Acts 6:1-9, 7:2a 51-60 Ps. 23
1 Peter 2:19-25 John 10:1-10
Lectionary Link
Sometimes in our world today, we extol freedom as a virtue, but what we actually do in practice is to allow the strong, the wealthy, and the intelligent to have the freedom to dominant and exploit those who are weak, poor, and ignorant.
Sometimes in our world today, we extol freedom as a virtue, but what we actually do in practice is to allow the strong, the wealthy, and the intelligent to have the freedom to dominant and exploit those who are weak, poor, and ignorant.
We say the market is free but it is really dominated and controlled by the people with the most wealth. How free is that for the poor?
We say that all are created equal but we often standby and let nature prove the prowess of the strong over the weak. We can believe in theoretical equality but not in equal justice. Equal justice means a wise tailoring of rights to the capacities of each member in society.
We promote universal education and knowledge even while we let the more learned exploit the ignorance of those who don't have the education or the capacity for advanced reasoning.
We may agree with Darwinian theory that in non-human Nature, the fittest survive mainly by exploiting the weak for their own well-being and longevity. We may presume with human culture and civilization that we have risen above the predator-prey relationships and the dog eat dog world but we often disguise these same tendency under acceptable practices of class superiority. We can practice the virtues as only transactional, meaning we are selectively kind when we can get an equal or better return on our kindness. We can't make a sale unless we've learned to practice art of making friends and influencing people. So, we in fact make virtues selfish behaviors to get better outcomes for ourselves.
The community of the Gospel of John needed to survive. They were a minority community living within the cities of the Roman Empire. The Gospel was written in part to provide insights for surviving behaviors for a minority community.
What survival message did the community of the Gospel of John need?
They needed the message about a good shepherd? Why? Because they needed to stay together.
The Roman authorities seemed to be those who were fittest to survive and thrive within the Roman Empire. How could these small Christ-communities survive with such inequity in power relationship?
They needed unifying leadership to stay together and to help each other. Therefore Jesus is put before the community as the model of what good leadership means. He is the model for the right relationship to power, wealth, and knowledge.
What is good shepherding?
It is non-exploitive, it is protective of the vulnerable, it is teaching, and it is sacrificial.
Members of the Gospel of John community could not be those with leaders who were competing with each other for followers. This meant that leadership had to have a calling for the well-being the community and not for their own position, wealth or influence. Those who were new to the faith community could not be made pawns in power struggles among leaders. The motive of a good shepherd is for the benefit of the flock and not for self-promotion.
A good shepherd is one who has the wisdom and the desire to protect the vulnerable. The Christ-communities in the Roman Empire were already under threat. Their very existence could be seen as a challenge to the existing religions of the Empire, especially the cult of the Emperor. For those who were finding new spiritual awakening within the Christ-communities there was a need for protection and nurture and for teaching.
A good shepherd is also a teacher, or one who freely gives one's mature wisdom to those who are growing in their faith. A good shepherd needs to be one who is good in the art of living, and one who shares that art of good living to disciples, pupils and learners. A good shepherd is an exemplary teacher, one who can say both, "do as I say, and do as I do."
Finally, a good shepherd is sacrificial. In the survival of the fittest theory, the weak are sacrificed to the strong. In good shepherd practice, it is the strong who are so strong that they use their power on behalf of others. The ancient shepherd was also a living door or gate to the sheepfold. The shepherd slept in the door way to the fold so that any predator had to go through the shepherd to get to the sheep. A good shepherd practices the greater love, which lays down one's life for one's friend. Laying down one's selfish ego life is a requirement in good shepherding.
Today, more than ever, we need good shepherding in this world which reduces virtues to transactional behaviors for class privilege. "I'll scratch your back, if you scratch mine." We need good shepherding in the free market world where a very few wealthy people can control a disproportionate amount of the world's resources to the lack of a vast majority. Good shepherd understand stewardship being beneficial to all and to our environments as well. And in a world which claims endless knowledge and information, we need wise shepherds who can teach the art of good and kind living. Having lots of knowledge and information does not mean that we have learn to live well. Shepherding wisdom is about using wisdom for the good care of the people of this world and the places where we live.
We in the church have a great mission to exemplify and teach the essence of the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ in our world today. Amen.
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