Easter II

Let us pray: May the words of my mouth, and the meditations of our hearts, be always acceptable unto Thee, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer. Amen.

From the Gospel: “JESUS said, I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.” (John 10:11.)

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

For reasons which are probably obvious from our lessons and hymns, today is known as “Good Shepherd Sunday.”

The image of the shepherd and his sheep are frequently found in the Scriptures.

Sometimes, the words” “sheep” and “shepherd” refer simply to animals and those who tend them.

Often, however, these words are used metaphorically, as in our verse for today.

Metaphorically, “sheep” refer to the people of God, and “shepherds” refer to those whom God has appointed to care for them.

This use is reflected in the title by which some clergy are called, “pastor,” which comes from Latin pastor meaning a herdsman, which comes from pascere, to feed.

Not all shepherds are good shepherds.

In the Old Testament, the bad shepherds are those who abuse or neglect the sheep, for example we have:

“As I live, saith the Lord God, surely because my flock became a prey, and my flock became meat to every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flock.” (Ezekiel 34:8)

On the other hand, there are very good shepherds in the Old Testament.

God himself is often the good shepherd; in today’s psalm we have:

“THE LORD is my shepherd; * therefore can I lack nothing. He shall feed me in a green pasture, * and lead me forth beside the waters of comfort.” (Psalm 23:1-2)

Another good shepherd is David; persuading Saul to let him be Israel’s champion against Goliath, “David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock: Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God.” (1 Samuel 17:35-36)

Any shepherd who stands up to a lion and a bear would be a very good shepherd indeed!

In the New Testament, other than the shepherds at our Lord’s birth, Jesus is depicted as the shepherd of his people.

The most famous case is our Gospel Lesson for today, the Good Shepherd discourse.

Clearly, by calling himself “the Good Shepherd,” he is distinguishing himself from the “bad shepherds” who were condemned by the Prophets and aligning himself with David and with God.

It begins: “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.” (John 10:11.)

This is a foreshadowing of Good Friday; on that day Jesus most surely laid down his life for his sheep.

I am reminded of our Lord’s statement in the final discourse, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15;13)

What a blessed assurance to think of ourselves as being called by Jesus his beloved friends.

He continues: “Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.” (John 15:15)

It is a wonderful thing to be Jesus’ servant, but no greater blessing or honor could there be than to be his friend.

The discourse then continues: “But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep.” (John 10:12-13)

Jesus contrasts himself with a hireling, a very bad shepherd, who abandons the sheep at the approach of danger.

This very much recalls the bad shepherds of the Old Testament; they are only there for their wages, not out of any commitment to or love for the flock.

For them shepherding was a job, not a calling.

Of course, in Church history, there have been many good shepherds, and bad ones.

When I think of the good shepherds, I think of the priests and bishops who stayed with their flocks during the Roman persecutions, even at the risk of their own lives, which were often forfeit, or the clergy, down the centuries to this very day, who stayed with their flocks despite plagues and wars and other persecutions.

When It comes to bad shepherds, there have been many who looked upon being clergy as a lifelong gravy train.

In the past, men would buy a clerical post, something like buying an annuity, which is known as “simony.”

Each congregation had its own lands, the produce which the rector or bishop was entitled.

In many cases, they hired a “vicar,” a poor clergyman who did the actual work of ministering to the people, while the rector seldom, if ever, even visited the parish.

The discourse continues:

“I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.” (John 10:14-15)

Jesus reiterates his being the Good Shepard.

He is the Good Shepherd because he knows his sheep; he loves them, and because he is their shepherd they know and love him.

Because of this intimate relationship, he is willing to lay down his life for them.

The deeper level of this relationship is it arises from the relationship between Jesus and the Father.

Not only does Jesus love the sheep because they are his sheep, he loves them because they are his Father’s sheep, which the Father has entrusted to him.

This is reflected in the accounting Jesus makes to the Father in his wonderful “High Priestly Prayer.”

“While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.” (John 17:12)

He lays down his life for the sheep because it is the Father’s will, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

He concludes this discourse with something which is so meaningful for us today.

“And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.” (John 10:16)

Not only does Jesus see his disciples as his sheep, but he also looks down the long hall of history and sees all of us who would one day become his sheep through the ministry of those who would take up his mantle of shepherdship.

His flock will be for all people, which it is why it is called Catholic.

“For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 12:13.)

How terrible Jesus must feel about the horrible divisions by which his body is rent today.

In the High Priestly Prayer he besought the Father, saying “And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are one.” ( John 17:11)

The Church today is very far from being “one.”

On the several reasons I am happy to be an Anglican is the historical desire on the part of Anglicanism to heal the divisions and renew the unity of the body.

One of the hallmarks of the Anglican desire for unity is set forward in the the Lambeth Quadrilateral or the Lambeth–Chicago Quadrilateral.

It sets forth is a four-point guide for ecumenical discussion with other Christian denominations.

The four points are:

The Holy Scriptures, as containing all things necessary to salvation.

The creeds (specifically, the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds), as the sufficient statement of Christian faith.

The dominical sacraments of baptism and Holy Communion.

The historic episcopate, locally adapted.

It has always seemed to me as a reasonable starting point upon which the wider church could begin to work towards unity.

In closing I see two sets of marching orders for us.

First, in as much as the primary purpose of living the Christian life is to become like Jesus, we must all become shepherds.

I am not suggesting every one of us ought to go out and get ordained.

One doesn’t have to be clergy to be a shepherd, in fact sometimes it is a definite disadvantage.

Over the centuries, far more shepherding has been done by the laity than ever by the clergy.

We should all take advantage of opportunities to love, care for, feed, and defend each other.

Second, we must be mindful of those “other sheep he has, which are not of this fold: them also we must bring, and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.”

Remember they are just as much the sheep for which our Lord was content to lay down his life as are we.

They, however, being separated from the flock, are in mortal danger.

As Saint Peter put it, their “adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” (1 Peter 5:8)

Within the flock, we are protected by the Good Shepherd, but what will happen to the little lost sheep when he encounters a lion?

I know people say things like “religion is a personal matter,” and “nice people don’t talk about religion,” but are we ready to tell Jesus those things?

Remember our Lord’s words, “I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.” (Luke 15:7)

Amen.

And now we ascribe, as is most justly due, unto Thee, O Lord, all might, majesty, power, and dominion, both now and forever. Amen.

Offertory Sentence: “Jesus said unto them, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he send forth labourers into his harvest.” (St. Luke x. 2.)