Sermon
Date- 21 April, 2002 (Fourth Sunday of Easter)
Three of our four Scripture readings today use the image of the shepherd; Psalm 23 casts God as the shepherd who leads us, I Peter 2 talks of returning to Jesus as the shepherd who guards our soul and in John 10 Jesus describes himself as the Good Shepherd. Together they give a clear picture of our calling as Christians.
When Jesus tells us, “I am the Good Shepherd and I am the Gate to the sheepfold” He is making 2 of his seven “I Am” statements in John. These clearly connect him to God who said his name is “I AM “ to Moses at the burning bush. The other 5 are:
The Vine
The Bread of Life
The Light of the World
The Resurrection and the Life
and The Way, The Truth and The Light.
The Jews had such awe for God’s name, “I AM”, that they would not speak it and when writing it they used a fresh stylus and then immediately destroyed it. These “I am” statements all relate to the image of the shepherd and how the shepherd cares for the sheep.
Note that Peter is talking to servants or slaves and Jesus is addressing the Pharisees who have just excommunicated the blind man who Jesus gave sight to because he confessed Jesus as the source of his healing. Both speak of the shepherd and both speak of suffering. Peter speaks of the suffering of the sheep and of the shepherd and Jesus speaks of the shepherd suffering for the sheep. Suffering is not a popular subject, but it is an integral part of being human and of being Christian. Peter and Jesus lay down the rules for the Christian life in caring and suffering for others.
The image of Jesus as both shepherd and gate for the sheepfold was easily understood by the original hearers, but is a puzzle for us today. The sheepfolds away from the house and the village were crude and did not have gates, just an opening for the sheep to pass in and out. In the evening the shepherd led the sheep into the sheepfold and then himself laid down across the opening to sleep so that any sheep attempting to stray or any thief or predator trying to get in would awake him. The shepherd became the gate suffering the cold wind the sheep were protected from and risking his own body and very life to provide protection for the sheep. As Jesus is the gate for us to come to God, we are to be the gate for others to come to Jesus.
The last image is that of the sheep knowing the voice of the shepherd. We are immediately reminded of Mary recognizing Jesus by the sound of his voice saying her name. The original hearers would understand what Jesus was saying as they had witnessed several shepherds meeting at a place with pure water at noon to exchange information and eat the noon meal. The flocks would intermingle as they drank and grazed. When they were ready to leave each shepherd would walk in a different direction and begin to call their flock and the sheep would sort themselves out and follow only the voice of their own shepherd. As Mary did, we need to learn to recognize and follow only the voice of the shepherd of our soul.
As we meld these three Scriptures together we have a clear picture of our life as God means it to be as Children of God and Disciples of His Son, Jesus. We first enter God’s Grace and Love through Jesus the Gateway. Then we are transformed as we realize the joy of our salvation and experience Jesus as our shepherd and the Holy Spirit as our guide. As Jesus is our living sacrifice, we become a living sacrifice for others as we express in the Communion Service and each time we bring our gifts to God bringing ourselves as a holy and living sacrifice. And we regard suffering not as the world does, something to be remedied, but as something to give to God so that we do not return abuse with abuse or with threats. We give it to God trusting Him to use it to His Glory..
Mother Teresa summed it up this way: “We all long for heaven where God is, but we have it within our power to be with God right now and to be happy with Him each moment. But being happy with him now means loving as He loves, helping as He helps, giving as He gives, serving as He serves, rescuing as He rescues, being with Him all 24 hours of the day and touching Him in His distressing disguises as the unlovable, the needy, the lost the lonely.” This is our calling as Christians and Disciples of our Lord, Jesus, the shepherd of our soul.