Christ Episcopal Church
April 21, 2013
4 Easter C
As I stood in my kitchen Friday morning, watching the coverage of the manhunt in Boston, reading about the explosion of the fertilizer plant outside Waco, Texas, and thinking about this morning’s lessons, I admit to conflicting feelings about preaching today. On the one hand, I don’t know when I have gone three Sundays without preaching and I am grateful to be back. I am also particularly grateful for the love and concern of this faith community over the last few weeks. On the other hand, standing in front of the TV on Friday morning, I wondered where on earth today’s gospel lesson about Jesus the Good Shepherd intersects with the tragic events of last week. The fourth Sunday of Easter is Good Shepherd Sunday and each year we hear a portion of John’s gospel where Jesus tells us that he is the Good Shepherd. Downstairs in our Good Shepherd atrium, our youngest children hear Jesus say "I am the Good Shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep....I am the Good Shepherd. I know my own and my own know me." The children have a small wooden sheepfold with little wooden sheep, and a wooden figurine of Jesus. They work with these pieces to wonder about being one of Jesus sheep. This morning, we hear Jesus tell those who oppose him that his sheep hear his voice and they follow him. Jesus gives them eternal life and they will never perish. What do we tell our children when Jesus’ own beloved sheep do perish, sometime in tragic ways, despite Jesus’ love and care for them?
Given the events of this week, I can relate to the demand of those who oppose Jesus when they say "If you are the Messiah, tell us so plainly." Those who oppose Jesus are labeled as "the Jews" and John’s gospel reflects the tensions between Jews and Christians in the last first or early second century. There is no reason for us to reflect those tensions, however, and the question the opponents ask is a real one. Is Jesus the Messiah of God or not? And I have to say, after weeks like this one, sometimes I want to know the same thing, because Jesus does not seem to be the Messiah I am looking for, either. Jesus, if you are the Messiah, the Good Shepherd, please tell us plainly. Why do such pain, terror, and devastation strike your sheep? Please tell us in what way you are the Good Shepherd, when so many of your sheep have met such a violent end.
Jesus’ response in the gospel reading is to point to the works Jesus has done. Jesus has healed the blind, fed the 5000, healed a lame man, and turned water into wine. To those who oppose him, Jesus wonders aloud how much more they need to see if those actions are not convincing. To me, and to others with the same question this week, Jesus says "I have run toward tragedy, not away from it. I have put my own life at risk to help others. I have comforted the scared and taken complete strangers into my home. What more do you need to see?" Just a few verses before our gospel lesson this morning, still in the Good Shepherd section of John’s gospel, Jesus also says, quite clearly, "I have other sheep who do not belong to this fold." Not all the sheep look, act, or believe just like us. But some way, some how, all human beings can demonstrate the compassion and care of Jesus whether they belong to this fold or another, and in that goodness and mercy, the Good Shepherd is hard at work.
For the sheep who hear Jesus’ voice and have chosen to follow Jesus, Jesus always refers to sheep in the plural. Jesus says "I know them...I give them eternal life...no one will snatch them out of my hand." Sheep are meant to be in community, in relationship, with each other. No one sheep is meant to navigate life alone. We navigate life together, and by doing so, we know the power of something more than ourselves in our midst. We know the Good Shepherd. A seminary classmate of mine is the priest at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Watertown, Massachusetts, where the manhunt was focused all day on Friday. Don’s brother lives in Waco, Texas, not far from the town of West, Texas where the fertilizer plant exploded. In both cases, prayers and offers of support from around the country and around the world have reminded them that they are not alone; that they are part of a much larger community. In the very existence of that community and through that support, the Good Shepherd is known, the Good Shepherd’s voice is heard, and goodness and mercy are felt.
In the well known words of 23rd psalm, we hear the Psalmist say "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. For you are with me." Knowing Jesus as the Good Shepherd is not a guarantee that no harm will come to us or those we love. Knowing Jesus as the Good Shepherd means that, even in the valley of the shadow of death, we are not alone. Jesus the Good Shepherd calls us to both to make him known through acts of goodness and mercy and to recognize that where ever goodness and mercy happen, even in the valley of the shadow of death, the Good Shepherd is present.
Amen.
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