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Fourth Sunday of Easter                                                      April 21, 2024

As a young person there was one phrase I seemed to say a lot — almost every day.  And it was short — just four words long.  These were words I only said to my mom or my dad, and to no one else.  And I said these words not with joy in my heart, not with enthusiasm, not because I was happy in that moment — but for the opposite reason — because I wasn’t too thrilled or happy about something.  What were these four words?

Do I have to?

Clean your room.  Pick up your clothes.  Take out the garbage.  Clean your plate.  Do your homework.  Go to bed.  Be home by dinnertime.  Apologize to your sister.  Turn off the TV.  Cut the grass.  You get the picture.  And my response was often those four simple words.

Do I have to?

The words “have to” contain a certain amount of implicit negativity.  Most of us aren’t thrilled with the idea of “having” to do anything.  Yet, as adults we understand and accept that being a responsible person means embracing a certain number of things we “have” to do.  Some of these things are relatively easy and demand little from us.  But others (such as relationships —– particularly marriage) can be tremendously difficult — demanding nearly everything we’ve got.  And yet, all of these “have tos” aren’t truly absolute, don’t hold in all cases and in every circumstance.  And so, a more accurate way of describing these sorts of responsibilities are the words, “I have to . . . . . up to a point.”

A child doesn’t have to cut the grass if he or she is sick.  An employee doesn’t have to obey the boss if he or she is being asked to break the law.  A manager of a retail store doesn’t have to protect the contents of the register if he or she is being held up at gunpoint.  Even a married person doesn’t need to stay living under the same roof as the partner that’s abusing her (or him).  Yes, whether our responsibility is small or great, there is always a point when our “have to” takes a backseat to something or someone else.  And that’s completely understandable.

We just heard one of those scenarios described in today’s Gospel passage from John, on this, Good Shepherd Sunday.  Jesus (through John) tells us,

“A hired man, who is not a shepherd and whose sheep are not his own,

sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away, . . .”

I don’t blame him.  I’m sure when he signed on for this job he fully intended to meet all of his responsibilities.  He would care for the sheep.  Take them out to pasture.  Make sure they had enough water.  Keep them all together.  Make sure none got stolen.  Be on the watch for disease or injury or anything of the sort.

But then a wolf comes.  And he probably thinks to himself, “I have to take care of these sheep . . . . but I’m not losing my life for them. That’s where I draw the line.”  No longer was his “have to” an absolute.  He had reached that critical point —- the point where just feeling he “had to” wasn’t enough.  Of course, Jesus uses this story in order to contrast it with what he is all about — how he would react in such a situation.  And so, Jesus makes sure we know that he is not some sort hired man who isn’t fully invested in those charged to his care.  Rather, he is the “good shepherd” — the kind of shepherd who has no limits as to what he is willing to do to make sure his sheep are safe, cared for, and in a very real sense, loved.

You see, when it comes to God there is no “have to”.  God does what God does because he WANTS to.  That’s just who he is.  And that makes all the difference in the world.  And what about us?  What about our responsibilities to God?  The things we do for God — what are our motivations, our reasons for the choices we make?

For much of Christianity’s history (and even to the present day) there has always been a tendency to put an emphasis on the “have tos” of a life of faith.  And at some periods in our history that tendency tipped nearly all the way to one side — the side that resulted in people living in near terror of their God, convinced that one wrong move, one slight fault could bring down his wrath and bring about some really bad stuff.  And so, many people tried to please God simply to avoid his punishment, to keep the bad things he could rain down upon them at bay.  Faith (in these cases) was something embraced reluctantly, begrudgingly, fearfully.  Everything one did in relation to God was a “have to”.

Of course, some people seemed to transcend these sorts of attitudes, seemed to WANT to love God as much or more than they felt they HAD to love him, HAD to obey him, HAD to appease him.  We call some of these people Saints (with a capital S).  And we admire them for the witness they provided for the faithful through the centuries.  Where do we stand?  What is our motivation for doing what we do?   If we only act a certain way because we HAVE to, because we are FORCED to, then we can be sure that we eventually will turn and run.  (We call that sin.)  But maybe, just maybe, if we can find a way to love God simply because we WANT to — truly WANT to — who knows what might be possible?  Maybe our lives will become something we never imagined they could be.  And almost certainly, the lives of those around us will be better too.  Put simply — God showers us with love just because he wants to.  Let’s love him for the same reason.