4th Sunday of Easter  Cycle C  April 25, 2010                                        
Acts 13:14, 43-52  Revelation 7:9, 14b-17  
John 10:27-
30                                                                                                                                
There’s that old game adults sometimes like to play with children to test their
reflexes. The game where they place a coin in the palm of their hand, tell a
child to try to grab it, and when they reach for the coin, close the hand quickly
before the coin can be snatched. Over and over and over again. And since kids
seem to learn the purpose and value of money at such an early age nowadays,
they’ll keep trying to go after the coin over and over again. Until, of course, the
child’s mood shifts from laughter to frustration, or the adult finally hands the
coin over as a reward for their effort.                                        
When discussing his sheep, Jesus said no one can take them (us) out of his
hand. We are the precious gold/silver coin in the hand of the Lord –those who
love him that is – and no one is fast enough, or smart enough, or determined
enough, or powerful enough to steal away from Jesus Christ the prize that
belongs to him. The gift that his Father has given to
him.                                                                                         
Think about that; for those who love God, and express such love throughout
the many aspects of our lives, we have a safe haven. A haven that cannot be
breached. A haven that cannot be overcome. A haven that cannot be defeated.
A haven that is secure through the ups and downs of life. A haven known as
Jesus’ hand. Is there a better place to be? I would argue
“No!”                                                                                 
Now with this “game” that an adult will play with a child, I use a couple images
connected to this game in different ways, how these images affect our
relationship with Christ, along with Jesus’ relationship with us, and attach the
image to our celebration of the Easter
season.                                                                                
The first image is one of the possibility of being grabbed out of the safety of
the Lord’s hand. In the game of adult/child, it’s the child trying to snatch the
coin. In the game of life, which is no game at all, it’s the Evil One who attempts
to do the snatching. It’s the Evil One who is constantly playing this serious
game with Christ where he’s trying always to steal something that belongs to
God. That something happens to be our
soul.                                                                                                
So the question is; “How does he try to snatch us? What are the means the
Devil uses to very subtly, and not so subtly, try to take the believer out of the
hand of its Rightful Owner? Since the Devil doesn’t own the coin, he has to try
to steal the coin. And the means he uses are the same means that come out of
the place of his first appearance in the Bible; the Garden of Eden. Means such
as tempting us with the material goods of the world we live in. The same
material goods that seem to control the actions, decisions, and whole lives of a
few too many folks today. I’ve heard the stories many times over.                 
Instead of seeing material goods as blessings bestowed upon us by God, thus
opening up the human heart for this incredible capacity to share, to reach the
fullness of our potential in this life, in order to try to snatch us out of Jesus’
hand, the Devil says about those same blessings God has given to us, “They’
re yours. You own them. You created them. They belong to you. You know that
tree of knowledge of good and bad…YOU’RE THE ONES WHO MADE THAT
TREE Adam and Eve. Don’t be a wimp! Take credit for everything! The Guy up
there had nothing to do with it!”                          
And this temptation at getting us to take credit for things we didn’t create
seems to be quite successful today. It all plays into the jealousy factor we read
about in today’s 1st reading from the Acts of the Apostles. The setting for this
reading is the early Christian community. And this community, led by the
Apostles, in this case Paul and Barnabas, is gathering the steam of a thousand
locomotives barreling full steam ahead toward the glory of heaven. The
reading says, “When the Jews (meaning the leaders and authority) saw the
crowds, they were filled with jealousy and with violent abuse contradicted
what Paul said.”                                                                         
The crowds were gathering; the crowds were growing, and they were coming
home to Christ, where they belong. That’s exactly what the Devil gets jealous
about. One of the most predominant ways the Evil One addresses his jealousy
and gets us to stop coming home to the Lord is getting us to believe and live
that we are the ones who created the world. This is false, and unfortunately
today it leads many people away from God, their souls being snatched away.
When this world and all it contains becomes the supreme focus of one’s life,
then the snatching has been successful, at least temporarily. I understand
perfectly well many folks don’t want to hear such a message. But when the
salvation of souls is at stake, it must be preached.                                                
A second way the Devil tries to snatch our coin out of Jesus’ hand is by
getting people to cooperate with and justify violence. Not just physical
violence. But also violence of the heart. Violence of the lips. Violence of the
pen, the violence of ink. The same violence that comes out of the Garden of
Eden that resulted from disobeying the truth that God is a loving God who
knows what’s best for us, even though we struggle at times with
understanding His ways.                                                                 
Any failure to see that all is gift, that all is grace, and that all is blessing, opens
the door for countless ways of violence. And that plays right into the other
hand; the dirty, rotten, filthy, evil hand of the
Devil.                                                                        
A second image from the adult/child game of the coin in the hand is the image
of the coin itself being the precious pearl of life, Jesus holding it out, and it’s
ours for the taking. He gives us life. And he doesn’t play games with us! He
suffered too much for that to ever
happen!                                                                                 
The coin is really a piece of Jesus’ heart. Every one of our souls is a piece of
the Sacred Heart of Christ. But when we worship material goods; when we
cooperate with the many ways of violence –from the mouth, to war, to abortion
– then Jesus’ heart is broken. He doesn’t get in our way. He respects our
freedom too much. But his heart is terribly
broken.                                                                                        
But when we reach for God’s protection and saving power, and not allow the
Devil to do the reaching for us, then Jesus doesn’t get beat in this game. When
Christ wins, so do we.                                                                                         
The Gospel reminds us that Jesus’ resurrection is an event that strengthens
our place in his hand. It is our gift that promises peace instead of violence. The
resurrection is our gift that promises blessings and satisfaction – that we will
own heaven instead of the things of the
earth.                                                                                        
“My sheep hear my voice. I know them and they follow me.” Keep grabbing for
the coin of eternal life. Jesus walked out of a tomb to give each of us this coin.
Protect it at all costs. It’s his gift not to the other side, but his gift to
us.