Listen to the Sermon.
Baa. You might have guessed from the themes running through this morning’s lessons – it’s Good Shepherd Sunday. On the 4th Sunday of Easter every year, we talk about sheep and shepherds. We hear how Jesus is the Good Shepherd and we are his sheep. How the Good Shepherd leaves the entire flock behind to go looking for the one lost sheep. How the sheep know the Shepherd’s voice and follow him.
Being a shepherd is no easy task. You have to look out for your sheep. You have to protect them from predators, make sure they have enough to eat and drink, and tend to them when they are sick. Shepherds give, sustain and restore life for their sheep; they are stewards of their sheeps’ lives. As sheep of the Good Shepherd, we, too, are stewards of life, and not just our own lives, but all life.
Our readings this week give us a picture of the far reaching implications of what it means to be stewards of life as sheep of the Good Shepherd.
In Acts, we hear how Peter responds to the grief of Tabitha's community. From the reaction to her death, we learn that Tabitha was an important member of her faith community – perhaps a leader as well. She has built relationships that model discipleship, that show mutual care and concern for the least of those in her community. In faith, her life is restored.
Psalm 23 proclaims that life-stealing fear is overcome by the companionship and providence of the Shepherd. We often rely on this psalm for comfort in times of despair because it makes powerful promises on behalf of God. It reminds us that, in the midst of times that feel adversarial, we are blessed with abundance. It instills hope of life, now and forever, overflowing with goodness and mercy.
The Revelation to John reveals the Shepherd's reversal of hunger and thirst, sadness and despair, peril and grief among the nations. God re-orders reality, turning ordinary men and women into the heavenly host, their blood-stained robes dazzling white. And the shepherd is one of the sheep, the lamb who shows us the way to resist violence and be transformed by love.
This gospel passage from John echoes other sheep and shepherd stories Jesus tells. It recalls pastoral images of nurturing, sustenance, shelter and protection, and tenderness. Jesus reminds us that he knows us and that his life giving works (and ours) reveal his identity to the world.
Our world desperately needs to see images of love and hope to counter the despair we feel. In the last two weeks, two teenagers have died in two separate school shootings when they attacked a gunman and saved their friends and classmates. Since the Parkland high school shooting 15 months ago, there has been a school shooting every 12 days on average. 20 million Yemenis are food insecure, and half that number are facing starvation - with children among the most vulnerable.
Closer to home, Washington State is already predicting a severe wildfire season because we haven’t had enough snow this winter. In Snohomish County, 16% of children live with food insecurity. Hate-based violence against people of color, women, LGBTQ people is escalating. People would rather focus on small screens than engage in conversation and find commonalities with their neighbors.
What is happening to our world? Where is the world we thought we knew? In the midst of the din and chaos of the media, can we pick out our Shepherd’s voice calling us to come and follow, to be life-givers in the same way He is?
Following the voice of the Shepherd can mean being present, offering safety and comfort in the valley of the shadow of death, offering the hope that there is no evil that God’s love cannot overcome.
If we listen and read with an ear for the Shepherd’s voice, we can also hear the media telling stories of hope. Like the multiple stories of people who have stood watch outside mosques and synagogues so their neighbors can feel safe at worship. Like Chaplains on the Harbor, providing a voice for hope and healing, life and dignity, by filing suit against the City of Aberdeen for attempting to close a homeless encampment without providing an alternative place for people to live. Like those from our South Snohomish County community, including people from this congregation, who offer a hot meal and a sense of belonging to all who who come to Maplewood Presbyterian Church on Fridays.
Following Jesus the Good Shepherd, we find abundance of life for ourselves. In turn, we, as stewards of life, lead others to these green pastures and life giving waters. As we follow Jesus and give of ourselves to give, to sustain and to restore life in the world we testify who Jesus is.
In the Revelation to John life-giving acts of reversing hunger, thirst, homelessness, grief, sadness, suffering, and anything that threatens life are all set in the context of worship. Our following Jesus, being stewards of life and love and hope, is our living worship in our everyday lives. We worship God daily, as we walk with others through the Valleys of the Shadow of Death in this world, feeding their bodies and spirits, showing them the way of life and hope. For those who follow the Good Shepherd and listen to his voice not only reveal his identity, but we also reveal our own. It is there we find our own true life, and give life to the world.
Alleluia! Christ is Risen!
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