However, Jesus' ACTUAL words lead us in the direction of happiness, forgiveness, and opportunity! Jesus tells the crowds, "I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly." While there may be some suffering due to the world's stiff resistance to righteousness, and while there may be some suffering due to living on a dangerous planet, the hallmark of the Christian life is ABUNDANT life, a life that is FULL: full of joy, full of meaning, full of wonderful expectation, full of the FUN that occurs when people are living in freedom and harmony.
And Jesus tells the man born blind, “You have seen the Son of Man, and the one speaking with you is he.” It is the completed work of Jesus the Messiah that brings us forgiveness and salvation from God, not our own martyrdom. And so we can reject the current popular theme that humans are a cancer on this planet, and that our duty is to sacrifice ourselves. We can reject the false guilt attached to success, and instead give glory and thanks to God for the gifts and talents he has blessed us with. And in that way, the motives of our generosity become pure: we can give because we think our giving will actually help the situation at hand, not because we want to gain favour or social license or to atone for our prosperity.
It's often very difficult to hear Jesus speaking above the din of our world, with its many distractions and its many overpowering voices! And in this age of the deepfake, it's even hard to know if what we think Jesus is saying is really coming from him! Fortunately, Jesus has provided gifts to us, so that we can be confident that our destination is the feet of our good shepherd, and not the slaughterhouse. Jesus has given us his Word, as recorded by his witnesses in the Bible. Jesus has given us the church, so that we read his Word together, and wrestle with its interpretation together. Jesus has given us the Holy Spirit, so that his Word penetrates our hearts and minds, and creates change in us. And in a few minutes, we will celebrate that Jesus has given us the Sacraments, so that we have the assurance of his own presence within us through his body and blood, given for us.
Gracious God, we thank you for your Son Jesus Christ, who leads us to abundant life now and eternal life with you forever. Guard us by keeping us in the protection of your Holy Spirit, and help us to recognize and follow our good shepherd's voice, in Jesus' name, amen.