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Fourth Sunday of Easter
May 7, 2006
Delivered by Reverend Sandra Stayner
Acts 4:32-37
Psalm 100
1 John 3:1-8
John 10:11-16
"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep" Jesus says to his disciples. We have probably all had images of Jesus, the good shepherd in our mind since early childhood, because it is one of the things we love to teach our children. I remember my grandparents had in their house the beautiful picture of Jesus in a flowing white robe with kind eyes, a shepherd's crook in his hand and a lost sheep hung over his shoulder. I carried that image of Jesus around with me for many years and was often comforted with the thought of Jesus taking care of me as a shepherd cares for his sheep.
As I grew older I listened to preachers who knew much more about sheep than I did talk about how stupid sheep are and how much they need a shepherd to find food and water for them and keep them from wandering off and falling over a cliff. And I could look at some of the things I did as a young adult and say, "Oh yes! Human beings are kind of like sheep - we do make somewhat stupid decisions at times!" I love to think of shepherds rounding up their sheep at night and herding them into a pen so that they would be safe from the wild animals. There have been many times in my life when I've felt unable to fend for myself, and I have needed to know that Jesus the good shepherd is there to watch over me during dark and fearful periods. It is very comforting to know that Jesus, the good shepherd knows you and me, as intimately as a shepherd knows his sheep and that over the years we can come to know the sound of his voice deep in our souls as a sheep knows the sound of the shepherd's voice when he calls them into the fold. "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep" is a little piece of scripture we all need to keep tucked away in our minds for a rainy day.
But I stumbled across a perhaps deeper meaning of these words that we might also like to think about on this day that has come to be known as Good Shepherd Sunday. In an article called "On shepherds, Samaritans and other scapegoats" Nigel Taber-Hamilton, rector of St. Augustine's -in the-woods Episcopal Church in Freeland, Washington suggests that the treasure we first see in a story is not always the one Jesus buried for us. He suggests that in order to develop a deeper understanding of these well-known words of Jesus we must go back as far as the time of the Exodus. In those days shepherding was seen as a noble enterprise. Moses was tending the sheep when Yahweh spoke to him from the midst of a bush that was on fire, but never burned up. Revealing himself as the God of his fathers' the great "I Am" Yahweh told Moses that he would bring the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt to a new land, a land flowing with milk and honey where they would again be free to worship God. The Israelites were indeed released from their bondage and set off on a long journey through the wilderness to the promised land. On their long journey the Israelites learnt to appreciate the value of a nomadic life and it was during this time that the image of God as a shepherd of the sheep began to develop and in fact became a continuing theme in Jewish history. As a people always on the move the Israelites learned to rely on their shepherd God for everything they needed. God sent bread from heaven, manna to feed them when they were hungry. He gave them a law by which to shape their new society. Wherever they went, the glory of the Lord filled the Ark of the Covenant and the people were able to freely worship God. From the beginning this people understood themselves to be a people called out by God, saved from a life of slavery, with a special relationship with God.
But by the time of Jesus things had changed radically. As the Israelites settled into their new land they began to adopt a new way of life much closer to the ways of the surrounding nations. They forgot what it was like to be utterly dependent on their shepherd God, the dependence they had developed during their nomadic days. Instead of an ark that would move in which the presence of God was carried from place they now had a temple and a king and with that came a whole array of social divisions. In this new society shepherds were no longer revered. In fact shepherds had by this time been relegated to the lowest rung of society. Many times shepherds were those who because they had ended up without lands or livestock had been forced to make a living by taking care of the sheep of wealthy, urban dwelling landowners unable to care for and protect their mothers and wives and children during their long stints away from home. The "hired hands' that Jesus talks about in this story were not known for their charity and care of those who were unable to care for themselves.
So Jesus conjours up for his followers the old image of the good shepherd once known by a people on pilgrimage with God. He reminds them of the time when they had relied on God for everything they had, when they had worshipped him wherever they went, and when they had built a society in which everyone was equal in the sight of God.
The story of the good shepherd is not only a story of a benevolent God, it is a story of a loving God who takes care of his people when they place themselves under his care. And the message for us is the same as the message was for Jesus' closest followers. We cannot fully know the depth of God's care for us until we are willing to place our families and ourselves into his loving hands. While we are struggling to build up temples and thrones to protect ourselves from the world outside we will never know the freedom that comes from leaving everything behind to follow God. While we are striving to create a world in which some are better than others because of race or education or privilege or wealth we will not experience the peace that comes from knowing ourselves to be perfectly loved by the God who created all things.
Martin Luther King said, "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character." It seems to me that with these words he was in fact sharing an old dream, God's dream, a dream that Jesus revealed in the way he lived his life, caring for all who came to him whatever their background or status in life.
As the first Christians began to live their new life in the spirit of God's love, we are told in Acts that they began to share with one another everything they had and there was not a needy person among them, that the apostles testified to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and great grace was upon them all. We have a good shepherd who will take care of all our needs if we will only turn and follow him.
Jesus says, "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep. And I have other sheep, that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will heed my voice." We do not know who those people are, but we must be ready at all times to welcome those who will come into the fold without knowing the voice of God. We must be prepared to welcome the stranger in whatever form they come, because they too belong to God, and need the care and love of the good shepherd as much as we do.
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