John
10:11-18
Shepherding – Good Shepherding
With
all that is going on in today’s worship service, it might be easy to forget
that today is the Fourth Sunday of Easter.
There are only a precious few of these Sundays during which we make
front and center THE event which defines us as followers of the Risen Christ.
Christ
is Risen! Christ is Risen, Indeed! Alleluia!
On
this the Fourth Sunday of Easter, we diverge for the first time from the
post-resurrection appearances of Jesus.
Easter 2 was the story of “Doubting Thomas,” the Easter 3 gospel
involved Jesus proving he wasn’t a ghost.
Even with last week’s reading, it was a bit tough to remember that we
were still reading of events which happen on the same day as the empty tomb is
discovered.
Then
we come to Easter 4 – and on Easter 4 we don’t read about the post-resurrected
Jesus; we read about the teacher Jesus.
We begin to look back and to examine what it was that Jesus said to us
while he was still with us. We turn back
there in order to understand what it is that the Resurrected Jesus wants us to
do. And where we turn to – first – is to
his comments about good shepherds.
“I
am the Good Shepherd.” Jesus says.
And he proves this. He cares for
the sheep – the remainder of the Gospel story is all about his care. The end of the Gospels is his final act – his
laying down his life for us – the sheep who are gathered into his pasture.
The
Resurrected Jesus – the Good Shepherd – calls upon his followers to be good
shepherds, too.
In
all honesty, Jesus does not speak of “good shepherds” and “bad shepherds.” It is almost as if he refuses to even think
of those who fail the sheep as “shepherds.”
Instead he refers to them as “hired hands.” Jesus notes that the difference between a
good shepherd and the hireling is that the latter don’t “love” the sheep – they
love what they are going to get as a result of caring for the sheep. They love their pay. Or maybe they love some perceived “heavenly
reward.” Whatever it is that drives
them, it is not love for the sheep. When
given the choice between finding another job and risking their own safety, they
abandon the sheep and move on.
Jesus
is the Good Shepherd. Jesus sets us an
example of what it means to be shepherds.
And the post-resurrection Jesus sends us forth to tend the lambs and to
feed the sheep. We are to become the “Good
Shepherds” who look out after the flock.
Today’s
busy worship service(s) provides us an opportunity to critique ourselves – as shepherds
or hirelings. We have the chance to
evaluate our adherence to Jesus’ hope for us.
Let’s
start with Ethan, and the Rite of Confirmation.
Ethan was baptized in this congregation.
That service, that liturgy, is important for all of us, not just for
Ethan. The promises made that day began
with God’s promise to Ethan; next were promises on the part of his sponsors and
parents; and finally there were promises made by us, the gathered people of
God. We took on a shared responsibility
that day to care for him, to teach him, and to guide him.
This
ought to make Ethan feel special, but no more special than all the others to
whom we have made this promise.
Occasionally baptisms happen with only a few family members present, but
we try really hard to avoid those.
Baptism is not a private affair – it is a promise of the whole people of
God to pass on what it is that we have first received.
When
Ethan was baptized, we stepped into the role of shepherd. We agreed that we would love him, care for
him, and watch over him. Today, at his
confirmation, he steps more fully into his baptismal promise, and promises that
he too will assist in caring for others.
But every baptism, every confirmation, is an opportunity to evaluate
whether we have proven to be shepherds or hirelings. And every interaction with a fellow member of
the congregation is a chance to hone our skills.
Jesus
calls us to be shepherds; not hirelings.
Today
is also LCM Farewell and Godspeed. No,
these “children” were not baptized here.
They chose to come here, as adults.
They presented themselves, seeking a home (a spiritual home) in this new
place where they live and study and continue their maturation into adult life.
I
am not only employed by Lutheran Campus Ministry, I am a product of Lutheran
Campus Ministry. When I went to college,
I thought I knew what I wanted to do and how I would get there. But it was a patient and loving campus pastor
and a host congregation who allowed me to struggle with my questions and made
it safe for me to experiment with new thoughts.
I feared that if my parents knew I was questioning the things I thought
I had been taught in Sunday School they would disown me. But the congregation of Holy Trinity held me
all the more tightly and encouraged me to come to a faith of my own.
“Shepherding”
these students is not accomplished when their only contact is with a campus
pastor. (Remember – I am a hireling.) “Shepherding” is accomplished when they hear
Herm & Carol Spitzer speak to them about marriage and intimacy. “Shepherding” occurs when George and Martha
Harris sit with them at a Wednesday dinner and speak of how they see in each
student attending UniLu a glimmer of the son they lost way too early in life. “Shepherding” occurs when they see their math
teacher, Chris Cox, stand before the congregation and speak of a mission
greater than academia.
Students
– do not allow yourselves to hear this message as one going above you or beyond
you. It is aimed directly at you. Good Shepherds are trained, not in some
classroom but in the working fields. If
you have any appreciation for the years you have been in Clemson and at UniLu,
this appreciation ought to be seen in the way you live your life after you have
left this place. You have had a unique
experience which uniquely qualifies you to assist in shepherding those little lambs
who are maturing into adults.
We
are called to be shepherds – not hirelings.
We
have one more opportunity to understand ourselves as shepherds, and move away
from acting like hirelings. It involves
the “Growing in God’s Mission” campaign.
I was interviewed by the consulting firm who aided the SC Synod in
putting together the campaign. I
encouraged them to proceed and here is why:
without a wider understanding of the Church, University Lutheran and
Lutheran Campus Ministry – Clemson would quickly whither on the vine.
Smith
and Chris are the only two names on the list of graduating students who have
been with us longer than the years they were in college. And even both of them were baptized in a
differing congregation. Tommy Bridges’
death was a terrible loss to us all. But
as the family thought of funeral plans they thought first of all about a
service at the church where he spent most of his life; then they decided to
have a service here, too. This is to be
expected, of most of us. Most of us have
“homes” somewhere other than here. When
I die, I won’t be buried here – I will go back to Cedar Grove Lutheran, in
Vale, NC.
“God’s
Mission” is a terribly limited thing if it only applies to what we do here, in
this one building, in this single congregation, in this little-bitty town. Of course we are a part of a large
mission. We benefit from that mission
every day. And so it is very important
that we support that mission.
This
summer, Maglin Halsey has plans to travel to Tanzania. She would be placed in the Lutheran Hospital
in Mybea. This is the city where our
group traveled during our first mission trip to the SW Dioceses of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania.
Daniel Locke is heading to Lincolnton, NC, where he will participate in an
immersion experience funded by Project Connect – an effort on the part of our
ELCA Seminaries to expose young adults to a call to public ministry. Josh Kestner will move to Jerusalem this
August. As a staff member with Global
Mission, he will be about the work of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of
Jordan. I think there are seven or so LCM
students who will spend the summer working as counselors at Lutheridge Church
Camp? And, absolutely most important of
all, are the dozens of young adults who will show up in congregations across
the southeast, enthused and eager to say, “The church does have something to
say to twenty-year olds.”
We
are shepherds. Not hirelings. We carefully tend each of the baptized,
assisting them in their faith journey.
As they grow into adulthood, we provide models of what it means to love
and serve Jesus in the business world, in the academic world, in the various
worlds in which God’s people live. And,
in celebration of the wider expression of the Church of Jesus Christ, we join
with others in order to provide the resources needed to proclaim the word and
equip the saints.
Jesus
is the first of the Good Shepherds. Jesus
calls upon you and I to share in the duty and the opportunity to shepherd
others.
Amen.
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