Nov. 10, 2019         Shelters or Fences                                       

Once upon a time there was an American sheep rancher who traveled to Australia to learn about how they raised sheep. The Australian rancher welcome the American rancher, and took him on a tour of his ranch pointing out all the things that were done, from the grazing to the feeding to the sheering, and on and on. At the end of the tour the Australian rancher asked if the American rancher noticed any differences between the two, perhaps something that might help him in his raising of sheep. The American though about it and said that he could only fine one difference, there were no fences on the Australian ranchers farm, and he wondered how the Australian kept his sheep from wandering away.

The Australian rancher said, well, we provide the sheep with a shelter from the weather, and at these shelters, we feed them daily. For the most part, the sheep don’t wander to far astray, because they have both food and shelter. And then, after a brief pause for reflection, the Australian rancher said, I guess that’s the difference between our ranches, we focus on shelter, and you focus on fences.

Our reading from the gospel doesn’t talk a lot about sheep, but if you give me a few minutes, I think we can get there. Our gospel reading has Jesus answering a question about the resurrection. Now Jesus has just entered the temple the day before, drove the moneychangers and sellers of sacrifices out of the temple, and come back the next day to teach and answer questions. There are four questions in Luke and each one of them deals with whether we are putting God first in our lives, or something else.

The long winded question by the Sadducees, is of course, meant to trip Jesus up, by pointing out how ridiculous faith in the resurrection is, but really, it only shows the foolishness of the Sadducees. I would compare the Sadducees question to the fences above, and Jesus answer about the resurrection to the shelters. Through faith in the resurrection, there is life for those who believe here in this world, and in the life that is to come.

Jesus notes that in this age, marriage is a construction, and a good construction at that. It is a covenant in which a man and a woman, pledge themselves to one another, act in faithfulness to one another, speak the truth to one another, suffer with one another in times of hardship, forgive one another when they have gone astray. Marriage in a way, is a way to teach us how to love one another, and indeed prepares us for that day, in the life to come, when we are called to love all others. Those who see marriage as a ball and chain, are looking at the fences of marriage, rather than the shelter and nurture that a loving marriage provides us in life, and the blessing it can be for those who truly embrace it.

Side note, one does not have to be married, to develop this love for others that is found in marriage. There are people who have this same depth of love and strength of spirit in their lives and relationships with others as well. They are alive to those they love, and live on in their hearts and minds, even after they have passed from this world. And indeed, is in the church, where we hear the good news of the gospel, and through our faith in the resurrection, that we practice this love not just for our fellow members, but through our mission and ministry to those throughout the world.

 And I think that is Jesus point when he speaks about God being a God of the living. The dead and dying, those who do not know God’s love in their lives, pass away and are forgotten. Those who know God’s love in their lives continue to give life to those who remember them. This was my contribution to our text study, because God is not bound by past, present and future, all of those who love God are alive before him, both now and forever.  And that is the Good News of Jesus Christ. Amen.