EDITOR'S NOTE: On Oct. 23, 2021, I was ordained as a minister of word and sacrament in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and installed as pastor at Faith Lutheran Church in Wolverton, Minn. I also served the same church for four years from October 2017 to October 2021 a synodically authorized minister. The journey together these past four years has been an amazing one, full of learning, growing and a deepening of my theological mind. This sermon took place on April 30, 2023.
This week's scriptures: Psalm 23, John 10:1-10
A Psalm of David
Psalam 23
1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures;
he leads me beside still waters;
3 he restores my soul.
He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley,
I fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
my whole life long.
John 10:1-10:
Jesus the Good Shepherd
10 “Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. 2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6 Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.
7 So again Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and bandits, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
The message:
Today’s scripture passages … specifically Psalm 23 and the gospel probably don’t hit us the way they did a crowd of Jesus followers some 2,000 years ago.
After all, what is the big deal about Good Shepherd Sunday anyway?
There isn’t a Good Merchant Sunday … or a Good Weaver Sunday … or a Good Teacher Sunday. … All professions that existed some 2,000 years ago too.
Well, the big deal has to do with the station that shepherds held in the first century Middle East. While the shepherds positions themselves didn’t pay well and were extremely demanding jobs, they were at least positions that were held in high esteem.
After all, the work they did was extremely dangerous … and also very much necessary to the livelihoods of the entire village.
Without the shepherds, the community didn’t have its sheep and goats and wouldn’t have had the meat, milk, wool and other products those animals contributed to the local economy.
And thus when Jesus is referred to as our “Good Shepherd” in the 23rd Psalm and in today’s gospel, the believers of the first century would have heard these scriptures in a different way then we do.
That reference would have meant something entirely deeper than it does to us today.
In fact, I’m not even sure that we have an adequate comparison for the shepherds of the first century. … That is how important those shepherds were.
So, let’s listen to these words again and try to place ourselves in the mindset of a first century Middle Eastern villager hearing these words …
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want …
Well, to begin with, to the sheep herd, their shepherd meant life and death.
You’ve heard before -- including in today’s gospel -- we are told that the sheep knew the voice of their shepherd and thus would only follow their shepherd. … They knew enough that following others’ voices only meant danger.
So, the sheep trusted their shepherd implicitly … and as such, they knew they’d want for nothing; all of their needs would be fulfilled.
The shepherd knew where to find the green pastures in this mountainous, desert region where they lived. And so the sheep had food. …. Because of the shepherd they had sustenance.
And the shepherds knew where the still waters were so that the sheep could satisfy their thirst. … Not a given for the landscape on which they lived. Water wasn’t always abundant. … But the shepherd knew where to go.
The shepherd kept the sheep on their right paths. … As you can imagine, in a mountainous landscape in which nearly everything looked the same, finding the right path wasn’t always easy. … But the shepherd knew.
And then there were those dark valleys … places where not only thieves and bandits hung out, but also wolves and other predators waiting to pounce on some unsuspecting sheep. … And so there was the shepherd, complete with a rod and staff to protect the sheep.
You see, a rod was a sturdy wooden stick used as a weapon to fight off wild animals seeking to make a meal out of the defenseless sheep.
And a staff was a long, slender stick, often hooked at the tip, used primarily to direct the flock. … Sheep are notorious wanderers, and once away from the shepherd’s watchful eye, they get into all sorts of trouble. … So the shepherd needed a tool to keep them on the right path.
So there was the shepherd, a rod in one hand, a staff in the other. … No wonder the shepherd comforted the sheep.
No wonder King David, who wrote the 23rd Psalm, declares that our cup overflows because of the blessings of our “Good Shepherd.” … Because the shepherd leads us to the green grass and the fresh water and ensures our safety.
So, now you can see that shepherds were … a very big deal in the first century.
On this Good Shepherd Sunday, graduates I would like to direct your attention specifically to this line in today’s gospel text: “... and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.”
Seniors … each of you will soon be leaving the home you’ve known for 18 years or more. … To a certain degree your parents, and others, have served as your shepherds up to this point.
You’ve known their voices, and so you have trusted them. … They had rods and staffs that held off the predators and helped drag you out of crevices you fell into.
But now what … right? … Seemingly, that gate to the sheep pen is being flung open, and you’re being told to “Go ahead, run! … The gate is open!”
Left to your own devices in this great big world. … Left to find your own green grass and still waters and to know when to rest and to move. … So now to whom will you turn?
Well, knowing each of you, I’m not worried. … I suspect you know who your true shepherd is.
But it isn’t always easy to discern the voice of your true shepherd … from those who want to prey on you, is it?
I mean, you all are old enough to understand that not all of those who call to you … are good shepherds, right? … Life has already made that clear to you.
And so what now?
What exactly are you to cling to now that you each venture out of the sheep pen and into the great big world, whether it’s just down the road or to some far off destination, to pursue your own dreams?
Well, I think you already know the voice of your true shepherd. … I’ve had the distinct privilege of getting to watch each of you grow up over the past six and a half years -- maybe a little longer for one of you -- and I’ve seen your faith in you.
So I am confident that you each know the voice of your true shepherd.
And I want to assure you that if you truly listen for that voice, your Good Shepherd will be standing there with a rod in one hand and a staff in the other … to protect you from the predators and to lift you out of those craggy crevices into which you may fall.
Now … Being one of the Lord’s sheep doesn’t ensure that you won’t find yourselves lost sometimes.
It doesn’t mean that you won’t lose the directions to those green pastures and still waters sometimes.
Because our lives as God’s sheep … are not guaranteed to be easy.
Nowhere in our gospel text does Jesus promise that living is easy. … But he does promise this: “I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”
Seniors … you do have a good shepherd watching over you, and I know that you know his true voice.
Trust that voice; follow it; allow it to guide you on right paths to lush fields of green; and forsake all those other voices that will rush in to try to distract you in these coming years. Because there will be many.
And if you do that, I know that you will find Jesus’ mercy following you all of the days of your life and that he has a place for you in his house for eternity. … Because he promises us so.
And that is the Good News, this Senior Sunday and Good Shepherd Sunday … April 30, 2023. … Amen.
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