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ENCOUNTERING JESUS, THE GOOD SHEPHERD
By Nancy S. Cushman
Psalm 23 (KJV) John 10:1-11 (NRSV)
May 7, 2017 North Scottsdale UMC
SETTING THE CONTEXT
Today is one of my favorite informal feast days; it’s known as “Sheep Sunday or Good Shepherd Sunday.” In the calendar of readings known as the lectionary this Sunday always has readings related to shepherds and sheep. I love the image of the Good Shepherd and I look forward to these readings each year. Our first reading today is the 23rd Psalm, probably the best-known psalm and maybe even the best-known Scripture in the Bible. The psalm is attributed to King David who started out as a shepherd boy. God chose him to be the king and he became the best known and revered king of Israel. The 23rd psalm reflects his experience as both a shepherd in the first verses and then later as a king in the last verses. Let us savor the images that have comforted and strengthened people of faith for generations.
Read Psalm 23 KJV together
Today’s Gospel reading follows the story of the blind man that we considered last month. The man was born blind and Jesus healed him. The religious leaders did not celebrate with him as you might expect; they questioned whether he had ever even been blind. Then they wanted the healed man to condemn Jesus and he responded, “I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” The angry religious leaders drove him out and ostracizing him again. The passage we’re about to read is directed at these religious leaders along with the man born blind.
Read John 10:1-11 (NRSV)
THE SERMON
Have you noticed that lots of advertisements link their products with love? Love is selling cars (“Love. It’s what makes a Subaru, a Subaru”), eyeglasses (“See what you love, love what you see.”), not to mention long-running campaigns for McDonald’s (“I’m lovin’ it.”) and face cream (“Love the skin you’re in.”).[i] There are lots of voices telling us that they hold the key to our happiness. There are voices of temptation and of conscience. There are voices that say we must do things their way or we are condemned; the man born blind experienced some of those voices. There are so many different voices around us some that lead us to life and some that diminish or destroy our lives. The noise of so many voices can leave us bewildered. In this week’s encounter with Jesus, he talks to us about the way to abundant life.
John weaves through his gospel a series of statements that Jesus makes to describe himself. We said six of these metaphors in today’s call to worship.[ii] Jesus says, “I Am” (which is the translation of the Divine Name for God) and then a metaphor that describes himself and his purpose as the Son of God. In today’s reading, he uses two images from a very common activity in Jesus’ day- shepherding; he said “I am the gate. I am the good shepherd.”
The image of being the gate is kind of curious, so let’s dig a little deeper into it. The religious leaders Jesus was speaking to could control access to the Temple. Since the people understood that God’s presence on earth was in the Temple, as “gatekeepers” to the Temple, they determined who had access to God. Earlier in the story about the blind man, we are told that those who confessed Jesus as Messiah were put out of the synagogue. They were denied access to their faith and to God. This man who had been born blind was shut out from God and his faith community first by his disability and then because of his faith in his healer. To him Jesus said, “I am the gate, no one can deny you access to God because I am the access to God. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture.” When we encounter Jesus as the gate, he comes to give us access to God so that we have life and have it abundantly.
The other image Jesus used was of a good shepherd and his sheep. I have never been a farm girl, so I had to go to my favorite reference on shepherds and sheep, Phillip Keller’s book A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 to dig into the meaning of this image. Keller pointed out that the welfare of the sheep depended on the character of the shepherd. If the shepherd was kind, gentle, intelligent, brave and self-less, the sheep would flourish and thrive contentedly. If, however, the shepherd was stingy, mean, and apathetic to the sheep, they would struggle and suffer as thin weak sheep riddled with disease and parasites.[iii] This is why it is so important whose voice we choose to follow. This week on the Moth Radio hour, I heard Duff McKagan, the bassist for Guns n Roses, talk about how addiction to drugs and alcohol ruled his life and almost killed him.[iv] The Master of our lives makes a huge difference in the quality of our lives.
Jesus declares, “I am the good shepherd.” The intimacy between a shepherd and his or her sheep happened because they spent so much time together. A common practice of good Palestinian shepherds was to sleep across the entrance to the sheepfolds at night. In essence, they became a gate. By doing this they provided security to their flocks by blocking the entrance of intruders and making sure that the sheep stayed in the fold and didn’t stray during the night.[v] During the long treks from winter homeland to summer high pastures, the shepherd and sheep were alone together for months. The shepherd would come to know the sheep intimately as he tended them and the sheep would come to know their shepherd intimately recognizing his voice and touch. Keller says that nothing quiets and reassures sheep as much as seeing their shepherd in the field.[vi] Jesus warns that there are thieves who come to steal, kill or destroy. The man born blind who was listening to these words had two competing voices- Jesus’ and the religious leaders’. Jesus was helping him discern whose voice he should follow- the One who brought him life or the ones who brought harm to him?
As we overhear this lesson, it can guide us as well. When confronted with competing voices, which voice will bring well-being and which voice brings harm? In this encounter with Jesus, he tells us, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” The psalm adds detail to the image. The good shepherd provides for the sheep, making them lie down in green pastures, leading them beside still waters, restoring body, mind and soul. The good shepherd leads us in the right paths even through dark valleys into the high pastures. It is so important that we learn to recognize his voice by developing an intimate relationship with him, by reading and studying Scripture, by finding a Christ-like faith community and friends, by applying Jesus’ teachings in our lives, by testing the voices who claim to speak for Jesus with the standard of his character and his statement “by their fruits you will know them.” (Matthew 7:15-20) All of these things help us to learn our Master’s voice and listen to that voice. Sheep have a tendency to wander off and get in trouble when left to their own devices; isn’t the same thing true of us? Even the best of us occasionally wander; we need the Good Shepherd who seeks us out even if we walk off a cliff.
According to Keller, every sheep-man cuts his sheep’s ears with his distinctive notches to show who they belong to. These marks cannot be erased and even at a distance you can identify whose sheep they are.[vii] Through baptism we are marked as the Good Shepherd’s, as “Christ’s own forever.” Thankfully they don’t notch our ears or any other limb at baptism, but the mark is no less permanent! To experience the benefits of our flock though we must follow our Shepherd listening for and to his voice. He is the Gate, that leads us to God and into the abundant life that is of God.
Next week, we will begin a sermon series on prayer. Prayer is the way we communicate with and listen to God. Prayer is one way we become more intimate with the Good Shepherd. Over the next six weeks, we’re going to look at six different ways to pray. In the midst of so many voices that claim to lead us to love, let us train our ears to hear the Good Shepherd who embodies Divine Love. Amen.
[i] Andrew Adam Newman. “For Marketers, Love is in the Air” The New York Times, Dec 27, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/28/business/media/28adco.html.
[ii] Today’s call to worship was: “Jesus tells us that we may encounter him in many ways. Jesus said, "I am the door." Through him we enter into a new life. Jesus said, "I am the light of the world." We are enlightened by his presence and have the light of life. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life." His word of truth shows us the way that leads to life. Jesus said, "I am the vine." From him we branch out to do his work. Jesus said, "I am the bread of life." Our souls are nourished by his word. Jesus said, "I am the good shepherd." He guides us and protects us. We look to the Good Shepherd to lead us to abundant life.” From the Sourcebook of Worship Resources Volume 3. (Ohio: Communication Resources Inc., 2001), CTW 147.
[iii] Phillip Keller, A Shepherd Looks At Psalm 23, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1970), p. 4, 8, 15-16.
[iv] Duff McKagan. “What We Live For.” The Moth, https://themoth.org/storytellers/duff-mckagan.
[v] Fred B. Craddock, and M. Eugene Boring, The People’s New Testament Commentary, (Westminster John Knox Press, 2004), p. 321 .
[vi] Keller, p. 25.
[vii] Keller, p. 10.