John 10:1-10
May 3, 2020
I have been noticing more lately. I think
that has been one of the gifts that this time has given me. I am not as
distracted by the constant motion of the world around me, so I take time to
look and watch and observe. Maybe because I have more time to do that, I’ve
been trying harder to pay better attention to the world around me. And the
world around me is quite lovely. One daily joy that we have at our house is
watching the birds come to the feeder on our deck. Not only is it fun to see
the different kinds of birds, but I love observing their different
personalities and behaviors. And there is spectacular scenery on the drive
here. One thing we look for is the flock of sheep that pastures on a hill. The
hill is along the Lewisburg Highway, so when we get off the interstate to head
into Pulaski, we start looking for the sheep.
It’s really exciting when we see them. It
is for me anyway. Bucolic is not a word I have reason to use very often, but
these sheep grazing on the hillside is a bucolic scene. It is a pastoral scene.
And, well, I’m a pastor, so seeing these sheep on Sunday mornings is a good
reminder of how prominent shepherds and sheep are in our scripture.
Jesus said, “I am the Good Shepherd.”
But he actually said that in the verses
immediately following our passage today. It’s easy in our minds to add that
statement in to the verses we read from John’s gospel this morning. But in
reality, Jesus was talking more about the sheep than the shepherd, and the
gate.
I don’t know much about sheep other than
they come in flocks and they look pretty on a hillside. But colleagues of mine
do know about sheep, and I’ve been learning from them.
With all due respect to them, sheep are
not the brightest of God’s creatures. They have a talent for wandering off the
path and stumbling into trouble. From what I have been told, they can be
stubborn. They are determined to go their own way, even if that way leads to
danger. They need a shepherd. But they need a shepherd who will care for them,
watch over them and lead them, as the psalm says, to green pastures and beside
still waters and through danger, enemies and death’s valley. Yet, if that good
shepherd isn’t to be found, then sheep will follow whatever shepherd happens to
be around. Sometimes a sheep will follow the sheep in front of it, without
paying too much attention to the shepherd. So let’s hope the sheep in the front
is following a good one.
What I’ve learned from my pastoral –
literally pastoral – sheep tending, church leading colleagues, is that sheep
are good animals, but kind of dumb, stubborn and need a shepherd. And in this
passage Jesus refers to his followers as his sheep. His sheep need a shepherd.
If you don’t spend a lot of time thinking
about the implications of this imagery, it is charming. But as another pastor
said in our lectionary group last week, it is charming because we have
sanitized this passage. We see it like I see those sheep grazing on the
hillside on the way to church. Lovely, rustic, pastoral, a sweet scene as we
drive by. But stop, get up close to them, and well, there’s manure. And the
sheep smell like … sheep.
And if we are sheep, and we look at the
reality of sheep, this passage loses some of its charm. It is not necessarily
flattering to be called a sheep. I suspect it may have been jolting for those
listening to Jesus to hear this, and it is not any easier in our context today.
In our culture, we don’t want to be compared to sheep either. To be called a
sheep feels like we have no imagination, no ability to think for ourselves. Who
wants to be just another person in the crowd? Who wants to be just one more
sheep in the flock, blindly going where everyone else is going, without much
thought for anything else but where the next meal might be?
But was Jesus trying to insult the people
who followed him, who clamored for him, who heard his voice? No. Jesus was not
referring to people as sheep as a way to say that they were dumb or
unimaginative or without individuality. I think Jesus spoke of a shepherd and
sheep because he knew how easy it was, how easy it is, for us to get lost, to
be blind to the dangers around us. This passage follows the story of Jesus
healing the blind man. And if you think about that story, you have to wonder
who was really blind? The man who was healed from a lifelong physical
blindness, or the religious leaders and authorities who could not accept what
was right in front of their eyes?
No, Jesus spoke of sheep and shepherd
because he knew that our tendency as humans is to warp unity into mindless uniformity.
He knew that we do tend to latch onto the wrong kinds of leaders, false
shepherds if you will. He knew that we get stubborn and lose our way and
stumble into danger. He knew that we forget that we are not the only flock.
There are lots of flocks, and he is their shepherd too. Whether we like it or
not.
But Jesus did not describe himself as the
shepherd only. When the disciples, these fishermen who dealt with watery
matters not pastoral ones, did not understand his words. He said,
“Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for
the sheep.”
“I am the gate. Whoever enters by me
will be saved, and will come and go out and find pasture.”
A gate opens for the flock to come
into the fold for shelter and safety. A gate opens out for the sheep to go to
the pasture. A gate both welcomes and sends. The sheep who hear Jesus’ voice,
who hear the voice of their shepherd, who recognize it and follow, come through
this gate. This gate opens and ushers in life, abundant life.
It seems to me that this is the crux
of Jesus’ words, of his metaphors and figurative speech. It is to help those who
hear his voice understand that through him, because of him, they will have
abundant life. And it isn’t just about abundant life eternal, it is about
abundant life now. Right now, here and now. Abundance is not reserved just for
the life after this one. It is for now. Through Jesus, our gate, our shepherd,
we are able to have abundance: abundance of love, abundance of joy, abundance
of grace, of hope, of purpose, if only we hear his voice, if only we follow our
shepherd.
Amen and amen.
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