A sermon for Good Shepherd Sunday (Easter 4) based on John 10. 22-30. We’re picking up in John towards the end of an extended discussion between Jesus and the crowds and leaders about who Jesus claims to be, and part of that is one of his great ‘I am’ sayings, ‘I am the Good Shepherd’. And the people are divided because they agree he does good works but his words are difficult, some believe because he does good, others fear they are being deceived I wonder if you ever think about shepherds in your day to day life. Not so much the men and women stood in the fields gathering their sheep, but about what is shepherding us, where we are being shepherded? Jesus talks today about his sheep hearing his voice, which voices are we listening to? Because the language of sheep and shepherd isn’t just a handy metaphor which suits the culture at the time Jesus is speaking, it speaks to the heart of who we are as human beings. We often are rather like sheep. Now I’m not using that language in the way it is often thrown around by conspiracy theorists but making a broader point, as Jesus does. We like to follow the crowd, we like to blend in, we quite like other people to tell us what to do or say or believe. We like to be shepherded to some extent. Even those of us who like to stand out, who like to push back against things, even we like to blend in with our chosen group, keep pace with those similar to us. And we do it in all sorts of ways, our political affiliation, whether Conservative or Labour, Lib Dem or Plaid or another party. What tech we use, any Apple fans here? What fashion we wear, what culture we consume, even down to which particular branch and subgroup of Christianity we subscribe to. It all wants to shepherd us, in that it guides us, directs us, speaks to us and tells us what to do, think or say, what to believe. What or who is shepherding us? The reality of our world isn’t that we’re free, wild sheep frolicking on the hills, but if we choose to follow Jesus we’re now being shepherded, guided, as though we were now trapped. The reality is that we are already being shepherded, whether we realise it or not, and that Jesus offers to be our shepherd instead. This isn’t a thing unique to our modern world, it has ever been so, in every age, in every culture, whatever or whoever we listen to, whatever or whoever shapes our beliefs, actions, thoughts, that is our shepherd. But Jesus calls himself the good shepherd, he stands apart from these other shepherds. His sheep, he says, hear his voice, he knows them, and they follow him. What makes him the good shepherd? It’s that he wants nothing from us. He doesn’t want from us, he wants for us. He doesn’t need us, instead he gives himself for us. Every one of those worldly shepherds needs something from us, they are guiding and directing us so that they gain from us, be it our vote, our money, our loyalty. Not necessarily manipulatively, deceptively, but they need things from us, and that will shape how they act, how they speak, how they shepherd us. But Jesus doesn’t want from us, doesn’t need us. Instead he is the one who lays down his life for the sheep, who dies that we might live. He dies that he might give us everlasting life. He dies so that we won’t. He descends to the depths so that we don’t need to follow him there. The world around us, from the sheep in the fields, to the companies wanting our loyalty is based around survival of the fittest, sacrifice of the weakest. But with Jesus, he flips that on its head, it’s about the sacrifice of the fittest, that is Jesus, for the survival of the weakest, that’s us. What a shepherd! And he sacrifices himself, not for a flock filled with prize winning sheep, rare breeds and expensive wool. Perhaps one of those other shepherds might be willing to lay their life on the line for that. But Jesus lays down his life for the flock that isn’t going to win any awards. The flock filled with the weak, the lame, the sickly. The sheep that wander off, get themselves stuck in ditches and holes. Can you imagine a shepherd choosing a flock and that’s what he chooses? We’d think he’s an idiot. But that’s what Jesus does. Gathers sickly, weak sheep into his flock, binds up our wounds, heals our ailments, and leads us onwards. That’s the flock Jesus loves, and that flock is us. He lays down his life for us. And in knowing this we discover that this shepherd can be trusted in where he leads us. If he lays down his life for this flock, he must truly love them, truly love us. If he lays down his life for such a motley flock, the only reason can be love. And if he truly loves us, we can trust in what he says, when he directs us away from things that seem good, leads us towards things that seem hard or difficult, when he tells us to wait, tells us to go. In reading his word and in doing so hearing his voice, we can trust what he says, where he leads. And nothing, he says, will snatch them out of my hand. Other shepherds may leave us behind when they don’t need us anymore. Perhaps they’ll hold us in a vice like grip and refuse to let go. But with Jesus as our shepherd we cannot be snatched away by others, not because he has his claws in us, but because he will defend us on every side. And the deeper implication of that verse, verse 28, is that we needn’t fear for our salvation. Once we have been gathered into the flock, nothing can separate us from him, nothing can snatch us away. Even when we wander we find Jesus coming to rescue us, bring us back to safety, as we hear in the parable of the lost sheep. We don’t need to become a prize winning sheep by our actions, our deeds. We don’t need to earn our place, make ourselves worthy. Once we are in the flock, Jesus is our shepherd, and he leads us, we hear his voice and follow, and he defends us on every side. It’s as simple as that. We’re at rest, walking with our Saviour. The resurrection we celebrate, his resurrection, is our resurrection, his new life is the life we live now and will for eternity. Those things are secure, they cannot be snatched away from us, because we aren’t the ones holding them, Jesus is the one holding us, and we will never be snatched from his hand. Let that sink in. This new life we live, the resurrection we share in now, and look to at the end of all things, the Saviour as our Shepherd, God the Father as our Father, his Spirit as our Spirit renewing and empowering us, the renewal of all things, the hope we have. All those things are fixed, eternal, dependant not on us, but on the one who won’t let us be taken away. That’s the foundation for our hope, that’s the reason for our joy and celebration. The one who won these things for us, is also the one who will ensure we receive those things. As we rejoice this Easter in all he has won for us, let us also rejoice that he shepherds us in and towards those things. That he guides and directs, sustains and heals. That he doesn’t win the prize for us and wait for us to get there, leave us to it, but instead is our faithful, loving, merciful shepherd. Leading us through green pastures and darkest valley alike. Defending us on every side until at last he brings us home. Those other things, political parties, tech, fashion, Christian sub-groups, media, they’re not inherently bad things, they can be good things. But they’re terrible shepherds. Let us open our hearts and our ears that we may hear his voice above the clamour, and follow where he leads. Amen.
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AuthorAn Anglican Curate in my 20's I was raised in an Anglican Church, went to a Youth Club run by an Evangelical Church, attended a Baptist Church while at Uni and was a member of a New Monastic Community after graduating. As such my faith has been influenced by these experiences and traditions into what I hope is a more rounded viewpoint. Archives
September 2022
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