“I AM the Good Shepherd”
(Jn. 10:11)
Easter IV, Year B
Jan Robitscher
Trinity ParishApril 29, 2012
Seattle, WA
Psalm 23
1 John 3: 16-24
John 10: 11-18
Acts 4: 5-12
(Sung) I AM the good
shepherd, I pasture my sheep,
For them I lay down my
life. Alleluia!
Alleluia. Christ is risen.
The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia!
Wanted: One Good Shepherd.
Must have strong skills in spiritual, temporal and community leadership, be a
person of prayer, a leader of worship, a lover of liturgy and music--did I
mention being a strong supporter of the music program?--help the flock to grow
and to be a positive force in the community. Does this sound familiar? Yes, it
comes from your Rector Profile, and it could have come from ours at St. Mark’s
in Berkeley, California, for we, too, are in the midst of a rector search.
It seems obvious, doesn’t
it? The Good Shepherd is a leader, almost always a religious leader, whether
deacon, priest or--and especially--bishop. That’s what we want, right? A Good
Shepherd; someone who will lead us (and yes, we are like a flock of sheep in many ways) into green pastures and
beside still waters where we will live happily ever after.
 |
| Guide Dog 'Lenore' with lambs on Good Shepherd Sunday |
But is that really what
this Sunday, the Fourth Sunday in Easter, Good Shepherd Sunday, is all about?
Let’s look again at our readings. All of them speak of leadership and two of
them deal specifically with leadership in terms of “The Good Shepherd”. The
image of the Shepherd is a recurring and familiar one throughout the Bible.
Sometimes it refers to real people who were really shepherds, as, for example,
David was when he was called to be anointed king of Israel (1 Samuel 16). David
was, by all accounts, a “good shepherd”. He did all that was required to care
for his real flock of sheep. As king, he was not perfect by any means, yet he
is still well remembered.
And if David was a good
shepherd, it is easy to see how we can fall into thinking that our last
Rector--or our next--is the Good Shepherd. But we have strayed (like lost
sheep) from our readings for today.
There is much more to this
image of the Good Shepherd. We have only to look at Psalm 23, which is by
tradition attributed to David. I suspect we could all recite by heart:
The LORD is my shepherd;*
I shall not be in want.
 |
| Quire, Trinity Parish, Seattle, WA |
Here God (the LORD) is the
Good Shepherd and God’s people, the flock, depend on God for everything, just
like real sheep. Whether by still streams or in the darkest valleys, the Good
Shepherd, God, is there.
But is is Jesus who takes
on this image in the deepest, most profound way. He claims
“I AM the good shepherd. The
good shepherd lays
down his life for the sheep. ...I know my
sheep and
my own know me... and I lay down my life for
the
sheep.”
(Jn. 10:14 )
Here is the real Good Shepherd, as Jesus identifies
himself with God. Here is the one whose voice the sheep of the human
“flock”-recognize. Here is the One who, like a human shepherd, leads by
following (yes, shepherds lead from behind their flocks), asserts authority by
serving, is “The Door”, laying across the entrance of the corral, and is even
willing to lay down his life for the sheep.
The Easter story is just as
Jesus said in our Gospel reading:
For this reason the Father
loves me, because I lay
down my life in order to take it up again...”
 |
| Jan Robitscher and 'Lorelle' |
I AM the good shepherd, I
pasture my sheep,
For them I lay down my
life. Alleluia!
So, if Jesus is the one and
true Good Shepherd, where does that leave us “sheep” today, and those who are
our human “shepherds”?
We of Trinity, Seattle and
St. Mark’s, Berkeley, both as communities and as individuals, and many in other
places, are in times of transition. Like the earthquake that struck here on Ash
Wednesday of 2001, the earth moves beneath us, people we know and love leave
us, and we are left wondering if there is any stability at all. But this is the very time we need Jesus, the
Good Shepherd. Search Committees need to listen for and to his voice. Each of
us--and all of us together--must be willing to follow where he leads. But how
do we do this?
It is here that the other
readings today speak. For it is Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, who
testifies that healing comes in Jesus name; there is help in no
other. It is the voice of the Holy Spirit that will become our “Good Shepherd”
after Jesus ascends to the Father. It is the Spirit who will be poured upon us
with the gifts we will need to follow in “The Way”, the earliest name for the
Christian life. It is the Spirit who will lead remind us of all that Jesus, the
Good Shepherd said, who will lead us into all truth and who will comfort
us--literally--give us strength--to continue to be Jesus’ hands and feet, eyes
and heart in the world.
And what of human
shepherds? Are there any human “Good Shepherds”? How will we know? At best, we
are but faint reflections of Jesus, the Good Shepherd. But there is
encouragement for us. Listen again to some words from the First Letter of John:
We know love by this, that
he [Jesus] laid down his life
for us--and we ought to lay down our lives for one
another.
Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but
in
truth and action. ...And by this we know he abides in us,
by the Spirit that he has given us.
It is by love that we
reflect the way of the Good Shepherd. And it is to the extent that we love one
another in truth and action that we reflect Jesus, the Good Shepherd.
I AM the good shepherd, I
pasture my sheep,
For them I lay down my
life. Alleluia!
[Note: This paragraph is
special to the day.]
Dear friends in Christ, and
especially my friend, Fr. Paul--How can I ever thank you for the opportunities
to preach and teach over all these past almost 20 years, some 14 of them here
at Trinity? More than that, it has been an honor and privilege to have watched
you; to watch the “flock” of St. Hilda’s-St. Patrick’s and then here at Trinity
Parish grow and flourish; to have participated with you in retreats; to share
with you the Word of God and to give into the hands of this community the very
life of Jesus the Good Shepherd. Fr. Paul, you surely deserve a rest from your
responsibilities, which have been a true reflection of the Good Shepherd. I am
confident that you will go forward with whoever comes next to even more
glorious worship and to greater ministry.
 |
| Jan Robitscher and Fr. Paul Collins |
But in the meantime, follow
Jesus, the Good Shepherd. Listen for his voice. Welcome the Holy Spirit. Use
all of the gifts bestowed upon you, and Jesus, the Good Shepherd, will lead you
to just the place you need to be. Let us
pray:
O God, whose son Jesus
Christ is the good shepherd
of your people: Grant that when we may hear
his voice
we may know him who calls us by name, and
follow
where he leads; who, with you and the Holy
Spirit,
lives and reigns, one God for ever and ever.
AMEN.
