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 May 8, 2022.
This week's gospel: John 10:22-30
Jesus Is Rejected by the Jews
22 At that time the Festival of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon. 24 So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” 25 Jesus answered, “I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me, 26 but you do not believe because you do not belong to my sheep. 27 My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, in regard to what he has given me, is greater than all, and no one can snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30 The Father and I are one.”
The message:
If it seems strange to you that we celebrate a lesser-known festival called “Good Shepherd Sunday,” then I urge you to think of this metaphor in 1st century terms.
In trying to reach the audiences that Jesus was speaking to, mostly the poor and marginalized people of those desert lands, he had to speak in metaphors with which his followers would have been familiar. Thus, we hear so much about shepherds.
In calling himself a shepherd, Jesus is trying to help his followers understand that he is, in fact, the incarnate God who loved his people so much that he was willing to become human and walk among them, to help protect and save them.
Just as a good shepherd would do …
Jesus’ followers in the 1st century surely would have understood the comparison of Christ calling himself a shepherd, as the shepherd had a great responsibility for ensuring the safety of his flock every single day.
Sheep had to be protected at all cost. There were natural predators in lions, bears and wolves. There were human predators who would try to steal the sheep. And there were other challenges such as finding water and keeping the sheep out of the many crags in the rocks that could spell doom.
But beyond just establishing the metaphor of Jesus as the “Good Shepherd,” today’s scriptures also do something else.
They remind us that in his stead, as followers of Jesus Christ, we now inherit his role as shepherds.
Just take a look at the story of Tabitha in the reading from Acts. We may be surprised to learn that someone other than Jesus raised someone from the dead. But Peter, one of Jesus’ disciples, was responsible for that miraculous act when one of Jesus’ flock needed him.
And thus, that is the importance of today’s related scriptures. They remind us that as followers of Jesus, when we inherited his gift of eternal life, that gift also came with an unwritten promise that we have now inherited his role of shepherd here on earth.
We now are the ones that have to keep away the wolves and the thieves and find Jesus’ flock fresh water. … We now sometimes have to chase after a sheep that has fallen into a crag in the rocks.
That is what Good Shepherd Sunday is all about.
A quick story …
A month ago, I was in Orlando for a convention for the work I do at The Forum. All of the biggest companies that serve the newspaper industry were going to be there, and so was my little, ol’ start-up company that I founded for Forum Communications.
On the afternoon the convention was to begin, I made my way down to this gigantic ballroom. Using the tradeshow map, I found where my booth was going to be so that I could set up. … But, lo and behold, as I looked around, I couldn’t find my shipping tube anywhere.
The shipping tube contains all of the stuff we need to set up a booth. Our signage and our freebie giveaways to attract people over to the booth. … My business cards and the brochures that explain what our company does. Everything I needed for the convention was in that tube. … And it wasn’t there. … And it was an hour before the show was to begin.
Cue the panic, right? … What was I going to do in the midst of this giant tradeshow, alongside all of the very well established companies in the industry. … And I had nothing for the booth.
I found the convention director who looked as frazzled as I did. She said there was a mix-up. Because the convention started on a Sunday, FedEx didn’t think to staff the onsite office that day. And so many of the vendors’ convention packages were locked away in the FedEx office, just as mine was.
The clock was ticking away. … The show was to start in 50 minutes.
And then the miracle happened.
I was slumped on a stool in the area that was supposed to contain my booth when this very cool-looking cat in a very cool-looking suit with a nametag came sliding up to me and said: “Hi … My name is Jonathan, and I am the assistant banquet host here. Is there anything I can do for you?”
A little stunned, I stammered out the story, and as I did, I was pretty sure he could see the sweat forming on my head.
“Well,” he said, “let’s see what we can do about that.”
Up came his walkie talkie, and after a short conversation, he turned back to me: “I got a hold of security. I sent one of my people down to meet them at the FedEx office. They’re going to go in there and find your tube. … Now, what else can I do for you? … How about a drink?”
“Ahh, sure,” I said, still not fully recovered from the miracle turn of events. “A Coke would be fine.”
He chuckled a little bit. “Well, technically we are a Pepsi property here at the Marriott, but I’ll tell you what, I have a few cans of Coke in my personal fridge in the office for people just like you. And if you don’t go waving it around, I’ll have one of my people grab you one.”
And just like that within minutes, I had a Coke to steady my nerves, and my shipping tube was wheeled before me out of thin air. … And I still had 20 minutes to set up before the show began.
That’s when Jonathan grabbed another one of his banquet staff, and three of us got everything set up. And I had a booth ready to go at the opening bell of the convention.
But that wasn’t the end of the story …
For the remainder of the 2.5-day convention, I never once again lacked for anything. Jonathan knew I didn’t have anyone else along to help run my booth. The bigger, more-established companies in the room had three, four … even five people outfitting their booths.
And so, rather than me having to leave my booth to get food and beverages and miss the opportunity to talk with a potential customer, Jonathan had his team personally wait on me.
Every meal, there was one of the team with a plate for me, brought to my booth. Every morning and afternoon, in the little storage container that came with my booth, there was a fresh Coke, a glass of ice and waters. … Every need I had for almost three days, Jonathan and his team covered.
Well, as you can imagine, we became pretty close in a short amount of time. I started to learn a lot about his family and life history, and we shared stories back and forth. And, of course, I told him about being a pastor. … We promised to stay in touch after the convention.
Then, on the final evening, as I was packing up the convention gear, he asked how I was getting to the airport. I mentioned that I still had to swing by the front desk and ask about a shuttle, or if I was going to have to try to score an Uber ride.
He asked what time I had to be at the airport, and I said 5:15 a.m. … “Yeah,” he said. “Shuttles don’t run that early and it’s going to be dicey catching an Uber at that time. I’ll pick you up. I’ll be at the front door at 4:45 a.m.”
I protested, saying that was way more of a gift than I could accept, and he said that was nonsense because that’s what friends do. … And the next morning, when I rolled my bags out the hotel door, there was Jonathan at 4:45 a.m.
And here is the meat of the story, on the ensuing 30-minute drive to the airport, Jonathan poured out his heart to me that his wife, and mother of his youngest child, is battling breast cancer.
It’s such a serious battle, in fact, that they had moved home from Denver where he had had a very promising job with another Marriott there. But Orlando offered them a safety net with plenty of family around to help, and he took the pay cut to move his family home.
When I got out at the airport, we hugged for a very long time, and I told Jonathan that I’d like to keep them in my prayers, that I’d like to send Cindy one of our wooden prayer crosses and that I’d like to walk this journey with them. … And Jonathan said of course.
So, for the past month, we have texted every two or three days, Jonathan giving me updates about Cindy and their family.
Faith Family, I knew for this past month that there was a sermon in there, and that I just had to root it out. … And as I studied the texts this week, it took a good, long while to realize what that nagging itch at the back of my brain was.
About the sixth time through the scriptures, it hit me: Jesus called me to be Jonathan’s shepherd. … Through God’s divine and mysterious ways, he pulled Jonathan and I together through a complex string of events that took me all the way to Orland, where I found one of Jesus’ flock in serious spiritual trouble.
Faith Family … You see, that is the miracle of being a follower of Christ. You just never know where you are going to be called into being a shepherd. And if we aren’t on the lookout for those moments, then we are going to miss them.
I’m a little dense sometimes. … It took me a month to figure out that my little trip to Orlando was never about business. That trip was solely about God needing to pull Jonathan and I together at the right moment.
And while I thought God steered Jonathan into my life to get me through an everyday work pickle, I now realize, it was a set up for me to go find that sheep and bring him home.
How about you, Faith Family? … Are you looking for those opportunities when Jesus is calling on you to be a shepherd?
You just never know when you might be called to Lydda to raise a woman from the dead.
And that is the Good News for this Sunday, the Fourth Sunday of Easter, May 8, 2022. … Amen.
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