"I Am the Good Shepherd"
"I Am the Good Shepherd"
Sermon
preached by the Rev. Lowell E. Grisham, Rector
St.
Paul's Episcopal Church, Fayetteville, Arkansas
April 26,
2015; 4 Easter, Year B
Episcopal
Revised Common Lectionary
1
John 3:16-24 – We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us-- and we ought
to lay down our lives for one another. How does God's love abide in anyone who
has the world's goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses
help?
Little children, let us love, not in word or speech,
but in truth and action. And by this we will know that we are from the truth
and will reassure our hearts before him whenever our hearts condemn us; for God
is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. Beloved, if our hearts do
not condemn us, we have boldness before God; and we receive from him whatever
we ask, because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him.
And this is his commandment, that we should believe
in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has
commanded us. All who obey his commandments abide in him, and he abides in
them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit that he has given
us.
John
10:11-18 – Jesus
said, "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for
the sheep. The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep,
sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away -- and the wolf
snatches them and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand
does not care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own
know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my
life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must
bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock,
one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life
in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my
own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again.
I have received this command from my Father."
_______________________
Did you hear the intake of breath
when Jesus said that? It must have been a scandal originally when Jesus said,
"I am." You see, that is God's name. A Word too holy to be spoken,
according to Jewish practice. Maybe you will notice in blogs or in newspaper columns,
a sensitive writer will type G_d, refusing the type all three letters as an act
of reverence and respect to God's holy name given to Moses at the burning bush.
"I am." Words you just don't say in polite, Jewish company.
"I am the good shepherd," says
Jesus. This is God-talk. And all sorts of images fly through the consciousness
of a thoughtful Jewish listener. From the Psalms, "God is my
shepherd." "[God] will tend the flock like a shepherd," sings
Isaiah. "[God] will gather the lambs in [God's] arms; carry them in [the
divine] bosom, and gently lead those that are with young."[i]
Over and over the Hebrew people declared with confident faith that God cares
for us like a good shepherd, who leads us to green pastures and still waters
where we can safely rest, where our souls may be revived, where we will fear no
evil.
Just to make sure you don't miss the
point—that this is God-talk—Jesus ends this chapter in John's gospel with a
profound statement: "The Father and I are one." "I am the good
shepherd… The Father and I are one." Language like this is why the
religious authorities believed Jesus deserved to die. They heard blasphemy in
Jesus' words. Jesus spoke of himself with "I am" God language. He
asserted further, "The Father and I are one." Finally he brought it
all full circle and spoke to any other human beings within earshot, telling
them all that "you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I
in you… Abide in me as I abide in you."[ii]
Wonderful! Or, blasphemy. Jesus sees himself in complete union with God and
with us, all humanity dwelling in an intimate union with the divine life and
love.
So the God-talk becomes human-talk.
Since we are in Jesus and Jesus is in us, we are also the good shepherd. And
maybe this language was a little less uncomfortable to his listeners. Because
in many places, the Hebrew scriptures use the metaphor of shepherd as a
characteristic of leadership—government is supposed to be like a good shepherd.
The shepherd-king David is the great example. The prophets Ezekiel and Jeremiah
spoke words of condemnation to governments that failed to care for their people
like a good shepherd.
Jesus picked up this tradition
dramatically in his parable about the nations. It is his consummate statement
about government: What is good government? What is bad government? How does God
judge the nations? Again the metaphor of sheep appears: the parable of the
sheep and goats. The good nations, the sheep, are those who have behaved like
good shepherds: they have fed the hungry, given drink to the thirsty, welcomed
the stranger, clothed the naked, cared for the sick, visited the prisoner.
Jesus explains that we are to imitate
God's priorities. God wants our focus to be on the vulnerable, the lost sheep.
The good shepherd leaves the comfortable 99 and goes to rescue the 1 in 100 who
is in danger. The good shepherd risks for the sake of the vulnerable. Not like
the calculating hired hand, who looks to his own safety and self-interest first,
who runs to save himself when the wolf comes.
It is a high and challenging calling.
Today's reading from 1st John puts it this way: Since Jesus laid down his life
for us, we ought to lay down our lives for one another. John asks, "How
does God's love abide in anyone who has the world's goods and sees a brother or
sister in need and yet refuses help?"
I can tell you, these kinds of
scriptures trouble me, because so much of the time I'm not like the good
shepherd. I don't lay down my life for another, and I set pretty wide margins
around the degree of help I'm willing to give, or the time I will invest in the
needs of the 1 in 100. Maybe you also find these words convicting.
That's where John's other words are
consoling. "Whenever our hearts condemn us, …God is greater than our
hearts." God knows everything, John reminds us. God knows our selfishness
and smallness. And yet God loves us infinitely—accepts and forgives us with
divine generosity. God hopes to assure us of our security so deeply, that we
can relax and participate in the work of the good shepherd, knowing that we
can't fail beyond the arms of God's restoration.
Remember Peter. The leader of the
disciples. At the crucial moment, when he most needed to take a stand, to be a
leader, he cravenly denied Jesus three times. How that must have depressed him.
How his heart must have accused him. I'll bet he asked himself a million times,
"What if…?" But the past doesn't change. He failed, and there was
nothing he could do to change the facts.
The past doesn't change, but its
meaning can change.
Some time later, after Peter had
returned to Galilee, to his old work of fishing, Jesus came and asked Peter
three times, "Peter, do you love me?" And three times Peter affirmed
what Jesus knew was in his heart, "Yes, Lord, you know I love you."
And three times Jesus empowered Peter with a commission: "Feed my lambs…
Tend my sheep… Feed my sheep." And Peter was restored.[iii]
Jesus is the good shepherd whose
intention is not to lose even one sheep. He looks out beyond the horizon of
those who may hear his voice today. "I have other sheep that do not belong
to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So
there will be one flock, one shepherd."[iv]
In John's gospel Jesus speaks yet another word of universal salvation and
victory, like so many other similar words in scripture.
God's love is greater than our sheepy
failures. God is greater than our hearts, especially when our hearts condemn
us. God's intention is reunion and union. All humanity living together in love.
One-hundred percent of the sheep safe and secure; not a single sheep lost.
Nurture for all—the shelter of the sheepfold, green pastures, still waters,
goodness and mercy. This is God's will for all. This is God's mission for
humanity.
So, little lambs. Relax. You are
utterly safe. You are loved and cared for by the divine good shepherd who loves
you whether you are lost or found. From the security your rest in the strong
arms of the shepherd, you are empowered by Jesus to his same mission, for he
abides in you and you in him.
Feed the lambs; tend the sheep. It's
all really pretty simple – love one another.
posted by Lowell @ 4/25/2015 12:09:00 PM
0 comments
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home