Easter 4B + Good Shepherd + 4.21.24

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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/.


[1] Gary Hall, sermon at a Renewal of Vows, date unknown.

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