John
10:11-18
A
Good Shepherd is Always a Good Shepherd
“Good Shepherd Sunday” is as much a
part of the liturgical calendar as “Doubting Thomas,” or “Mary’s Magnificat,”
or “The Baptism of Jesus.” You are going
to have a Sunday every year when you get to hear these stories. Was it last year, or the year before, when I made
use of this Sunday to encourage everyone to practice repeating the 23rd
Psalm by heart?
Good Shepherd Sunday is a regular,
as it should be. Because the image of
Jesus as the Good Shepherd is powerful, and moving.
The image of Jesus as “The Good
Shepherd” also serves a double purpose. The
image brings great comfort to us as followers of Jesus; and it sets forth an expectation
for how Jesus’ followers are to represent Jesus in the world.
In my faith life and in my
professional life, there is no image, or theological concept, or doctrinal
statement which is as meaningful as the depiction of Jesus as “The Good
Shepherd.”
While I often speak of how blessed
was my childhood, there were also some dark days. I didn’t understand it at the time, but my
grandfather did meet many of the indicators for alcohol addiction. My grandmother’s early death sent my mamma
into a funk that lasted most of her adult life.
We became accustomed to repeating Daddy’s assertion that Mamma’s
allergies were keeping her at home and in bed; but there were a lot of
struggles with undiagnosed and untreated mood disorders.
It was these same family members
who formed my appreciation for Jesus as “The Good Shepherd.” They demonstrated to me a confidence in a
Jesus who could and would and did lift us in his arms, hold us close to his
heart, and say, “There, there.
Everything will be alright.”
Everything was alright; and it is
alright; and it always will be.
Why? Because we have a good shepherd. We are loved and cared for by the one of whom
Peter speaks in Acts 4 – this shepherd is the one in whose name the “good deed
is done.”
Everything will be alright. Because this good shepherd is watching over
us and is with us and will guide us.
I can’t remember whether we have
notified the congregation that while in Wittenberg this March, the campus
ministry students planted a tree in the Luther Garden. There are to be 500 planted as part of the
500th anniversary, and now there is one with a dedication placard
which reads: “Lutheran Campus Ministry-Clemson.” When you sponsor a tree, you get to pick a
dedication verse, which is noted on the brass plaque. We picked Matthew 9:36. Maybe some of you
know this verse. I sure talk about it
enough. The verse reads: “When Jesus saw
the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and
helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”
I did have a strong influence on
picking that verse. Because the image of
the good shepherd is so powerful to me.
It has become more meaningful to me each year in which I serve the
Church through campus ministry. College
students are amazing individuals and they are continually exceeding so many
expectations. But they are also caught
in times of transition which have the potential to exert unimaginable pressure
and stress.
These students are much smarter and
aware of what the tremendous changes occurring on this planet and among its
various sub-cultures. But they are often
unable to speak of these things and those fears by parents who are themselves
too frightened to admit the truth.
I have mentioned before Kadison’s
book, College of the Overwhelmed. Andrew Zirschky has written a book which speaks
of youth’s seemingly never ending use of those blasted cellphones. In the book, he points out how that little
plastic box is often the only shield youth have from a judging and cruel and
name-calling world. I have started
looking at my screen a whole lot more.
My spirit is crushed when those who ought to be role models resort to
name calling when confronted with differences of opinion or orientation.
When Jesus saw the overwhelmed
masses of his day, he had compassion on them.
When he looked upon them and what he saw were God’s children - harassed
and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
And he lifted them in is arms, and he held them close to his heart, and
said to them, “There, there. Everything
is going to be alright.”
And it was. And it is.
And it always will be.
It is my profound appreciation for
the way in which Jesus has done this for me which undergirds my attempts to do
this in the lives of others. In a way
which might be fool-hearted; which certainly allows for exploitation; and which
many appropriately see as naïve – I try to imitate the pattern of that Good
Shepherd.
I did say “try.” And you are free to gather with others in the
narthex and point all the times when I failed – and failed miserably. You are also welcome – encouraged – to bring
to the attention of others the ways in which such an attitude has exposed me,
this ministry, and the congregation to liabilities and accusations.
I did say “try.” Because I know that no attempts on my part
will ever be worthy of mention in the same breath as the talk of the One who is
The Good Shepherd. I might attempt, but
I cannot do it. Who can?
The image of Jesus as the Good
Shepherd comforts me – and perhaps comforts you as well. It can be – it ought to be – a driving force
in our ministry.
The image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd
also confronts me – and perhaps confronts you as well. It can be – it ought to be – a guiding force
in how we live out our ministry in the world.
How will we see inner-city kids,
caught in a seemingly endless cycle of poverty and crime? Are they hooligans and leaches on our
society? Or are they sheep (lost sheep)
in need of a compassionate and caring shepherd?
What s our attitude of addicts – be
that alcohol or opioids? Do we see morally
flawed individuals, incapable of strapping on their armor and facing the world
as it is? Or do we see little lambs, so
frightened by a world with plenty of work to do, but too little of it which
pays a living wage?
And I would raise the touchy issue
of refuges. We know how often they are
seen as a cover and shield for militants with every intention of destroying the
way of life we have so pain-stakedly crafted for ourselves; illegals with no
rights. If the Good Shepherd is always a
good shepherd, how does he see them? And
might his followers also act as good shepherd who will assist these sheep by
helping them find the green pastures in which they might lie down in safety.
The image of the Good Shepherd
makes it possible for me to get out of bed on those days when I had just as
soon pull the covers over my head and insert ear plugs.
It is a comforting image.
It is the image which confronts me
with need to speak to a hurting and distressed world the good news of this
shepherd and his love.
It is the image which drives ministry
and the mission of the Church in the world.
Remember the affirmation of our catechism – it was the whole world for
which Jesus pays the price. Not with
silver and gold (those items so precious to us that we protect these chunks of mineral
with all of our might and power.) No,
not with silver and gold but with his own precious blood.
The good shepherd takes us in is
arms, holds us close to his heart, and tells us, “There, there. It will be okay.” And it will be. It is.
And it forever will be.
May it also be so in the way we
share with others that which we ourselves have first received.
Amen.
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