Everyone Needs
The
Good Shepherd
Sermon for April
17, 2005
1. Good Morning.
Let’s Pray. O Lord, may the words
of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing to You
O Lord our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
2.
Opening Comments: Today is known around the Christian world as “Good Shepherd
Sunday.” You may have noticed as we read
the readings for today an underlying theme in all of these readings was the
idea of “shepherd.”
Let me
ask us all a “framing question” to focus our reflections this morning. Do you want
– do you need a shepherd – a Good
Shepherd?
Do you
want – do you need, such a Good Shepherd?
This is
why I think the 23rd Psalm resonates so universally with all of
humanity – both Christians and non-Christians – it’s the cry of our heart! Listen to the words again:
Psa. 23:1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall
not be in want. 2 He makes me lie
down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3 he restores my soul. He
guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 4 Even 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.
I’m
convinced that at the core of every human being there’s this cry for a Good
Shepherd, for a faithful and loving and all powerful friend – for someone who
can and will care for us deeply and completely!
To quote my dear
friend Fr. Jerome, “The
deepest longing of the human can only be satisfied by reclining close to the
heart of Christ.” (Cf. Jn. 13:25)
We all want such a friend! I do, Brad Pitt does, Prince Charles does. So too does the self proclaimed Atheist Bill Maher, the TV version of does Rush Limbaugh. Howard Stern does, Pope John Paul II does and so too does Mother Theresa. We all do! And anyone who says that they don’t are either out of touch with there inner yearnings or they’re lying to themselves and to you!
This G12 ministry – this Shepherding
Ministry, that is increasingly defining who we are at TCC recognizes this
fundamental fact and seeks to train each of us to become like our Good
Shepherd Jesus Christ so that He can shepherd them through us!
As Jesus
shepherds us so too now are we being
called to shepherd others under the guidance and empowerment of His Holy Spirit
and in turn to train them so that they can shepherd others and so it goes on –
nobody should be without a Shepherd but Oh how many are.
How many people
out there are wandering around in desert lands without a Good Shepherd!
“The” Shepherd of all shepherds “The” Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, wants
to put on our skin, as it were, and shepherd this world into the green green pastures of His
Kingdom!
3. What is this primal need within all of us
to find a shepherd?
God made us in
His image.
We are therefore profoundly “like”
Him and therefore there is this inner yearning to be in relationship with Him –
we’re “of” Him – we’re of His family. To
put it philosophically – there’s this ontological connection with Him. Our very beings and His resonate
together.
Because of all of this – this yearning to find our Good
Shepherd is so basic to our very human nature.
It’s something we really can’t
escape.
It’s this fundamental reality that God is calling you and
me as His Shepherds to respond to.
If we’re right in
this assumption then it tells us that there are a lot of lost sheep out there
wandering about looking, even if they don’t know it, for a shepherd!
We’re vulnerable beings with limited life times and we’re all too too susceptible to the vicissitudes of life. It really doesn’t take much to kill us or to make
us very very sick.
Almost daily we’re reminded of our own mortality and life to many of us is a terrifying ordeal.
Some of
us can hide from this vulnerability in a multiplicity of ways ranging from
denial to constructing our own belief systems to appeasement of this
fundamental emptiness. But the undeniable fact remains that we
are like sheep and many of us have strayed from the Good Shepherd.
4. Further Exploration. Let’s explore this idea a little further shall we.
Let’s remember that God wants to commune with us thought His written Word – He wants to reveal Himself – He wants to bless us with His Presence and His wisdom. So this is not just about “getting educated.”
More fundamentally it’s about listening as God Himself reveals both Himself and His wisdom to us – It’s about communing with God Himself!
OK – now let’s explore this idea of “Shepherd.”
This is
a rather dominant theme throughout the Old and New Testaments:
Gen. 48:15-16 Then he blessed Joseph and said, “May the God before whom my fathers Abraham
and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this
day, 16 the Angel who has
delivered me from all harm — may he bless these boys. May they be called by my
name and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and may they increase
greatly upon the earth.”
2Sam. 5:2 In the past, while Saul was king
over us, you were the one who led
Psa. 23:1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
Is. 40:11 He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close
to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.
Jer. 31:10 “Hear the word of the LORD, O nations; proclaim it in
distant coastlands: ‘He who scattered
These are just a few of the many many references to shepherding. Clearly our God sees the metaphor of “shepherding” as perhaps the best way of describing His relationship with us – He tells us that He is our Good Shepherd.
Now let’s turn briefly to the Gospel reading for today – what can we
learn about our Good Shepherd?
John 10:1 “I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep
pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2 The man who enters by the gate is
the shepherd of his sheep.
What we see here is Jesus using the pastoral
imagery of the sheep pen – a rough stone or mud-brick structure, only partially
roofed, if covered at all, or very often a cave in the hills. It had only one
opening through which the sheep could pass when they came in for the night. The
pen served for the protection of the sheep against thieves and wild
beasts. The shepherd would lie across
the entrance to protect His sheep.
Animals of prey would have to pass through Him to get to the sheep.
But the thief, who would not have any right
of access by the gate, used other means of entrance. He would not follow the
lawful method of approach.
But the true shepherd enters by the gate which is the
lawful method of entry. Jesus was contrasting himself with the false messiahs
who by pretense or violence attempted to gain control of the people. He came as
the legitimate heir of the chosen seed and claimed to be the fulfillment of the
promises of the OT revelation.
What is God telling us here? Ah! the real
shepherds enter through the gate – we come into God’s protection by way of the
gate and no other way – Ah! we’re going to learn more about that gate soon . . . Let’s
read on:
3 The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice.
He calls his own sheep by name and
leads them out. Jesus our Good
Shepherd knows our names – He knows us intimately. He knows our quirks – our struggles, our sins
and our strengths – He knows us inside and out and He calls us by name – He
calls to our very inner being. We hear His
call deep down in our hearts. Let’s read
on:
4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, - Did
you hear that? He goes on ahead of us –
we follow Him – He goes on ahead of us – He leads the way! Ah!
Our challenge then is to follow His leading – what’s that wonderful hymn
– “Lead on O king eternal . . .
Lead on, O King eternal,
the day of
march has come;
henceforth in
fields of conquest
thy tents shall
be our home.
Through days of preparation
thy grace has
made us strong;
and now, O King
eternal,
we lift our
battle song.
Lead on, O King eternal,
till sin's
fierce war shall cease,
and holiness
shall whisper
the sweet amen
of peace.
For not with swords loud clashing,
nor roll of
stirring drums;
with deeds of
love and mercy
the heavenly
kingdom comes.
Lead on, O King eternal,
we follow, not
with fears,
for gladness
breaks like morning
where'er
thy face appears.
Thy cross is lifted o'er us,
we journey in
its light;
the crown
awaits the conquest;
lead on, O God
of might.
Now back to our
Gospel reading:
4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep
follow him because they know his voice. 5 But they
will never follow a stranger;
in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s
voice.” 6 Jesus used this figure
of speech, but they did not understand what he was telling them.
What is our Lord
telling us here? Isn’t He saying that we
will always recognize His voice – in our hearts. Now it’s one thing to recognize His voice and
quite another to obey it. Isn’t that so
true? But the fact is that Christians
“recognize” His voice. It’s also true
that those whom God is calling into His fold also recognize His voice – in you
and in me. As we speak to them about God
they will either recognize the voice of their shepherd or they won’t. This tells me that you and I are called to
speak forth about Jesus but then, like the Shepherd we’re to watch which sheep
respond – they’re the ones that recognize His voice in ours.
Some of you have
shared your frustrations that there are some people whom you have been talking
to about Jesus but they simply can’t hear Him in you.
This tells us that they may not be able to hear His voice – He is not
their shepherd. This doesn’t give us
permission to desert them but it does tell us to relax – God’s sheep will
recognize His voice! That’s great news
to my ears. It’s the ones who are hungry
to hear more who are probably His sheep and they’re
the ones who will follow you. They’re
the ones with whom we need to spend time speaking about Jesus. These are the ones you and I are being called
to disciple. Jesus in us will disciple
them into becoming all that He has dreamed for them to
become.
Let’s read on:
John 10:7 Therefore Jesus said again, “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who ever came before me were
thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and
go out, and find pasture. 10 The
thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. 11 “I am the
good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
I hear two things in these
verses – Jesus is the way into the sheep pen – into the
He is THE WAY, THE TRUTH and THE LIFE!
Let me close with a few lines from a homily of Gregory the Great:
“Our Lord’s sheep will ultimately reach the grazing ground where all who follow Him in simplicity of heart will feed on the green pastures of eternity. These pastures are the spiritual joys of heaven. There the elect will look upon the face of God with unclouded vision and will feast at the banquet of life forever more. Beloved brothers, let us set out for these pastures where we shall keep joyful festival with so many of our fellow citizens. . . Let us not allow any obstacles we encounter to detour us from sharing in the joy of that heavenly feast.” (Homilies on the Gospels)
Let’s Pray . . .