"We need more shepherds"

Sermon-Year B4-Easter-April 29, 2012

1 John 3:16-24

¹⁶We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us—and we ought to lay down our lives for one another.¹⁷How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?¹⁸Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.¹⁹And by this we will know that we are from the truth and will reassure our hearts before him

²⁰whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.²¹Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before God;²²and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him. ²³And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.²⁴All who obey his commandments abide in him, and he abides in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit that he has given us.

John 10:11-18

¹¹“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.¹²The 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.¹³The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep.¹⁴I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,¹⁵just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep.¹⁶I 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.¹⁷For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again.¹⁸No 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.”

The Cloud of Unknowing, "O God, our great companion, lead us ever more deeply into the mystery of your life and ours, that we may be faithful interpreters of Life to each other, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen."

I know what you’re thinking-who is this guy filling in for Rev. Sally-and why can’t we have her more often? 

Last Sunday I was in Richmond, Virginia at Roslyn conference center for 8 days at church sponsored conference called, “CREDO”.  There were 28 Episcopal clergy there, priests and deacons at mine.  There are 18 CREDOs held each year, but this one was for clergy 55 and older-or as we called is, The Geezer Credo, so it appealed to me. Let me tell you a few things about it.  As soon as we arrived the Conference Administrator, Elizabeth, told us that there were two things for us to remember all week-how grateful the church was for us, and that the goal of CREDO was take care of us for 8 days.  Throughout the week the different presenters would get up to give a talk on health, finances, spirituality or vocation , and each time they began this way, “We just want to thank you for your service and ministry.”  At the end of the week we were doing an evaluation and someone wrote that hearing that over and over was the best part of the conference for them.  I kept thinking, “every person needs to be hearing this in their life, every person needs to hear that they are appreciated, and valued.” I kept thinking, this is how we want church to be-a  place where people are told over and over that they are cherished and prized.  I’ll come back to that.

Almost every Sunday I will sneak in some explanation on the lectionary. Here’s today’s:  After the story of the Resurrection on Easter, we always have the story on the 2^nd Sunday of Thomas (you know that), then on the 3^rd Sunday of Easter we have another story about Jesus’ appearance-and then on the 3^rd week after Easter every year, this Sunday, we hear a story of Jesus as the Good Shepherd from the Gospel of John, chapter 10.  The lessons we hear from the lectionary are broken up into a 3 year cycle, A-B-and C.  This year we are in year B, and that means we hear chapter 10 verses 11-18:  Jesus as the Good Shepherd,  the Good Shepherd lays down his life, for his friends. Jesus makes a strong point that there is a difference between the hired hand-who runs when there is danger, and the good shepherd who stays.

In the catacombs in Rome from the days when Christians were persecuted the most dominant image for Jesus isn’t the fish, or even the cross-it’s the image of the shepherd carrying a sheep.

 We may not have much experience with shepherds and sheep in our lives, but we know what it is to be vulnerable, to feel in danger, to need support and protection.  We may not know sheep, but we understand what a shepherd is-and understand the need for a leader, a guardian, for someone willing to lay down their lives for us.

As I was reading through the commentaries for this week, I came across the story of the martyrs of New Guinea.  What I want to share with you is part of the message sent out by radio by the Bishop of that diocese just before the invasion of Japanese troops to all the Anglican church leaders there (it is quite long so I have edited it):

"As far as I know, you are all at your posts, and I am very glad and thankful about this. I have, from the first, felt that we must endeavour to carry on our work in all circumstances, no matter what the cost may ultimately be to any of us individually. God expects this of us. The Church at home, which sent us out, expects this of us. The Universal Church expects it. The tradition and history of missions requires it of us. Missionaries who have been faithful to the uttermost and are now at rest are surely expecting it of us. The people whom we serve expect it of us. Our own consciences expect it of us. We could never hold up our faces again if, for our own safety, we all forsook Him and fled … the Church in Papua. Our life in the future would be burdened with shame and we could not come back here and face our people again; and we would be conscious always of rejected opportunities.

The history of the Church tells us that missionaries do not think of themselves in the hour of danger and crisis, but of the Master Who called them to give their all, and of the people whom He trusts them to serve and to love to the uttermost, even as He has served and loved to the uttermost. His watchword is none the less true to-day as it was when He gave it to the first disciples, `Whosoever will save his life shall lose it, and whosoever will lose his life for My sake and the Gospel's shall find it.' No one requires us to leave. No one has required us to leave. Our people need us now more than ever ….No, my brothers and sisters, fellow workers in Christ, whatever others may do, we cannot leave. We shall not leave. We shall stay by our trust. We shall stand by our vocation. We do not know what it may mean to us. Many already think us fools and mad. What does that matter? …'I cannot foretell the future. I cannot guarantee that all will be well--that we shall all come through unscathed. One thing only I can guarantee is that, if we do not forsake Christ here in Papua in His Body, the Church, He will not forsake us. He will uphold us; He will sustain us; He will strengthen us, and He will guide and keep us through the days that lie ahead . . . Let us trust and not be afraid."

I won’t give you all the details, 11 Anglicans,4 priests, 5 Anglican lay people,2 local lay people were killed.  Several of them were beheaded to make an example of them.  Today throughout the Pacific there are memorials and stained glass windows reminding people of their story.

We have plenty of hired hands in our lives. But there are days when we need a shepherd, someone who we trust, someone we believe in, someone we know will stand with us when the wolves threaten and everyone else runs away.  We hear the story of the Good Shepherd on the 4^th Sunday of Easter every year because we need to hear of God’s loving care and remember what love means to God.  We need to hear stories of people whose faith compels them to stand with others, even in death-especially in death.  That is why the image of the Good Shepherd is so prevalent on the walls of the underground tombs in Rome.

Alyce Mackenzie writes: “Every day in the news we encounter fresh examples of bad shepherding. People in charge of protecting the President are not at their post, but instead, allegedly, at the bar or the strip club. A young man is in the driver's seat early one morning with three friends in the car. Driving drunk, his actions result in their deaths. Politicians focus on finding chinks in one another's armor rather than finding solutions to the nation's injustices. Pastors abuse their positions of spiritual influence and take advantage of vulnerable people. Bad shepherds.... As Christians we believe [the] king has come and that we are to live in such a way that we mirror his way of being in the world. Every Christian is called to be a shepherd. We each have a sphere of influence, even if we don't think of ourselves as public figures. We are not all called to dramatic situations in which our physical lives are on the line, but there is the less dramatic, daily sacrifice involved in allowing the Good Shepherd to guide the way we offer guidance and nurture to those we encounter each day. That means being vigilant to all that would threaten our flock and not abandoning our post in trying times.

A second story I want to tell you about my week at CREDO .  One priest I got to know very well turned to the group of us and said, “you were my shepherds this week, you were my good shepherds and I needed you.”

Today is Good Shepherd Sunday.  Every year on this day we hear Jesus tell us that he is the Good Shepherd-and that we are called to be one, too.  It is a costly occupation.  We know bad shepherds, we know hired hands.  On this day we hear that to follow THE Good Shepherd we will not be forsaken, we will be upheld; sustained , strengthened, guided and kept  through the days ahead . . . Let us trust and not be afraid.  Amen.