The Good Shepherd

[Our lessons were Acts 2:42-47, Psalm 23, 1 Peter 2:19-25, and John 1:1-10.]

Just in case you haven’t figured it out from the collect and the lessons, today focuses on Jesus as the Good Shepherd. Now, there is no reason to believe that Jesus was literally a shepherd. The tradition of the Church is that Jesus learned his father’s trade and worked as a carpenter. When we speak of Jesus as the Good Shepherd, we are not speaking of him as one who actually stood on a hillside, vigilantly watching over grazing sheep.

We are speaking of how the relationship between us and Jesus is, or would be, if we would allow it. A shepherd is to the sheep as Jesus is to the faithful. It’s more than just protection, although that is critically important.

The sheep have to trust the shepherd to lead them to a place of good grass and clean water. The sheep need to know the look and the voice of the trusted shepherd so that they don’t follow an imposter. (Sheep aren’t necessarily the brightest of God’s creation; their best hope is to find that good shepherd.) The shepherd also must have a clear idea, a plan or program, of what is best for the sheep. Being a shepherd is obviously a very responsible thing.

So, for the people to whom John is writing, these three things describe their relationship with Christ—recognition and trust, so that they can follow a plan for more abundant life. Remember, John wrote this around the end of the First Century, so he is writing for those, like us, who “have not seen, and yet believe.”

As an aside, this “abundant life” is not simply meant to be the next life. Jesus actually didn’t spend a whole lot of time on the afterlife. “Abundant life” is meant to be here and now. However, it doesn’t mean materially prosperous either. It is to be abundant in the things that matter—justice, love and the like.

Jesus is that trusted leader who calls us out by name, and leads us to places that will bring us to a fuller (more abundant) life. Now, following Jesus has some risk. We are called to give up the wisdom of the world, a trivial and meaningless life, abundant in things but meaningless in anything of true importance. If we are fortunate, the world may consider us a little odd. If we aren’t, we may join the long line of martyrs, stretching even to our time, who have died for Christ. There are things worse than death, and Martin Luther King, Johnathan Daniels, Archbishop Luwum in Uganda, and many others knew that and lived—and died—that.

A shepherd has a flock and Jesus has called us to be his flock. What kind of sheep are we? You can get a good idea of the shepherd from the sheep. Not all who look like sheep are sheep. Remember the phrase “wolf in sheep’s clothing”? We hear of cults whose leaders carry their people sad, meaningless ends, like Jim Jones in Guyana. We hear about Christians massacring others, sometimes falsely claiming the approval of God for their actions. We hear about leaders of Christian communities who abuse the people under their care. This is not the work of the Good Shepherd; rather it is the work of a wolf who snatches and scatters.

If Jesus is the Good Shepherd, what should his flock look like? Remember in the reading from Acts today. They devoted themselves to the Apostles’ teaching, fellowship, the breaking of bread and prayers. They did not hold back what they had from those in need. You don’t have a few fat and healthy sheep and a lot of skinny starving sheep. The flock of Jesus is marked by Generosity. Everyone looks out for each other. We aren’t asked to give what we don’t have, but when we do, as in the loaves and the fishes, God multiplies it. The flock of the Good Shepherd puts others first, placing the needs of others before their own.

By the way, the early Christians in Acts “spent much time together”! To understand just how amazing that is, remember that at that time, spending much time together with Christians could be a death sentence. The good and civilized people of Rome would hunt you down, lock you up, and send you to lunch with the lions, with you as the main course.

The flock is generous and self-giving. Do you see signs of that here at St. Christopher’s? I do. We don’t always agree, we fuss and we fight, but when it counts, when a parishioner loses a family member, we step forward and act. We can always do better, we can always improve, but in the actions of this flock, we can see just who is our Good Shepherd. May it always be so!