I AM the Good Shepherd

John 10:11

 

            We are going to start with a little experiment this morning.  Everyone look across to the other side of the sanctuary and find someone you know, (if you are a visitor and don’t know anyone, just pick someone out and make up a name.)  Now on the count of three we are going to call out that person’s name.  Ready?  One, two, three…. [Note to reader: it was a cacophony of confusion!] How many names did you hear?  Zero?  Less than zero?  Sure, it was chaos and confusion.  Okay, let’s try the same thing one more time.  Ready?  One, two, three…. [Note to reader: this time I spoke forcefully into my microphone, “LISTEN TO ME!”]  Okay, whose voice did you hear this time?  Of course, you heard my voice because I was speaking into a microphone; my voice was the loudest.

 

            Do you know whose voice one hears in a crowd?  In a crowd, one hears either the loudest voice or the voice of one’s beloved.  When a child is lost in a department store, adults may surround that child but she or he still will hear their mother’s voice.  Why?  Because mom’s voice is the voice of the beloved. A father who has lost a child in an amusement park will be surrounded by squealing children and youth but still be able to hear his son or daughter.  Why?  Because the child’s voice is the voice of the beloved.  Whenever a chorus of cacophony calls to us, our hearing becomes selective: either the loudest voice or the voice of our beloved are the only voices we will hear.

 

*****

 

            The people of God were surrounded by a chorus of cacophonous calls in the first century.  A variety of leaders, let us call them shepherds, sought to lead and guide God’s people, each with their own style and agenda.

 

·        There were the Herodians, a group led by Herod, the Roman appointed – and therefore puppet –  king of Palestine. The Herodians sought to lead and guide God’s people through accomodationism. “Go along to get along” was the Herodian motto, for they believed that there was nothing that could be done about the Roman occupation, and so why not make the best of it, even if it meant compromising traditional Jewish values.

 

·        The polar opposite of the Herodians were the Zealots, who sought to lead and guide God’s people through armed rebellion.  One of Jesus’ disciples, Simon the zealot, would have belonged to this group. Today we would call the Zealots rabble rousers or insurgents for they believed that God’s people could not live a full and complete life until the Roman occupiers had been driven from the Promised Land, and it was their divine calling to drive the Romans out.

 

·        On the moral front, there were the Pharisees, who sought to lead and guide God’s people through strict observance of Torah.  The Pharisees have a bad rap among Christians, but they weren’t bad people; they may have interpreted the Law incorrectly, but their motivations were good. The Pharisees believed that if God’s people would observe Torah more faithfully, then God would raise up a messiah who would lead God’s people into freedom in much the same way that God used Moses to lead God’s people out of slavery in Egypt.

 

·        Also on the moral front were the Sadducees, who sought to lead and guide God’s people through elevation of the Temple cult.  The Sadducees, who controlled the Temple offices of sacrifice and worship, believed that purity of sacrifice and a continuation of faithful participation in the Temple cult would inspire God to raise up a messiah to lead God’s people into freedom.

 

·        Finally, there were the folks who lived in the Qumran community above the Dead Sea.  These folks, known as Essenes, believed both the Pharisees and Sadducees were deluded, for how can one purify Torah practice or Temple observance within a culture dominated by Gentiles?  All Jewish culture was corrupt, according to the Essenes, so the only logical alternative was to move away, separate oneself from the people’s impurity in order to establish a community of the hyper-pure in order to please God.

 

In the midst of these voices, Jesus called out: “I AM the Good Shepherd,” essentially saying, “Heed not these other voices.  Listen to my voice.”  For Jesus to place himself above these other, established leaders of Jewish society was an audacious act.  Yet we must recognize also that Jesus’ audacity was compounded by the fact that, once again, he both took for himself the divine name, I AM (Exodus 3:14), but labeled himself as the Shepherd of Israel, thereby wading neck deep into a centuries old theological tradition.

 

One of the great psalms of David is Psalm 23, which begins: “The Lord is my shepherd….”  Who is David’s shepherd?  Why the Lord is David’s shepherd.  Following Psalm 23, to associate the Lord with a shepherd became common practice for Israelite writers.  During the tumultuous times of the exile, the prophet Jeremiah offered a commentary – an early form of  rabbinic midrash – on Psalm 23 in which Jeremiah contrasts the leadership of Israel’s false shepherds with the guidance offered by the Lord:

 

Therefore this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says to the shepherds who tend my people: “Because you have scattered my flock and driven them away…I myself will gather the remnant of my flock…and bring them back to their pasture” (23:2-3).

 

The prophet Ezekiel, also during the exile, offered his own commentary on Psalm 23, saying:

 

This is what the Sovereign Lord says: “I myself will search for my sheep and look after them.  As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep” (34:11-12).

            For Jesus, then, to enter into this theological tradition is audacious in itself.  We might imagine those who heard Jesus thinking to themselves, “Do you think you can run with David and Jeremiah and Ezekiel?  Who do you think you are?”  But Jesus’ audacity is boundless, for not only does he offer his own commentary on Psalm 23, here in John 10[1] Jesus claims for himself the role assigned to God by David, Jeremiah and Ezekiel: “I AM the Good Shepherd (John 10:11, 14).  No wonder some of those who heard Jesus reacted by accusing him of being demon possessed or raving mad (John 10:19-20).  Yet others who heard Jesus were struck by the clarity of his thought and the integrity of his actions (John 10:21).

 

            The question for we who hear Jesus today is this: what does it mean to us to call Jesus our Good Shepherd?

 

*****

 

            To say that Jesus is our Good Shepherd is to trust that Jesus is behind us.  There is a Peanuts cartoon I saw once in which Lucy is sitting on the curb looking sad: “Sometimes I get discouraged.”  Charlie Brown responds, “Well, Lucy, life does have its ups and downs, you know….”  To which Lucy responds with a world-class rant as only Lucy can do, “But why?  Why should it?!  Why can’t my life be all “UPS”? If I want all “UPS” why can’t I have them?  Why can’t I just move from one “UP” to another “UP”? Why can’t I just go from an “UP” to an “UPPER-UP”?  Wouldn’t that be great: a life without “downs,” with only “ups”?  Unfortunately, a life without “downs” is never reality.  God did not promise us a life without “downs” but strength for each day, comfort for each sadness and light for our way forward.

 

            My friend Blair understands well that life gives both “ups” and “downs.”  Blair was watching a meteorologist report the weather on TV.  The reporter was standing in front of one of those slick graphics pointing out the various high pressure centers, tropical depressions and projected temperatures.  Then the reporter clicked his magic button and switched to the next day’s forecast.  The reporter looked to the off-camera monitor where his script was scrolling and read what was on the monitor, which evidently had not been edited before the broadcast: “There is a twenty percent (20%) chance of tomorrow.”  Blair says that the reporter’s gaffe misspoke about the weather but pretty well described his mood at the time, for, you see, Blair was a pastor in a rehabilitation facility at the time he watched the errant weather report.  He had been found by the police passed out in his car with an empty bottle of vodka in his lap.  Blair was an alcoholic.  His wife and his church got him into rehab, and though sunny days would one day return for Blair, at that moment it felt as if he had a twenty percent chance of tomorrow.

 

            Not everyone is an alcoholic or an addict, but everyone has had days in which we felt there was a twenty percent chance of tomorrow.  What do we do when there is only a “twenty percent chance of tomorrow”?  Where do we go when we are so lost that there is no hope of our ever finding our way back home of our own wisdom or strength?  Thanks be to God! When we are lost, Jesus, the Good Shepherd, comes looking for us.

 

            In Luke 15 Jesus tells the Parable of the Good Shepherd in which the good shepherd goes to seek out lost sheep.  There may be 99 sheep safe and sound in the sheep pen, but if even one is missing the good shepherd will seek it out.  To say that Jesus is our Good Shepherd is to find a measure of comfort and assurance because Jesus is behind us, always there to support, to encourage, to push along and to find us when we lose our way.  The Catholic saint, Francis de Sales, once wrote of this one who seeks us out:

 

Do not look forward to the trials and crosses of this life with dread and fear.  Rather, look to them with full confidence that, as they arise, God, to whom you belong, will deliver you from them.

            He has guided and guarded you thus far in life.  Do you but hold fast to his dear hand and he will lead you safely through all trials.  Whenever you cannot stand, he will carry you lovingly in his arms.

            Do not look forward to what may happen tomorrow.  The same Eternal Father who cares for you today will take good care of you tomorrow and every day of your life.  Either he will shield you from suffering or he will give you the unfailing strength to bear it.

            So, then, put aside all useless thoughts, vain dreads and anxious imaginations and be at peace.  Be at peace.  Be at peace.

 

*****

 

To say that Jesus is our Good Shepherd is to trust that Jesus is beside us wherever we go.  Not only is Jesus beside us, but he leads and guides us.  As the psalmist reminds us: “he makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters” (Psalm 23:2). 

 

To understand God’s guidance it is helpful to imagine a couple dancing. To dance with another is difficult.  When the Munroe’s dance together, we have two problems: my left foot and my other left foot.  Actually, our first problem is that I don’t know how to dance, yet we live in a chauvinistic culture in which men are supposed to lead.  But how can I lead when I don’t know what I’m doing?  Our second problem is that my wife does know how to dance; she was a gymnast growing up and understands all that rhythm and balance stuff. So I am supposed to lead but don’t know how, and Laura is supposed to follow but knows she is the only one who knows what is supposed to happen.  The result is predictable: we don’t dance well.

 

What is supposed to happen when couples dance, (or so I am told), is that the one who leads sends out subtle signals of when to “twirl and when to “dip,” when to “cha-cha” and when to “rumba.”  The one who follows pays close attention to these subtle signals, paying close attention to the gentle nuances of pace and pattern, feeling and flow. When the one who leads and the one who follows are attuned to each other in this way, the dance is beautiful. Now picture in your mind’s eye the word “guidance.”  According to the email, the “g” stands for God, and the “u” and the “i” stand for you and I. We are reminded that guidance means “God, you and I, dance.” When Jesus the Good Shepherd is beside us, we dance.

 

I believe most people ask God for guidance from time to time and many people ask for God’s guidance on a regular basis.  I am one of those people who ask for God’s guidance on a regular basis.  My problem is that I find it easy to ask for God’s guidance but quite difficult to listen for God’s guidance.  There is a difference between asking for something and listening for the answer, and I too regularly stumble over this difference.

 

While it is easy to ask God for guidance, many folks struggle to receive God’s guidance.  What does God’s guidance look like?  What does it sound like?  I have never heard a Bill Cosby like voice of God speaking to me: “BRAD, TURN LEFT AT THE NEXT BLOCK!”  God’s voice doesn’t speak in this way.  Rather, listening for God’s voice, which is the only way of possibly hearing God’s voice, requires an attention to the subtle signals and gentle nuances of our prayer life.  For instance:

 

·        When I am listening quietly for God’s guidance, I will accept something as guidance if I feel a conviction in a certain direction, especially if that conviction is counter to where I wanted to go originally.  When I was called here to Pueblo I had the opportunity also to go to the beach in Southern California a mere ten miles from where I grew up.  The pull toward the beach was strong for me; wouldn’t it be great to teach my son how to surf?  But, thankfully for my family and me, God’s conviction was toward Pueblo.

 

·        Sometimes God’s conviction is so strong that I feel compelled to act in a certain way or attempt a particular project.  When in Texas I felt compelled to write a long – very long – devotional work for my congregation.  I didn’t want to do it, and so I told the Lord, “Lord, that sounds like a lot of work.  I think I’ll take a pass on that project.”  But the Lord’s compulsion pursued me and gave me no peace.  Like Jonah fleeing to Tarshish, I could run but I could not hide. Three years later the project was completed.

 

·        Often God’s guidance comes in the form of insight into a person or situation.  Sometimes when I am in conflict with another I fall into the “I’m right and you’re wrong” trap because, after all, I am right and the other person is wrong.  But in prayer God will give me flashes of insight into another person, the good nature of their motives, the hurts and hopes that are driving them, and I am led to an understanding of “the other” and to compassion.  I would love to continue in a “my way or the highway” stance, but God’s insight precludes such an option, and I am forced to relate to “the other” as a brother or a sister.

 

·        I believe the most common form of God’s guidance is a sense of assurance when facing a difficult situation.  Sometimes we know what we are supposed to do, we stand by the decision we have made, yet we are filled with worry and concern because we know the consequences are choice(s) will bring.  It is at such times that God’s sense of assurance, the peace of his presence, reminds us that we are his sheep, and he will walk beside us through every valley.

 

*****

 

To say that Jesus is our Good Shepherd is to trust that Jesus is before us.  That Jesus is before us as the Good Shepherd is closest to the Biblical image from the first century.  To say that Jesus as Good Shepherd is behind us and beside us are images that work for modern, Western Christians because we do not know what Middle Eastern shepherds actually do. I use behind and beside because they help us understand the intimate, personal nature of our relationship with Jesus, but the reality is a Middle Eastern shepherd would never stand behind the sheep and drive them; leading sheep is not like driving cattle.  Instead,  a shepherd in Jesus’ day literally and physically would stand before his sheep and call to them.  And the sheep, who know the shepherd’s voice, would follow (John 10:3, 16). 

 

The literal image of a shepherd before his sheep is also a good metaphor of Jesus before us.  The writer to the Hebrews said of Jesus:

 

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet without sin.  Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (Hebrews 4:14-16)

 

            The italicized portion of these verses tell us that Jesus understands our human experience because he has lived it before us.  Jesus hasn’t experienced everything we have experienced, of course; he hasn’t been a parent, a grandparent or known moral failure.  But what these verses suggest is that the basic reality of being human, the journey we are all on, is familiar to Jesus, our Good Shepherd.  Consider.

 

·        Before any of us ever experienced the temptation to explore our shadow self, Jesus was tempted in the desert by Satan himself.

·        Before any of us ever experienced discouragement and dismay that things aren’t going well at work, Jesus had to deal with the cluelessness of his disciples who after three years of intensive training still did not understand what Jesus’ mission was to accomplish.

·        Before any of us ever experienced seemingly insurmountable challenges at work, Jesus, the last week of his earthly life, was challenged by the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Herodians and finally, of course, by the Romans.

·        Before any of us ever experienced betrayal at the hands of a friend, Jesus was betrayed by all of his friends, one of whom accused him falsely, one of whom denied him three times and all of whom ran away in his hour of need.

·        Before any of us ever experienced fatigue or pressure or doubt or anger, Jesus knew all of these things.

·        Before any of us ever experienced the dismay over one’s own death, Jesus walked to the cross for you and for me.

There is a powerful scene at the end of the movie, The End of the Spear.  The movie tells the true story of five missionary families who went to Ecuador in the 1950’s to evangelize the native tribes.  One of the tribes was known for its violence, viciousness and its vengeance killings.  The tribe was almost extinct because of the unending cycle of vengeance.  The five missionaries were murdered by the tribe, with the lead missionary being murdered by the tribal leader. The lead missionary’s sister and some of the wives of the other missionaries went to the tribe to continue the work.  They hoped that because they were women and children they would not be perceived as a threat and would be allowed to live with the tribe; their guess was correct.  Eventually the tribe converted to following Jesus.

 

In the movie’s climax, the son of the murdered lead missionary returns to Ecuador for his aunt’s funeral. The tribal leader, now a Christian, is wracked with guilt for having murdered the missionary, although he has never confessed his act to another.  When he encounters the son, the tribal leader beckons for the son to journey with him into the jungle; there the tribal leader shows the son the place where his father was murdered.  The son is overwhelmed with emotion but caught off guard when the tribal leader takes his spear and points the tip at his own chest.  Then the tribal leader forces the spear into the son’s hands, walks his chest into the point and tells the son, “Kill me.  I am the one. I am the one who killed your father.”

 

The son is a kettle of boiling emotions: rage and despair war within him.  He trembles, his white knuckles gripping the spear.  Will he or won’t he?  “Kill me,” cries the tribal leader.  “You must avenge your father.”  For a brief moment, vengeance seems possible, but then the son tosses the spear to the ground, shouting, “No!  I won’t kill you.”  “Why not?” pleads the tribal leader, who seems to be seeking redemption through the ultimate penance.  “Because,” responds the son, “you did not take my father’s life, he gave it up freely and willingly.”

 

Our Lord Jesus says of the Good Shepherd: “I lay down my life for the sheep….No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord” (John 10:15, 18).  Because Jesus is the Good Shepherd, he died that we might live; the shepherd sacrificed himself for the sheep, freely and willingly.  Why?  Why would anyone lay down their life?  The answer is that Jesus lay down his life because he loved the Father, and he loved you and me.

 

Do you know Jesus’ love?  Does he hear your voice call to him when there is only a twenty percent chance of tomorrow?  Do you hear his voice when he whispers his guidance in the quiet of your soul?  Do you know that you are his beloved?

 

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