.”

John 8:12 – "I am the light of the world."

John 10:7 – I am the gate for the sheep."

John 10:11 – "I am the good shepherd.”

John 11:25 – "I am the resurrection and the life."

John 14:6 – "I am the way, and the truth, and the life.”

John 15:1 – "I am the true vine."

There are two of these statements in this passage…

Jesus is the gate for the sheep. Jesus is the way into a flourishing life. Jesus is the gate you need to pass through.

This is one of the most offensively inclusive and exclusive things Jesus says.

Its inclusive because anyone can enter through the gate that is Jesus. And its exclusive because there are no other gates that work.

Jesus is telling the Pharisees that they aren’t the shepherds they are supposed to be, rather they are thieves and can’t be trusted.

Jesus is the good shepherd. He’s the owner of the sheep and he will lay down his life to guard and protect and nourish them.

He’s pointing directly to Psalm 23 “A psalm of David. The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

And in John 10, look at all Jesus does to make this possible…

he tells us the truth

he knows his sheep and he calls us by name

he leads us by going ahead of us

we follow because we know his voice

he himself is our way in, our gate

he himself is our self-sacrificial, good shepherd… he’s looking out for our best

and he purposefully lays down life for his sheep so that we can experience a flourishing life.

Based on all of that…

This world is a perfectly safe place place for you to be…

We live in a God permeated world… if you put yourself in the hands of God, the world is a perfectly safe place for you.

John 10:9 “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture.”

9Becca) The world we live in is completely permeated by God. If we give control of our lives to God, the world will be a completely safe place for us.

In God’s hands, no harm will come to us.

And let’s be clear: being free from harm does not mean being free from pain. Jesus experienced intense pain on the cross. But even the cross didn’t harm him.

God transformed the pain and torture of the cross into resurrection, into the ultimate defeat of death itself.

We are free from harm, and we are vulnerable to hurt.

(Becca) Some of you here probably know the tragedy that happened in my family almost exactly two years ago. My six year old nephew suddenly and tragically lost his life when he drowned in Lake Superior and that has forever changed our family. I get not being free from hurt.

In the midst of processing that grief, I knew I needed help to get to the feet of Jesus because while (as Casey shared last week) it is a well worn path towards him, I was afraid to sit with God in the pain and devastation. I was afraid my family wouldn’t recover. In some ways, we haven’t yet recovered.

I have a dear friend who had tragically lost a child of her own and she sat with me in my anger at God. While she was praying for me, I saw this picture of myself sitting in a room at my house and God was outside… Over time, the window stayed open longer, and I finally got to the point where I imagined walking to the door and inviting God in. He never left. And I couldn’t find my way to God alone. I needed a friend, I needed help. We get to chose whether our hurt points us toward flourishing or away from it.

(Michael) Sometimes we misread some of scripture to assume they promise that we will always be healed, and never experience difficulty and pain. But that’s not what these passages are saying at all.

The promise in scripture isn’t that we won’t have trials and pain, the promise is that we will have unbroken care, along with God given adequacy for whatever happens.

That’s why Paul can say something like… “for when I am weak, that’s when I’m powerful/strong.”

Think about the story in Mark 4, when Jesus instructs his disciples to take him across the lake and a storm comes up, the boat is taking on water, Jesus is asleep, and they are afraid of drowning…

They thought: if the boat sinks, its the end of the world… but what if that’s not true. What if it’s only the end of the boat?

What if even death is not the end of the world. Remember Easter? Our struggle is whether or not we really believe Jesus.

Listen, if you’ve place your trust in Jesus, whatever you are afraid of in death will never happen to you. Your body will stop functioning at some point, yes. But you will continue, and you will transition, and you will see things they way they really are.

Listen, there isn't anyplace where you will be separated from the loving care of God

Some very practical point of application:

(Maybe we go back and forth, Michael does one then Becca does one?)

(Becca) The temptation to take control: This is the oldest temptation in scripture. When others don’t seem to be listening… When something isn’t happening as fast we we think it should… When we’re overcome with fear over what might happen…

(Michael) Identity: In order to live a flourishing life, our identity has to be rooted in being a child of God ourselves. He’s the shepherd and we are the sheep.

(Becca) Voice: The same way, as a parent, you know the sound of your children’s voices in a crowded room, or at the store… your good shepherd knows the sound of your voice when you cry out to him.

(Michael) Hearing the voice of our shepherd: This is so key to living flourishing live. There are so many competing voices all around us!

(Becca) Self-Sacrificial Love: We see it in Christ and we are created to give it to one another. We don’t because we’re afraid we’ll run dry of resources for ourselves. What if God can meet us right in the midst of serving another, and fill us with himself? What if that’s one of the primary places where God meets us?

(Michael) So how will we respond?

John 10:19-21 “The Jews who heard these words were again divided. Many of them said, “He is demon-possessed and raving mad. Why listen to him?” But others said, “These are not the sayings of a man possessed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?””

Ministry Time:

For hearing God’s voice

For refreshment while giving out your best

Repentance for taking control, for misplaced identity,

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