Ezekiel 34: 1- 10; Psalm 23; I John 3: 1 – 8; John 10: 11 – 16
A sermon by The Rev. Gene Tucker, given at St. James’ Church, McLeansboro, IL; and at St. Stephen’s Church, Harrisburg, IL, by Mrs. Linda Nelson, Licensed Lay Worship Leader; Sunday, May 7th, 2006
Today in our lectionary cycle we encounter “Good Shepherd Sunday”….In each of the three lectionary cycles, A, B & C, we have a Gospel reading from John, Chapter ten, and each of these three readings contains a portion of Jesus’ teaching about his role as founder and protector of the group that will gather around Jesus, those whom God has given Him. Each reading centers on Jesus as the Good Shepherd.
In today’s reading, Jesus describes the “Good Shepherd” who lays down his life in order to protect the sheep from the dangers that exist outside the sheep fold.
We are reading only a portion of chapter ten of John today….But since John’s writing style tends to “spiral”, that is, John tends to record something that Jesus said, and then it is repeated, adding a new factor in as the text unfolds, we ought to begin with a brief reminder of what Jesus has said in the first ten verses of chapter ten….then, we can begin to draw some conclusions about today’s Gospel passage.
In verses 1 – 10, Jesus begins by saying that one who enters by the gate is the true shepherd….anyone who attempts to enter by any other way is a thief. Jesus then adds that He calls his sheep by name, and they listen to the shepherd’s voice, as the true shepherd leads them out of the sheep fold. So then, Jesus adds, the sheep who follow the true shepherd will go in and out, finding pasture. Along the way, Jesus adds that He is also the gate to the sheepfold.
Thus, Jesus makes it clear that He is the true shepherd, which is proven by the fact that His followers not only know the shepherd’s voice, but they also follow him.
Now the stage is set for the passage we read today….
Jesus now alters the image significantly….He now says that the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep, interceding for the sheep by preventing the threat posed by the wolf from reaching them. By contrast, the hired hand runs away when danger appears, since he has no stake in the sheep’s welfare, caring nothing for the sheep’s welfare.
Note now, in verse 14, that Jesus’ earlier statement about the sheep knowing the shepherd and the shepherd knowing the sheep is repeated, with the addition of the comment that this is a reflection of Jesus’ knowledge of the Father, which the Father also shares with Jesus….The frame of reference is now significantly larger than it was a minute ago, and we now know that Jesus has divine and eternal things in mind.
Jesus now makes one more move to widen the meaning a bit more: He now says that there are “other sheep” that are not of this sheep fold. They, too, will be called by the good shepherd, so that there may be one flock and one shepherd.
With this basic framework in mind, let’s reflect a bit on the meaning of Jesus’ teaching about being the Good Shepherd. What can we learn from Jesus’ teaching today?
These comments come to mind:
- The flock owes its existence to the work of the Shepherd: The early Church referred to itself as the “ecclesia”, that is, those who had been “called out” by God to gather around the leadership of Jesus….Without the leadership of the Shepherd, giving the flock its identity, leading it to pastures where its life can be nurtured and restored, the sheep will be scattered, and the flock will be no more.
- The health of the flock is the proof of the Shepherd’s identity: the Good Shepherd has the flock’s welfare first and foremost in mind. The Shepherd exists to ensure the welfare of the flock. By contrast, those who would claim to be worthy leaders will prove themselves by their conduct when the going gets rough and the challenges to the group begin to mount – they will run away.
- The Shepherd’s work is a” servant ministry”: In Biblical times, a shepherd was a lower class person, a person who got little respect from society. Far from the idealized images we see of Jesus carrying a lamb around His shoulders, in reality, a shepherd is a person with little regard….Roles are reversed when Jesus uses the image of being a Shepherd…Not only is Jesus saying that He, as a shepherd, is willing to be identified with the lowest rungs of society, but He deepens the image by saying that He will serve the flock, even if it means giving up His life in the process.
Why read this passage from John, chapter ten? Jesus must have had some enduring messages in mind when He gave this teaching. What might He be asking us to reflect on, as 21st century Christians?
In the first place, it’s easy for us to forget who we are, and whose we are….Jesus Christ is the head of the Church, its founder. We, as Christians, are to focus on Him, on His teachings, proclaiming His death and resurrection, and the eternal life that is ours as a result. Since we, as individuals, know our own experience best, we can very easily substitute ourselves as the reason for the Church to exist, making ourselves the center of our own (and others’) universe. Jesus’ example of sheep is apt in illustrating this point: left to their own devices, sheep will inevitably cater to and follow their own desires, usually with disastrous results. The Shepherd’s role is the call the sheep back, reminding them again and again of the safety and welfare that will be theirs, if they remain in the Shepherd’s care.
Secondly, the way the world which looks at the flock, the Church, will know if the flock is following the Shepherd faithfully, is by the way that flock behaves….If the flock shows that it hears the Shepherd’s commands (a frequent theme in John’s writing, by the way), then those outside the flock will know that the relationship is healthy, because the flock is healthy, reflecting the leading of the Shepherd.
Finally, the Church follows a Servant Leader, the one who washed His disciples’ feet at the Last Supper,[1] and the one who laid down His life for those He loved.[2] It follows then that the Church will show forth a Servant quality in whatever it does, recognizing the price that has been paid by the Good Shepherd in order to guarantee the lives of its members.
May God’s Holy Spirit enable each of us to know Christ as the Good Shepherd and as Lord, so that we may reflect His presence in our lives, in order that the world around us may come to believe that Jesus is God’s anointed, who came to offer life eternal to all who believe.
AMEN.
[1] See John 13: 1 – 17 for the account of the foot washing.
[2] John 10: 17 – 18.
