To whom or what are you dedicating yourself these days? Whose voice are you listening to and following? Who or what is shepherding your life today?

On a Sunday morning in church the obvious and correct answer is Jesus. But I don’t want us to settle for the obvious and correct. Today, I want us to do some soul-searching. I don’t want us to proclaim Jesus as the answer. I want us to hear Jesus as the question in our lives. 

Our Shepherds

There are a thousand different shepherds out there today asking and sometimes demanding that we listen to and follow them. And not all shepherds are good or trustworthy. Maybe that’s why we often don’t know who or what to believe anymore. Maybe that’s why we sometimes feel powerless and overwhelmed by all that is happening in our lives and world. Just last week I had three people say those things to me. I wasn’t surprised. I’ve said them to myself. Haven’t you?

I think that’s about shepherding and getting clear about whose voice we are listening to and to what we are dedicating ourselves. 

We all have at least one shepherd and probably more. That’s never in question. It’s a given. It might be a particular faith tradition and its scriptures. It might be another person, an institution, an ideology, or a political party. It might be a relationship, our work, a goal, or a dream. It might be particular values, an attitude, or a set of beliefs. It might be a past experience. It might be guilt, sorrow, anger, a hurt, an addiction. It might even be our own cool ideas that guide our lives.

So let’s try this. Pick one shepherd in your life today. Where is that shepherd taking you? How is it forming your life? Who is it leading you to become and do you like what you see? In what ways is that shepherd influencing or determining your relationships with others? What are the values and teachings of that shepherd? To whom are the works of that shepherd testifying? Is it a shepherd worthy of your life and one you want to continue following or do you need to dedicate yourself to another?

I think those are the kind of questions today’s gospel (John 10:22-30) holds before us. Maybe that’s what Jesus is getting at when he says, “My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me.” And I don’t think it’s a coincidence that today’s gospel happens on the festival of the Dedication, what we know as Hanukkah.

Festival of the Dedication

Dedication is the thread that runs through today’s gospel. In order for you to understand what I mean by that I need to give you some background and context for today’s gospel and the festival of the Dedication.

There was once a king who ruled over a great empire. He was, however, controversial. Some said he was a usurper of the throne. He thought of himself as “God-manifest.” He even gave himself that title. But because of his often eccentric behaviors and capricious actions some of his contemporaries called him “The Mad” or “The Insane.”

He repressed the people, outlawing their traditions, rituals, and sacred books of law. He desecrated what was most holy to them. He reversed policies that had previously respected the people’s culture and protected their institutions. He was characterized as cruel and vainglorious. He forced a different culture on the people of his realm. Eventually, however, the people successfully revolted against his rule. (“Antiochus IV Epiphanes,” Wikipedia).

Sound familiar? Do you know who I’m talking about? You probably know of him and his ways even if you’ve never heard of or met him.

His name is Antiochus IV Epiphanes and the revolt is known as the Maccabean Revolt. It took place in the second century BCE. Through that revolt the Jewish people cleansed the temple of Antiochus’ desecrations and rededicated it to God.

But it was more than just a rededication of the temple. It was also the people rededicating themselves to God, reclaiming ways and practices that had been lost or taken from them, recommitting to their sacred scriptures, recovering and reconnecting to the holy within themselves and one another, and living as a people who belong to God. 

That story is more than just an event in Jewish history. It’s a story about renewed hope, new life, a new way of being, a new vision for the future. It’s an Easter story – holiness out of desecration, light out of darkness, life out of death.

Who among us today doesn’t need a festival of the Dedication? There are people, places, and circumstances today crying out for a festival of the Dedication. What if we read the news, met each person, and responded to injustice, violence, and the needs of others as a festival of the Dedication? What if we brought a festival of the Dedication to the broken and hurting parts of our lives and communities? 

Rededicating Ourselves

That dedication is at the heart of our baptism and the vows we make. It’s who we say we are and how we will live. We promise to be people who believe in God, resist evil, and proclaim by word and example the good news of God in Christ. We promise to be people who seek and serve Christ in all persons, and love our neighbor as ourselves. We promise to be people who strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being. 

That dedication, however, is about more than the promises we make. It’s ultimately about the life we live. 

Let me show you what I mean. Take a look at Hudson. In a few moments he will be baptized and dedicated to God and the way of Jesus. We trust and want that for him. Vows will be made on his behalf. We will renew our own baptismal vows and promise to support him in his life in Christ. It will be a festival of Dedication for him and us. 

Hudson is only three months old but one day he will, as we all do, face an Antiochus. The voice he follows and the shepherd who guides and guards his life will make all the difference. 

What are your best prayers, hopes, and wishes for Hudson? Who do you want to shepherd his life? Whose voice do you want him to hear, trust, and follow? What would you tell him about his own holiness and dignity and that of others? To whom do you want the works of his life to testify? 

And what about you? How would you answer those questions for yourself? I wonder what cleansing and rededication mean and look like for you today. 

What do you need to reclaim or recommit to? What relationships or parts of yourself are in need of recovering the holy? What would it take for us as a nation to live as a people who belong to God? 

Antiochus is real but so is the festival of the Dedication. I wonder what it is asking of you and me today. Whatever it is, we have a choice to make.

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Image Credit: Photo by Majid Rangraz on Unsplash.