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. One of my favorite ways to observe “Good Shepherd
Sunday is to spend the sermon time working to learn by heart the 23rd
psalm. Did I have you all do that last year?
Good Shepherd Sunday is a regular,
as it should be. Because the image of
Jesus as the Good Shepherd is as powerful as it is moving.
The image of Jesus as “The Good
Shepherd” also serves a double purpose:
1-
The image brings great comfort to those of
us who are followers of Jesus; and
2-
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 my
childhood was, 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.
When asked to select favorite bible
verses, one I am sure to mention is 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.”
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 leeches on our
society? Or are they sheep (lost sheep)
in need of a compassionate and caring shepherd?
What is 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-shakenly 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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