Hearing the Good Shepherd

4 Easter   C       May 12, 2019          

Acts 9:36-43 Ps.23

Rev 7:9-17  John 10:22-30

Lectionary Link

The selection of Bible readings for each Sunday are supposed to be consistent with the themes of the season, but in the most recent RCL lectionary, in the attempt to add more selections, the themes don't always seem to be so obvious in how they match up and reinforce each other.

Today, is one of those baffling days for the preacher; it seems as though the lectionary maker had a bad day and got devious: "I'm really going challenge the preacher.  I am going to slap together 4 desperate and different topical readings like a avant garde collage and then chuckle under my breath to the preacher, "Take these and try to explain how they go together....ha, ha, ha."

Liturgically, it is Good Shepherd Sunday featuring the 23rd Psalm and in popular culture it is of course Mother's Day.  So, what words of Jesus do we read on Mother's Day?  "The Father and I are one..."  The oneness of Jesus with the Father is very theologically lofty.  What Jesus could have said is:  "For nine months of gestation, my mother Mary and I were actually one."  That is not theological; that is actually physically true.

The Psalmist found the role of the shepherd to be a fitting metaphor for the Lord, the Almighty God.  The Psalmist probably regarded himself to be a good shepherd to his sheep and from that he saw himself in relationship to God that could be poetically illustrated as a shepherd sheep relationship.

What we did not read in John's Gospel today, is the earlier portion of the Good Shepherd chapter in the Bible. In it, Jesus said, "I am the Good Shepherd."

But Jesus provides a derivation of the metaphor of the Good Shepherd.   If God, the Almighty, the Father is a Shepherd and Jesus and the Father are one, then Jesus too is a Good Shepherd.

But on Mother's Day, let’s not get hung up on gender with regard to God or shepherds.  Mothers are perhaps the best living examples of what good shepherds look like.  Shepherds are a combination of nurturing persuasive kindness, but also, they had made up of faithful grit and toughness, especially when it comes to protecting their sheep.  And who is more like that than a good mom?

We must honestly confess that the mothers of this earth got more of the share of the grace of good shepherding than did men, and we honor our mothers today as profound shepherds in our lives.

One of the main topics of our reading and Collect today has to do with hearing.  The sheep hear and know the voice of their shepherd.  Hearing is something that we can do without seeing or touching.  How do we know the voice of mom and dad?  Because we live with them; we keep coming home and we are in relationship with them.

In the church of the Gospel of John, nobody was seeing Jesus anymore.  But many people were hearing the voice of Jesus as their shepherd.  The church was founded by people who had found their spiritual ears opened.

Even though people did not see Jesus and even faced some very difficult situations, they still heard the voice of the Risen Christ within them and within their midst.  And what did the church hear from their shepherd?  They heard what Peter heard from Jesus, "Feed my sheep.  Be a shepherd to those who need you.  My Father is a Shepherd.  I am one with Father so, I too am a Shepherd.  And if you hear my voice, you will hear me calling you to be a shepherd too, because you are one with me in mission and purpose."

But what about all those sheep who went unprotected; the ones that got eaten by the wolves and the lions?  What about all  those persecuted people who gave their lives in obeying their shepherd?

The Book of Revelation provides visionary images of what a future hope of justice might look like.  Jesus was the chief martyr as the Lamb of God.  And this model Lamb of God in the afterlife is presented as the shepherd who will lead all the martyrs to blessed place of redemption for their suffering and deaths.

How was St. Peter a shepherd?  He spoke words of healing to the lifeless Dorcas.  And Dorcas heard the words of Peter and she was healed.  We who have heard the voice of Christ, are called to speak the words of healing in our world today.

Today on Good Shepherd Sunday, we are invited to develop our relationship with God and Christ and be one with them in the shepherding mission which is needed in our world.  We are to develop our prayer lives so that we can hear the call of Christ to be healed of our spiritual deafness. When we hear the call by God the Great Shepherd of the universe and Jesus the Good Shepherd we are commissioned to be shepherds who are called to bring the words of the healing of spirit, soul, mind and body to all who need our help today.  Amen.