Fourth Sunday of Easter

I’m going to read a lot of scripture this morning because the lectionary passages this morning paint this beautiful picture for us.

We already read Psalm 23, which we could just sit with and meditate on and be blessed

, X That’s not a bad thing to do.

And it’s poetry so don’t try to dissect it too much.

Allow yourself to feel and be stirred by the imagery.

He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul.

I mean, it’s a famous Psalm for a reason / 1.p

It’s beautiful. 1

And of course the Psalmist paints this picture using the imageryof God as a shepherd

Shepherds and sheep were a very ready analogy for the people of ancient Israel r

Just as farmer or doctor would be for us today

. o A farmer plants seeds to grow new things.

A doctor treats the wounds of those who need healing.

A shepherd offers care and guidance to those who can’t fully take care of themselves.

And so shepherd is often used as the imagery for anyone in a position of power.

Anyone who has followers.

The great men and women, who stand above others, singled out to lead the way

And those who need direction are care are the sheep

Note that being called sheep isn’t an insult.

In our current political climate we read a lot of like “wake up don’t be sheep!”

We’d be better off recognizing that we all need direction and all look to someone to show us the way and so it’s less about whether we’re sheep and more about which shepherd we follow

When the old testament uses this imagery it’s usually to paint the picture that the whole shepherd / sheep situation is an absolute mess.

All of us are like sheep who have gone astray, each choosing our own direction, according to Isaiah.

And the shepherds, those in positions of power and leadership, aren’t doing anything to help.

In fact, they’re exploiting the sheep for their own gain.

This is the human condition in a fallen world.

Utter chaos of self-serving competition

Everyone wanting THEIR OWN green pasture but not knowing the way

Using each other

Acting more like wolves

The prophet Ezekiel paints this picture, which might sounds familiar.

Ezekiel 34:1–16

1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who only take care of themselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? 3 You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock. 4 You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally. 5 So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals. 6 My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered over the whole earth, and no one searched or looked for them.

7 “ ‘Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: 8 As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, because my flock lacks a shepherd and so has been plundered and has become food for all the wild animals, and because my shepherds did not search for my flock but cared for themselves rather than for my flock, 9 therefore, O shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: 10 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them.

Then God makes a promise.

11 “ ‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. 12 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. 13 I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land. 14 I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. 15 I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign Lord. 16 I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.

“I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for MY flock”

Who’s flock?

God’s flock.

And how does God treat HIS flock? Like a good shepherd.

“I myself will search for my sheep and look after them.”

“I myself will tend to my sheep.”

“I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak.”

Fast forward probably 600 years or so from Ezekiel’s prophecy.

The sheep of Israel are now basically subjects of the wolf Empire and their shepherds are playing power games, leaving the sheep themselves starved and wounded and afraid

Then a man named Jesus comes onto the scene,

He’s performing miracles and saying some incredible things about how God’s kingdom is arriving and it’s for the very people who are starved and wounded and afraid

He says this John 10:11–18 (NIV84)

11 “I am the good shepherd.”

Yeah yeah, sounds like a campaign slogan to me. What’s so different about this so called shepherd?

“The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. 13 The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.”

Here is God come to tend to his own flock.

Here is a human who is with us who can lead us where we need to go.

Here is the one who knows the way to green pastures and quiet waters.

Here is the one who is not self-serving.

Here is the one who uses his power to rescue others and bind their wounds

Here is the shepherd who gives his life so that the sheep can live.

Here is the shepherd who knows our names.

We rightly desire the green pastures, the still waters, and the restoration of our souls

But to find these things we have to follow the good shepherd so he can lead us there

To follow him we need to learn to hear his voice

And we can’t go our own way and follow him at the same time

How do we know he is the one to follow?

Because he loves us enough to lay down his life for us.

And if we trust that he is the one who will lead us to life then we listen for his voice, stay as close as possible, go where he goes, and do what he does.

Last week we talked about how being the family of God means we start to take on the family resemblance.

Here we see that being followers of the Good Shepherd means we follow his example.

1 John 3:16–24 (NIV84) 16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.

The fallen, human shepherds of the world will often tell us that the peace we want comes through not following anyone and learning that it’s every sheep for himself.

We learn that wolves (or lions) get ahead and sheep get devoured so toughen up and compete

The good shepherd calls us to something different.

Not just calling us, but modeling it for us.

Laying down his life to find it again.

Do we trust that his is that way to green pastures and quiet waters and the restoration of our souls?