Easter 4 B

I’ve had shepherds on my mind for a little while now. I guess it all started a few months ago when I began to prayerfully consider accepting a call to Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd. Names are always interesting to me…I like to think about what role they have in our identity. Would we be a different congregation in mission and vision if our name was Bread of Life Lutheran, or Resurrection, or Living Water rather than Good Shepherd? How is the name part of our character?

It is certainly not an accident that Jesus chooses the name Good Shepherd to describe himself. For his first followers, there would have been a wealth of images and meanings that came along with the idea of a shepherd.

• literal
• Prophets Ezekiel & Jeremiah warned about bad shepherds
• Psalm 23 & King David

Jesus takes this (biblical) image of the shepherd and does something different…

Two different bad guys…hired hand (bad shepherd) and the Wolf! Snatches & Scatters. Scatters: one of the ways the Wolf works is to separate, scatter, isolate the sheep from the flock. Together, the flock is living out its purpose, but apart…it is weak.

(Out of the blue, Jesus mentions this mysterious and unexplained thing about other sheep that are not a part of this fold…other people that belong to Jesus, but who aren’t yet here… even for the Good Shepherd, the work of gathering in others is never done.)

The Good Shepherd, like the true shepherds of the Bible, like King David led the people, like God led the people — the true shepherd always acts out of concern for the flock. And Jesus is right there, in line with the true shepherds of old, concerned primarily with his flock.

But then Jesus tells us what it truly means to be the Good Shepherd, and it’s this: the Good Shepherd, he says, lays his life down for the sheep. (!)

Wait. Now, I understand that the role of a shepherd is dangerous. And that fulfilling this job can put your life into danger. (Crab fisherman…)

… lay down life for job… … lay down life for the sheep…

For those he was sent to be a teacher to. For that flock that constantly gets this wrong. For those people that can never ever hope to repay him…Jesus lays down his life. This is a different kind of Shepherd.

Pablo Picasso’s Man with a Lamb. … like Good Shepherd icon … but different. Lamb: ears raised, eyes wide open, mouth open wide in terror.

From a distance the statue looks like the Good Shepherd, but it’s not. In this statue, Jesus is not the shepherd…Jesus is the lamb.

This is the tension that is always present in this Christ that we follow. At the same time, we follow Jesus who is the Good Shepherd: teacher, savior, Lord — but also Jesus who is the lamb, servant of all, suffering with all who suffer, found among the least of these.

Scene in Revelation in which the scroll of life is waiting on the throne. And all of heaven and earth is standing before it and an angel asks, “Who is worthy to open the scroll?” And who indeed is worthy? Who among us is strong enough, smart enough, pure enough to take that place? Any takers? The author of Revelation was moved to tears that there was no one to take the scroll. But then he is told, “Do not weep. See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll…”

And finally, this is what we’ve waited for. Almighty God is ready to take control of heaven and earth. This is the Shepherd who’s rod and staff comfort us. This is the shepherd who speaks softly and carries a big stick. This is Rambo Jesus. The Lion of Judah. This is the king.

All eyes now turn to the throne to see the hero take the scroll. And maybe you’ve guessed who is there. A lamb. Sitting on the mighty king’s throne is a little lamb. A slaughtered lamb. A suffering lamb.

This is the identity of the Good Shepherd. This is the lord that our congregation is named after. A God who’s mighty strength is not in conquering, but in selfless, sacrificial love.

A Shepherd that knows the voice of each and every member of the flock. A shepherd whose only concern is for the abundant life of the flock. And that the flock have that life together.

A friend whose love is so strong, in fact, that his ultimate expression of love for us is to join us in suffering and death so that we may join him in life.

See, Jesus doesn’t die for being right, … for being strong, … to prove a point; he dies for us.

In a choice between having the right answer and loving us… Jesus chooses us. And what happens is, it changes the right answer: no longer about what we think is fair, or what we think is right: it is always about loving our fellow wayward sheep.

As you and I hear the call to follow the Shepherd, it is a call both to be known and loved and uplifted by the Good Shepherd. But it is also a call to join and share with others who suffer, whose eyes are filled with fear and sadness.

It is a call to join in this ministry of leading others beside still waters, finding hope even during difficult times, setting a table in the presence of our enemies. And it is also our call to be the bread served at that table. To give of ourselves so that others may know abundant life.

We are the church of the Good Shepherd, and we are the church of the Lamb of God. We are sent out to love — and we are loved.