Easter 4

May my words and my thoughts be acceptable to you, O Lord, my refuge and my redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)

SEASON: Easter 4
PROPER: B
PLACE: St. John’s Episcopal Church, Kingsville
DATE: May 11, 2003


TEXT: John 10:11-16 – I am the Good Shepherd

See also: Ezekiel 34:1-10 – Thus says the Lord God, I am against the shepherds; and I will demand my sheep at their hand, and put a stop to their feeding the sheep; no longer shall the shepherds fed themselves. I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, so that they may not be food for them.

See also: Psalm 23 – Your rod and you staff, the comfort me.

ISSUE: The Good Shepherd is not “agathos”, as in morally good, but the “kalos” shepherd, as in beautiful and noble, like a good compassionate doctor. The Good Shepherd is not particularly cuddly, but carries a rod and staff to fight off the wild animals, and keep the sheep contained. Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd of God, full of compassion and mercy for the people of God. Eventually, he calls his disciples to this noble work, seeking their transformation in the world.
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Here’s one of the most beautiful and exciting passages from the Gospel of Account of St. John. Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The passage is loaded with meaning, fulfillment, hope, and transformation or commissioning. One of the first things we modern, very industrialized people, even if we have grown up in a modern pastoral setting, must do is dismiss the stain glassed images we have of Jesus as the Good Shepherd, dressed in royal robes, cuddling and holding his non-squeamish sheep.
We must also set aside the concept of the shepherd in dressed in his usually white robes as a morally good man. In the Greek language, in which John the Evangelist wrote, there are two words for good, “kalos” and “agathos.” “Agathos means morally good, like be a good boy or girl, i.e. moral. “Kalos” means beautiful or noble. John the Evangelist uses the word “kalos.” Jesus is the beautiful shepherd or the noble shepherd, which may be why artists are inclined to make Jesus appear so immaculate in paintings and stained glass. But do keep in mind when we think of someone like our doctor as our “good” doctor, we don’t necessarily mean good in the sense of moral, but rather as understanding, compassionate, merciful. It is in this sense that Jesus is the beautiful shepherd or noble shepherd. His life and ministry has been a devoted to compassion and mercy for many disenfranchised poor lost people.
Some years ago, I was in Iceland, and witnessed a round up of a heard of sheep. The shepherds there use dogs and ride horses in their efforts to round up the sheep. Shepherds yell and scream in their native Icelandic language. Dogs bark, and sheep bleat. It is scene that is full of movement, energy, and excitement. William Loader, a Biblical Scholar in Australia describes the raucous scene of round ups with motorcycles and barking dogs trailing behind. The Hebrew Scriptures refer to the ancient shepherd as one who carried his rod and staff as pointed out in the 23rd Psalm. The rod was made of wood and heavily nailed at the end to fight off wild animal attacks. The staff was used to remove leaves and underbrush so that the sheep could get to greener pasture. The reality of the lives of shepherds in both ancient and modern times is not exactly that image that comes to us in stained glass windows portraying a very, shall we say, pasteurized image.
In the Hebrew Scriptures it is also worth noting that Shepherds were a symbol for leadership. There are stories of David the shepherd boy, who eventually becomes the King of Israel as a fighting off a lion and a bear, emphasizing the image of the protection shepherds were supposed to give to their flock. David becomes King of Israel, and while not particularly moral himself, is a Good or Beautiful, or Noble Shepherd in the protection and caring of his nation. The very important reading from the prophet Ezekiel expresses God’s great anger with the rulers of Israel and Judah, who are bad shepherds who have no compassion for their people, using them, enslaving them, and allowing foreign powers to scatter them all over Babylon and Assyria. The prophet utters the Word of the Lord, “God, the master, says: From now on I myself am the shepherd. I’m going looking for them. As shepherds go after their flocks when they get scattered, I’m going after my sheep. I’ll rescue them from all the places they’ve been scattered, I’m going after my sheep. I’ll rescue them from all the places they’ve been scattered to in the storms. I’ll bring them back from foreign peoples, gather them from foreign countries, and bring them back to their home country. I’ll feed them on the mountains of Israel, along the streams, among their own people. I’ll lead them into lush pasture so they can roam the mountain pastures of Israel, graze at leisure, feed in the rich pastures on the mountains of Israel. And I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep. I myself will make sure they get plenty of rest. I’ll go after the lost, I’ll collect the strays, I’ll doctor the injured. I’ll build up the weak ones and oversee the strong one so they’re not exploited.
Then, in the Gospel of John, Jesus who is the Word of God says, “I AM THE GOOD SHEPHERD. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” God comes among his people with all the energy and excitement of shepherds who lived hard lives in the cold and darkness of night in defense of their flocks. It is against this background of shepherding that we must understand what it means that Jesus is the good, compassionate, protecting, noble, beautiful saving Shepherd of the people of God. He is calling together all the people of God, both Jew and Gentile into his pasture to be healed, loved, and rescued. Surely this is one of the most comforting and consoling passages of John’s Gospel. The world does not save, but the way of God working in Jesus Christ is the hope of the world.
The Gospel of John also contrasts among Jesus’ disciples, according to John Pilch, who are the good and the bad shepherds among them. There is the unnamed Beloved Disciple, but thought to be John, who stays very close to Jesus, and even at this own trial and crucifixion is boldly there, and becomes the one to care for Jesus’ mother Mary. The point is the importance of his closeness and intimacy with Jesus. On the other hand, it is Peter who loses his intimate place with Jesus in thrice denying Jesus at the trial, and taking flight like an hireling who cares nothing for his Lord, and will not stay to do what needs to be done, when Jesus is the lamb on the cross, leaving him to the slaughter. But later, after the resurrection, Jesus again appears to Peter asking him: “Do you love me?” three times. “You know I do,” says Peter. “Then feed my sheep; feed my lambs,” says Jesus. A commissioning and a transformation is taking place. Peter moves from lost sheep and bad shepherd into the community of God’s good shepherds. The work of the church begins. It needs to take up it’s rod and staff, and be ready to meet the demands of a fallen world of may lost folk with great sensitivity and compassion, and with that awesome sense of laying one’s life down that others might be raised up. Like a mother risking her life to bear her children and laying her own life down for their up raising.
The fact of the matter is that there is really but one Good Shepherd. It is God in Jesus Christ. In our own times of feeling lost, badgered, frightened, walking through the valley in the shadow of death, as we all are from time to time, it is in looking to the Lord as our shepherd that we find spiritual food, our rest, our comfort. As surely as we may feel that we are sometimes lambs be led to slaughter in the difficult times of our lives, we know Jesus was there too. He too was the sacrificial lamb, but raised up too, and seen as The Good Shepherd of us all: beautiful, compassionate, and noble. And as that Shepherd leads us, there is his call to us be shepherds with him in the conduct of our lives. He calls us to a transformation from sheep to shepherds, to be raised up with him in glory.
We live in a world and culture of violence where many people are being used, enslaved, battered, beaten, starved, and over taxed. There are those who have lost direction, those who are lonely, those who are uneducated and poor. Around the world and around us are those who are scattered. We are not going to save or rescue or protect them all. There is really just one good shepherd, but if we are to be transformed into the disciples of The Good Shepherd, may we be the best of all Good Hirelings.