"Faith, Created" Easter 4 April 29, 2007

(First, read the text for this sermon: John 10:22-30)

Why is it that some do not believe in Jesus the Christ?

That question was a matter of life and death for the community that produced the gospel of John, and it is behind the story we read this morning from John. The first part of chapter 10 provides context for this story. There, Jesus uses the imagery of himself as the good shepherd sent from the Father, and his followers as the sheep. And, as we read through chapter 10, we find that there is increasing tension between Jesus and his opponents.

This morning’s story takes place on Hanukah. (That’s the festival celebrating the Maccabean victories of 164 BC, and the dedication of the newly-consecrated temple). As the story begins, Jesus is strolling in a very public place: a public arcade outside the great Jerusalem temple. Here’s what we read: At that time the festival of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon. So the [Jewish leaders] gathered around him and said to him, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly."

Here’s the thing about the Jewish leaders’ question: Jesus has told them who he is! Jesus answered, "I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name testify to me; but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep.

Spend a moment with that reply. Why don’t the Jewish leaders believe in Jesus as the Christ? It is because they “do not belong to [his] sheep.” Does that answer the question? Not really! But determining those who were among Jesus’ “sheep” and those outside the fold appears to have been very important for the community that produced the gospel of John. (This community also produced the three short letters of John near the end of the New Testament.) This community of Jesus people is called, “the community of the beloved disciple.” That’s the disciple Jesus especially loves, a favorite disciple, referred to several times in the gospel of John. Tradition has had it that this beloved disciple is the apostle John himself. But the best guess these days among Biblical scholars is that the beloved disciple is an unnamed follower of Jesus, who was the founder of this particular community of Jesus people in the late first century, and who has been “written into” the gospel.

This is a community worried about survival. Members are being persecuted by the leadership of the local synagogue. The Jesus people are a Jewish sect within the synagogue, struggling to understand their relationship to the synagogue. (All followers of Jesus, at this time, were Jews. Many of you know that. And so, in the gospel of John, whenever we encounter the phrase, “the Jews,” we should translate that, “the Jewish leaders.”)

Enough historical context. What might God be saying to us, through this story?

These days, in America, we’re much more comfortable than the community that produced the gospel of John and the letters of John. That’s good and bad, of course! With comfort comes lukewarm faith. Many, many people profess a “belief” in Jesus, but that appears to be only a head trip; because in their day-to-day decisions and actions, they live as if there is no God. Such folks live as atheists, in all practicality, despite what they say they “believe.”

So, for us, in our culture, pressing questions would be, “Why are there so many who have been baptized, but who haven’t been formed in the faith?” “Why are there so many, for instance, who equate Christianity with American foreign policy; or who see no disconnect between “believing” in Jesus and, at the same time, putting their primary effort into getting as rich as they can get?” “Why are there so many who say they believe in Christ, but who do not practice the faith?”

The Jewish leaders challenge Jesus: “If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered, "I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name testify to me; but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep.” Then Jesus says this: “My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me.”

This is a strange sort of self-proof, isn’t it? Jesus’ followers believe because they do! The Jewish leaders do not believe because they can’t!

We are into the mysticism of how God the Holy Spirit creates faith. Faith is created within us and among us.

I am presenting classic Lutheran teaching, of course. In the Small Catechism, as Luther explains the Third Article of the Creed, he writes that you and I cannot believe by our own volition or choosing; that it is all the doing of God the Holy Spirit. All you and I can do is to respond to the Spirit. Listen to what Luther writes: “I believe that by my own understanding or strength I cannot believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to him, but instead the Holy Spirit has called me through the gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, made me holy and kept me in the true faith.”

Faith itself is created by God, as God opens us to God’s working as Holy Spirit. Can it get any more radically grace-filled than that?

For many, faith is only “belief” as a head trip. (It’s the same as when someone says, “I believe that a Toyota is a better car than a Honda.”)

But as God the Holy Spirit opens us, God forms us as people whose faith shows up in our daily lives. God forms us through practices of the faith, such as worship each week, and prayer each day, and prayer over a passage of Scripture each day. God forms us as we listen for how God is moving in our lives. (Often that requires the help of a spiritual director.)

Through these and other practices of faith, God produces the fruit of the Holy Spirit. What does that look like? Paul has several lists of specifics, in his letters in the New Testament. For example, to use one of Paul’s lists, in his letter to the Galatians, he writes, [T]he fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. As you and I live in those counter-cultural ways, God is able to use us as missionaries in the locations and situations in which God has placed us.

Pray for openness to God the Holy Spirit who creates faith, so that you will continue to be formed in the practices of the faith, producing the fruit of the Spirit that grows from that faith in Christ.

In the name of God, who is Father and Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.


Pastor Andy Ballentine
Saint Stephen Lutheran Church
Williamsburg, Virginia