“Ninja Jesus”

It’s annual meeting Sunday, so it’s a good day to preach about Jesus. (Not that every Sunday isn’t a good day to preach about Jesus!) But today is important because our church covenant says Jesus is “Lord of Life and Head of the Church.”  Jesus is in charge, not me (as your Senior Pastor), not the Church Council, but Jesus.  Congregationalists confess the Risen Christ embodied in the people of his church, congregations who meet to pray, share, and welcome in his name all over the world, just as we do today.

The last time I preached on these texts I told you about the time a rowdy 4^th and 5^th grade Sunday school class (all boys) acted out the 23^rd Psalm.  They loved that “rod and staff” part, so they staged the thing as a mighty battle between good and evil – with their favorite Sunday School teacher cast as their “ninja Jesus.”  He was a former football player who worked for Nike, so he was an impressive figure in battle against a ferocious wolf assault on his flock.  Believe me, that image stuck with us!  I’m sure that all of us who saw the 23^rd Psalm acted out that day, in what was not so much “liturgical drama” as “carefully managed chaos,” were assured that “The Good Shepherd” was as tough as a Sergeant who really would “lay down his life” for the other soldiers in his unit. Now that’s the kind of “Ninja Jesus” who makes sense as leader, as a “good shepherd” for us.

Because of all that can go wrong in our lives, and in the life of our church, it helps to remember that Jesus is not only fairer than the sunshine, as that sweet old German hymn puts it, Jesus is also a strong defender, a brave “ninja” shepherd of might, mind, and mystery, who can lead us safely through the valley of the shadow of death.  His rod and staff should comfort us – after all, John’s Gospel says he is the one who will “lay down his life” to fight off the physical and spiritual predators around us.

How does our congregation embody, then, this “Ninja Jesus”?

The first item on our resume as “Ninja Jesus” is our congregation’s courage.

This Body of Christ has had to face serious financial issues. Stewardship has to be a challenge in this economy.  Faced with job instability and job losses, many of us have learned (as perhaps never before in our lives) what it means to pray “give us this day our daily bread.”  And yet our church this year our campaign celebrated transformation – the very real change that has been taking place in many of our own lives, as well as in the church, as we have become much bolder and much more courageous givers.  This year our church not only received an amazing $100,000 gift to our Endowment Fund, we ended this church year with a $30,000 budget surplus.  Our church, this living body of Christ, has the courage to lay down its money for one another.  And so “Ninja Jesus” has fought off the “wolf at our door” – the wolf of worry about paying our bills – a demon of doubt that could easily paralyze a church with fear.

Next, the second item on our congregation’s “Ninja Jesus” resume is wisdom. 

The second “enemy” that this Body of Christ has had to face lately is the confusion that comes from being attacked on several different “fronts” at once.  We can get distracted and pulled in so many directions it gets hard to think clearly.  This is the way a wolf pack works – they try to break up the flock and pick off the weak.  But the greatest Japanese warriors worked well as teams of swordsmen.  They were not only brave but well-trained with wise strategies for working together – battle tactics passed down through generations of master teachers.  Remember how in the movies they will band together with their backs together in a circle, facing outward, and will defeat a huge crowd of attackers who outnumber them?  Not only that, Ninjas learn to move smoothly, instinctually – almost like one living organism, one body.  And this is something our congregation has been learning to do.  Our church vision statement unites us. We are “taking turns” and setting priorities well so that we can work together toward one common goal at a time, and so we don’t waste energy in conflict with one another.

This was the genius of Jesus as well – he tried to get his people to stop the self-destructive fighting between groups like the Pharisees and Saducees. Jesus tried to re-unite the world in that original “rainbow covenant” of brother- and sisterhood that God intended for us.  Remember how in John Jesus says, “I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold.  I must bring them also... so there will be one flock.” Jesus did his best to simplify the 613 laws of God in the Torah and so he left his disciples with a single vision statement, “love one another.”  He invited the world to live together in peace.

And so, in Christ’s spirit of peacemaking, our wise church leaders have been hard at work to process a lot of complex data and pull us together on a wide range of projects this year – managing repairs from roof down to the boiler, and trying to inform and guide us on complicated issues from the new water line to the potential cell phone tower in our steeple.  This kind of work requires sharp attention, cooperation, and the flexibility of quick ninja reflexes.  Ever seen a flock of sheep moving together under attack?  They look like one single organism, and what holds them together is their instinct to trust one another and to follow their good shepherd.  When our church unites its wisdom as one whole body of Christ, we can move forward together with grace.

The third and final item on the resume of “Ninja Jesus” is his mysterious power.

The third “enemy” that this Body of Christ has had to face is what St. Paul calls “the wisdom of the world” in First Corinthians. This world’s wisdom tends to say, “Play it safe.  Trust no one.  Bad times are coming, so look out for yourself.”  But God’s wisdom has always said something like “Do the right thing.  Love and care for one another, put the needs of others above your own, and God’s blessing will follow.” God’s wisdom fills us with eternal hope, even when the way seems the darkest. When we trust God enough to do the right thing as we have been taught, even when it’s hard – when we do our best to discern God’s will and follow it together – our power increases exponentially.  This truth is grounded in the deepest mystery of our faith.

In the end, the thing that makes me proudest of our church, and the most grateful, is our commitment to helping others – even when our own needs have been tremendous.  Our church leaders took the “leap of faith” to sponsor Refugee Resettlement again this year – even when it wasn’t clear that we would have enough volunteers.  At our annual meeting later, our Council will recommend that we don’t just spend or save our entire budget surplus, but that we give a percentage away to others.  But I have seen great faithfulness not just in the sharing of our time and money, but also in our devotion to prayer for one another.  All you have to do is to listen at church to hear of some the “miracles and wonders” that have grown from our love and concern for one another.

In ancient legend, ninja warrior was sometimes said to transform himself, to change shape and form, and even to walk on water!  I’m not sure we’re quite ready to walk on water, but I am here to testify that this body of Christ is growing and transforming – we have come unstuck from our fears, our confusion, and our doubts.  Together, with God’s help, we are trusting Jesus to lead us, like the good “ninja” shepherd he has always been – with courage, with wisdom, and with all the joyful hope of our Christian faith.

Thanks be to God for this Good News.  Amen.

 

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John 10:11-18

¹¹“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. ¹²The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. ¹³The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. ¹⁴I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, ¹⁵just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. ¹⁶I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. ¹⁷For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. ¹⁸No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”

Psalm 23 (adapted & used as Prayer of Approach)

¹The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
²He makes me lie down in green pastures;
he leads me beside still waters; ³he restores my soul.
He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake.

⁴Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil;
for you are with me; your rod and your staff— they comfort me.
⁵You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

⁶Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.