New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright © 1989, 1995 National Council of
the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All
rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org
(Year B: The Fourth Sunday of Easter, 25 April 2021)
Have you ever stood among a group of pedestrians on the
pathway beside a busy city street waiting for the pedestrian light to turn
green? You might be less than fully
mindful of where you are as you think about six different things at the one
time. Then, someone notices a break in the traffic and walks out while the
light is still red; others follow. A whole flock of people follow. You realise that this is an opportunity and
as you scan the horizon for two seconds you decide not to move; instead you
wait it out a little more.
An everyday occurrence such as the one described here contains
an important insight into human nature. A lot of human activity is like
that. Many people wait. Some people
follow. Fewer still lead. For much of
the time, we are not entirely sure about this course of action or that line of
thinking. Naturally, we follow the ‘main herd’. It may be that the ‘main herd’
is led by persons of some notoriety and substance. It may be that those led are
not entirely happy with those who lead but are reluctant to step aside from the
main herd. Indeed, challenging the leader may be a cultural or organisational
taboo.
In today’s world where are the signs of leadership and
following? They are everywhere. Some of us literally ‘follow’ others on
Facebook, twitter or other social media (and of course they follow us). Trends in opinions are led or shaped by those
who control the airwaves, the print-media and social media. They are also shaped by long established
values and opinions inherited from previous generations and reflected in
various ways in our cultural practices and laws. It is all very much human. ‘Leadership’, however we might define it, is
hard to pin down. Actually, many organisations and situations are ‘managed’
rather than led. Nobody is, strictly
speaking, in charge. And that may be no bad thing in some instances. Then
again, leadership might be called for but is sadly missing.
In the prophecy of Isaiah we encounter the servant who
suffers and gives his life for his people. Servant leadership puts those served
first. This is not the typical pattern of leadership in many organisations
including at times, sadly, those professing to follow Jesus. What is it about servant
leadership and watching over us? It is the deep, deep care of the one who
watches over us like a mother gazing at her baby. It is a gaze and a solicitude
that says: ‘I care for you’.
Jesus our good shepherd guides our way forward (Psalm 36:23:
‘The Lord guides the steps of a man and
makes safe the path of one he loves.’). The saying of Jesus on the good
shepherd is rooted in the Hebrew scriptures that Jesus was all too familiar
with. For example, the prophet Ezekiel (chapter
34) speaks of a covenant between the Lord who is Shepherd and his people
Israel. He will take care of his people where the shepherds have failed. The
latter never cared. What was it about the true shepherd of Israel that marked
him out from the false shepherds? What model of shepherding is Jesus
implementing in John’s gospel? Let’s take Ezekiel 34:3-6 and recall the
characteristics of the false shepherds:
You do not take care of the flock. You have not strengthened the weak or healed those who are ill or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally. So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals. My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered over the whole earth, and no one searched or looked for them.
However, images of animal submission, passivity and docility
may not sit easily for many modern-day readers.
We can understand the metaphor of the Good Shepherd and the sheep for
what it is – a loving relationship founded on trust, mutual recognition and
following. Our leader and shepherd is not a despot. He is the One who is ready
to lay down his life for us.
Psalm 22(23) is very familiar to us: The Lord is my
Shepherd; there is nothing I shall want ….’.
And in the prophecy of Isaiah there are a number of references to the
role of a loving shepherd (Isaiah 40:11
and 56:8).
We note that Isaiah (40:11) speaks of the Lord tending ‘his flock like a
shepherd:’ as ‘he gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his
heart’. He ‘gently leads those that have young’. It is a matter of overwhelming
loving kindness (hesed in Hebrew),
gentleness and inviting. And, in 56:8 of Isaiah, there is mention of still
others ‘besides those already gathered’. John 10:16 with its reference to ‘other
sheep that are not of this sheepfold’ who will be brought along and who ‘will listen
to my voice’ so that ‘there shall be one flock and one shepherd.’ The Johannine
vision of a united world and a single love uniting all peoples and uniting one
another to the source of life, love and unity runs through that entire gospel
from start to finish (John
17:20-22). God calls not just the religiously inclined or ritually pure but
everyone – everyone.
From this short extract from the Gospel of John and the
associated references across the sacred scriptures we can identify seven
characteristics of The Good shepherd who:
2. strengthens the weak;
3. heals the ill;
4. binds up the injured;
5. brings back the strays;
6. searches and looks for the lost; and
7. gathers in sheep not of this flock (in other words all are welcome regardless of who the insiders think is worthy).
And it is over to us..
We have a sure foundation in Jesus who cares for each of us
deeply and continuously as a mother does for a new born baby and as a dying
person does for those whom we have loved.
But, if we recognise the light and the life of God in the gentle, kind
and inviting voice and face of Jesus who is the Face of God (another take on
‘Son of God’) then we, too, can be a gentle, kind and inviting voice and face
for others who seek life and light. We
can chose to radiate kindness if we want and if we are serious about doing so.
Preliminaries
‘I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
The Good Shepherd is not in it for himself. It is all about serving others. This turns our worldly notions of leadership on its head.
The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep.
14-15: Knowing one another
I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep.
16: one flock and one shepherd
I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.
17-18: Jesus and the Father.
For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.’
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