Fourth Sunday of Easter

“[Jesus said] I am the good shepherd. I know My own and My own know me, just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father.”
+In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Just this past week there was a story that went viral on the internet about a mega church in North Carolina that hosted an event called the Stronger Men’s Conference. What the conference organizers did at the beginning of the conference was have a male stripper or pole dancer come out and do various things such as climb the pole and swallow swords. Apparently, this was supposed to be a demonstration of authentic and real masculinity. The conference’s guest speaker was Pastor Mark Discoll, a pastor who has been involved in some controversy over some of his actions as Pastor of the Mars Hill Church in Seattle. Well, Mark Driscoll comes out to speak and he immediately falls to his knees and calls out the male stripper, condemning it as idolatry and sensuality and Jezebel spirit and completely inappropriate. As the result, the pastor of the host church immediately dismissed him from the rest of the conference.
           
This recent incident served to highlight the growing problems with contemporary American evangelical Christianity—that its leaders are too focused on entertainment, and not Christ centered worship, sound theology, sound teaching, and pastoral care. Rather than be faithful pastors, they want to be celebrities with large churches, book deals, and speaking/ preaching tours. Rather then be truly prophetic in the Biblical sense, they’d rather be edgy. Rather than challenge their congregations towards love of God and service to others, they would rather pander to the latest fad.
           
As we wring our hands and fret about the state of Christianity in America, what a relief it is to hear our Scripture lessons for today, Good Shepherd Sunday. In John’s Gospel, we hear Jesus’ declaration, “I am the Good Shepherd.” Now you may remember that I told you that John’s Gospel is the little different than the other three. I told you that John’s Gospel is more thematic than chronological. John’s Gospel contains the Seven signs-the seven miracles that Jesus performs, and how they demonstrate His identity as the Son of God. John’s Gospel also contains Jesus’ “I am” statements, which also point to His identity as the Son of God. Jesus says “I am the good shepherd, I am the door of the sheep, I am the Way the Truth and the Life. Jesus’ use of the phase “I am” is deliberate. Do you remember what God said to Moses when Moses encountered God in the burning bush? Moses asks God His Name. And God replies, tell them that “I am who I am” has sent you. So “I am” is nothing less than the Divine Name of God Himself.
           
Jesus declares “I am the Good Shepherd.” Not only is Jesus declaring His identity as the Son of God, but He is also illustrating for us His role and function as the Son of God. Jesus is the One who cares for His people. And Jesus proceeds to spell out what that looks like, the marks of a Good Shepherd. He uses the shepherd as a role model for two reasons: One, because people were very familiar with shepherds and how they did their work. Two, was because rulers in the ancient Middle East were often referred to as the “Shepherds” of their people.
           
Jesus says, “The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” The first characteristic of the good shepherd is that he places the welfare of his flock over his own personal welfare. He is committed to their well-being. He does not run away at the first sign of hardship or danger, but instead stands his ground to protect and care for his flock. By contrast, Jesus says that a bad shepherd is no shepherd at all. He is a hireling. He doesn’t care about the sheep or their welfare. He's simply doing a job. When hardship or danger comes, he runs away. By going to the Cross and dying on our behalf, Jesus truly does lay down His life for the sheep.
           
Jesus says, “I know my own and my own know Me.” The second characteristic of the good shepherd is that he is close to his flock. He knows and understands their needs. He has a relationship with them. And because he knows them and has a relationship with them, the flock knows the shepherd too. Jesus tells us that His relationship with His flock is like His relationship with the Father. Jesus and the Father have an intimate relationship. Jesus even says, “I and the Father are One.” “I only do that which I see the Father doing.” In the same way, Jesus the Good Shepherd has an intimate relationship with each of us. He knows us deep down. He knows about our needs, our hurts, our struggles, and our joys. And Jesus desires that we would be so intimate with Him that we would make His desires, His purposes, and His plans our own. That we would abide in Him and bear much fruit as it says in John 15.
           
Jesus then says, “I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to My voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.” The third characteristic of the good shepherd is that he is always searching for the lost sheep so that he can bring them into the flock and they can find safety and pasture. Jesus here is making a reference to the Gentiles, that He has come not simply as the Savior of Israel, but as the Savior of the whole world. Jesus has come to bring His salvation to all who would hear His voice and believe in Him. Jesus desires that the whole world come to know Him, love Him, and serve Him. Jesus the Good Shepherd is always out searching for those who are lost, so that He can gather them to Himself.
           
As Jesus is the Good Shepherd, we have relationship with Him and He gives us salvation, love, and security. As the sheep, we are those who need to be led as we tend to go astray. Isaiah 53:6 says, “all we like sheep have gone astray.” The confession in the Prayer Book says, “Almighty and most merciful Father, we have erred and strayed from your ways like lost sheep.” We need to be cared for because we are vulnerable. We are vulnerable to the attacks of the world, the flesh, and the devil. Rather than trying to make it on our own, we need to cling to the safety of the flock, the Church. How are we, as the sheep, as the flock of God supposed to live? St. John describes for us in today’s Epistle reading how we as the sheep of God are to follow our Good Shepherd: First, a good sheep purifies himself as Jesus is pure. We are to progressively rid ourselves of sin. Jesus did not die for our sins so that we can keep on sinning. Rather, Jesus died for our sins so that we might abide in Him and live His life in us. To sin is to deny the life of Jesus in us, and to defile ourselves. To sin is to choke out the seed that God has planted in our hearts. John explicitly states that the evidence for those who are the children of God and those who are not is by the way we live. He says, “Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God.”
           
Second, John says, the one who does not love his brother also does not love God. We cannot, as Jesus says, love God whom we have not seen if we do not love our neighbor who we have seen. Therefore, if we are truly the sheep who follow the Good Shepherd, then we practice obedience to God’s commands, and we love our neighbor.
           
To live this kind of life, we must continue to listen for the Shepherd’s voice and stay connected to the flock. The path of discipleship is not through conferences that excite us and stimulate our senses. Rather, the path of discipleship, of following the Good Shepherd is a steady one of faithfulness. It something that we practice each and every day. We pray, talking to God as a regular habit, asking for the things that we need, listening to God’s guidance and counsel, interceding on behalf of others, especially our loved ones, friends, and neighbors. We come together each Sunday to worship God, hear the Word read and taught and we receive the Body and Blood of Christ. It is this way of following the Good Shepherd that we begin to discover and experience those great truths found in Psalm 23: “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul.”
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+In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.