The Rev. Dr. Hilary B. Smith
St. Paul’s on-the-Hill
Winchester, VA
The Good Shepherd
This apple blossom weekend is
a time when we celebrate who we are as a community. The parades and other
events are designed to include everyone in the celebration. People come
together from different backgrounds to share in the fun. Community
celebrations, at their best, bring people together.
Every time we gather here, we
gather to celebrate – and we welcome all to the celebration. This is our weekly
celebration, this is God’s celebration, that breaks down the bearers that can
separate us. We are focused on what unites us – focused on the One who brings
us together – the One who brings us into community. Jesus is the good shepherd
who gathers all into one flock. This is the risen life – we know the life to
which Jesus calls us here in Christian community.
The image of Jesus as the
Good Shepherd brings us strength and comfort because we know that Jesus is the
one who knows us best and seeks to care for us at all times. Jesus used this
image and metaphor of the good shepherd to prepare his friends for the lengths
he would go in order to care for the people. The good shepherd lays down his
life for the sheep; unlike the hired hand who does not really care and is not
really committed to the sheep, Jesus is totally committed.
Such total commitment led to
the cross. The cross led to the resurrection, which then enabled Jesus to be
the good shepherd for all and for all time. He did so much for people when he
walked the earth, but it was through the gift of his life that he was then
able, and is able, to draw all people to himself.
The truth that we proclaim as
Christians changed the world, continues to change the world, and changes one
life after another. With Jesus as our guide we can never be lost. When I hear
these readings about Jesus our Shepherd, I am struck by two things: first, what
having him as our Shepherd means for us as individuals, and second, what it
means for us as a community.
With Jesus as the One who
cares and loves us, we will never be forsaken. The importance of the 23rd
psalm for the faithful cannot be exaggerated. “The Lord is my Shepherd” – it is
very personal. Almost every funeral that I have conducted or attended has
included the 23rd psalm. But when you think about the words, they
are as much about life on this earth as they are about the life to come. Not
only will God be with you forever (I will dwell in the house of the Lord
forever), but as you and I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, God
is with us now.
Not to be depressing, but
rather realistic, we do walk in shadow of death in this life. There will be our
physical death, but there are also other deaths along the way – the deaths of
those we love, the deaths of dreams. There are times when we feel that we are
under a shadow, under a cloud. And it is to that Jesus comes – to that feeling
of ours, to where we are in the reality of our lives. Jesus is the perfect
leader. No one can compare to him; no person can be as selflessly devoted to
our well-being. We can be disappointed easily by those we claim to have our
best interests at heart.
We seek to follow Jesus by
studying the way he cared for people during his earthly ministry. We seek to
follow Jesus by sharing in the Risen life of Christ now. How do we do these
things, especially in those “valley” moments? We open ourselves to the leading
of the Good Shepherd, who not only cares for us but takes us where we need to
go. We listen for his voice through our history, our traditions, our
sacraments, our prayers, and in the many ways that God reaches out to us in
this world.
I had a spiritual experience
in my car the other day that made me think about Jesus. You may find this a bit
odd, I did, but when I was driving in Northern Virginia last week, in an area
that I did not know at all – I realized how important my new GPS device has
become to me. The GPS is that device that tells you where to go to get to your
destination – there is a map and a voice to guide you.
I have a terrible sense of
direction. To give you an idea of how bad my sense of direction is: when I
first moved to Winchester, I was on Greenwood Rd approaching Senseny and I was
trying to get to the church. I needed to turn right to go the church, but I
turned left. But now I can head out with the address of the place I intend to
go, and when I take a turn too early or miss a turn altogether, the GPS alerts
me to that fact and helps me get back on the right path. I just got this
device; I waited to get one for a long time because I believed it was too
expensive. But friends helped me find one that was affordable, and now I can’t
believe how long I waited to get it –given how much I need it.
As I was thinking about how
grateful I am for the GPS, I was struck by the fact of my gratitude to God, who
helps me when I do not know where I am or where I am going.
Hearing the voice of the GPS
when I’m driving alone, and I drive alone most of the time, makes me feel that
I am not on my own. Faith in God produces the same sort of effect, but of
course to a much greater degree and applicable to many more situations, all
situations. The fact of the matter is,
not one of us knows what tomorrow will bring – we do not know where we are
going. But we know that the Lord is with us and will help us, not leave us
alone, and will guide us in the journey.
There are so many people who
wait to share in the life of Christ because they don’t think they can afford it
– afford the time it takes to really be a part of a church – or afford the
changes a relationship with Jesus will demand of them. Before we start down
this relationship road with God, it can feel like a demand or we wonder what it
will be. But of course it is not a demand but an invitation into the greatest
freedom one can experience.
All are invited into the
welcoming arms of Jesus the Good Shepherd. Yes, it is personal; Jesus does want a
personal relationship with us all, but do you hear the importance of community
in this description of Jesus? He is the head of the flock. We know him through
our experience of community. We know him through our experience of being a
welcoming community that seeks to share the grace of God that we have known
with everyone. We do this, as we are today, by feeding the hungry. We do this
by loving each other. We do this by caring for each other, and those we may not
know well, in times of need. We hear the voice of God through each other,
perhaps more than we realize. When we try to do everyone on our own as I was
taught, as many of us have been taught to do, we are missing the great gift of
the caring Christian community for which Jesus was willing to die.
We hear the voice God best in
community. We give each other encouragement; we provide a wider perspective
than anyone can have on his or her own. We provide a place for direct
experience of God’s grace through the sacraments. And it turns out that
community itself is also sacramental – pointing beyond itself to the great
reality of God active in the world. In the great diversity of the church, of
our church, we are living the risen life – the life of caring community for
which Jesus was willing to lay down his life.
So these two thoughts about
how Jesus relates to us as the good shepherd, to us as individuals and to us as
a community, this have been upper most in my mind. As we continue to move
through the Easter season, it is my hope that each one of us might come to know
deep in our souls the care that Jesus has for us as individuals. You might want
to take the 23rd psalm and pray with it. When you read those words,
put your own story into the psalm. How is Jesus your shepherd? How do you want
Him to be so for you? What are your still waters and your resting places; what
is your valley of death – imagine God there with you. And then consider what it
means to you to be part of the flock, and what it means to welcome others
without exception. How is God calling us to follow in the way that Jesus led? Christian
community is an amazing gift that we have received and it is one we are blessed
to share.
Thanks be to God who calls us
each by name. Thanks be to God who knows us so well, and who knows the truth of
who we are; and loves us and leads us and guides through all that life brings.
Amen.