April 21, 2024

Easter 4

John 10:11-18 and 1 John 3:16-24

By Rev. Paul f. Heykes

The Fourth Sunday of Easter is often called – “Shepherd Sunday” – because we always read a portion of the tenth chapter of the Gospel of John where Jesus uses images from the ovine industry to describe himself, and the nature of his ministry.

Now for many of us, the image of Jesus as the “Good Shepherd” is a sweet and sentimental one.

In the church I served prior to my retirement, we had a copy of Werner Salman’s painting: The Lord is My Shepherd, a.k.a “The Good Shepherd,” hanging in the hallway of our educational wing.

I’m sure that many of you have seen it – but if not – or to jog your memory – allow me to describe it. . .

Salman depicts Jesus strolling through a lush, alpine meadow with a crystal clear, mountain stream flowing by. About 20, well fed, contented sheep are gathered around Jesus, or peacefully grazing nearby. And in his arms, Jesus carries a cute little lamb.

It’s actually a great painting. It perfectly illustrates a number of verses from John’s Gospel, including John 10:27-28 where Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, I know them and they follow me; and I give them eternal life and they will never perish, no one shall snatch them out of my hand.”

But the 10th chapter of John includes several other aspects of the Good Shepherd’s ministry, including a more disturbing and violent one, the one we hear in today’s gospel, the one where the good shepherd lays down his life and sacrifices it for the sake of his sheep.

Now make no mistake about what this means – Jesus is talking about death, HIS death, a violent death on the cross.

And this death was not something that just kind of happened. Jesus was not a passive victim, caught up in circumstances beyond his control.

Instead – he willingly and intentionally put his life on the line. He offered himself up for the purposes of God. He CHOSE to sacrifice his life so that the sheep might be saved.

The fact that Christ willingly chose to give up his life for us is incredible – and something that we need to take time to ponder over in our meditation this morning – both in terms of what it means for us, and in terms of how we ought to respond to it.

Now the fact that Jesus chose to die for us is but one more deliberate act of love and grace in the long history of God choosing to do gracious and loving things for us, his people.

Of course, it started with creation. We did not choose to be created. God chose to create us and give us the gift of life.

And it continued with the first people – Originally God decreed that they would suffer instant death if they tasted the “forbidden fruit.” But instead, when the people disobeyed God -- God chose to begin a plan of salvation so that the entire, sin infected human race might be forgiven unto eternal life.

God’s grace and plan of salvation continued when God chose Abraham and Sarah to be the patriarch and matriarch of the savior’s family tree.

And God chose Moses to lead Israel (the descendants of Abraham and Sarah, and ancestors of Jesus) to new life and freedom in the promised land.

God chose prophets to speak God’s word.

God chose Mary and Joseph to be the parents of Jesus.

And God chose Jesus to be the good shepherd who would make the ultimate sacrifice for the sake of all people.

In other words, the Bible is the story of God choosing to bless us, choosing to love us, and choosing to lavish God’s grace upon us, despite our sin and unworthiness. And that is something to be thankful for!

However – an attitude of gratitude is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of responding to God’s grace and love.

As important as it is to be thankful, and to express our thanks in prayer and praise, what we do is important too!

And that is what is described in the first sentence of our second lesson from John’s first letter. That, in response to the fact that Jesus laid down his life for us, “We ought to lay down our lives for one another!”

In this passage John confronts his readers with the need to make an important (and difficult) choice.

Are we truly going to follow Christ – or – merely give lip service to his call to be disciples?

Sometimes we like to think that we have no real choices to make in life or faith. Many people believe that everything happens due to fate, or karma, or chance forces beyond our control. And while it is true that there are some things we cannot control – like the forces of nature or the actions of others – it is also true that God has blessed us with the freedom and ability to make choices about what we will do, how we will behave, and what we will believe.

The great philosopher Jean Paul Sartre observed that the one thing that makes us human and separates us from the rest of the animal kingdom is “our ability to consider the options and then – make a choice.

Everything we opt to do – or don’t do – is a choice. And even in those situations where our options seem to be dictated by circumstances – there are still options. There is better or worse. There is right or wrong.

Sartre wrote about a German soldier who participated in the atrocities of the concentration camps during World War Two. When he was called to account for his deeds the soldier said, “I was just obeying orders. I had no choice.” But Sartre disagreed. “There is always another way. To say, ‘I had no choice,’ is invariably a lie. What one is really saying is, ‘I chose that way because: it was easier, it would cause me less trouble or pain, or I didn’t want to risk my life.”

When the people of Israel finally reached the promised land after their long, 40 year trek from Egypt, through the harsh, Sinai desert, Joshua, their leader after the death of Moses, stood before the people and said, “Choose this day whom you will serve – the God who brought you here and gives you this land, or the gods of other tribes and places” As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

In a similar way the same question is asked of us.

Every time we come to church; every time we are faced with an ethical or moral dilemma; and every time we are tempted to sin. Our lives are always moving in a certain direction as a result of the decisions we have made in the past.

But let us ask ourselves, “Is my life heading in the direction that God would have me go?”

God created us free to choose. God has laid before us a clear invitation.

“Follow me,” Christ beckons! And that’s not all! “Deny yourself! Take up your cross. Love your neighbors as you love yourself. Love your enemies. Turn the other cheek. Feed the hungry. Clothe the naked. Give water to the thirsty. Visit the imprisoned. Free the oppressed. Go, make disciples of all nations.”

So, what will we do? We know what is right. Yet the power of sin tugs us in the opposite direction. As St. Paul wrote: “The good that I want to do I don’t do, and the evil I should not do I end up doing anyway.”

Even so, by the grace of God and the power of the Spirit, we CAN make the God pleasing choices – because Christ chose us and gave his life to save us - we have been freed from sin and blessed with freedom and grace to respond in a positive way to God and Christ and their love for all. And we CAN emulate the good shepherd in our life and living. 

Let us choose love – not just in thought and speech, but in truth and action.

Amen!