The Good Shepherd

Reverend Philip Stringer

John 10:1-10

LET US PRAY: Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Speak to us now with your Holy Spirit —through our worship — through this meal — and through this sermon — that we may be filled with your endless love, now and forever. AMEN

We celebrate today as the Fourth Sunday of Easter. It is often referred to as “Good Shepherd Sunday” because every year our scripture texts pick up the theme of Jesus as the good shepherd.

Have you ever wondered what is God’s plan for you;

Have you reflected on the events of your life and on your place in the world.

Have you ever worried about your failures or carried with you a memory of something of which you just can’t forgive yourself?

Have you ever wondered how you can be sure to do the right thing —

Our scripture texts today are filled with imagery that should bring gladness to every heart — because they speak to us of acceptance and belonging and of lives filled with purpose.

The Word of God comes to us today, proclaiming that you are among the beloved of God, gathered in by God’s grace.

And that God’s mission for you — God’s plan for your life is no big secret. It is simply this: Follow the way of Jesus.

In our gospel reading for today, Jesus is speaking with the religious authorities about their spiritual blindness, and why it is that they don’t recognize Jesus, and essentially what he tells them is that they don’t recognize him because they have been robbed of any knowledge or memory regarding God’s true nature. They are looking for a God who is harsh and unbending and unmerciful. A god who condemns the unrighteous and cuts off those whom they deem to be unclean. And Jesus points out that they are so blind that they cannot even SEE that they are describing themselves.

They appoint themselves and fancy themselves to be the gatekeepers of righteousness, deciding who is and who is not worthy of being counted among God’s people.

Jesus says to them, “I am the gate,” … and I do not need you to tell me who is and who is not welcome in God’s community.

What is amazing about Jesus’ description of the sheep pen and the gate is that he does not talk at all about the gate serving as a means of selectively admitting some sheep and excluding others. In the picture that Jesus paints, all of the sheep are already there! In Jesus’ vision, the sheep fold is not a place of EXCLUSIVITY — it is not a place that walls people out — It is a place that represents the protection and care and INCLUSIVENESS of God.

It is important for us to recognize this, because there are a lot of people even today who will tell you that you need to jump through this hoop or that hoop in order to be saved. There are many voices out there — and voices even in our own hearts — that will seek to weigh you and measure your worthiness to belong. But here is an important point for us to remember: Sheep do not choose their shepherd. It is the shepherd who chooses the sheep.

Jesus paints a picture of God’s people for us that includes us all — even those blind sheep who are the religious authorities. That means, also, that in Jesus’ vision of the kingdom of God, there is a place for you. You already belong there — not because of how good you are or because of anything you have done to earn a place there. You belong there because of God’s grace. You belong there because God loves you.

So, anyone who tells you that you can lose your place in God’s family is a false gate.

Any voice inside of your head that tells you that you are not good enough or lovable enough or important enough to be included, is simply a gate painted on the wall. It isn’t true.

Now as good as that message is, there is more. Because God has chosen you as God’s own, not so that you can be sequestered and walled off from the world, but so that you may be set free to live life as God has intended it from the start.

Jesus began this story with us already being gathered in. But that’s not where we stay. Jesus said, “The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him…”

Jesus comes to us — he enters in and meets us where we are — and then he leads us out.

There is a Greek word used to describe the church — “Ecclesia.” You’ve heard terms like “ecclesiastical order” or “ecclesiastical arts,” in relation to the church. That word literally means, “the called out ones.”

The church is called to come out and follow the shepherd.

The shepherd who serves, who loves, forgives, who heals, who accepts, who defends and protects and restores and is patient with the sheep.

Jesus demonstrates extraordinary patience throughout his ministry. Even his disciples who spent every day and night with him for three years, never really understood him. They were constantly bickering and arguing and trying to draw lines of exclusion.

And in many ways his sheep are still like that. Throughout history the church has not followed its shepherd — everything from the crusades to forced conversions, to falsely ascribing God’s endorsement of politicians who cater to people’s sense of greed and stoke fires of hatred and division.

Thieves and bandits will tell you that God favors the powerful, that the fullness of life is in wealth, and that God approves when you turn your back on the weak and cut off those who are different. Thieves and bandits will tell you that God despises some people and that God is pleased when you attack them and hate them and treat them as less than human. Thieves and bandits will tell you that what you have is given for you to keep and to use for you yourself.

What Jesus wants for us is something more than what false shepherds offer. “The thief comes,” he said, “only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

Albert Schweitzer was a man with remarkable gifts. He was born in the late 1800’s, the son of a Lutheran pastor along the border of Germany and France. At an early age he began to play the piano and organ and it wasn’t long before he attracted the attention of master musicians who wanted to teach him — and then it wasn’t long before he was teaching the masters! He went on to write groundbreaking theories on the complexity of compositions by Bach and Wagner.

Albert became a Lutheran pastor, himself, and went on to earn a Ph.D. in Theology. He wrote commentaries on St. Paul’s writings and on the human and divine natures of Jesus. He wrote books on Philosophy and several social commentaries that stupefied the intellectuals of the day.

And all the while, he continued to amaze audiences in the great concert halls of Europe with his skill on piano and organ. So great was his skill that many believed that he was destined to become one of the greatest musical masters of the era.

So, you can imagine how stunned everyone was when he announced that he was walking away for the music stage — and away from intellectual pursuits in order to become a missionary in equatorial Africa.

A music critic who wrote an article after hearing the news concluded it by writing, “what a waste.”

At first, his relatives and colleagues breathed a sigh of relief when the missionary society rejected his application because they told him that they needed a medical doctor, not a musician.

So, Albert Schweitzer decided to go to medical school — a field of study of which he knew nothing about — but he studied for 7 years to earn a degree as a medical doctor.

In 1912, Schweitzer finally departed and arrived in Gabon — on the west coast of Africa — and established his hospital in a village that was so far removed from any city with modern amenities, that it took a 14-day trip up a river to get there. He served there for over 50 years — off-and-on between some short stays in Europe and the United States to teach, raise funds for the hospital and take the world stage with Albert Einstein in an appeal to the world to do away with nuclear weapons.

In 1952 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work and writings about the sanctity of life. And in 1955, Queen Elizabeth II named him an honorary member of the Order of Merit.

Albert Schweitzer lived a remarkable life and died at his hospital in Gabon in 1965 at the age of 88.

And I share all of that background on Albert Schweitzer with you today, all because of a simple statement he made to his students late in life. This brilliant, learned and talented man said to them: “The only ones among you who will be truly happy, are those who have sought and learned how to serve.”

The fullness of life does not come from fame on the world stage, or from great learning and prestige, but by following the Good Shepherd, who loves and serves and forgives and restores and builds up. The abundance of life is filled with love for your neighbor.

The Good Shepherd is calling you.

Maybe God‘s plan for you unfolds in Africa.

I know mine doesn’t. My place to be is right here in North Carolina — and maybe yours is too, because following Jesus has got nothing to do with geography. Following Jesus is a way of meeting the world — and a way of seeing yourself in relationship to the world and everyone and everything in this world that God has made. Right here and right now is the place where you are called to follow in the way of Jesus. That doesn’t mean coming here on Sunday morning; It means that out there — among the din of all of the false promises and the voices of hate and division in the world — you follow in the way of the shepherd who loves, who forgives, who accepts and heals, and builds up and welcomes and protects.

In Taipei, Taiwan, is a church that was established first to serve expatriates from around the world — but it soon began a ministry of outreach in the city. Today there is still an English-speaking congregation at the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd, but the Chinese-speaking congregation there is more than twice its size.

Of course, English-speakers know immediately what the label of “Good Shepherd” means, partly because we have been steeped in that imagery from birth. But the concept of a “Good Shepherd” wasn’t especially meaningful in Taiwan because — with only 4% of the population being Christian, and with Taiwan being more than 90% mountains, they simply don’t have experience with tending to animals that graze in herds — it simply didn’t convey its intent and the phrase just didn’t translate well — it came out more like “The Church of the Effective Shepherd.” Not very inspiring.

Eventually they settled on a name that didn’t include the word, “good,” at all. Mu Ai Ta — means, “Church of the Shepherd’s love.” For them that phrase captured the meaning of Good Shepherd.

God’s plan for you is quite simple. There is no coded mystery for you to figure out. God’s plan for you is simply this: Follow the Good Shepherd.

To follow him is to follow the way of love.

AMEN