C Cycle – 4^th Sunday of Easter 25

Jn. 10:27-30

In Antioch, Paul the apostle powerfully proclaimed the message of Jesus and created a huge response among the gentiles.  Unfortunately, the Jews were “filled with jealousy, when they saw the crowds.”   To discredit Paul, the Jews contradicted the Paul and Barnabas’s message.  The righteous Jews told the gentiles they were not welcome because they were not God’s “chosen people.”  How arrogant and short sighted they were because words declared that they alone were worthy of God’s promises. 

Paul, we know was a Pharisee, who considered Jesus a blasphemer and dedicated himself to eradicate the so called “Christians.’ He believed as did those jealous Jews of Antioch that embracing Jesus as the Messiah was heresy.  We know the story of Paul’s conversion.  How that conversion allowed him to discover that behind the teachings, the laws, and the ritual sacrifices is a deeper message of a need for a conversion of the heart.  Everyone needs to embrace God’s gift of grace moving us to a conversion of heart and a bold way of expressing our faith. 

Paul was able to integrate his religious training and align it with the prophesies of God.  He understood the need for each of us to adhere to the teaching and the laws. They keep us rooted in faith until we have our own encounter with Jesus Christ.  Jesus said, “My sheep hear My voice and follow Me.”  Paul challenges us to reflect on what are we following because he understood the difference from what he practiced before His encounter with Christ. 

The picture we see in today’s reading from Acts is an unwelcoming church because of religious pride.  The gentiles were not worthy because they did not adhere to the teachings, the laws, and the rituals.  The Jews that day were acting in the same manner as Saul the Pharisee did before his conversion.  They were unwilling to listen to the one person who not only knew the law and the prophets but was able to make a connection with them pointing to Jesus Christ. 

Is possible that we can be so wrapped up in practicing our faith that we have forgotten why Jesus came.  Beyond our salvation, Jesus’s desire was that we live our faith in such a way it draws others to Christ.  Can we honestly say that each time we come to church we have an encounter with Christ that confirms we are sinners saved by grace.  Can we gather to give thanks to Jesus Christ because His sacrifice made it possible for us to stand in the presence of God as holy men and women.  Standing in the belief that we are not rejected but embraced as the prodigal was embraced.  Can we prevent spiritual pride from deceiving us into believing we are God’s beloved just because we have been initiated into the Body of Christ?

Practicing our faith is the easy part of what we should be doing to follow Jesus and to do His will.  Have we forgotten the words of God telling us he wants our hearts not our sacrifices.  Giving God our heart is at the heart of what Paul and Barnabas were proclaiming to the gentiles and the Jews in Antioch.  God shows no partiality but embraces all who stand before Him with a contrite heart.  We have convinced ourselves we are “righteous” because we measure ourselves by a standard that is defined by laws and adhered to by generations before us. 

Believing that is a mistake Saul of Tarsus made as a Pharisee and that belief define what was acceptable behavior before God.  We overlook the one behavior God desires us all to exhibit and that is a willingness to stand before Him acknowledging we have fallen short of what God desires us to become.  Sinners who have the courage to stand in front of Jesus and allow Him to speak to our hearts.  We need to be like Martha and hear ourselves chastised by Christ because we are trying to do for the kingdom what we think we should be doing. 

We need to stand before Jesus as the prodigal son knowing we not only violated the law repeatedly, but we have not believed forgiveness is restorative. We believe we deserve nothing, but we do hope the punishment is lenient.  But like the prodigal we need to discover forgiveness is so much more than we expect. It is life changing and should transform us into becoming effective evangelist like Paul. 

We need to hear the words of God telling us to “roll back the stone” that hides the effects of our sin, to experience the glory of God. Well, that stone is more than our wounds, or our sense of unworthiness, or our constant comparing ourselves to others who seem to have it all together.  Those stones become a wall; a barrier built to hide ourselves so we can function in this world.  God desires to heal those wounds and to remove the barriers between us and His grace. Those are the stones the gentiles of Antioch understood were removed by Jesus the Christ.  

But there is another stone which prevents us from experiencing the glory of God. The stone of spiritual pride which blocked the Jews of Antioch from embracing Jesus as the Messiah.  Paul had that stone firmly in place before his encounter with Christ.  Today it blocks us from receiving the grace of Christ’s presence to create within us a desire for a radical conversion which transforms us into active evangelists sharing our faith instead of practicing our faith.