“A Self-Sacrificing Shepherd”
Second Sunday After Easter
April 18, AD 2010
St. John X: 11-16
Yesterday I went with some visiting relatives to visit my sheep. I hadn’t seen my sheep in over a week. You’d think the sheep would ignore me since I had ignored them for awhile, but they didn’t. They came running up as usual, expecting a hand-out of feed, which I gave them, of course. Good sheep know the hand that feeds them, even if that hand belongs to a modern city-shepherd who is somewhat erratic and unpredictable with the attention he gives his sheep. Now before you go reporting me to Animal Control for cruelty to animals, let me assure you my sheep are well-cared for. There is a man who lives on the farm, along with the owners of the place, who keep an eye out on things and report to me if anything is amiss. And I keep the hay and feed bin well stocked and the pasture and water are constantly available. And I have two guard donkeys that protect the sheep against coyotes or wild dogs. Nevertheless, this city shepherd before you is not the model of a “good shepherd” that our Gospel lesson talks about today. You see, there’s a huge qualitative difference between how I approach shepherding real sheep and how our Lord interacts with the sheep of His fold. It has to do with the motivation to give one’s all for the flock – that quality of self-sacrificial love that is so crucial to our understanding what God through Jesus Christ has done for us. The truth is, I want my sheep to sacrifice for me and my own convenience, not the other way around. I’m a very modern shepherd, aren’t I? The quality of self-sacrifice for others is something that is not held up in as positive light as it used to be, it seems. The modern world is all about self-actualization, self-expression, and even self-aggrandizement, to the detriment of others, including those we say we love. Of course, we speak in rough analogies here between “real” shepherding and the one true Shepherd of our souls, revealed to us by God as His son, Jesus. In making such analogies, I think it is fair to say, if we are honest with ourselves, that we all tend to be hireling shepherds when compared to the selfless love exhibited by Jesus. When the going gets tough in life, in our spiritual journey or in our relationships, how often do we stick it out in a humble sacrificial spirit versus running in the opposite direction, leaving others to the lions?
In contrast, what a model of love and constancy Jesus is. And Jesus presents this model to us without any self-pity or attempts at spiritual blackmail. It is simple yet profound Truth that we hear when He reveals who He is and what He must do in obedience to His Father in Heaven. He truly IS the good shepherd, who knows and is known by the sheep in His flock, to the same level of interconnectedness and bonding as Jesus and the Father know each other. Out of obedience to His Father and love for His flock, Jesus says what will happen: “I lay down my life for the sheep.” He will physically die for his flock, for you and for me, that we might have eternal life, as we know from John 3:16. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Next, Jesus extends this promise not just to the people of Israel but to the Gentiles also by saying, “And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one flock, and one shepherd.”
One flock, one shepherd. Bonded together in such mutual interconnectedness and sacrificial love that the wolves in service to the devil can be held at bay. This is the strong bond, cemented by Christ’s blood, that St. Paul speaks of in Ephesians 2:20-21 that is “built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord.” In the Old Testament writings of the prophets, God promises that He himself will come to shepherd his people. From Isaiah 40:11 we hear that the Lord God will come and “He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.” Jeremiah exclaims in 23: 3-4 that the Lord “will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the Lord.” The Lord also speaks through Ezekiel in 34:11-12: “For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness.” In fulfillment of these prophecies, Jesus is Emmanuel, “God with us”, in the role of Good Shepherd.
Where are we in our walk with Jesus this day? I hope you are filled with Eastertide joy as we continue to celebrate Christ’s victory over death. But human life being what it is, maybe you are dealing with some personal troubles that make you feel like a lost sheep, wandering around “on a day of clouds and darkness.” Maybe the reality of Christ’s resurrection hasn’t quite hit home to you and your faith is still fixated on betrayal and suffering. Life can be harsh and we can try to avoid that reality in self-defeating ways. Jesus warns of this possibility when, just prior to his arrest, he quotes Zechariah 13:7: “Then Jesus told them, ‘This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written: ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’” [Matthew 26:31] When the wolves without and within us are howling, we can do the very thing that hurts us the most by separating ourselves from the flock, the church, and from God. We can retreat into a self-protective mode of existence versus a self-giving mode that, paradoxically, brings new life. We, too, like Peter, can perversely deny Christ in various ways and nail him again to the cross with our sins. In our human weakness, blindness, and despair, we may want to shout out with the Jews who surrounded Jesus in the temple in Solomon’s porch, “If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly.” [John 10:24b]
If that is where you are at, you have come to the right place because Jesus is here today in Word and Sacrament. All you have to do is listen, really listen for His voice. Jesus speaks through His miraculous works and His soul piercing words, which those who believe in Him will recognize as Truth, not as demon possessed insanity, as some of the Jews claimed. In John 10:27-28, our Lord tells the Jews, and us, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.”
Jesus also speaks through His people, the Church. As written in the 3rd chapter of the 1st Epistle of St. John, “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” [I John 3:1a] Therefore, as expressed by St. John, we should love one another as He commanded us by having compassion for those in need, by loving in deed and truth, and yes, by sacrificing our own self-interests on the altar of service to others. Since we are made one with the Good Shepherd through our baptisms and faith, by the Grace God bestows on each of us, we are able to be transformed from sheep into good shepherds ourselves, in spite of ourselves. Do you recall what Jesus tells Peter after appearing in His risen body to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias? Not just once but three times our Lord says what we need to do, if we love him: “Feed my lambs….Feed my sheep…Feed my sheep.” [John 21:15-17] If we do not feed others with the very love of Christ, then our feed bins are sadly empty.
Finally, Jesus speaks to us in the glorious paschal mystery of His Body and Blood, given to us for the remission of our sins. This is the epitome of self-sacrificial love. In return, we have a choice. We can turn away in self-sufficient pride and hardness of heart, or we can humbly offer “our selves, our souls and bodies” as a “living sacrifice” that we might be filled with His “grace and heavenly benediction, and made one body with him, that he may dwell in us, and we in him,” as our prayer book liturgy says. [BCP, p. 81] One body, one Spirit. One flock, one Shepherd. United in sacrificial love, not feel good, superficial warm fuzziness, but agape love that includes righteousness as well as abundant life. Such abundance is far more than wordly riches can satisfy. Come into the fold through the doorway of Jesus Christ, and you will be richly blessed beyond all measure. He will make you lie down in green pastures. He will lead you beside the still waters, and in the paths of righteousness. His rod and his staff will comfort you, even in the presence of death and evil. He will restore your soul. Your cup will run over. Goodness and mercy will follow you all the days of your life, and you will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
And now unto God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, be ascribed all might, majesty, dominion, and honor, as is most justly due this day, both now and forever, Amen.