Easter 4B + Good Shepherd + 4.21.24
Melissa
Campbell-Langdell
All Saints, Oxnard
(Acts 4:5–12; Ps 23; 1
John 3:16–24; St John 10:11–18)
During the Sermon Brainwave podcast a few years back, one of
the commentators mentioned the story of a man he knew, a shepherd. He was at a
county fair and saw someone needing assistance with their animals, so he went
to their aid. But when he got back to his barn area, he noticed that some of
his sheep were missing. He suspected a rancher from another county had snatched
them. So, the next month when it was time for the fair for the neighboring
county, he showed up and sure enough found his sheep in the other rancher’s
barn. As he approached, his sheep began crying for him, and the other fellow
said “surely you can’t tell these sheep apart” – indeed his sheep had been
marked with the emblem of the other ranch. But he said, “I can definitely tell
these are my sheep- and look, they know me too!”[1] And the point was made clear as they
heard him and began to cry for him.
This Sunday is Good Shepherd Sunday – it happens every fourth
Sunday of Easter and can be a very comforting Sunday as we connect with our
Good Shepherd, Jesus. But what does this shepherd imagery mean to us modern
city-dwellers?
Most Christians don’t see a lot of literal shepherds in our
midst today. Many years back, our Clericus group, the gathering of local
clergy, went to Lompoc to a vineyard and met a modern day sheperdhess who supervises
sheep that work in a local vineyard. And perhaps you have seen, if not sheep, a
group of local goats who eat brush in local open spaces. But beyond that, we may
not have much interaction with sheep or shepherds in our urban setting, even as
close as it is to farmland. In one of our favorite hymns to sing in the Spanish
service, “Vision Pastoral” or “Cien Ovejas” as it is more commonly called, the
last verse goes like this:
“Pero todavía existen pastores
Que por las montañas a buscarlas van
Y cuando las hayan las traen al camino
Al camino bueno la verdad y la vida
Es Cristo el Señor”[2]
Or, in
English,
“But there are still shepherds
Who go
through the mountains to search [for the sheep]
And when
they find them, they bring them to the way
To the good
way, the truth and the life,
Which is
Christ the Lord.”
In this song, we are reminded that although Christ is the one
and only Good Shepherd, each of us is called to be a follower of that shepherd.
One clergy colleague put it this way to a group of clergy, saying that we are “sheep
in shepherd’s clothing.”[1]
We are all really only sheep trying to hear the Shepherd’s voice amidst the many
voices in this world, but we are also followers of the Shepherd and try to put
on shepherd’s clothing to care for others. Of course, the clergy do this in our
own way, putting on these funny robes and clericals and trying to be good representatives
of our Good Shepherd. But each of us, lay or ordained, can do this in our
hearts, also. We can imagine ourselves to be sheep empowered by our Good
Shepherd to seek and serve other sheep. We just have to remember that we are not
the Shepherd. God is.
This week I was in the office and a parishioner called me out
to check on a woman who appeared to be in distress at the bus stop. Unfortunately,
she did not feel comfortable talking to me but I was able to contact two
different local outreach programs that may be able to help her. I don’t know
what is happening with her now. That is in the Good Shepherd’s hands, but I am
trying to be a good sheep and listen not only to my Good Shepherd’s voice but
also to the voices of the other sheep. When I hear sounds of distress, I will
try to run to them. I know my limitations as a humble sheep but I also know who
my Shepherd is.
I loved a quote I saw this week: “you do not have to be
perfect. You just have to be found” by Br. James Koester from SSJE. This resonates
with me. We can run around like little sheep trying to be perfect, but we know
that ultimately it is about being found by God. About letting Jesus gather us
up into his loving arms. About not pushing away God’s love but allowing
ourselves to be embraced by it.
Additionally, if we are good sheep, we have to keep our ears tuned.
A friend said this week that sheep are not mindless but they can determine what
is right. Unlike the “herd mentality” that we are all taught to avoid, if sheep
really have their senses tuned, they are pretty smart. They can listen and sniff
out the true Shepherd from all the false shepherds around them.
How can we apply this to our daily lives? I suggest first we
must work on ourselves. We must take time to tune into God’s voice in prayer
daily. We can’t hear our shepherd if the shepherd never has space and time to
speak to us. We are also smarter when we do this listening together as people
of faith, because some of us have ears that are even more finely tuned to the
nuances of the Shepherd’s voice.
Then, as we exit the more focused prayer and go into our day,
how can we still keep our ears tuned for the voice of the Shepherd? When we are
at work, in a family gathering, or watching the news, can we trust our
instincts and holding what we hear prayerfully as a way to determine what is
right and what is not? There are, as there have always been, a lot of hired
hands out there in this world. Sometimes they even have shepherd moments. But
they are not the Shepherd. How can we take the good but not lift anyone up
beyond our Shepherd? How can we stay humble and in a listening stance?
Lastly, the sheep must help care for the other sheep, just as
Jesus asks Peter to do in another passage of scripture. How can we tune our
sheep ears to the crying of other sheep? We may not be able to heal all their
wounds or meet all their needs- that is truly the work of the Good Shepherd. And
they have to be open to receiving the blessing in order to receive our help or
God’s help. But we also must do our part to listen to other sheep and tend to
them as we can even as we entrust them and ourselves to the one who will
ultimately gather us all into a Shepherd’s loving arms.
In the meantime, if you feel a bit lost today, hang in there.
Your Good Shepherd has got you. If you feel weary, may you find rest in the
pasture of this holy space. If you are trying to tend to other sheep who are
crying out, remind them that there is a savior who will gather us all in and
that you are a fellow sheep who cares. And know that we can only do this
together, as one flock, and with the help of our one Good Shepherd.
Amen.
[1] www.workingpreacher.org, search for
Sermon Brainwave podcast, for April 25, 2021.
[2] Cien
Ovejas, Letra (versión de Marcos Witt), https://www.letras.com/marcos-witt/cien-ovejas/.
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