The Good Shepherd

Today is Good Shepherd Sunday, the fourth Sunday of Easter. Our readings offer an intriguing mix of angles on the idea of Jesus as our good shepherd. But before we get into the readings, I want to ask: do we remotely understand what a shepherd even is or does? In our distance from the food chain and from rural life, do we know very well what a sheep is or does? Sheep are somewhat helpless. A mentor of mine pointed out that sheep are never featured in circus acts. They are helpless. They unwittingly get into trouble. They are cute. It takes a special love and dedication to devote your life to caring for sheep. And that’s what a shepherd does. He has a heart for his sheep. He knows each one. He calls them by name. He gives them a life, a life that’s as worthwhile as a sheep’s life can be. And animals can tell if you care. If you do and you call to them and they hear you, they will come to you, or at least try. There’s a special relationship between sheep and their shepherd. He might be the only human they know. And so, if they hear a voice other than their shepherd, that moment won’t have any of the trust that’s been built from care and nourishment, through time and the gift of boredom and living life together. And so, I hate to tell you this, because we don’t like to hear it, but you should know, you are a sheep. In your complex thought life, with your large investment portfolio, your freedom of thought, in having worked hard as a competent American, you are a sheep. It’s grating to hear, isn’t it? We’re conditioned to see sheep as the suckers, the people who can’t think independently, gullible, going along with whatever their told to do, by some undesirable group, like the religious right, or just marketers. We’re not that simple-minded, are we? We aren’t that dependent on someone else to provide for us, are we? Well, you may be a magnificent sheep, you may be a sheep who can perfectly bleat out Sinatra’s My Way, but, I’m sorry to say…you’re a sheep and so am I. An under shepherd is a sheep as well, and if we can set aside our magnificence for a second, we can ask what that means. What does our life mean, what does it look like, if I am a sheep? Is there anything good about being a sheep?

To acknowledge that you are a sheep, is to acknowledge your dependence on God for everything. We see this in our Acts reading where the church is in its infancy, vulnerable from a number of angles and yet God provides for their nourishment and flourishing. Some of those dangers the early church faced are hinted at in our reading in 1 Peter where the church is instructed not to make waves in earthly institutions. A confrontational sheep is not going to do the himself, or the rest of the flock, many favors. Instead, we listen to our shepherd’s voice. We do good in evil times. And that’s all we can do sometimes. We are after all, only sheep. And this dependence on God is a theme borne out in Psalm 23. If Psalm 23 is a piece of your identity, you see there a perfect picture of dependence on the Lord and his provision. A sheep cannot take himself too seriously. A sheep listens to the shepherd and the course of action for each day, each moment, comes from him.

A sheep cannot take himself too seriously. I’m not going to ask you to make a sheep noise right now. People who take themselves too seriously will not make a sheep noise on cue. Even people who don’t take themselves too seriously will not make a sheep noise on cue. But as a magnificent sheep, you make magnificent sheep noises to God all the time. When you have fallen into a pit, when you feel sick, when you don’t feel your basic needs are being met, you may baa eloquently, but you baa nonetheless. And the Lord is your shepherd. He takes his shepherd’s staff and he lifts you out of the pit with an understanding, loving smile. He binds up your wounds. He meets your needs. And when you die, he raises you from the dead. Only the good shepherd that you know can do these things. Only he wants to do those things. Our Gospel passage helps us see this point more clearly. Only the good shepherd wants to help you in a way that isn’t self-seeking.

Our passage in John caps off the story of a man who is born blind. Jesus heals him on the Sabbath, and the Pharisees don’t know what to do with Jesus quite yet. Jesus sums up their questions about him and frames them in the story of the good shepherd. They are asking in effect is Jesus the good shepherd or is he a thief who snuck in. He explains that you can tell the difference between a shepherd and a thief by how he gets into the sheepfold. Sheep can’t always tell the difference, but if we keep our eye on the gate, we have a chance. The one who comes in through the door is the shepherd. The one who hops the fence is the thief. From a modern literary standpoint, Jesus’ metaphor appears to break down, as all metaphors eventually do. Is Jesus the gate or the shepherd? Is it important that the shepherd or the sheep go through the gate? The answer is yes, and yes. Jesus is the gate. If someone comes into the sheepfold through the gate, if a leader enters the church through Jesus, authorized by Jesus, sent by Jesus, acknowledging Jesus as the only valid way, behaving like a shepherd, giving food and water and safety, that is someone you can trust. That is a servant of the shepherd. As you are probably aware by now, Jesus uses imperfect people as servants. In what I’m about to say, I’m not talking about a repentant human sinner, who isn’t perfect every moment. But if someone enters the church, tries to hold spiritual authority over the church and they are not authorized by Jesus, or sent by Jesus, they do not acknowledge Jesus as the only valid way of salvation, as the only way to spiritual nourishment; if they try to take some of the sheep out of their place of salvation, if they destroy their faith, if they abuse or kill the sheep, they are not servants of the shepherd. They are not from Jesus. Jesus is the head of the church, the only way to the Father, and if someone comes into the church claiming or practicing otherwise, don’t listen to them. Run. If I or another minister do those things, whether a deacon, priest, or a bishop, then we are not sent by Christ and you should move on to someone else who is. Listen for the voice of Jesus, listen for the words of Jesus, look for the actions of Jesus, look for actions that honor Jesus, and when you see them, when you hear His words being spoken, listen and trust; you are being nourished by one of Jesus’ under-shepherds. The shepherd and his servants are the ones who come through the gate. They are only there because of Jesus, the gate.

And the gate is the way to pasture, the life of peace, spiritual nourishment. Sheep out to pasture are living in a sort of sheep’s kingdom of heaven. And the gate is the only way there. So Jesus, as the gate, shows himself to be the only way into the spiritually fulfilling life of peace and abundance, the only way into heaven. Both sheep and the shepherd go through the gate and out into pasture.

Jesus tells his parable in the hearing of the Pharisees who, again, are wondering, "Is this guy sent by God, or is he a fraud?” Jesus shows them that he is not only a shepherd, he’s the validator of shepherds. He’s not only a shepherd, he’s the gate through which only shepherds come. So when he heals a blind man on the Sabbath, he is doing what a good shepherd does. He is authorized to do that. He’s Lord of the Sabbath and he created the man, and he can certainly heal him on the Sabbath, just like a good shepherd would bind up the wounds of a sheep.

So what are your needs? What are you lacking? Is your life in danger? Are you hungry? Are enemies closing in around you? The good shepherd sees you. He cares about you. He can take care of you and will. He lays down his life for you, interposing his precious blood for you. And in this season of Easter he rises again and raises you up with him. So don’t worry, Thom, don’t worry, St. Brendan’s, don’t worry little sheep, you have life and you have it abundantly because you are in the care of the only good shepherd, Jesus Christ.