Sermons for the Month
Centering Our Lives On The Good Shepherd
DATE: May 12th, 2003
SERVICE: 4th Sunday of Easter
TEXT: John 10:11-18 and Psalm 23
“To all of you Saints here this morning, grace
and peace to you from God our Father, from His Son, Jesus Christ and His
Holy Spirit. AMEN
Today our focus is on Jesus, the Good Shepherd. However, before we talk specifically about the important image of Jesus as our Shepherd, I'd like to share some thoughts with you that will lead us to Him. About five years ago I attended a Continuing Education event in Florida that the congregation I was serving sent me to in the middle of February. It was titled "Head of Staff" Seminar. I was looking through the notebook from that seminar this week, searching for one thing when I ran across another. It was notes from a lecture titled, "Vision for Worship" by Pastor Paul Nelson who was on the ELCA church-wide staff at the time, but died a few years ago of an unexpected illness .
I recall being impressed by his presentation, especially when he talked about the reorganization principle. He said that fitness and weight loss businesses use this idea all the time as they encourage people to reorganize their lives around eating right or exercising so that they might be healthier. Well, he said, the same idea applies as we evaluate, and even consider making changes in worship. The focus, however, is to reorganize around Jesus Christ, not eating right or exercising.
He made the point that while freedom and flexibility are a part of Lutheran tradition, the question always is, "How is Christ kept at the center." I'll quote him, "In worship the focus is not on a particular style of worship, but on Christ and whether or not what is occurring is helping people to know Jesus. You must ask yourselves, 'Is this worship of Jesus Christ and is that plain to everyone?' We are interveners on behalf of Jesus to make sure that He is at the center."
You may recall that I mentioned similar ideas in last week's sermon, saying that in all that we do, and in our interactions with one another, the measuring stick of our success is the question, "Do people meet Jesus?" And if they do, they will be transformed by the power of the resurrected Lord, on whom we have been focusing in recent weeks. And, they also will be touched by the gentle, guiding hand of the Good Shepherd.
I had a friend in seminary - who now happens to be an assistant to the bishop in another synod - who abhorred the "Shepherd" texts that often are read after Easter, like the ones we read today. She thought they turned the resurrected Lord into a sissy of sorts and his followers into a bunch of dumb sheep, which I don't suppose is all that far from the truth.
Well, that's one way to look at it, I suppose, but when you put today's reading into context its meaning deepens. In chapter 9, just before this text, we read the story of the man born blind, the one who Jesus heals by spreading mud on his eyes. People - including the Pharisees who even called his parents to testify - questioned the healing. But the one who for the first time in his life could see boldly proclaimed that it was Jesus who had healed him. The religious leaders became so frustrated with his continued insistence that Jesus, who must come from God, had healed him that they kick him out of their presence.
THEN Jesus says, "I am the good shepherd," and implies that while he is good, the Pharisees are not. In their encounter with the blind man they have been uncaring and stubborn. They have ignored the truth. They refused to give glory to God. They have treated the man unfairly. They do not deserve that man's, nor anyone else's, trust.
They are like the hired hand. This would have been a familiar image to his listeners. They understand that when someone is hired to watch over a flock of sheep, that person views it as a way to make a living. That person is detached from the sheep; they're just a noisy bunch of animals that are annoying. There's no real sense of responsibility. If any danger confronts the flock, the hired hand's interest would be in self-preservation because he, or she, is concerned with wages rather than with the sheep. That's what the Pharisees are like, Jesus is saying. Their focus is on themselves and what will benefit them.
In contrast, the Good Shepherd loves the sheep. He knows each one personally, he calls them by name and they respond. There's a relationship between them. He will lay down his life for the sheep, not by accident, but intentionally because he knows that in doing so the sheep will benefit. The Good Shepherd will make sacrifices for the sake of the sheep. And, all are welcome into the fold - not just the Jews, but the Gentiles as well. While the Pharisees are the hired hand, Jesus is the Good Shepherd.
We can imagine that as those who heard Jesus that day remembered the healed man, and how he had been treated by the religious leaders who were supposed to be their spiritual caretakers, they remember the Psalm that we call Psalm 23, an ancient Hebrew text that probably was sung in their worship. No doubt they quickly made the connection between Jesus and the Shepherd described there in the words, "The Lord is my Shepherd…." They began to see Jesus as the personal guide who walks with us as we encounter both the green pastures (the good days) and the drought-stricken valleys (the difficult times) of our lives. We are told that it does not matter if we are smiling or suffering because our souls will be constantly restored, and we will be led to the right paths. And, the fantastic promise of Psalm 23 is that nothing, not even death, will remove us from the Good Shepherd's care.
That's who those first followers of Jesus saw as Jesus said, "I am the Good Shepherd. And that's who we want to meet, and who we want others to meet, in all that occurs in and originates from Faith Lutheran Church. Whether the activity is a worship service, or the Mother-Daughter Banquet, or Explorer Club or the Lay Weeders mowing the lawn, our goal is to say, "Look, there is the Good Shepherd, Jesus. He's standing right there in the center." Can you see him? He's holding a sheep, and that sheep is you.
And, yet, in spite of the great, sacrificial love of the Good Shepherd we do struggle to keep him at the center. We focus on other priorities and agendas. Our world and the people in it - including all of us - are so plagued by imperfection that sometimes takes on massive proportions.
I was so saddened this week when I read about the Lutheran church in New Sweden, Maine where someone laced the Sunday morning coffee with arsenic. One man died, and 15 others were ill, a number critically ill. Later in the week another long-time parishioner died of a gunshot wound; his death may be connected to the poisoning. The article said the authorities were looking closely at the church's inner workings, and that people who initially were reserved were beginning to "bare their souls" concerning the dynamics in the church.
What a nightmare! What dynamics in a church could possibly bring about such horrible events? My heart and prayers go out to them. I know the Good Shepherd, Jesus, is standing among them offering comfort and strength. I wonder what happened, though. Someone, or perhaps more than one, must have lost sight of him. He got lost in the midst of … who knows? … and the results were tragic.
It is because such a thing could happen in a town of 600 in Maine, in a Lutheran Church, that we must be so intentional about making sure that Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd, is central in our lives and in all that our congregation says and does. To quote Pastor Nelson again, "It's up to us to keep this Jesus Project going." We must do all that we can to make his presence a reality among us. There should be no doubt that the Lord IS my shepherd, and that his goodness and mercy are following me - following us - every single day of our lives. This should be as obvious as the love of the Good Shepherd himself.AMEN