The Fourth Sunday of Easter (Year A), April 13, 2008
BCP: Acts 6:1-9; 7:2a,51-60 or Neh. 9:6-15; Psalm 23; 1 Pet. 2:19-25 or Acts 6:1-
9; 7:2a,51-60; John 10:1-10
RCL: Acts 2:42-47; Psalm 23; 1 Pet. 2:19-25; John 10:1-10
One doesn’t encounter many shepherds in contemporary America. Sure, there are countless church leaders who style themselves as pastors. And there are even a few who take for themselves a major trapping of shepherds, the crook. Yet these people, at least in the mainline churches, are anything but shepherds in the biblical sense.
Pastors/bishops, at least in the Western world, tend to be high indeed in the social and economic food chain. Yet shepherds in the biblical world (and in much of the third world today, from the Middle East and through Central to Southern Africa) are the very bottom of civil society, much like used car salespeople and professional politicians are to us today.
This writer was befriended by a real shepherd in a real third-world country some time ago. He apparently lived right in the field where he worked, and that being in a former British protectorate, we were able to communicate in English. The man had several dozen sheep, and these represented the whole of his earthly net worth. So when one of his sheep charged off from the rest, you bet he left all to find the lost one. This shepherd was so poor that he couldn’t afford to lose anything. Not under any circumstances.
As a shepherd knows the sheep, so the sheep know and trust the shepherd, much as a dog or cat knows and trusts its owner/friend. The owner calls and the pet comes running. And the owner leaves home and family behind to search for the canine or feline friend that is lost. “[T]he sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers” (John 10:3-5).
The sheep are of ultimate value to a shepherd. None is ever expendable, much as this writer’s pet cat is an indispensable family member, to be guarded and protected at all cost. In a sense, moreover, a shepherd loves the sheep as much as an owner does the household pet. Both are willing to risk all to assure the well being of each.
What a powerful image this is of how much Jesus, our shepherd, values and loves each one of us. And what welcome assurance it is of the security and protection he offers all of us.
Look It Up
How does Psalm 23 expand on the imagery of today's gospel?
Think About It
How might we, as Christ's risen body, be called upon to respond to those who wander from the Church?
Next Sunday
The Fifth Sunday of Easter (Year A), April 20, 2008
BCP: Acts 17:1-15 or Deut. 6:20-25; Psalm 66:1-11 or 66: 1-8; 1 Pet. 2:1-10 or
Acts 17:1-15; John 14:1-14
RCL: Acts 7:55-60; Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16; 1 Pet. 2:2-10; John 14:1-14
