August 24, 2025
John 10:22-30
Introduction
“How long will you keep us in suspense?” This question reminds me of that time so many years ago when all of northeast Ohio waited for “the decision” of Cleveland Cavs superstar Lebron James when his contract was coming to an end—would he stay in Cleveland or go somewhere else? For weeks Cavs fans were kept in suspense, until finally we heard, “I’m going to take my talents to South Beach.”
Yet this question—“How long will you keep us in suspense?”— is not from broken hearted basketball fans but instead religious leaders who have seen and heard of Jesus’ deeds of power and grace. Because just like all of us who have had times of suspense where we’ve wondered and speculated and asked what was going on, what was going to happen, these religious leaders want to know just who exactly Jesus is.
But these religious leaders already know who Jesus is, and yet, they still claim this overwhelming suspense. But why? Could it possibly be that though they knew who Jesus was, that they were hoping he was someone else? And if that’s the case for the religious leaders of Jesus’ day, could that be the case for us today as well?
Move 1
Sometimes we experience suspense as a time of exciting expectation. It’s the suspense of receiving and opening a gift; the joyful anticipation of going on a trip, the joyful eagerness of a grandchild’s birth. I remember the time of gleeful suspense when I went to the opening, midnight screening of the “new” Star Wars movie “The Phantom Menace.” Still though, there has been for me, as I suspect for you too, the suspense of thrilling expectations. But that’s not the kind of suspense we hear about in today’s Gospel. The suspense that’s happening in our text for today is the other kind of suspense—the suspense of waiting for something to happen and the uncertainty about what is next, times when we are doubtful or undecided, circumstances that leave us anxious or apprehensive about what will or will not happen. They are times of ambiguity and not knowing. We feel ungrounded and untethered. Our life is suspended, in limbo.
When have you experienced that kind of suspense? What parts of your life are in suspense today? Is it about your marriage, your children, another relationship? Maybe it’s about making a difficult or painful change, or an impending challenge. Maybe it’s about your vocation, money, health, grief and loss, your future, or even your faith. Maybe your suspense in rooted in your very own “the decision” you’re going to have to make. What is suspending your life today?
Regardless of how it comes about, often suspense is rooted in a spiritual condition. The suspense about our lives and/or our faith is more about what’s going on within us than what’s going on around us. And yet most of us deal with the circumstances rather than ourselves. We seek an exterior solution for an interior challenge and struggle, and that rarely works. We grasp for facts and reason. We want information, answers, and straight talk. We want to know what’s going to happen before it happens so we can be ready.
That’s what the religious leaders want in today’s Gospel. “If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly,” they say to Jesus. They are grasping for facts, reason, information, answers, and straight talk because they want to be ready. Except they are only aiming to be ready for the circumstances—the exterior solutions—and not the interior challenge and struggle.
Move 2
When we understand this text, when we fully grasp what is going on here with these religious leaders, it becomes rather comical. It’s comical because they know—somewhere deep inside their hearts and souls—they know their “gig” is up. They know everything they have been doing is about to be called out. Everything they have done in opposition to God and God’s call, is about to be brought into the light of truth. And we can know this by their last ditch, desperate efforts to hopefully squirm their way back into the shadows when they say, “If you are… the Messiah, tell us plainly.”
This is not the first or the last time Jesus will hear “If you are….” It’s throughout the Gospels. It begins with his temptations in the wilderness and ends with his crucifixion: “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” (Mt 4:3; Lk. 4:3) “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down [from the pinnacle of the temple].” (Mt. 4:6; Lk. 4:9)“If you are able to do anything, have pity on us and help us.” (Mk. 9:22) “Tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.” (Mt. 26:63) “If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” (Mt. 27:40) “If you are the Messiah, tell us.” (Lk 22:67) “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” (Lk 23:37) “If you are” is in all four Gospels. It’s in my life too, and maybe it’s in yours. I’ve said and thought those words many times. And admittedly, sometimes I still do.
“If you are…” has been a statement made to Jesus since he was born, and it’s still made to him today. If you are wise and all knowing… If you are powerful… If you are merciful… If you are loving… If you are good… If you are compassionate… If you are generous… If you are forgiving… If you are caring and concerned… If, if, if…you are…
Every “if you are” statement comes with a clause of “then you will…” or “then you can…” “If you are…then you will bless me with what I want.” “If you are…then you can take care of the circumstances.”
Every time we make an “If you are…” statement, it always says more about us than it does Jesus. And this is true because every time we make an “if you are…” statement it points to what’s going on within us, within our hearts, our spirits. It’s about my suspense and wanting to be rescued from the discomfort. It’s about who I want Jesus to be. It’s about my projections onto and expectations of him. I want Jesus to declare and prove himself to me in ways that fit my image and understanding of who I think he should be.
When I am in suspense, I’d rather Jesus belong to me than me belong to Jesus. That’s what is happening in today’s Gospel. And that’s what is happening with most followers of Jesus today.
Move 3
“You do not believe because you do not belong to my sheep,” Jesus says. That’s not the way we often think about believing and belonging. We tend to give priority to believing. We think right beliefs lead to belonging. But that’s not what Jesus says.
Believing is not the prerequisite to belonging, it’s the consequence—the upshot— of belonging. And that makes all our “if you are” statements moot.
Jesus rarely offers us information about himself. But what he does offer is an invitation into an experience of himself. He shows himself to us, he reveals himself to us, rather than telling us about himself.
Let me put it this way… What if Jesus had said to the religious authorities in today’s Gospel, “Let me clarify this once and for all. I am the Messiah, the Christ, the anointed one”? What if he responded to each of our “if you are” statements the way we want? We might have the information, the answer, but then what? Would we be satisfied with that? Would it transform or change our lives or make a difference? I doubt it would because what’s in our head doesn’t matter as much as where our heart is.
*******
I remember a particular time of intense suspense in my life. I was looking for answers and wanting information to explain and make sense of what was happening. One morning I was at breakfast with an old friend—we were longtime camp friends, went to college together, and both had calls to ministry. He was always smarter and wiser than I was, and so I told him about the suspense that had built in me, and that I wanted to know what exactly to do.
He said to me, “And what would you do with that information if you had it? What difference would it make? You still have to decide how you will live your life and then go live it.” That’s what I hear when Jesus says, “The works I do… testify to me, but you do not believe because you do not belong to my sheep.” You don’t believe who I am because you have not decided how to live your life as one who believes in who I am.
Conclusion
If we are ever in suspense of who Jesus is, we need only remember today’s Gospel lesson… “My works testify to me.” Jesus has shown us who he is in changing water into wine; cleansing the temple; feeding thousands with five loaves and two fish; enabling a lame man to stand up, take his mat, and walk; forgiving the woman caught in adultery; giving sight to the blind; raising Lazarus from the dead; and at Easter he shows us life comes out of death.
What would it mean for you and me to belong to the works of Jesus? What would that take? What are those works offering you and me in our suspense today? And what are they asking of us?
I wonder what it would be like to let go of our “If you are…” statements to Jesus and start saying to ourselves, “If I am…” If I am… hearing Jesus’ voice… If I am known by Jesus… If I am following Jesus… If I am given eternal life… If I am imperishable… If I am “un-snatchable” from his hand… What difference would it make? Will I still decide how I will live and then go live it?” May we stop say to Jesus “If you are…”, and start saying to ourselves, “If I am… how will I live my life for Jesus? Amen.
August 24, 2025 Pastoral Prayer
God of life and new life, God of call and purpose, we come before you today as those who seek to follow you and your son in all we say and do. We seek to know you by knowing your son. We seek to follow you by following your son. We seek to be those who are deeply and faithfully entrenched within Jesus’s flock, holding fast to the truth that he is our Shepherd, that he will never abandon nor forsake us.
That is who we aim to be in each and every day. Yet still, we admit that in our following of Jesus we do long to know, plainly, just where it is Jesus is calling us; where it is he is taking us; where it is he would have us go— because we want to know. We want to know details, we want to know what to expect, we want to know when something will begin, and when it will end. Because in knowing we have control. And so much of our living and breathing and being is rooted in our need and desire to be in control.
Remind us gracious God, to be a follower of Jesus means we must relinquish the desire and need to always be in control. Remind us, it means we are to live by faith and the assurance we will never be abandoned or forsaken.
So in those times when we are tempted to say to Jesus, “If you are…” help us to pause and feel deeply in our hearts and spirits that the faithful path is to ask and say, “If I am… a follower of Jesus…”, “If I am… truly part of Jesus’ flock…”, “If I am… a believer who trusts in my saving Shepherd…” I will go wherever he leads me, and I will do whatever he calls me to do because “I am God’s holy and beloved child, and I am forever safely within Jesus’ flock.”
We ask that you would listen now to the prayers of our hearts as we lift them to you in this time of Holy Silence.
All this we pray in the name of Christ Jesus, our Lord and our Good Shepherd, who taught us to pray saying, “Our…