Sermons

Third Sunday of Easter
Sunday 25 April 2004 at 8am
Maureen Williams

Readings: John 10: 11-16

THE GOOD SHEPHERD

Before Easter, in three services of Compline, Simon and Rachel used paintings of Jesus by artists from South America, Africa and the Far East to focus on the question of WHO IS JESUS? Some of the paintings were startling; others were disturbing. They challenged the image of Jesus many of us held.

Paintings of Jesus from the West may be a challenge to people from other parts of the world. I found that the two pictures I held in my mind were from childhood; Gentle Jesus meek and mild, with birds and animals in the English countryside and Jesus the Good Shepherd holding a crook and fluffy white lamb….a far cry from the agonised, suffering Jesus in the film 'The Passion of Christ'.

All these images are true, yet, at the same time they are incomplete because each presents a partial picture of the whole. In this world, we look through a glass darkly, 'a dim image in the mirror', says Paul in our church bibles [1]. It is only in the world to come that the image will be complete and we shall see and understand the whole.

For thousands of years, the image of God as the Good Shepherd was used by the Jews: by prophets in the Old Testament and by David in his psalms. In that most famous of psalms, Psalm 23, David writes, 'The Lord is my Shepherd'. The Pharisees knew that in claiming to be the Good Shepherd, Jesus was claiming to be God. They also knew that he was speaking, not to his followers, but to them. They were the hired hands he spoke out against, who had been entrusted to take care of God's people, but cared only for themselves. In spite of their devotion to God's law, they had lost sight of God himself and lost their vision of the true spirit of Judaism.

What does the image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd mean to us? He is so much more than the Jesus of my childhood memories, in a clean white robe and fleecy lamb under his arm. As Paul writes in his second letter to the church in Corinth, 'Christ was without sin, but for our sake God made him share our sin in order that we might share the righteousness of God' [2]. As a good shepherd Jesus risked and gave up his life to rescue his sheep. He confronted religious leaders more concerned with their own status than the needs of their people; challenged those who persecuted the weak and put burdens on the poor. 'The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life - life in all its fullness' [3]. Jesus did what all good shepherds must do. He identified with his sheep. He put himself in our place and suffered death that we might live.

And what of the vision of OUR faith? Archbishop Oscar Romero was a good shepherd for his flock in San Salvador, but it was not always so. For many years he had been part of a Church that turned away from the suffering of its people; ignored the disappearance of people who spoke out against the government or who worked for change. He had been a blind and deaf shepherd who did not heed the voice of his sheep and failed to protect them.

But finally, he heard their suffering and chose to join them by speaking out against the government and all that threatened their lives. The result was his own death, killed at the altar of his own cathedral while he was celebrating mass. Two weeks before he was murdered, he had spoken about the possibility of death. 'A bishop may die', he said, 'but the church of God, which is the people, will never perish'.

When Jesus the Good Shepherd died, he returned with Resurrection power…and things have never been the same again for his sheep. He commissioned his disciples, and those of us who follow on, to take his place as shepherds. His mission of love and care has become ours. We are the ones who are called to stand up for the needy, stand by the weak and alongside the lonely and neglected. We are called to be co-workers with God, to bring in his love, justice and peace. Good shepherds are needed everywhere: in our homes and at work, in our street and community, and out in the wider world.

This is the mission of the Church and this is God's call and vision for us.

[1] 1 Corinthians 13:12
[2] 2 Corinthians 5:21
[3] John 10:10

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