the King of Love
My sermon from the gospel last Sunday, traditionally known as Good Shepherd Sunday.
_____
The Lord is my shepherd. Is there a line of scripture that is more well known than this one? The Lord is my shepherd. The words themselves have an aura of peace about them. In John’s gospel Jesus says, “I am the Good Shepherd” and instantly we think of the One who makes me lie down in green pastures, leads me beside still waters and accompanies me whenever I am traveling through the valley of the shadow death.
Metaphors speak of what is and is not, to illumine something else. On the one hand Jesus is not literally a shepherd and clearly we are not sheep. Yet, are there not times when you are in need of One who will guide, guard and protect you from fears that assault you on every side? Have you walked in a valley so covered with shadows that death itself seemed close at hand? And just then and there, the remembrance of the One who walks alongside you, brought a steadiness of heart not of your own power? Have you ever been beset by fears so fierce that enemies is the most accurate word to describe what is assaulting you heart?
What about the times, when you’ve experienced yourself feasting on the sheer abundance of life itself? When goodness and mercy enfolded you so deeply , and you felt you could abide in this forever and ever? When all you can do is say thank you. Occasionally life presents itself as sheer blessing, filled with abundance, when the only adequate response is thank you, thank you.
I learned a great deal about sheep when I served for a time among farmers in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Once, in a sermon on this passage I repeated what I what I believed was true: sheep are dumb animals, prone to wander away and generally docile, forgetful creatures. Much like human beings appear to be at times. As the prophet Isaiah famously said: all we like sheep have gone astray. To the non-farmer preacher, this seemed an obvious homiletical point.
When the service was over I got an unexpected earful from a angry member of the congregation who had been tending prize-winning sheep for fifty years. He was offended that I would speak of sheep in such derogatory terms. (He didn’t say anything about humans.) When I told him that I was repeating what had been told me by another farmer, who was also a member of the congregation, whose family he knew well. He replied, “Huh! Well, that explains it! He is a cattleman who doesn’t know a thing about sheep.” Then he said with confidence that sounded like love, “I know sheep and they know me. They do as I say, because they know who I am.”
It slowly dawned on me that fellow was not just a cranky parishioner. Though, to be honest, he was that, too. Now, though, he was fiercely defending his own sheep against the accusations of those who didn’t know them, much as parents do with their children. That afternoon I went to see his sheep and watch him as he walked among them with a happiness that I never experienced in him. Strange, but true.
I later learned that the difference between cattle rancher and sheep herders is common. “Cattle ranchers started the rumor that sheep are dumb because sheep don’t act like cows. Cows are herded from the rear with shouts and prods from the cowboys. That doesn’t work with sheep. If you stand behind sheep making noises, they will just run around behind you. They prefer to be led. Cows can be pushed; sheep must be led. Sheep will not go anywhere that someone else – their trusted shepherd – doesn’t dare to go first, to show them that everything is all right. Sheep and shepherd develop a bond like no other. They even have a language between them that outsiders are not privy to.”
The relationship between the Good Shepherd and the sheep is so intimate that they share a language between them. This is living prayer. They know one another. Where he leads, the sheep will follow because they are confident that he will lead them in the right path, and never lead them astray. And when they of their own accord, wander into dangerous places, this Good Shepherd, relentlessly seeks after the lost until all are brought home safely.
If metaphors illume something else that lies underneath the images of sheep and shepherd, what’s the something else we are after?
Jesus describes a life with him that is like that of the farmer and his sheep. They truly know one another. This is the contemplative life with God at the center. It’s not navel-gazing or excessive inwardness. What’s being offered is an intimacy with Jesus that is astonishing, almost frightening. But when I think of this intimacy - the contemplative way of life with Christ - I remember the sheer closeness of shepherd and sheep, overflowing with trust. That’s possible for us.
This is the something else. Sadly, Jesus’ opponents didn’t get and still don’t.
One more thing: did you know that in the Bible, the Shepherd signifies royalty? The Shepherd is the King.
This is just one more way that the Gospel of John reimagines the whole notion of King as the dominant one. Jesus is a different kind of king. He is the King of Love, who lays down his life for the sheep whom he guides and guards. He searches for you when you are lost. Even now, this one who is the King of Love spreads a table before our enemies, inviting us to feast upon his goodness and mercy all the days of our life.
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
_____________
John 10:22-30 and Psalm 23
This is the Good Shepherd
The Fourth Sunday of Easter – Good Shepherd Sunday
Roy W. Howard