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Fourth Sunday in Easter, Year A
April 17, 2005
Christ Church, Covington
“When [the shepherd of the sheep] has brought out all his own, he goes
ahead of them” (Jo. 10:4).
Jesus didn’t just pull this metaphor out of the thin air. The ancient
Israelites were a nomadic shepherd people, dwelling on the fringes of
civilization, making their living by herding animals from pasture to
pasture. They took these skills to Egypt with them, and brought them out
again at the Exodus. By Jesus’ time, they had settled down, but the memory
still endured. Jesus’ audience knew what he was talking about.
Two motifs stand out as we attempt to put ourselves in their place and
imagine the world of the shepherd and his flock. First, it’s a dangerous
world. The image of the shepherd and his flock has a peaceful and bucolic
air now, but not so then. The shepherd lives outside of civilization, on
the margins of the world. The world of the shepherd’s flock is not
peaceful at all: threatened by the natural elements, predatory animals,
and (not least of all) other shepherds. Over the centuries, hardy, warlike
peoples have emerged from a similar environment. Scythians, Bedouin,
Mongols: all have come out of inhospitable pasture lands, driven by the
hard life and their own toughness. What Jesus says about strangers,
thieves and bandits in our Gospel today is all too believable. Being a
shepherd is rough business.
Second, the world of the shepherd’s flock is variable and migratory,
changeable and nomadic. Abraham’s family were used to wandering, and
scratching a living from uncultivated areas. The shepherd and his flock
have to be ready to move, and are not given the leisure to settle down for
very long. The flock has to be willing to travel, and to move in response
to the shepherd’s voice. The nomadic shepherd people have to be ready to
react to new variables. The terrain is constantly changing; new
opportunities and chances present themselves. The margins of the world are
also its thoroughfares, and so new things are always appearing on the
concourse, even when the flock camps for the night.
Jesus’ audience knew what he was talking about. If they lived in the
settled country now, they had the cultural memory of that other life. In
any case, they knew the world of danger, and of change. So do we. They
knew the challenge of responding to the shepherd’s voice. That’s a lesson
we can learn, as well.
So how is God calling you, telling you to move on from the place where
you’ve been and reach out for the new, life-giving pasture that he’s
prepared for you? Part of the meaning of the Lent and Easter seasons is to
challenge some of our old habits and to lay down some new ones. Easter is
the season of new life, where we move out into the land of promise. Maybe
you’re claiming that promise now, discovering the life that lies beyond
the death of the old self. How is God moving in you, moving you to a new
life? Where is God taking you? This new life is what resurrection is all
about.
Many of you may have read in the Times-Picayune this weekend about our
Bishop’s participation in the process as the Episcopal Church searches for
a new Presiding Bishop. This process will unfold over the next year. It’s
a grueling one. We don’t know what will happen: he may be a candidate or
he may not. This weekend, our delegation from Christ Church watched as our
Bishop reflected his love for the Church in Louisiana, but also his
openness to respond to the call of God, whatever it might be. The Bishop
gave us a window to look into and reflect on some of the pain that goes
with this openness. For it’s the same for all of us: no one knows what
will happen; what we do know is that we have to be open and paying
attention to the new thing that God is doing.
If God is calling you (and he is); if you are hearing his voice and moving
out in response; then know as well that the Great Shepherd of the Sheep is
with you. Change is a chancy thing, full of anxiety as well as joy, and so
it’s a good thing that the Shepherd goes before us. There is no danger
that the Shepherd cannot handle; he will always be with the flock. In the
season of resurrection we remember that our Shepherd has already passed
through death into life, and is able to bring us with him into the
Promised Land. He’s won the victory, and that means new life for us. Being
a shepherd is a rough business, but the One whose voice we hear and who
goes before us is equal to the task.
The Rev’d John Bauerschmidt is Rector of Christ Church, Covington.
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