Meditation on John 10:11-18
Fourth Sunday in Easter
April 26, 2015
‘I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the
sheep. The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep,
sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches
them and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does
not care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own
know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down
my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold.
I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one
flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my
life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay
it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take
it up again. I have received this command from my Father.’ (John
10:11-18)
***
We are in our last 4 weeks of our confirmation program now, here at
Ebenezer. I am feeling a mixture of joy at how much they have learned and
grown, excitement at what is to come for them, and sadness that our program is
nearing the end. The class will be crafting their faith statements with their
mentors over the next few weeks and present them to session on May 21. Lord
willing, we will confirm them and welcome them as new members during worship on
Pentecost--May 24.
It is my hope that these months of study, prayer, and discussion have
brought them to realize that being confirmed means much more than finishing
Sunday school and becoming an adult member of the church. In confirmation, we
affirm our faith and commitment to Jesus Christ and express our desire to love
and serve the Lord. Faith is something that lifts you up and carries you your
whole life through--wherever you go, whatever you do. Faith leads you to live differently than if your life’s goal is
merely the pursuit of happiness. You are
someone who can, with God’s help, rise up from the ashes, over and over, no
matter how many times you stumble and fall. You are someone who can and will
make a difference in someone else’s life!
Today at 2, we will welcome two special guests who have touched many lives, John and Sara McKay from
Union Presbyterian Church in St. Peter. John was born in Montreal. He is a
concert pianist, with advanced degrees, who studied and performed throughout
Europe. He is a former professor of music, teaching piano and music history at
Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, retiring in 2006. He is a ruling elder and
served as our presbytery moderator last year. Sara is originally from Nova
Scotia. She earned advanced degrees in vocal performance, traveled and
performed in about 300 concerts across Europe. John and Sara moved to St. Peter
in 1976. Sara was a cofounder of the St. Peter Choral Society in 1979. She taught Vocal Music in the public schools
for 22 years and directed children's musicals for 10 years in California with
her daughter, Johanna, who is an actress. Sara presently directs her church
choir.
I hope the confirmation students and
families will be inspired to take risks and try new things in order to serve
the Lord when they hear John and Sara’s stories of faith. They are people who
have followed the passions that God has placed inside of them! When you talk to
them, you can’t help but be touched by their gentle, joyful spirits. You might think
that they must never have had to deal with adversity--that they must have lived
a charmed life to have accomplished so much. But that would be wrong. They have
overcome trials without ever losing gratitude for what the Lord has done.
John and I serve together on presbytery
committees, including a group whose work has been quite challenging for me at
times, especially, I think, because I am a relative newcomer to the presbytery.
In the beginning, I felt like an outsider. After the most dismal meeting of all, John
called me on the phone. When I heard his voice, I felt sure he was going to
tell me that the group had decided that I didn’t need to come back. And I was
ready to be relieved! But that isn’t what he said. He said he wanted to hear
more of my ideas. He told me to write them down and share them with the group. He
encouraged me, just when I needed it. He helped me to believe that I was
valuable and that the Lord would use me, if I would persevere.
And then Sara, about a month or two later, surprised me with a gift. She
gave me a book, beautifully wrapped and tied up with ribbon. It was the true
story of Maria Augusta Trapp, upon which the movie, The Sound of Music, was based. The book, she had told me, was all
about Maria’s faith, something the movie, unfortunately, leaves out. Sara had
met Maria when she had come to speak at Gustavis Adolphus College some years
ago.
When I got home, I opened the book and saw she had written a note on the
inside cover. A tear slipped down my face as I read, “Thank you for your
ministry!”
John and Sara are not ordained pastors or “teaching elders,” as we now
say. They aren’t paid staff at the presbytery. But they are shepherds, people who seek to bring the
flock closer together and to draw more sheep into the fold. They seek to
nurture and nourish. They reach out to the wounded sheep before they wander off
or go astray. They do all this through a joyful ministry of encouragement,
compassion and friendship.
All of us, my friends, are called to be shepherds in the example of our “good shepherd,” Jesus Christ. But sometimes, perhaps because it’s a
title for Jesus, we give it more prestige than what Jesus, who identified with
the lowly, outcast, poor and marginalized, truly meant. In Jesus’s time, the mention
of a “shepherd” was anything but “good”! Shepherds weren’t the educated,
cultured elite. Their jobs were low in status and pay. They were rough, edgy people
used to living outdoors with the sheep, which were anything but quiet, clean,
white and fluffy, like they are portrayed in children’s stories. Shepherds
weren’t usually seen as heroic, like David, the brave young shepherd who slew
Goliath with a slingshot. They were more like the shepherds of Exodus 2, the
ones who harass and drive from the well the daughters of the priest of Midian who
came to draw water for their father’s flocks--until Moses comes to their defense.
The image of shepherds was more often like Joseph’s brothers in Genesis
37, minding their father’s flocks, when they decide to throw their little
brother into a pit and leave him to die. Just as the shepherd Jesus describes--the “hired hand” who runs away and leaves the animals vulnerable to wolves that “snatch
and scatter"-- is truer to the reputation of shepherds of his day than our
image of our loving, self-giving Shepherd/Savior, who lays down his life for His sheep in the gospel of John. Or whose rod and staff comfort us, in Psalm 23, so that we fear “no evil” though we “walk through the darkest
valley.”
One message that may be overlooked in this
passage is the call to unity in the Body of Christ, though the Body is diverse,
divided and widespread. In verse 16, Jesus says, “I have other sheep that do
not belong to this fold. I must bring
them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one
shepherd.” Christ is gathering His flock from all peoples of the world--not just
Jews as the disciples may have assumed because they were Jewish or
English-speaking Americans, as we might be tempted to assume because of who we
are and where we live.
The passage ends without Jesus explaining the reference to the wolves. Who are they that seek to “snatch and scatter?” The
Church in its early years interpreted the wolves
as heretics--people with dangerous, erroneous beliefs attempting to lead the
flock astray from the inside of the fold. And it’s true that Jesus often called
the religious “insiders” or leaders and important people of the day bad
names, such as liars, hypocrites, white-washed tombs and snakes. In other places, though, such as in Matthew 10:16 and Luke 3, when Jesus talks about his
disciples as sheep or lambs in the midst of wolves as he sends them out to "bring in the harvest," he seems to be talking about the evil out in the
world--not within the community of faith.
But whether we face danger from within or outside the fold, may we learn
to be “good shepherds,” with the Spirit’s help, following Christ in his
self-giving example. May we remember to care for one another and reach out to
those within, beyond and on the margins of the fold with a ministry of
encouragement, compassion, and friendship. Let us learn to persevere and remain
united in faith, with Christians in every time and place, never fearing the “wolves”--whoever
they are-that might seek to “snatch and scatter.”
Let us pray.
Holy One, thank you for your Word and the
hope and promise of eternal life through belief in your Son! Help us to walk more
closely with our Good Shepherd. Lead us to love as Christ loves, helping and
encouraging one another, especially when we encounter someone in need. Forgive
us for our impatience during times of trial and adversity and our tendency
toward anger and discouragement, rather than responding in faith and hope. Save
us, Lord, from the wolves and any other danger of this world! Help us to always
trust in the One to whom we belong, listening for Your voice, and seeking to
draw others ever nearer to the fold. In Christ we pray. Amen.
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