[22] At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, [23] and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. [24] So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly." [25] Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, [26] but you do not believe because you are not part of my flock. [27] My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. [28] I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. [29] My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. [30] I and the Father are one." John 10:22-30

Our congregation intentionally welcomes Mexicans into our midst; it’s part of our mission to manifest the kingdom. Sooner or later the question arises: "So how do you celebrate Thanksgiving in Mexico?" Of course Thanksgiving isn’t celebrated in Mexico. It’s an American holiday. It is about a significant event in American history which forms part of our identity. And, while Native Americans understandably, and justifiably, often shun the celebration (bumper sticker on Blackfeet reservation: Thanksgiving – We Did All the Giving and Got No Thanks), I think it’s kind of instructive that so many of us in America do celebrate it. My family wasn’t here when the pilgrims shared that meal with the Algonquin. My family wasn’t here when it was declared a national holiday. My family came over on a disease-ridden ship from Germany that landed at Galveston, Texas at the end of the 19^th century. Why would we celebrate Thanksgiving? Because we’ve joined the story, the story of the Great Experiment. And joining the story we’ve adopted the cultural celebrations which place us in it, celebrate it, and even actualize it around us. Mexicans don’t celebrate Thanksgiving for the same reason we don’t celebrate Cinco de Mayo, it’s not their story. But as Mexican families begin to become American, even before they learn English, they start celebrating our stories. Story is more basic than language.

Our celebrations place us in a story, give us a place in the world. Our stories are our identities. Our stories tell us where we’ve been, and thereby show us where we are going. Our stories tell us who we are. People are united in their stories.

God gave the Jews multiple celebrations to recall and rehearse their stories, ways to remember their interactions with him, acts of communal remembering. The Passover: Remember when God delivered us from Egypt. The Feast of Tabernacles: Remember our time in the wilderness. The Feast of Dedication: Remember when God delivered us from the Syrians and Antiochus Epiphanes and we cleansed the Temple. The last feast is not in all of your Bibles, because it is in the writings considered "Apocrypha." As the 39 Articles state, they are to be read in the Church, but not considered the Word of God. By celebrating Hannukah, Jesus is not simply the theoretical fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy; he’s a Jew. He doesn’t just see his connection with Abraham, Moses and David; he places himself in the story with Judas "The Hammer" Maccabeus.

Jesus shows up at the Feast of Dedication (Hannukah) as a Jewish rabbi. Not a rabbi trained in the official system, but a rabbi nonetheless, with followers and even a measure of grudging respect from the big guys. He’s a little like John the Baptist gone mainstream, but ultimately way more subversive and dangerous.

Now at the Feast we see how much of a stir he’s been creating when the religious leadership corners him and asks him: Are you the Messiah? I don’t think it is a completely an honest question. It’s kind of like asking a mental patient: Are you Napoleon? The question is really: Do you believe that you are the Messiah?

They are analyzing him. They are trying to figure him out, put him in a box, trap him. Or to put it in the language I’ve already used: They are not joining the story with him. They are standing on the outside picking apart the story. This is the difference between a kid who reads Harry Potter and fashions himself a black robe and a wand and a literary critic who writes about archetypes in Rowling’s narrative. They are analyzing instead of following.

What more can Jesus do? He’s done miracles. He’s taught them with authority. His words impart life, in contrast to the dry academic discourse of the religious leaders. They can’t get who he is because they are asking the wrong questions. These things are not puzzle pieces, they’re an invitation. He’s not interested in being figured out; he’s inviting people to trust him. That is, have faith in him. "Join the story that I am continuing."

Here’s where it gets uncomfortable because our Jesus is inclusive. In our story about Jesus everybody gets in. In the Bible’s story of Jesus – which is the real story, regardless of how it offends our sensibilities – Jesus tells us that there are those in his story (his flock) and those outside of his story. There are the analyzers and the followers. Those who don’t believe (trust him enough to follow him) are not part of his flock, not part of the story. Jesus is consciously gathering a people to himself. He’s not opening a public debate. He doesn’t wish to join the rabbinical disputation circle in Jerusalem, the equivalent of the Areopagus in Athens. This ain’t about talkin’, it’s about followin’.

It takes a great deal of commitment to join the story. It’s harder to follow someone than to talk about their ideas. In the first century following could place a person at a great deal of risk. What if your teacher got in trouble with the religious authorities? You could lose your place in society and the synagogue. If he got in trouble with the Romans you could lose your head.

But Jesus doesn’t just cut out the analyzers, he comforts the followers. Jesus says he knows them. This is really intimate. The term is sometimes used for sexual relations. And if you think that I’m importing an idea from a completely different use of the term, I ask you to think about how often Jesus calls himself the bridegroom and us his bride. He may not be talking of sex, but he’s surely talking about deep intimacy. He’s comforting those who trust him enough to follow him. He’s saying, you are not just my follower, you’re my family.

He offers another consolation to his followers in verse 24: "I give them eternal life." There’s a lot of things this could mean, but the clearest meaning of this is: You will live forever. Jesus is clear in other places that he understands that people will continue to die, yet they will continue to live on in a conscious way. This is why he tells the thief on the cross: "Today you will be with me in Paradise." Now, this isn’t just "pie in the sky when you die." Back in verse 10 he said, "I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." The eternal life begins now. We enter into a new life now. It’s more than heaven that Jesus is talking about, but it’s not less.

If we really believed his promises, that we could know him, deeply and intimately. And if we believed that he would give us abundant life that starts now and doesn’t end with death. In a sense, that death ends when we come to know and follow him. And if we understood that he’s offering that to all who follow him. If we REALLY believed that, it would raise a question: What if I can’t do it? What if I find it easier to talk about you and think about you and write about you than follow you? I’ve read the New Testament and Jesus, the life you talk about seems pretty good, but I don’t think I can do it. This is weightier than the night before wedding jitters: I don’t know if I can live up to all of this. Or the pregnancy lucidity: This is a life I’m going to be responsible for. I’ve failed over and over again at both of these things. How am I supposed to do all the stuff in this book?

To understand Jesus’ reply to us look at verse 30. "I and the Father are one." There’s a few different ways one could take this statement. It could mean shared purpose and thinking, kind of like when Condi Rice talks to Hamid Karzi and says, "The President and I are one on this." It could also mean shared being like when Clark Kent tells Lois Lane, "Superman and I are one." I suggest that Jesus means both. He is saying that he and his Father have the same mind, so what Jesus promises comes from the Father as well. But also, in the larger context, Jesus told the Jews back in 8:58, egō eimi, I AM, calling himself by Yahweh’s name. Then, at the end of this exchange, the Jews pick up stones to kill him saying to him, "You being a man, make yourself God."

So Jesus is saying: If you trust me enough to follow me, you are part of my flock, part of the story. If you are part of my story you are part of God’s story, because I and the Father are one. If you trust me enough to follow me, I will know you and you will know me. And because you have a relationship with me, you’ll have a relationship with the Father, because I and the Father are one. If you trust me enough to follow me, you will have eternal life. Abundant life will begin for you and you will live even after death. I can give this to you because I and the Father are one. And if you say, "I can’t do it. I trust you, Jesus, but I don’t trust me," don’t be afraid. The Father has given you into my hand. No one can snatch you out of my hand. No one can snatch you out of my Father’s hand, because I and the Father are one.