April 22, 2018

4th Sunday of Easter B Acts 4: 8-12; 1 John 3: 1-2; John 10: 11-18 Today is Good Shepherd Sunday. It has come about because in each liturgical cycle (Years A, B, and C) the Gospel of the fourth Sunday of Easter is always taken from the tenth chapter of St. John’s Gospel where Jesus refers to Himself as the Good Shepherd. So many people of all religious backgrounds love Psalm 23, ‘The Lord is my Shepherd’. So many families choose either Psalm 23 to be sung or recited at the funeral of a loved one and or a passage from the tenth chapter of John’s gospel. Do we fully understand what these Scriptures mean? The psalmist portrays God’s loving care under the figure of a shepherd for the flock and continues with one as a host’s generosity toward a guest. We can see more clarification in Isaiah 39: 10 - 11. “Here comes with power the Lord God, who rules by His strong arm; Here is His reward with Him, His recompense before Him, Like a shepherd He feeds His flock; in His arms He gathers the lambs, carrying them in His bosom, and leading the ewes with care.” So how does God care for us? In Hebrew Scriptures, the Old Testament, both God and the leaders of the people are called shepherds. Exodus several times calls Yahweh a shepherd. God called Moses from shepherding his father-in-laws flock to be leader of the people set free from Egypt. Both Isaiah and Ezekiel compare God’s care and protection of His people to that of a shepherd. Jeremiah gives a warning, “Woe to the shepherds who mislead and scatter the flock of my pasture…you have scattered my sheep and driven them away. You have not cared for them, but I will take care to punish your evil deeds.” (Jeremiah 23: 1-3) Does my God reflect His absolute total care and love for all people? Do I respond with the same attitude of constant and consistent love? A constant ‘Good Shepherd’ theme is that God knows me individually all the time and is overflowing in His love. There is a wonderful story told by Tony Campolo an American sociologist and Baptist pastor of a census taker who went to very poor home in mountains of West Virginia to gather information. He asked the mother of many, “How many dependents do you have?” She began, “Well, theres is Rosie, and Billy, and Lewella, Susie, Harry and Jeffery. There’s Johnny, and Harvey and our dog, Willie.” The census taker responded, “No ma’am, that’s not necessary I only need the humans.” She said, “Well there is Rosie, and Billy, and Lewella, Susie, Harry, and Jeffrey, Johnny and Harvey, and…” The census person again stopped her, “I don’t need their names, I just need the number.” Then she gave the perfect answer in understanding the Good Shepherd as being a loving God, “But I don’t know them by numbers. I only know them by name.” God knows my name. Have I ever asked God what is the name He calls me? Why not? He loves me that much! In the Gospel, Jesus introduces Himself as the Good Shepherd and He tells us three things about His role as the Good Shepherd. 1) His sheep recognizes His voice. Did I ever imagine when I speak to God, I don’t have to say His name or mine…He just knows me? In the same way just as any one of us can recognize a loved one’s voice as soon as they hear them on the phone and or our children far away in the playground. I know mine and God knows me. 2) “The Good Shepherd lays down His life for His sheep.” God loves me that much. This is a constant theme throughout John’s gospel. Do I view myself as that important to God? 3) God totally desires that all follow Him, “There are other sheep I have that are not of this fold, and these I have to lead as well.” All are welcomed, all are loved? Does my love for others know limits? Do I pick and choose who is important and who receives my love? We’ve heard so much of this before, but lets take a different approach; we call God, Jesus the Good Shepherd. At the heart of His being a good shepherd is His relationship to His sheep. Jesus knows His sheep and they know Him. This ‘knowledge’ is about the intimate relationship Jesus has with each person. Do I allow this intimacy or do I turn God off’? Jesus is also the model of what each person is to be as His followers. THIS IMPLIES strongly that there are those who do not model Jesus…do not live the life of what a person of care, love and forgiveness is all about. These are bad shepherds. Every person becomes a good shepherd by loving those entrusted to them. This includes parents, teachers and everyone who is put in the position of caring. We are to pray for them, spend time with them, share our talents with them and guard them from physical, emotional and spiritual harm. How am I a bad shepherd? Good question! I ask another one, Am I a BAD shepherd to anyone in my life? Do I not listen? Do I refuse to help? Do I not give a hand to those in need? Do I turn them off because of some habit or idiosyncrasy that turns me off? Do I feel they are not as good as me? Do I treat each person I encounter each day with the respect, kindness and care that I would like given to me? Am I open to embrace the most despicable people? In the Gospel we can hear Jesus describing those who are called to be Shepherds but are bad ones. They are the ones who cause harm to His sheep including thieves, robbers, strangers and hired workers. In this gospel, Jesus is specifically condemning the Pharisees who had just ‘excommunicated’ the blind man because of his belief in Jesus. (John 9:34). These Pharisees also had ‘no concern for the sheep” (John 10:13) Then we come to the major detail in describing the Good Shepherd…Jesus as the Good Shepherd…God is the Good Shepherd. NO shepherd would sacrifice himself/herself for their livestock. They have others to protect. If they couldn’t stop the intruder they would have to protect those still able to being ‘saved’. But Jesus isn’t an ordinary shepherd. He has the power to lay down His life and to take it up again. “This is why the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down on My own. I have power to lay it down and power to take it up again. This command I have received from my Father.” Out of total love, Jesus gave His all for me and for each one to let us know God’s love and to fill us with His saving love and redemption. Am I on the same page that Jesus is on? Do I realize that I have been saved so that I can live His gospel of love? Do I realize that I am that important to God? Do I realize that His love and the Spirit’s grace is all that I need? So I reflect on: • Why do I believe in God? Why do I believe in Jesus? • Who is Jesus? What is my relationship with Him? • Why do I think that God came to earth as a human being like me? Why did Jesus die for me? • How do I recognize the voice of the Shepherd in my life? • When have I wanted to run away when a ‘wolf’ attacked? What did I do? How did I feel? • How often do I think of myself as God’s child? How does it affect my lifestyle? Sacred Space 2018 states: “Sunday reminds us that we do not come to God alone; our worship draws us into community and identifies us as sheep of the Good Shepherd. Being thought of as ‘sheep’ does not demean us, but rescues us from thinking too much of ourselves. Jesus calls us to humility and trust, cautioning us against those who work only for what they get and warning against whatever might snatch or scatter us. The shepherd keeps the sheep in view, regarding them and seeing beyond them. I ask God for the humility I need, that I might listen for the voice of the Good Shepherd, allowing Him to lead me, and trusting that He is leading others too—even if it is in ways I don’t understand.”