4th Sunday of Easter
April 22, 2018
Psalm 23; 1 John 3:16-24; John 10:11-18
On the drive to my children’s old school, which I did
daily for three years, we crossed over the Amtrak train tracks. We drove by
Martin State Airport, home of the Maryland Air National Guard. And besides
seeing all the trains and planes, we’d see construction trucks, dump trucks,
and buses. It was quite the variety of transportation vehicles that we saw
every day. Now, we drive along Route 144 every day and we see horses and cows
and mules and goats. There are two farms in particular that I always pay more
attention to because I’m curious where the animals are going to be. One is on
the right side as you go west and they have chickens. However, these appear to
be free range chickens because you never know whether they’ll be in their yard
or over under the trees or over in the neighbor’s yard. The other animal I
always look for are the sheep. They’re just before the chickens, but on the
left side. They caught my eye one day because they were all lined up along the
far fence, all in a row, head to rump, all lying down, and I was impressed that
these animals would be so coordinated all on their own. When it was 80 degrees
a couple weeks ago, they were all lying down again, but that time bunched
together, all in the shade of their barn. I didn’t see even one of them out in
the sunshine!
You may have noticed that today, the fourth Sunday of
Easter, is Good Shepherd Sunday. It happens every year. We read the 23rd
Psalm and one of the passages about Jesus as the Good Shepherd. The Scripture
and the images are familiar ones to many of us, and you’ve probably heard at
least as many sermons about shepherds and sheep as I’ve preached. Well, we’re
doing one more this morning because in looking up ideas for children’s time
today, one suggestion was considering the 23rd Psalm from the
perspective of the sheep, and that’s something I hadn’t done before.[1]
Considered myself as a sheep, yes. The
bible often compares us to sheep and that’s not really a bad thing. Y’all
probably know this having lived closer to sheep for longer than my ten months
here, it turns out that sheep aren’t really dumb, like I’d always thought. That
was a myth started by cattle ranchers.[2] You see, you can’t herd sheep the same way
you herd cattle. Cattle are herded by
cowboys and dogs at the rear of the herd, driving the cattle from behind to go
where you want them to go. But you can’t
drive a sheep the same way; sheep must be led from the front, and they will
follow a leader. Rather than being
pushed from behind, like cattle, we also look forward, keeping our eyes on
Jesus, our good shepherd.
Jesus
will lead us, if we will trust him enough to follow, and he will provide for
us. That’s the very first verse of Psalm 23: “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall
not want.” Because it’s a little awkwardly worded, that wasn’t really driven
home for me until I learned it in Spanish, “El Señor es mi pastor, nada me
faltará.” The Lord is my pastor, or shepherd, same word in Spanish. Nothing is
missing, or lacking, to me. I have everything I need. I shall not want. It’s
not that I shall not want my shepherd; it’s that he provides everything we
need, beginning with food. “He makes me lie down in green pastures”[3]
– perfect! Sheep eat grass. My shepherd is making me rest in a place abundant
with good food. And everyone needs sustenance.
The
next couple verses have to do with direction and guidance. “He leads me beside
still waters.”[4]
That’s also a good thing! Sheep can drown in fast moving water; they need still
water so that they don’t get carried off and die. “He leads me in paths of
righteousness for his name’s sake.”[5]
Much like those goats that got stuck under the bridge on the Penn Turnpike a
couple weeks ago,[6]
sheep can also wander into places that they can’t get out of. That’s why when
the one sheep out of the one hundred went missing, the shepherd had to go find
him.[7]
In every children’s book I’ve read that story, the picture is always of the
missing sheep having fallen down a hole and completely unable to get out by
himself. We, also, need leading away from things that will kill us or get us
stuck. We don’t always follow that guidance, but Jesus offers it.
It’s
like the story of the man in the flood, waiting on top of his roof for God to
save him. Have you heard that one? Like, I said, there was a flood and a man,
who’s very devout, is on top of his roof because the water has risen so high. A
boat comes by in a boat and offers rescue, but the man replies, “It’s all
right. The Lord will save me.” Later the water is up to his waist and another
boat comes by and the guy tells him to get in again. He responds that he has
faith in the Lord and the Lord will save him. With the water at about chest
high, another boat comes to rescue him, but he turns down the offer again,
saying, “No, go away. The Lord will save me. “ With the water now at chin high,
a helicopter hovers overhead and throws down a ladder and they encourage him to
get in, yet mumbling with the water in his mouth, the man again turns down the
request for help, saying, “No I don’t need help. My Lord will come.” Well, the
man drowns and arrives at the pearly gates where he meets St. Peter. Confused,
the man asks, “Peter, I have lived the life of a faithful man – why did my Lord
not rescue me?” St. Peter responds, “We tried! We sent you three boats and a
helicopter!”
Jesus
offers to lead us beside still waters so that we don’t get carried away with
the current. Jesus offers to lead us down paths of righteousness so that we
don’t get stuck. We don’t always pay attention. We don’t always follow.
Sometimes we go astray. Sometimes we get distracted. Sometimes after Jesus
rescues us and gets us unstuck, we still live and act like we’re still stuck.
Sometimes the rescue doesn’t take the form we think it should look like and so
we don’t even recognize it for what it is. Some times. Other times we accept
the offer of salvation and righteousness and we follow down the path that he
leads us on.
Then
come the predators. And this isn’t just a hockey team from Nashville. “Yea,
though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil,
for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”[8]
Less so, perhaps for today, but 2,000 years ago the sheep were in meadows
without fencing and with only the shepherd to keep them safe from predators.
You can imagine following a path through the forest and coyotes or foxes or
bears with their eyes shining watching those sheep being led out to pasture.
The shepherd used the rod to beat off the predators and the staff to pull the
sheep back from dangerous places. We know King David, when he was a shepherd,
used some rocks and a sling to protect his sheep, since that was also how he
beat Goliath. The sheep aren’t afraid of what might prey on them because the
good shepherd is with them. Remember from our Gospel reading, the hired hand
runs away when the wolf comes. “The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not
own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs
away… he cares nothing for them.”[9]
The good shepherd, though, lays down his life for the sheep. The predators have
to get through him first.
Even
the next verse has to do with animals who only seek to hurt the sheep. “You
prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.”[10]
Imagine, as the sheep graze in those green pastures, how many other animals are
watching them. They’re eating in safety only because of the shepherd. Others
may watch, may look for a chink in the armor, may look for a scrap that falls
from the table. And that may be true, and that’s ok. Because we know from Psalm
4 that we read last week, “You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.”[11]
We don’t to worry what may come. Jesus says don’t worry about tomorrow, or
about what you’re going to eat, or what you’re going to wear, or what may or
may not happen.[12]
Worrying isn’t going to add a single hour to your life.[13]
Instead, Jesus says, “Seek first God’s kingdom and his righteousness, and all
these things will be given to you as well.”[14]
“Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.” Keep your focus on
God’s kingdom and God’s justice. Don’t worry about who’s watching you or where
their food is coming from. You can dwell in safety, and not in fear.
Finally,
“you anoint my head with oil.”[15]
Oil was 1st century first aid. It’s what shepherds used on cuts and
places where thorns stuck the sheep. Jesus, the shepherd, is still also the
master physician. Jesus offers healing. The verse I skipped over earlier, if
you were paying attention, was “he restores my soul.” Restoration and renewal
are a kind of healing. 1 Peter 2:25 calls Jesus the shepherd of your soul.
Jesus isn’t just the good shepherd of your physical body, or your heart and
mind; he’s also the caretaker and guardian and keeper of your soul. He cares
how it is with your soul. Sometimes our bodies are just fine and it’s our soul
that’s in need of being anointed with healing oil.
The
Methodist movement started off with John Wesley and his friends at Oxford regularly
meeting in a small group, called the Holy Club, and they asked each other, “How
is it with your soul?” Then as Methodism grew, each person was assigned to a
small group, called a class meeting, and each class meeting began with the same
question, “How is it with your soul?” Participating in a class meeting was
required because they believed that being part of a small group within the
church was particularly helpful in Christian discipleship and growth. The class
meeting also made sure that no one in the church was left out or overlooked. Everyone
had a sense of belonging and a space to share about the state of their soul,
what needed healing, what needed anointing, what was at peace.
This is part of
the work of restoration, of being renewed. Yet even in restoration, we know
that we are not the same as we were before. We’re not restored to how we were
before; we’re restored to a new normal. Injury has to heal and may leave scar
or ache when it rains. Life after isn’t the same as life before. Just ask the
caterpillar. Yet because the caterpillar was transformed, it can now fly.
That’s what Jesus offers for all of us sheep.
This
morning we are sending forth friends to a new life, the next stage in their
life. And we can do that because we know that wherever God leads them,
“Goodness and mercy will surely follow them all the days of their life, and
they shall dwell in the house of the Lord their whole life long.”[16]
Thanks be to God. Amen.
[2] Feasting
on the Word, Year B, Vol. 2, p. 450
[3]
Psalm 23:2a
[4]
Psalm 23:2b
[5]
Psalm 23:3
[7]
Luke 15:3-6
[8]
Psalm 23:4
[9]
John 10:12-13
[10]
Psalm 23:5a
[11]
Psalm 4:8
[12]
Matthew 6:25
[13]
Matthew 6:27
[14]
Matthew 6:33
[15]
Psalm 23:5b
[16]
Psalm 23:6
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