Weekly Seeds: The Works Testify
Sunday, May 11, 2025
Fourth Sunday of Easter | Year C
Focus Theme:
“The Works Testify”
Focus Prayer:
Good Shepherd, reveal the good to be done and let our works testify to your goodness, mercy, and love. Amen.
Focus Scripture:
John 10:22-30
22 At that time the Festival of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon. 24 So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” 25 Jesus answered, “I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me, 26 but you do not believe because you do not belong to my sheep. 27 My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, in regard to what he has given me, is greater than all, and no one can snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30 The Father and I are one.”
All readings for this Sunday:
Acts 9:36-43 • Psalm 23 • Revelation 7:9-17 • John 10:22-30
Focus Questions:
What is your testimony?
How has it shaped you?
What testimony have you heard that made an impact upon you?
How do you perceive the biblical witness as testimony?
What stories resonate most deeply with you?
Reflection
By Cheryl A. Lindsay
Testimony is powerful. In many ways, testimony provides most of the biblical witness. Rather than a rulebook, the collection, from Genesis to Revelation, offers a series of connected stories of the Creator-creation relationship over a particular time. That’s testimony. When we recognize our story within those stories, we connect our testimony to theirs. That leads to strength and encouragement, facilitates discernment and nurtures wisdom, and connects us to our spiritual ancestors.
Stories need action to work. It is possible to write a story strictly using a character’s thoughts. Those are not the most engaging stories told, and even then, the thoughts will reflect back upon or imagine some action taking place. In fact, action is a key component of storytelling and the way to build the narrative. Character development depends upon the action within the story as the lead and supporting actors respond to unfolding events. Within the gospel narratives, Jesus employs storytelling as a teaching method. In the synoptics, the use of parables reflects Jesus’ ability to distill complex theological teachings into a brief tale that conveys deep meaning. In John’s narrative, Jesus extensively utilizes metaphor to the same ends.
The Johannine Jesus, unlike his Synoptic counterpart, does not speak in parables. In John 10, however, he employs the “figure” (Gk. paroimia) of the shepherd who calls his sheep by name and leads them out of the sheepfold. This is a pastoral, everyday scenario that lends itself readily to a cosmological interpretation. The shepherd is a well-known biblical metaphor for leaders, divine and human, such as Moses (Exod. 3:1), David (2 Sam. 5:2), and God (Psalm 23). The language (hearing the voice, calling the sheep by name, leading them out) recalls John 5:28, in which Jesus promises that “all who are in their graves will hear his voice and will come out” and anticipates 11:43, in which Jesus calls Lazarus by name out of his grave. These references to death raise the intriguing possibility that the passage alludes to the “harrowing of hell,” the belief that Jesus spent the days between his crucifixion and resurrection in Hades bringing the dead to faith (Reinhartz 1992). Jesus also refers to “other sheep that do not belong to this fold” (10:16), perhaps an allusion to members of the Johannine community—believers—who are not of Jewish origin.
Adele Reinhartz
The speculation about the meaning of the shepherd metaphor demonstrates the challenge of engaging in ancient texts with a modern worldview. The original hearers lived in a storytelling culture and would have received Jesus’ words as story without the expectation of doctrine. Overemphasis on belief and individual relationship with the divine has diminished consideration of communal relationship and commitments. The other sheep could have been anyone and everyone beyond this rather small group of disciples even at the later part of the first century who first heard John’s account. The ambiguity of the statement, which apparently and significantly goes unquestioned in the moment, suggests expansiveness and inclusivity as foundational to the Jesus movement.
The temptation, at that time when the early church experienced increasing persecution, would have been to go inward, to keep the community small, and to mask any affiliation with this threatened group. The choice before them enters with more clarity and resonance with the current environment in the United States when a prominent pastor is arrested for praying, families have their homes invaded by federal agents without cause or due process, and human beings are deported or trafficked by the government based on their speech when that freedom is the first protection enshrined in the Constitution. The temptation now, may be to comply in advance with unconstitutional orders or just the tenor of the political environment. Some may attempt to ignore the threats unless and until their doorsteps are reached. The problem with that approach is that eventually, all doors get reached. As Rabbi Joachim Prinz said at the 1963 March on Washington For Jobs and Freedom:
When I was the rabbi of the Jewish community in Berlin under the Hitler regime, I learned many things. The most important thing that I learned under those most tragic circumstances was that bigotry and hatred are not the most urgent problem. The most urgent, the most disgraceful, the most shameful and the most tragic problem is silence.
The world is never silent. In fact, the universe makes constant sound. There’s always something to listen to. What we describe as silence is actually quiet or intentional cessation of a particular sound or sounds. That silence allows us to hear without distraction what may go unnoticed. It may also help shield actions that may put us at risk…like the quiet trek across nations of an asylum seeker just wanting to live in safety. That type of silence, I suggest, is not the target of Rabbi Prinz’ declaration. The protective silence of the vulnerable is strategic and necessary. Prinz likely alluded to the same use of silence to which Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. referenced in saying, “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”
Jesus does not commend his disciples to keep silent. He invites them to follow the divine model: the works testify. What we do reveals who we are. This is an essential aspect of the incarnation story. Jesus becomes embodied in order to act and to organize those who follow Jesus into action. Jesus does not call the disciples to belief but to building a movement of a community of empowered believers organized to realize the kindom of God. In this, the works not only testify, they glorify the Holy One.
Jesus, in this passage, asserts the source of his power, which Jesus delegates to followers. That power emanates from the union of the divine, who model community within themselves.
Jesus’ claim “I and the Father are one [entity]” (cf. 5:17–18; 10:33–38) forms the climax of the present chapter, much as 8:58 does for John 8 (Carson 1991: 395). The statement echoes the fundamental confession of Judaism: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one” (Deut. 6:4). For Jesus to be one with the Father yet distinct from him amounts to a claim to deity (cf. John 1:1–2). To be sure, the emphasis here is on the unity of their works (Ridderbos 1997: 371; Carson 1991: 394), yet an ontological (not just functional) unity between Jesus and the Father seems presupposed.] Though not an affirmation of complete identity, clearly this statement has more in view than a mere oneness of will between Jesus and the Father (so, rightly, Carson 1991: 395).
Andreas J. Köstenberger
Those questioning Jesus at the beginning of this passage wanted a simple answer: is Jesus the Messiah or not? Loaded in this question hang all the expectations surrounding the promise and expectation of the Chosen One. A ruler like David with the accompanying power and militaristic success would fulfill the promise. They looked for one who would reestablish the former glory of the temple and territorial distinctions once enjoyed by a people for whom having land of their own was formative and a crucial element of their identity. They apparently wanted their conquering hero to come in a blaze of glory and a grand announcement. Are you the Messiah or not, they asked him, with all the skepticism and antagonism implied in the question? They don’t recognize or accept him. He does not meet their narrow definitions.
Jesus refuses to play their game or concede to their terms. The works testify. If they were connected to the One who sent Jesus, they would recognize Jesus as the Chosen One. If they were attuned to the Spirit, they would recognize his voice. If they were in union with their God, they would find communion with him.
Many claim to believe in Jesus, yet they do not seem to follow him. Their works testify as well. The question to ask of ourselves is do our works testify? Do we demonstrate union with the Triune God by what we do as much as what we profess? Do our lives support our covenantal commitments and faith claims? Do we gather, like sheep, in a community of nurture and care under the guidance of the Good Shepherd, or have we accepted the lie of the adversary and drifted from the flock?
The works testify.
Reflection from Voices of People of African Descent
The 33rd General Synod adopted a Resolution to Recognize the United Nations International Decade for People of African Descent (2015-2024). As part of its implementation, Sermon and Weekly Seeds offers Reflection from Voices of People of African Descent related to the season or overall theme for additional consideration in sermon preparation and for individual and congregational study.
. . . Then God the Father said to me: “You are now prepared and must go where I have commanded you.” I replied, “If I go, they will not believe me.” Christ then appeared to write something with a golden pen and golden ink, upon golden paper. Then he rolled it up, and said to me: “Put this in your bosom, and, wherever you go, show it, and they will know that I have sent you to pro claim salvation to all.” He then put it into my bosom, and they all went with me to a bright, shining gate, singing and shouting. Here they embraced me, and I found myself once more on earth.
When I came to myself, I found that several friends had been with me all night, and my husband had called a physician, but he had not been able to do anything for me. He ordered those around me to keep very quiet, or to go home. He returned in the morning, when I told him, in part, my story. He seemed amazed, but made no answer, and left me.
Several friends were in, during the day. While talking to them, I would, without thinking, put my hand into my bosom, to show them my letter of authority. But I soon found, as my friends told me, it was in my heart, and was to be shown in my life, instead of in my hand. Among others, my minister, Jehiel C. Beman, came to see me. He looked very coldly upon me and said: “I guess you will find out your mistake before you are many months older.” He was a scholar, and a fine speaker; and the sneering, indifferent way in which he addressed me, said most plainly: “You don’t know anything.” I replied: “My gifts are very small, I know, but I can no longer be shaken by what you or anyone else may think or say.”
FROM this time the opposition to my life-work commenced, instigated by the minister, Mr. Beman. Many in the church were anxious to have me preach in the hall, where our meetings were held at that time, and were not a little astonished at the minister’s cool treatment of me. At length two of the trustees got some of the elder sisters to call on the minister and ask him to let me preach. His answer was: “No; she can’t preach her holiness stuff here, and I am astonished that you should ask it of me.” The sisters said he seemed to be in quite a rage, although he said he was not angry.
There being no meeting of the society on Monday evening, a brother in the church opened his house to me, that I might preach, which displeased Mr. Beman very much. He appointed a committee to wait upon the brother and sister who had opened their doors to me, to tell them they must not allow any more meetings of that kind, and that they must abide by the rules of the church, making them believe they would be excommunicated if they disobeyed him. I happened to be present at this interview, and the committee remonstrated with me for the course I had taken. I told them my business was with the Lord, and wherever I found a door opened I intended to go in and work for my Master.
Julia A. J. Foote, excerpt from Brand Plucked from the Fire (Cleveland, W. F. Schneider: 1879)
https://teachingamericanhistory.org/document/a-brand-plucked-from-the-fire/
Building Up a New World Liturgical Resources
Book Chapter: “Organizing Congregations for Impact”
Scripture: John 10:22-30
Book Quote:
“Faith-based organizing intentionally builds power in community, builds leadership, and shifts decision-making power to the people. It builds and deepens relationships, community, and collective imagination…Jesus spent a lot of time out on the block listening, seeing, noticing, taking in, asking questions, and making connections. And while Jesus did correct and provide instruction, he centered the community in everything he did…The fight for justice is always too big for one person alone and we cannot win if we do not come together and organize. Jesus knew this. Jesus modeled this. He knew his gifts, operated in them, AND surrounded himself with folx with different experiences and different skills; then he began to organize and train them so they could do the work” (38).
Theme Notes:
Christian theology and biblical interpretation has often made sense of Jesus’ use of the metaphor of shepherd and sheep as a way of understanding followership or discipleship: sheep are trained to follow the shepherd who protects, cares for, and lead them. But what if we thought of this metaphor as an image of collecitve consciousness/awareness. When Jesus says “My sheep hear my voice. I know them and they follow me” maybe he’s calling our attention the ways they have deepened community together, collectively imagined a new world, and built power together. It is this kind of organizing that brings new, abundant, and lasting life to the community, to us all.
Building Up a New World Liturgical Resources written by Dr. Sharon R. Fennema, who serves as Join the Movement toward Racial Justice Curator with UCC National Ministries.
For Further Reflection
“I am no bird; and no net ensnares me; I am a free human being with an independent will.” —Charlotte Bronte
“The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever.” —Jacques Yves Cousteau
“Joy is prayer; joy is strength: joy is love; joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls.” — Mother Teresa
A preaching commentary on this text (with works cited) is at //ucc.org/SermonSeeds.
The Rev. Dr. Cheryl A. Lindsay, Minister for Worship and Theology (lindsayc@ucc.org), also serves a local church pastor, public theologian, and worship scholar-practitioner with a particular interest in the proclamation of the word in gathered communities. You’re invited to share your reflections on this text in the comments below this post on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/SermonSeeds.
About Weekly Seeds
Weekly Seeds is a United Church of Christ resource for Bible study based on the readings of the “Lectionary,” a plan for weekly Bible readings in public worship used in Protestant, Anglican and Roman Catholic churches throughout the world. When we pray with and study the Bible using the Lectionary, we are praying and studying with millions of others.
You’re welcome to use this resource in your congregation’s Bible study groups.
Weekly Seeds is a service of Local Church Ministries of the United Church of Christ. Bible texts are from the New Revised Standard Version, © 1989 Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.