The Good Shepherd and Shepherding

4 Easter B  April 22, 2018

Acts 4:5-12  Psalm 23

1 John 3:1-8     John 10:11-16

Lectionary Link
St. Paul and his disciples waxed poetic about Christ.  They proclaimed him as an omni-universal entity who had only a short earthly physical appearance in the life of Jesus of Nazareth.  The Christian faith was to offered to people beyond the community of Judaism, and Christ was proclaimed as a universal being.  In the letter to the Colossian church, it is written:  "Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all."

Christ is all, and is in all.  What does that mean?  Is Christness universal humanity?  Is Christ in us the rising the original image of God within each human being?

If this is the poetic spiritual theology of the early church, what would such poetic theology look like in a narrative about the life of Jesus?  The theology and the spiritual practice of the early church was developed before the Gospels were written.

I would call such a narrative of the life of Jesus instantiating the spiritual theology of the church, the Gospel of John.

The Gospel of John begins with God as the Word and all things exist because of the Word.  And that Word became best expressed as a human being in the person of Jesus Christ. "And the Word was made flesh...."

What are the words about existence?   In English we use the verb "to be."  But is being or "to be"  an action?  Or is being an abstraction of becoming.  I become in time and I sum up becoming in time with the reduction "I am or I have been until now."  The holy name of God in Hebrew "Yahweh" might be a form of "to be" expressed as "the one who has always been and who will always be."  For Jews, the special name of God is holy and unpronounceable because to say the name might imply God could have even a momentary limitation in time.

My one name Phil, which names my existence, is a reduction of all of the occasions of my becoming in time, from conception until time.  All of that becoming is reduced to my one name.

John is the Gospel of naming who Word of God is in time.  The Word of God in time as a human being is best expressed in Jesus Christ.  And John's Gospels uses lots of "ego eimi" or "I am"  phrases. "I am" phrase are metaphors.  A metaphor relates the identity of someone or something using something that is entirely different than someone or something.

So in John's Gospel there are "I am" phrases of the confessed identities of Jesus, the one who St. Paul said was all and in all.

I am the light of the world, the way, the truth, the life, the resurrection, the bread of life, the living bread come down from heaven, the gate, the vine; I am he the messiah,  I am he, the Son of Man,  I am he, the Son of God.  And perhaps the most blatant "I am" phrase is when Jesus said, "Before Abraham was, I am."  How could that be?  Well, Word or Naming itself exists before everything that is named.

In today's Gospel, Jesus says, "I am the Good Shepherd."  A shepherd is the symbol for leadership and especially spiritual leadership within the community.

In Hebrew Scriptures leaders in the community were referred to as "shepherds," a metaphor which derived from the sheep herding beginnings of nomadic tribes of Israel.  Most of pre-democratic societies could be called "paternalistic" societies, that is to say, they were dominated by leaders who made most of the big decision on behalf of the highly dependent "child-like members of " society.  The roles in paternalistic societies are limited to the leaders and their delegates.  The dependent people of society were regarded to be lacking independent wealth, power and knowledge to be able to decide for themselves and co-determine their own existence in their societies.  They relied upon "omni-competent" shepherds to tell them how to earn their livelihood,  where to dwell and where to find protection from enemies.  The leaders in ancient societies were tyrannical kings,  conquering and exploitive tribal leaders but some of them benevolent and caring particularly to their own relatives and clan.

Israel had been given the laws which provided recommended behaviors toward God as well as recommended human social behaviors.  Prophets like Moses, Judges like Samuel and Deborah and Kings like David were supposed to be the shepherd leaders to show people how to live the Torah, the law of God.  The Hebrew Scriptures includes accounts of lots of bad leaders, bad shepherds who did not keep the covenant with God and who exploited their people to the ruin of the nation.

The writer of the Twenty Third Psalm wrote a poem about a personal discovery of God as the perfect shepherd.  God is the one who takes care of the one who knows himself or herself to be dependent on God.  How is God experienced?  One who leads besides still waters; one who provides; one who protects; one who anoints with health and salvation; one who provides an eternal dwelling place.  The twenty third Psalm is the experience of God as being one's Great and Good Shepherd.

And how would the good and great Shepherd look in human life?  The Gospel of John presents Jesus as the Good Shepherd.  He lived the life of care and concern for vulnerable people.  He did not exploit the weak, the ignorant and the poor.  The good shepherd discourse is a discourse on power and power relationships.  Social Darwinism implies that the strong are the fittest who are destined to survive because they maintain themselves first at the expense of the weak.  The Good Shepherd discourse reveals the opposite; if one has wealth, knowledge and power, one is called to follow the example of the Good Shepherd and lay down one's life for the sheep, those who lack enough power, wealth and knowledge to maintain the well-being of their own lives.  This study in power is still relevant for us today.

I believe it is relevant in our days of so-called modern democracies.  Modern democracies are based upon the individual having enough knowledge, power and wealth, to be able to participate to make good decisions together for the common good.  But in practice, many individuals have become strong, wealthy and knowledgeable to be able to be "free economic" agents in our societies.  Individuals have been wealthy and strong enough not to need community institutions.  The result has been the atrophy of democracies and democratic institutions.  The institutions themselves have become the vulnerable sheep because of non-participation.  Only 58% of the eligible voters voted in the last elections; attendance and participation in churches has drastically declined.  Why?  Because independent free economic agents "don't need" the institutions and can fare well without participation.  The institutions themselves have become bodies of people where 10 percent of the people give and do 90 percent of the giving and the work.  The modern democratic institutions, the volunteer associations have become the weak sheep and they need the strong participation of shepherds again.  People need to come to church to be shepherds; strong, knowledgeable, generous shepherds on behalf of the common good and on behalf of what we can do together if we pool our resources to make a difference in bringing good news to our world.

Today, on this Good Shepherd Sunday, we need to accept our baptismal roles as shepherd.  The old church was a paternal church of passive spectator watching the leaders; and the clergy did church on behalf of everyone.  Priests and bishops are called shepherds, pastors; bishops carry the crozier or the symbolic staff of a shepherd, but priests and bishops do not exhaust the roles of shepherding that the church needs to do. The entire church is to be a shepherding church; a group of people who care for one another because we first care for God and because we've come under the winsome influence of Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd.

Let us learn from the Good Shepherd discourse today.  When we are vulnerable and need care, I pray that God will bring a shepherd to each of us.  When we find ourselves with ability, knowledge, power and wealth, let us rise to be shepherds to those in need.  And now, let us regard the vulnerable situation of the parish church, an institution which seems to be in atrophy; let us rise to be shepherds to make the body of Christ alive and well and strong to be a witness for the good news of God's love.  Amen.

Billy Said, "I'm Not a Good Shepherd."

4 Easter B  April 22, 2018
Acts 4:5-12  Psalm 23
1 John 3:1-8     John 10:11-16
Lectionary Link

A boy named Billy went with his family to a petting zoo at a farm in the country and this petting zoo was very special place because on this day they had a sign up at the sheep pen.  Billy and his sister went into the sheep pen and were petting and playing with the little lambs.  They were so cute and nice.   Billy's sister Suzy could read and she saw a sign in the sheep pen.  It read, "Lambs for sale; please ask the owner."  Suzy said to her brother Billy, "Billy, the sign says the lambs are for sale."   And Suzy missed the gestures of mom and dad with their finger on their lips....meaning shush, "Don't tell Billy that the lambs are for sale."  But it was too late.  Once Billy found out that the lambs were for sale, he had to have one.  He bugged mom and dad and begged them.  "Please can we get a lamb.   Can I choose this cute little one?  Look, he likes me, he needs me and I think he wants to go home with me."

Mom and Dad said, "No, Billy, the lamb will be lots of work.  You have to take care of them and especially when it is so young. "   Billy insisted, "I can do it, I will do and we have a very big fenced back yard and we have shed in the back where the lamb can stay.  I want this lamb.  You don't have to get me a Christmas present or a birthday present.   This will be my next Christmas present and birthday present.  Please..please...please...and then pretty please and then pretty please with lots of sugar on it."

Mom and Dad rolled their eyes and finally they gave in.  So the farmer put the lamb in a box with some hay and some feed and a bottle and the lamb went home with Billy riding in the back seat.   Billy said, "I'm going to call him Fuzzy, because his wool is so fuzzy."  Billy was the happiest boy alive.  But did he stay that way?

For two days, Billy had fun feeding the Fuzzy with a bottle.  And he kept him in a big dog carrier with hay.

But after two days, the lamb would wake up bleating in morning.  Mom shouted, "Billy, have you fed Fuzzy this morning?"  Billy said, "I forgot."  "Billy, did you take Fuzzy outside to let him run in the yard."  Billy said, "No, because when I did that he got into your flowers and he made a mess and he chewed a hole in my basketball and popped it."

Mom said, "Billy I asked you to keep him in the fenced off area away from my flowers.  And you need to keep all of your toys away from Fuzzy or he will chew them."

Billy took Fuzzy outside to play with him.  But after about 10 minutes he came running into the house, shouting, "Fuzzy is gone; I can't find him."  Mom said, "Were you watching him?"  Billy said, "Not all of the time."  They went to look for Fuzzy.  The gate had been left open and he had gotten out of the yard.  Fortunately, Fuzzy was just in the neighbor's yard trying to knock over their garbage can.  Billy, corralled Fuzzy and put him back in the carrier.  And Billy was sad.

Billy remained sad and quiet and so his Dad asked him at dinner why he wasn't eating and why was he sad.  With tears in his eyes, Billy blurted out, "I'm not a good shepherd.  Fuzzy needs to be taken care of and watched all of the time and I don't have anytime to do anything else.  Fuzzy needs a good shepherd and I don't think that I am a good shepherd."

Mom and Dad said, "Billy, that's okay.  Little lambs are hard to take care of.  Do you want to take him back to the farm?"  Billy said, "Well no, but I think it would be better for Fuzzy.  Will the farmer take him back?"  Dad said, "Yes, he told us if it didn't work out that Fuzzy could come back."

What did Billy find out about taking care of a lamb?  It is very hard work to be a good shepherd.

Today we've read about Jesus being a good shepherd.  This world needs good shepherds.  It needs people who are strong, smart and generous to take care of the young, the poor, the sick, and those who are not smart enough or strong enough to take care of themselves.  Sometimes we are in need and we need good shepherds to help us.  And sometimes we are a strong and able to help people in need.

Our world needs a balance of having enough good shepherds to take care of all of the people in need.  And good news of Jesus as the good shepherd is a lesson for us to learn how to be good shepherd as we learn how to help people in need.  And like Billy, we will sometimes find out that we are not good shepherds, but we can never give up trying to be good shepherds.  Amen.

Sunday School, April 22, 2018 4 Easter B

Sunday School, April 22, 2018     4 Easter B

Good Shepherd Sunday

Think about the times that you are in need:

Need something to eat.  Need to learn math and reading.  Need help when you are sick.  Need help when your car is broken.  Need help when you need some clean clothes. 

Everybody is at times in need.  Everyone is like a sheep that needs to be taken care of.

Think about the times when you are able to care for others and help them

Helping your baby brother and sister.  Feeding your pet.  Helping to clean the house for mom.  Reading a story for your baby brother or sister.  Helping your Nana and Papa in their garden.

When you use your gifts and ability to help others, you are like a shepherd taking care of others.

Jesus is called the Good Shepherd because he has power and the knowledge to help those in need.  Jesus asks us to be good shepherds too and we do this when we help people in need.  We too are often like sheep in need and we need to have shepherds or people with strength and knowledge to help us.

The sheep-shepherd relationship is an important way to understand life.  The strong help the weak and it is important to know that sometimes we are like sheep and sometimes we can be like the Good Shepherd Jesus who helped those in need.

Sermon:

Today we have read about the Good Shepherd and we have learn that Jesus is like a Good Shepherd.

  A Good Shepherd takes good care of his sheep.  How does he do that?  He finds them a pasture with grass to eat.  He finds them water to drink.  He keeps them safe from wolves and coyotes.  He takes care of them when they are injured or sick?  Why?  Because the sheep need care.

  Do you know that we are both like shepherd and sheep?  A shepherd is one who gives care to someone who needs it.  A sheep is someone who needs care.

  I’m going to play a quiz game with you?  You tell me who is the shepherd and who is the sheep.

  When a person is really, really sick, she goes to the doctor and the doctor helps by giving her some medicine.  Who is the shepherd and who is the sheep?

  A father and mother go to work and they provide money for their children to have food and clothing.  Who is the shepherd and who is the sheep?

  A boy has a dog and the boy feeds the dog every day and brushes the dog furry coat.  Who is the shepherd and who is the sheep?

  An older sister is with her baby brother, and mom leaves the room.  And the baby brother drops his bottle and starts to cry.  So, the older sister picks up the bottle and gives it to her little baby brother.  Who is the shepherd and who is the sheep?

  So, any of us can be a shepherd or a sheep.  Why?  Because sometimes we need things and sometimes we need care.

  But most of the time we have the ability to provide care for someone else.  So, when someone needs care, we need to be like a good shepherd.

  Jesus is the good shepherd because he cared for people who needed his care.

  So, we too need to be good shepherds too.  Why?  Because people need us, and we need people too.

  Just as you and I often need help and care for ourselves.  We should learn to give care to others when we can.

  Jesus as the good shepherd has taught to care for people in need.  How many of you are going to try to be good shepherds this week?  I know that you can be a big help to your family and friends and to other people who need your care.

St. John the Divine Episcopal Church

17740 Peak Avenue, Morgan Hill, CA 95037

Family Service with Holy Eucharist

April 22, 2018: The Fourth Sunday of Easter

Opening Song:  Morning Has Broken,

Morning has broken, like the first morning,

Blackbird has spoken, like the first bird.

Praise for the singing, praise for the morning,

Praise for them springing fresh from the word.

Sweet the rain's new fall, sunlit from heaven,

Like the first dew fall on the first grass.

Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden,

Sprung in completeness where His feet pass.

Mine is the sunlight, mine is the morning,

Born of the one light Eden saw play.

Praise with elation, praise every morning,

God's re-creation of the new day.

Liturgist: Alleluia, Christ is Risen.

People: The Lord is Risen Indeed.  Alleluia.

Liturgist:  Oh God, Our hearts are open to you.

And you know us and we can hide nothing from you.

Prepare our hearts and our minds to love you and worship you.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

O God, whose blessed Son made himself known to his disciples in the breaking of bread: Open the eyes of our faith, that we may behold him in all his redeeming work; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

First Litany of Praise: Chant: Alleluia

O God, you are Great!  Alleluia

O God, you have made us! Alleluia

O God, you have made yourself known to us!  Alleluia

O God, you have provided us with us a Savior!  Alleluia

O God, you have given us a Christian family!  Alleluia

O God, you have forgiven our sins!  Alleluia

O God, you brought your Son Jesus back from the dead!  Alleluia

A reading from the First Letter of John

We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us-- and we ought to lay down our lives for one another. How does God's love abide in anyone who has the world's goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help? Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Let us read together from Psalm 23

1 The LORD is my shepherd; *I shall not be in want.

2 He makes me lie down in green pastures *and leads me beside still waters.

3 He revives my soul *and guides me along right pathways for his Name's sake.

Litany Phrase: Thanks be to God! (chanted)

Litanist:

For the good earth, for our food and clothing. Thanks be to God!

For our families and friends. Thanks be to God!

For the talents and gifts that you have given to us. Thanks be to God!

For this day of worship. Thanks be to God!

For health and for a good night’s sleep. Thanks be to God!

For work and for play. Thanks be to God!

For teaching and for learning. Thanks be to God!

For the happy events of our lives. Thanks be to God!

For the celebration of the birthdays and anniversaries of our friends and parish family.

   Thanks be to God!

Liturgist:         The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John

People:            Glory to you, Lord Christ.

Jesus said, "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away-- and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father, also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd."

Liturgist:         The Gospel of the Lord.

People:            Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Sermon –   

Children’s Creed

We did not make ourselves, so we believe that God the Father is the maker of the world.

Since God is so great and we are so small,

We believe God came into our world and was born as Jesus, son of the Virgin Mary.

We need God’s help and we believe that God saved us by the life, death and

     resurrection of Jesus Christ.

We believe that God is present with us now as the Holy Spirit.

We believe that we are baptized into God’s family the Church where everyone is

     welcome.

We believe that Christ is kind and fair.

We believe that we have a future in knowing Jesus Christ.

And since we all must die, we believe that God will preserve us forever.  Amen.

Litany Phrase: Christ, have mercy.

For fighting and war to cease in our world. Christ, have mercy.

For peace on earth and good will towards all. Christ, have mercy.

For the safety of all who travel. Christ, have mercy.

For jobs for all who need them. Christ, have mercy.

For care of those who are growing old. Christ, have mercy.

For the safety, health and nutrition of all the children in our world. Christ, have mercy.

For the well-being of our families and friends. Christ, have mercy.

For the good health of those we know to be ill. Christ, have mercy.

For the remembrance of those who have died. Christ, have mercy.

For the forgiveness of all of our sins. Christ, have mercy.

Youth Liturgist:          The Peace of the Lord be always with you.

People:                        And also with you.

Song during the preparation of the Altar and the receiving of an offering

Song: Baa, Baa, Little Lamb (Tune: Baa, Baa, Black Sheep)

Baa, baa, little lamb, did you lose your way?  Yes sir, yes sir, I was lost today.

Far from my shepherd, far from my home.  Far from my flock, I ran off alone.

Baa, baa, little lamb, did you lose your way?  Yes sir, yes sir, I was lost today.

Baa, baa, little lamb, who found you? My Good Shepherd who loves you too.

Left His flock of ninety-nine, Looked for me with love so kind.

Baa, baa, little lamb, your Shepherd looked for you.  Yes sir, yes sir, And He found me too.

Dear little children, does your Shepherd love you?  Yes sir, yes sir, He loves you too.

If we sin and go from Him, Jesus brings us back to Him.

Dear little children your Shepherd loves you.  Yes sir, yes sir, and He loves you too.

Doxology

Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him, all creatures here below.

Praise Him above, ye heavenly host. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Prologue to the Eucharist

Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, for to them belong the kingdom of heaven.”

All become members of a family by birth or adoption.

Holy Baptism is a celebration of our birth into the family of God.

A family meal gathers and sustains each human family.

The Holy Eucharist is the special meal that Jesus gave to his friends to keep us together as the family of Christ.

The Lord be with you

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts

We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to God.

It is right to give God thanks and praise.

It is very good and right to give thanks, because God made us, Jesus redeemed us and the Holy Spirit dwells in our hearts.  Therefore with Angels and Archangels and all of the world that we see and don’t see, we forever sing this hymn of praise:

Holy, Holy, Holy (Intoned)

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of Power and Might.  Heav’n and earth are full of your glory.

Hosanna in the highest.  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. 

Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the Highest.

(All may gather around the altar)

Our grateful praise we offer to you God, our Creator;

You have made us in your image

And you gave us many men and women of faith to help us to live by faith:

Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Rachael.

And then you gave us your Son, Jesus, born of Mary, nurtured by Joseph

And he called us to be sons and daughters of God.

Your Son called us to live better lives and he gave us this Holy Meal so that when we eat

  the bread and drink the wine, we can  know that the Presence of Christ is as near to us as  

  this food and drink  that becomes a part of us.

And so, Father, we bring you these gifts of bread and wine. Bless and sanctify them by your Holy Spirit to be for your people the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Blessing and sanctify us by your Holy Spirit so that we may love God and our neighbors.

On the night when Jesus was betrayed he took bread, said the blessing, broke the bread, and gave it to his friends, and said, "Take, eat: This is my Body, which is given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me."

After supper, Jesus took the cup of wine, gave thanks, and said, "Drink this, all of you. This is my Blood of the new Covenant, which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this for the remembrance of me."

Father, we now celebrate the memorial of your Son. When we eat this holy Meal of Bread and Wine, we are telling the entire world about the life, death and resurrection of Christ and that his presence will be with us in our future.

Let this holy meal keep us together as friends who share a special relationship because of your Son Jesus Christ.  May we forever live with praise to God to whom we belong as sons and daughters.

By Christ, and with Christ, and in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit all honor and glory

 is yours, Almighty Father, now and for ever. AMEN.

And now as our Savior Christ has taught us, we now sing,

(Children rejoin their parents and take up their instruments)

Our Father: (Renew # 180, West Indian Lord’s Prayer)

Our Father who art in heaven:  Hallowed be thy name.

Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done: Hallowed be thy name.

Done on earth as it is in heaven: Hallowed be thy name.

Give us this day our daily bread: Hallowed be thy name.

And forgive us all our debts: Hallowed be thy name.

As we forgive our debtors: Hallowed be thy name.

Lead us not into temptation: Hallowed be thy name.

But deliver us from evil: Hallowed be thy name.

Thine is the kingdom, power, and glory: Hallowed be thy name.

Forever and ever: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

Breaking of the Bread

Celebrant:       Alleluia! Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

People:            Therefore let us keep the feast.  Alleluia!

Words of Administration

Communion Song:  The King of Love, (Renew! # 106)

1-The King of love my shepherd is, whose goodness keeps me ever.  I want for nothing! I am God’s and God is mine forever.

2-Where sterams of living water flow my happy soul God leads now, and where the greenest pasteure grow with food celestial feeds nows.

3-Though often foolishly I strayed, still in true love God sought me; and told me to be unafraid, and home again God brought me.

  

Post-Communion Prayer

Everlasting God, we have gathered for the meal that Jesus asked us to keep;

We have remembered his words of blessing on the bread and the wine.

And His Presence has been known to us.

We have remembered that we are sons and daughters of God and brothers

    and sisters in Christ.

Send us forth now into our everyday lives remembering that the blessing in the

     bread and wine spreads into each time, place and person in our lives,

As we are ever blessed by you, O Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Closing Song:  His Sheep Am I,   by Orien Johnson

In God’s green pastures feeding, by His cool waters lie; Soft in the evening walk my Lord and I.  All the sheep of His pastures fare so wondrously fine.   His Sheep am I.  Refrain: Waters cool.  Pastures green.  In the evening walk my Lord and I; Dark the night, Rough the way,  Step by step, my Lord and I.

Dismissal:   

Liturgist: Alleluia!  Alleluia!  Let us go forth in the Name of Christ.

People: Thanks be to God! Alleluia!  Alleluia!

Good Shepherd and Power

4 Easter b  April 26, 2015

Acts 4:5-12  Psalm 23 
1 John 3:1-8     John 10:11-16
 

The German philosopher Nietzsche is credited with developing the notion of the will to power to account for the deep motivation for life within human beings.  It was perhaps in part a response to the theory of Darwin  with a "power" factor present in those fit ones who end up adapting to survive and express an ability to dominate their environments enough for the maintenance of their lives.

  Will to power may have been one of philosophical notions which inspired the early pioneers of psychology.  Psychology turned the microscope of science around and made the human interior life the object of scientific study; the interior life of power known as motivational forces.  Psychology involved looking at the motivations for human behaviors in a systematic way.  Religion had been doing this for years but psychology has attempted to do this without the "God-factor."

  What motivates human life and human behavior?  Does the will to power provide the engine that accounts for all human actions?  Is the will to power expressed in the pleasure principle and the knowledge principle?

  Whatever we call life force or power, the human adventure involves the shaping of the use of the force and power of life.  Our human vocabulary is full of power words:  Oppression, repression, suppression, control, authority and so on.

  The human vocation is in some way about sublimating and transformation of power through human action, word and thought but not just doing it for individual personal dominance but doing it for the good of the community.

  The salvation history of the Bible is about being saved by, with, and from the expressions of power.  The history of the revelation of God is a history of a model of power to provide the human community with wisdom for the behaviors which we define as being for the well-being of the community and the world.

  The history of knowing God as the pure power of creativity and freedom is the beginning of the story of salvation.  And if God is the pure power of creativity and freedom, what kinds of relationship can we project upon our relationship with God?  One of the most famous projections of a relationship with God is found in the 23rd Psalm, the famous confession of a poet who wrote, "The Lord is my Shepherd."  Einstein said the most important question in life had to do with whether the universe was a friendly place.  The Psalmist of Psalm 23 believed that God as Ultimate Personal Being was like a good shepherd.  If there is a large gap between the life of a sheep and a shepherd, there is also a great gap between the greatness of God as witnessed by the Plenitude of this universe and our smallness within the context of Plenitude.  It is wonderful if within our human experience we can arrive at a faith relationship with God as a shepherd who provides for us in manifold ways:  for our physical needs of food, drink, clothing and shelter.  For our leisure and needs of peace and calm and safety, especially a sense of protection from those who have the power to exploit us.  For our being anointed with oil of health, for being provided a table of fellowship, and for a sense of permanent residence in God's dwelling place.  We like the twenty third Psalm because we believe it is healthy for our lives to believe that ultimate Being and Plenitude is well-disposed towards us.

  The Twenty Third Psalm expresses what we need to believe about our relationship to the Great Plenitude.  We need to project a great and caring personal response to us.

  In the person of Jesus Christ, the great Plenitude of a Caring God receives a earthly personality within an actual human situation and so the notion of a loving and caring God is brought more closely to us.

  Today is  Good Shepherd Sunday.  We see that the Gospel writer further personified the notion of "The Lord is my Shepherd, " into Jesus as the Good Shepherd.

  Good Shepherd Sunday is an appropriate occasion for us to assess our relationship to power.  If God is pure Power, Creative Power, Creative Freedom who has shared a degree of this power within all of the creative order, it is a most important task in life to learn how to be related to the articulation and expression of power in our lives.

  The Gospel of the Good Shepherd presents us with various notions of power: vulnerable powerless sheep, mercenary but self-serving power, exploitation.  And finally the positive expressions of power are found in sacrifice and the power of care.

   The metaphor of the sheep is used to highlight the various conditions of human vulnerability.  Sheep are often regarded to creatures which need care because of their peer driven habits of ignorance.  Sheep will follow each other without knowing impending danger.  Human life is conditioned by what we don't yet know.  Human life often is just about going along with the crowd that we are with at any given time.  We can be led into harmful situation because of our vulnerable ignorance.

  Since we are not all-knowing persons who are omni-competent to every situation, we know that we often need care and expertise beyond our particular pay grade.  Life situations often leave us in need of wise care.  So we can identify with the metaphor of the sheep.

  We also know that we can be abandoned by people who do not truly care for us.  Hired-hand shepherds do not own the sheep and so they will not defend the sheep with their lives. We do not belong to lots of people and so we can be exploited and abandoned by people in life.  Mercenaries will abandoned the battle when real trouble arises because it’s not their country they are fighting for.  We know that power is bought and sold in this life; people are paid to be in control and it is just their job but they do their jobs without a calling of belonging to people and having people belong to them.  The good shepherd stands in contrast to those who only have a job but not a calling.  The good shepherd stands in the contrast to the exploiting wolves and foxes who would prey upon the ignorance and vulnerability of the weak. 

  One expression of power is almost the anti-thesis of the will to power; it is the expression of sacrifice.  Sacrifice is the laying down of one's life for others because those people are valued and cared for.  Good human community requires the anti-power of sacrifice.  Sacrifice is the power of self control when one learns that all of one's life force cannot just be used for the singular and personal maintenance of the trinity of Me, Myself and I.  So one has to have the power to die to one's selfish self and check one's ego at the door in order to belong to family and community and in order allow the community truly to be organized to care for those who cannot care for themselves.  The community exists because of the balance of power relationships between those who need care and those who can give care.  The great failure in our world today is that wealthy and powerful have begun to act as though the needy people of the world exist mainly for the well-being and the growth in wealth of those who already have too much.  This imbalanced reciprocity is headed for disaster.  We desperately need enlightened leaders of government and economy to restore the humane value of balanced reciprocity between those with wealth and power and those who are poor and weak.  This is what the model of power of the Good Shepherd teaches us.

  Finally, the Good Shepherd is the presence of God's Power in our midst totally given over to care to those with much less power.  The Great God of Power exhibits within Jesus Christ as the Good Shepherd the calling that each of us should have to the power in our lives.  If we have power, wealth and knowledge, we should make it available to help those who do not have power, wealth and knowledge.  Jesus is the good shepherd because each of us is called to be a good shepherd too.  We are called to be rightly related to the moral prerogatives of power for the benefit of the common good.  The common good is also our own personal good, because we know both sides of power.  We came into this world as powerless infants needing the sacrificial caring power of others.  We are often in situations of needing the power of care to be shown to us.  But when we have power, wealth and knowledge, we also need to be those who reciprocate toward the common good of all.

  The Good Shepherd philosophy and model teaches us that the common good and the personal good are one and the same when we practice this perfectly balanced reciprocity of giving and receiving of care.  And that is the Gospel for us today.  Let us strive for this perfect balanced reciprocity of giving and receiving of care and let us fulfill the vision of the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ.  Amen.