In this morning’s Gospel lesson Jesus speaks words that give us strength at the most difficult times of our life. The second half of verse 10 says, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly”.  What does an “abundant life” mean for you? Hold that thought for a moment and let’s back up and get some perspective on this lesson.

            As it begins Jesus is engaged in a rather heated exchange with Joe Pharisee and his buddies. The conversation carries over from Chapter 9 and was sparked by Jesus’ healing of a man born blind. The Pharisees were doing what they so typically did…. Acting like the alpha dog in the pen….the big bad boss. They were engaging in religious ruthlessness rather than extending compassion for this man who, for the first time could see! Joe Pharisee and his cronies cared less about this anonymous man than about the legality of his healing on the Sabbath. So Jesus shares with them the most powerful metaphor he could think of: the shepherd.

            In the first century the shepherd was culturally the lowest of the low. Being a shepherd was, for the most part, a pretty miserable job. Have you ever tried to herd sheep? I haven’t but I’ve heard that they are the dumbest animals God ever created. Shepherds had to move them from pasture to pasture and to water… trying to keep them from harm. Don’t you know that shepherds missed their family and friends? After all, they were away from home most of the time! They lived in primitive surroundings – mostly outside or sleeping under brushy cover to protect themselves from bad weather. And they didn’t have the most elegant or delicious food… only what they could pack to take along.  Add to the lousy working conditions the fact that they were almost always in some form of danger from wild animals, especially sheep-stealing wolves. Shepherds were also the poorest of the poor – not a job most folks would want.

            So my friends, why do you think Jesus would put himself in such a lowly, miserable role as a shepherd to describe his relationship with his followers? Like we’ve talked about before Jesus does this to connect himself with the prophetic tradition. Here, he wants his followers to connect his words with Ezekiel 34:11-16. Let me share just a bit of those verses beginning with verse 11, “For thus says the Lord God: I myself will search for my sheep, and will seek them out….” Jesus wants his followers to see himself as one who fulfills the role and promises of God.

            But Jesus is also doing something else here. He sets up a clear contrast between the shepherd who cares for his flock and the thieves and bandits who come only to “steal and kill and destroy” as described in verses 8 & 10. In other words, Jesus is implying that the oppressiveness of the Pharisees is just that, oppressive. While they are clueless as to what the people really need, Jesus offers abundant life for all his flock.

            So – back to that thought of abundance…What does abundant life really mean in the face of such oppression? It means Jesus offers a real relationship with the flock and as such knows us inside out!  Verses 3-4 says, “he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out”… and “the sheep follow him because they know his voice”. My friends, doesn’t it feel good to know and be known by someone so powerful? We humans like to know that we are connected to someone in authority. This is exactly where this meets us head on! We do not serve some disconnected God who sits on a lofty throne somewhere, unaware of our every thought and need! In Christ, God knows us by name, as the shepherd knows the sheep. In Christ, Jesus cares for us. Jesus offers abundant love, grace and hope for us all, just as the shepherd seeks out the greenest of pastures and the coolest of waters for his sheep. The Merriam Webster dictionary describes this word abundant as “more than enough…amply sufficient”.  Friends, our Lord seeks for us more than enough of whatever it is that we need…. It’s an “amply sufficient” supply of the love that only he can give. It’s the love that meets our every need (I didn’t say “want”) and touches us at the deepest level of our being. It’s a love that he gave his life to offer to us.

            Yes - it’s more than just talk of abundant life. Jesus puts his money where is mouth is, so to speak. Jesus doesn’t just talk. He actually lays down his life for us because of that love and the relationship we share. He offers to be the gate through which we walk to share eternal life with our designer… our Creator! This abundant life has that specific purpose. And as such, we are not just saved from the dangers of life apart from God, we are saved for sharing the Good News of God’s abundant love for us!  Jesus came to us to bring abundant life and says to us, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you” (John 20:21)!

            So my friends, the next time you hear that phrase of “abundant life” from Joel Osteen or anyone else, remember that it means more than just talk. It’s more than a catchy phrase. It’s not about money. It’s not about material possessions. It is about living our lives in such a way that the abundance of Christ’s love for us overflows from us into the world around us. It’s the ultimate gift of love. And it’s got your name written all over it! Thanks be to God! Amen!

Stones are hard and unyielding, yet they are also strong and enduring. They can hold up retaining walls or walls of our civilizations. Stones can crash through and crush walls we have so carefully constructed. We give precious gemstones as tokens of love and fidelity. We hurl stones in anger and hate as the ultimate signs of condemnation and punishment. The lectionary reading from the Acts of the Apostles that we didn’t read this morning is the story of the stoning of Stephen. (Review that story this week when you have time. It’s found in Acts 7:55-60).

The metaphor of “stones” and “living stones” looms large in the imagination of how we live our lives every day. Images of “stones” are everywhere in the Hebrew scriptures (OT). Though we tend to think of Jesus as a as a “carpenter,” his work also involved building with stone! It’s no wonder that Jesus used stone imagery so much and in such powerful ways. Jesus didn’t just talk about stumbling-blocks and corner-stones; he also found among his detractors people with hearts of stone. Jesus knew stones could be both building blocks and road blocks.

In today’s culture, it’s not unusual to hear comments like “leaving no stone unturned”. If a child becomes ill a parent will “leave no stone unturned” in seeking out a cure. A teacher will “leave no stone unturned” in order to interest students and make the information come alive. So why do we, as the church, never mind leaving many stones unturned? In other words, why are we afraid to try knew things? We tend to rely solely on the stones we know and love…the stones the offer no change or growth. Why were we as First UMC Burnet so nervous about turning over the stone of a new contemporary service? On the other hand, I am so proud of you that in 2003 you turned over the stone of a female pastor and allowed me to come and serve with you as your first female pastor!

            1 Peter calls on the new faith community to be “living stones” even as Jesus is the living cornerstone. There is only ONE cornerstone. But it takes a lot of different stones to construct the “spiritual house” Jesus wants for us. As the community built on the hope of Christ we need to turn over lots of stone. We need to “leave no stone unturned,” as we continually build up the spiritual structure with Christ as the foundation and cornerstone.

            On Sunday, May 18^th we’re going to hold the second “Fanning the Flame Futures’ Forum”.  Please, put that date on your calendar and plan to stay for the potluck lunch to follow our 10:50 worship service and then to participate in this vital planning event for the future of our ministry here in Burnet.  We’ll look back and see what we have accomplished together since the first “Fanning the Flame” event in April of 2004. We’ll celebrate those accomplishments and recognize them as stones we have carefully placed as we build our spiritual house of ministry to our community and beyond. Then we’ll do the more difficult and yet more fun part: we’ll look at all the stones in front of us and see which ones God would have us turn over to move as we follow him.

            If stones secure our foundation and support the walls we build, then what stones should we turn over? Which stones are already rolling forward?  Remember - The rolling stone is the stone that “gathers no moss,” is always out there, always on the move! My friends, every Christian community must be on the move and about mission. As Peter reminds us in verse 9, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation”. Friends we’re not chosen to sit on top of the stone and not let it move forward!  We were made for a mission as he continues verse 9 saying, “in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness and into his marvelous light” (v.9). In other words, we were called for a purpose! Sure, we have challenges, but God has equipped us to move whatever stones God sets before us, even when some folks want to sit on top of them! Just remember, we are called to be always moving forward as we seek God’s will and purpose for us as his disciples.

Now don’t become discouraged, brothers and sisters because our “spiritual house” is always under construction. There will always be goals set before us. There will always be stones to continue to overturn if we are moving forward. That might mean adding on new rooms and new ministries. And that definitely means there is always room for more to move in.

The danger of course, is deciding we want to be tombstones! Old cemeteries are history books carved in granite. They teach us to value and celebrate our past. They encourage us to document the journey from past to present. A community of faith cannot move forward without seeing where we’ve been.  We can live out the past without being in the past so we might faithfully look to the future.

My friends, as we look to the future, let’s look to the cornerstone of our faith, Jesus himself. He is the perfect, unblemished stone who is always able to hold up the spiritual house without shifting or cracking and erosion. Most importantly, this great cornerstone of the faith will help us remained aligned and plumb with all God intends for us. With him at the cornerstone there can be no erosion, no instability and no cracking of our spiritual mortar. Because he is the Rock of Ages. Thanks be to God! Amen!

            Last week we studied 1 Peter 2:2-10 and talked about Jesus as the cornerstone for all that we do and for all that we look to in the future. Today in 1^st Peter we’re reminded that this epistle was written as a sort of “how-to” manual of hope and encouragement to the churches scattered throughout Asia Minor. They had become alienated from the Roman culture and were being persecuted for their faith. Peter saw Christians in these communities as “exiles” who’d left behind the beliefs and practices of their pagan neighbors and families. Now they were strangers and “aliens” in their own hometowns. In the very first two verses of this epistle Peter writes, “to the exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia who have been chosen and destined by God….”  Because they stood firmly in their faith and refused to buy into the pagan practices of the culture, they’d become targets for insults, discrimination and at times, even violence. Oddly enough, Peter didn’t necessarily see this situation as all bad. In fact, living as outcasts in that culture gave them an opportunity to share the hope within them, in spite of what they endured. Hope has always been a vital ingredient of our faith.

            The 2008 General Conference of the United Methodist Church convened in Ft. Worth last Wednesday. The ten day legislative event includes about 1000 delegates from over 50 countries and five continents all over the world.  Their focus is to discuss matters of social justice and to revise our Book of Discipline. The delegates represent 129 annual conferences, 48,000 congregations and 11.4 million United Methodists all over the world.  The theme of the 2008 General Conference is “A Future with Hope: Making Disciples for the Transformation of the World.” I was unable to go to the opening worship service Wednesday evening but heard that worshipers gathered around a communion table made from wood salvaged from the now destroyed Gulfside Methodist Assembly in Waveland Mississippi following the 2005 devastation of Hurricane Katrina. The pulpit and baptismal font were also made from the same wood.  In her sermon at that worship celebration, Bishop Janice Riggle Huie said that even in the midst of a world filled with AIDS, malaria, violence, global climate change and fear, United Methodists are called to live a life with hope – resurrection hope. Bishop Huie said that the word “hope” was becoming a “marshmallow word. It sounds soft. It looks sweet and appealing. Get it close to the fire, and hope melts off the stick and drips on the ground.” But she went on to say “Resurrection hope transforms lives and changes the future”. My friends, that’s the power of hope!

            In 3:15, Peter recognized the power of hope and called people to be ready to defend the “hope that is in you”!  How do we do that? Well, it seems we must first start with an attitude of love. Verse 8 reminds us that we are to have “sympathy, love for one another, a tender heart, and a humble mind.” In other words, practice these virtues until they become natural habits. Christians spend so much time taking stands on issues and arguing with one another over things like how we take communion or where a class meets or who sits on which pew…. Our credibility as people of love is at question! We should spend more time on our knees and developing habits of love and grace. Then we’ll begin to see others as people who are created and loved by God, even if they don’t agree on everything.

            Another thing we can do to defend the power of hope is to repay evil with blessing. How many times did your mother tell you “you can’t control what other people say and do – only how you respond!” Verse 9 tells us to repay evil with blessing, or “turn the other cheek”. That’s what we are called to do. We are called to bless those who persecute us, but we don’t have to be silent about it. One thing unique about United Methodists is that we believe in God’s justice and truth. Jesus is our example as we remember his words on the cross and even his silence in the face of his accusers. Friends, don’t mistake that for passivity. It was a deep strength that even his enemies could see. When we chose to speak the truth “in gentleness and reverence” we reveal the hope that is within us to those who “abuse us for our good conduct in Christ.” Verses 15-16 remind us that in the face of such hope abusers are ashamed of their conduct.

            Peter encourages the believers in verse 14, “even if you suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear and do not be intimidated”. The truth is we do suffer at times for doing what is right.  People are fearful of so many things… change, fear of loss of power, and even fear that they do not understand. Rather than try to understand those fears and deal with them, they lash out at those around them whom they view as a threat. Peter reminds us that we are not to act out in fear. We can learn from a healthy fear, but we must remember that ultimately holds everyone in his hands. Suffering will come, but “it is better to suffer for doing good”.

            When extending the power of hope to those around us, we need only follow the example of Jesus himself. Think about it. Jesus was crucified unjustly, suffering the worst human violence and insult one could imagine, yet his death and resurrection were the ultimate triumph over injustice, sin and death. The ultimate gift of hope in our lives. Peter tells us in verse 18 that through suffering Christ was able to “bring us to God”.