Uncomfortable Choices

In the end, our confrontation with the stark choice between Life or Death; Freedom or Slavery; or Humility or Prideful self-centered living will determine whether we love God or not!

The great Oriental philosopher Confucius declared, “Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.”

I would add, “It may be simple, but it isn’t easy!”

So, why do you think we tend to complicate our lives?

I’m increasingly convinced that those who want things complicated want to maintain a level of control. If they can make things complicated, they make themselves indispensable. I once told a lawyer friend I knew why he made the law complicated: so he could be the expert and keep his job secure!

Maybe that isn’t always the case, but I confess to being suspicious when someone insists something is complicated or nuanced. It feels like they are trying to ensure the plain truth doesn’t sting them with hard choices.

By the way, this isn’t always true. Sometimes, nuance is necessary! But how do we know? Discernment is always the result of serious maturity and discipline. No wonder we are so conflicted.

But, at the very core of the message of Jesus is the very plain truth of choosing between life and death, between freedom and slavery, between joy and self-centered misery.

We live in an age where it seems we want everything to be allowed so no one has to choose to say “no” to some desire or craving. This has only guaranteed that we live in a permanent adolescent age, where no one wants to grow up and be responsible for taming their passions.

There is no lasting future in such an immature age. It only leads to destruction.

Look at our lesson today in John 10:9-16:

The Lord said, “I am the door; if any one enters by me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hireling and not a shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hireling and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me, as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep, that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will heed my voice. So there shall be one flock, one shepherd.”

Our Lord Jesus knew His hearers would misinterpret His words. He knew they would be scandalized and even offended by His declarations, but He said these words anyway.

Please notice some stark and plain truths Jesus makes in today’s lesson:

I am THE door – Jesus doesn’t suggest He is one way to wisdom, but He is the ONLY way to wisdom and life. He compares Himself to the “Thief” who comes only to steal, kill, and destroy people. Jesus comes to give you and me life, abundant life, overflowing life, and real life.

I am THE Good Shepherd – Our Lord says He is THE Good Shepherd. The claims of exclusivity are plain and challenging. But Jesus doesn’t stop there. He compares His Good Shepherd to the “hireling” who only pretends to care for the flock—the Hireling cuts and runs when danger comes. The Good Shepherd lays His life down for the sheep.

Our Lord Jesus cares for everyone, even those He knows will reject Him and crucify Him.

He loves them and us enough to speak the Truth to us regardless of our reactions or even misunderstandings. The Lord's straightforward speech is meant to bring our discomfort with this choice to the surface. Our discomfort with the Lord’s words is a symptom of our spiritual illness, and Jesus wants us to realize that confronting this honest admission is the first step in our healing!

He does this because, all too often, it’s the stark and disturbing Light of plain truth that has the best chance of waking us up from the stupor of our self-centeredness.

This is so potent and disturbing because of what is at stake—eternal Life or eternal death. That stark choice deserves the power of plain talk to rescue the people God loves. The plain talk of eternal truth should be sobering and clear!

It is no wonder the Church directs us to these passages when we approach the wisdom of the normal Orthodox disciplines of the Faith: Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving.

These wise seasons of the Church Year invite us to the regular and necessary “spiritual spring cleaning.” Since we are on the “outskirts” of Great Lent, this is our annual wake-up call!

We, who live in a fallen world, desperately need to pay attention to our most profound reason for living! Too often, we are lulled to sleep by the desire to be liked, popular, or relevant when the Truth is we endanger ourselves and others by accommodating a “tamed” Faith that only leaves us too weak to “hear” His Voice and then miss His direction.

The “Golden Mouthed” St. John we remember today preached the straight message to the Faithful, and it got him exiled from Constantinople several times. St. John died in exile after he spoke the plain truth to the Empress of the Roman Empire and confronted her with her hypocrisy and sin. To this day, we have access to the excellent homilies he preached, which earned him the name Chrysostom, which means “Golden Mouth.” His eloquence and powerful preaching confronted everyone with the plain talk of our two choices: will you choose the Path that leads to life in Christ, or will you allow the apathy of the passive drifting of selfish living to take you down the “highway to hell?”

Today, I know it’s hard to hear the plain truth, and there is always the temptation to misunderstand. But our Lord Jesus loves us and only desires our salvation and peace. His devotion to you today means He speaks plainly for your good. And when you love others like He loves others, your willingness to talk plainly to others is sweetened by that loving concern. So, don’t be afraid of plain talk. Embrace it and risk being a Normal Orthodox Christian!

P.S. The grace of your words illuminated the universe like a shining beacon. It amassed treasures of munificence in the world. It demonstrated the greatness of humility, teaching us by your own words; therefore, O Father John Chrysostom, intercede to Christ the Logos for the salvation of our souls.

Fr. Barnabas Powell is the parish priest at Sts. Raphael, Nicholas, and Irene Greek Orthodox Church in Cumming, GA. He is also the founder of Faith Encouraged Ministries and produces the Faith Encouraged Daily Devotional on Substack. Watch the Faith Encouraged YouTube Channel here - https://www.youtube.com/@FaithEncouragedTV