Easter 4 Year B

Easter 4 Year B John 10:11-18 The Rev. Benton Quest

Today we have another of the Bible reading that has its own title. Although these are some of our favorite readings, they also present a problem: All we have to do is say something like “The Prodigal Son,” or “The Good Samaritan,” or “The Good Shepherd” and people say “Oh! That one!” and draw their conclusions and move on. And when I say this, I am not counting myself out of the group; clergy are just a capable of glossing over these readings as anyone else.

So the challenge becomes: How to make a story such as The Good Shepherd live again? It didn’t become a favorite because it had nothing to teach us, but it often becomes tired just because of the message and the repetition.

In times of difficulties, this passage has special meaning. It is a great thing to know that we have a good shepherd that is watching over us. As anyone who has been around sheep would know, sheep are not very bright; they do a whole lot of things that can get them in trouble. But in the person of the shepherd, the sheep have someone that will watch after them and keep them safe. Even if the sheep don’t realize that the shepherd is watching, the shepherd is still there watching after the sheep and keeping them safe.

We also have the promise of Christ as our Good Shepherd. Even if we do not realize it, we have the promise of Christ to watch over us and to care for us. We have the promise of Christ’s voice to speak to us and to even lay down his life for us. In the midst of fear and uncertainty, we are reassured that we are not traveling through the world alone. Christ knows us! And through our faith and our baptism, we know Christ.

This is all good stuff. But this is also a very American way of looking at things. I say “American” because, quite frankly, we tend to be a very self-centered people. We like this because we can feel the protection of Jesus and have peace in our lives. But there is something kind of weird in the reading, something about other sheep. “I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice.”

What are we supposed to think about this? There are other sheep out there; other sheep who need to hear the sound of the Shepherd’s voice. How are these other sheep going to hear? How is the shepherd going to speak to them? Humm…. I wonder.

We have seen over the past couple of weeks how Jesus comes to the people and gives them what they need to believer. The risen Christ came to Thomas and allowed Thomas to see him and to touch him. The risen Christ came to the disciples and ate with them to prove that he was alive and real. Jesus comes to his sheep in the way that they need; not only so the sheep will hear the Shepherd’s voice, but so that the sheep will UNDERSTAND the Shepherd’s voice. Christ has shown us that he does not present the message in only one way, and then hopes that everyone will understand; no, he keeps presenting the message in whatever form is necessary so that his followers may come to understand and believe.

What we seem to forget is that over the past weeks, Jesus provides us with an example of this fluidity of forms. The message the risen Christ presents does not change; the message is that Jesus is alive and active in the world, but what does change is the method in which the message is presented. Jesus tools the message to the different people he is trying to reach.

There is still a big problem here: How will these other sheep hear the words of Christ? Since Christ’s ascension, he is not walking on the Earth, he is going to have difficulty finding all those other sheep. This is similar to the problem we discussed last week; how do we see Christ in the flesh here today? And if we remember, the other sheep will hear Christ’s voice the same way we hear Christ today: The Church (with a capital “C”) in the world. Christ’s voice will be heard by the other sheep when we go out and spread that word!

If we take this challenge seriously and try to apply it to our lives, we have a few challenges before us. The first challenge is making sure we really do know what the message is! If we do not understand the message, then how are we to spread the message? Since we are the hands, the heart, and the voice of Christ in the world, we become the representation of The Shepherd to the world. I would hope that we would want to present the very best of The Shepherd to the world. To know the message, we need to continue to study the message. Coming to church each Sunday is a beginning, but it is continued study and conversations with others that help us to learn the truth.

The second challenge is to go out and find those other sheep! When the risen Christ walked the earth, he did not just wait for people to find him, he went out and actively sought people. He was where the people were and it was there that he presented his message.

Where are the people who need to hear The Shepherd? Where do we find them and how do we bring the message to them. How do we present the message so that others can understand it? Jesus tailored the message for the various people who were listening, how do we make the message accessible to the people we encounter? As you may have guessed, this is one of the things that keep me awake at night. We have something wonderful in Christ, so how do we spread this message?

If we listen to some, we would be led to think that only the good and special sheep, I mean people, are acceptable: That we only need to invite those people who are of proper moral character. But what we need to remember is that the sheep are NOT in the Shepherd’s flock because of anything the sheep did or didn’t do. We don’t hear about Shepherd choosing only the best sheep or the prettiest sheep or the best-behaved sheep. In fact, the Shepherd seems to go out of his way to keep those sheep that are a little more “difficult” safe and in the flock.

And it is these sheep, these sheep who are outside the flock that Jesus calls us to go to. We are to be the voice of the shepherd to these sheep. We are to reach out to them. We are to speak to them. We are to love them with the love the shepherd showed to us!

That is what we often forget, we are part of the Shepherd’s flock, not by anything we did, we are part of the Shepherd’s flock because of the Shepherd’s love for us. The Shepherd gave his life for us, but the Shepherd also gave his life for those who are not here among us. The Shepherd calls us to the table, but the Shepherd also calls those who are outside our walls.

We, the church, are Christ’s presence in the world. We are called to be Christ’s voice in the world. We are called to spread Christ’s love to the world. This is not an easy thing, but it is not up to us alone. Even while we are called to be the voice of the Shepherd, we are also being protected by the Shepherd. Christ has called us, and now Christ sends us. The Good Shepherd is not just here for us, the Good Shepherd is here for all