Good Shepherd Sunday

         We love the story of the good shepherd. It is an ancient picture of Jesus. Some of the earliest Christian art depicts a shepherd carrying a lamb across his shoulders (even in one of our windows.) We love the image of the shepherd who provides safety, comfort and care. The people of Jesus’ day held out a hope for another shepherd king, after the model of David. He was a shepherd one day and then a shepherd of God’s people. Psalm 23 also gives us a comforting image of the shepherd. Verses 3 and 4 move on to a kind of spiritual guidance away from danger and death. Verses 5 and 6 move to another equally desirable picture of a victory feast where we will celebrate and live with God forever.

         It is a true hope. It can also be misleading. There are times when we need comfort and direction. At other times, we ignore our true purpose. Who wants to be a sheep? In our anxiety we look for leaders who provide protection, direction and control so that we can feel safe. How realistic is this? Who can guarantee protection from all harm? Who can guess the right way to move forward? Who can control people and events so that we never come to harm? We must let go of an idealized hierarchical view of leaders and institutions and consider our shared responsibility.

         We think about the good shepherd as opposed to evil or bad. The original word is closer to honor, or the honorable or the noble shepherd (from The Gospel of John in Cultural and Historical Perspective, by Jerome Neyrey). The Greek and Roman world was a culture of honor and shame. The honorable leader does what is necessary for the good of those the leader serves. In the Greek honor myth, the leader is brave, wise, just, and victorious over the enemy. Jesus would seem to be a failure in that he loses his life. The loss is for a greater purpose. He delivers us, not from the wolf, but from sin and death. Jesus also has the power to lay down his life and take it up again, making him equal to God.

         Jesus shows us true leadership. He does not settle to offer protection, direction and control to make us feel comfortable and safe. He chooses a creative and unexpected path that leads to a fundamental change. We are more than well fed and content. He leads us to eternal life. Unlike passive sheep, we participate in Christ. We share in his death and in his resurrection.

         It is true that sometimes we follow. We follow as disciples who take on the work of our master. Our new community is not hierarchical – we share authority and responsibility. We are not passive – we actively follow and lead others to life.

         This is why we read the book of Acts during the Easter season. We see the evidence of how the resurrection made a difference in the lives of those first witnesses. The disciples were frightened one day, and overnight they boldly copy all that Jesus had done. They heal a man and are brought before the authorities to explain themselves. In danger, in public, Peter speaks the truth to the religious authorities. He doesn’t soften their guilt in Jesus’ death. He offers everyone the opportunity to share in his faith.

         In the first letter of John (the other 3:16) he writes, “We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us – and we ought to lay down our lives for one another. How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?” We are called to the noble sacrifice of ourselves. We are called to something beyond words and ideas. We must serve with our actions and with our bodies.

         Do we tolerate this kind of leadership? Are we cranky when it is difficult or complaining when it is costly? Do we take on the responsibility of this kind of leadership? Do we avoid hard choices? Do we set aside our own need to offer ourselves?

         Jesus does not in fact lead us directly to a place of safety. Our faith does not work as an escape from the problems of life. Jesus, the noble shepherd, offers whatever is necessary and invites us to offer whatever is necessary – so that we may all walk the path from death to life.

         We are called to be good disciples, noble disciples. When necessary, we are the noble leaders who in turn give of ourselves. It is not the sacrifice that is honorable in itself. The sacrifice is for the sake of something more important than us. The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep – and he takes it up again. Jesus dies so that we live. We are invited into this selfless offering, to die in order to live. It is the essence of what we believe and who we are.