Today
is Good Shepherd Sunday.
I
am pleasantly surprised Good Shepherd Sunday
has survived the waves of liturgical
reform
that have abolished countless
metaphors
in which someone might
lead someone else.
We
recoil against any image that suggest
we should obey anything other than
our own whims.
I
have spent over two decades defending this day
from Episcopalians who indignantly
insist they are not sheep
and will not tolerate
being treated as such.
Something
in a human being rebels against the suggestion
we might need a shepherd.
But
then something in a sheep also rebels against the suggestion
they might need a shepherd.
inclined to wander willy-nilly and
get themselves in trouble.
Granted,
we are more articulate and smell better,
but we do share with sheep the
tendency to go astray
and the same certainty that we do
not need a shepherd.
We
have at least that much in common.
As
modern Americans, we don’t like the notion
of someone telling us what to do –
even if it’s Jesus.
Our
American psalm, the feci viam meam,
will probably
be in our next prayer book
eventually.
It’s by Frank Sinatra.
In
English it’s, “I did it my way.”
So
I wonder if there is anything in the lessons for Good Shepherd Sunday
that we might be willing to hear.
I
hope so, because often our society reminds me of a lot of lost sheep
ambling about the desert going bah
bah bah to the tune of
“I did it my way.”
When
we read a Scripture lesson,
it’s important to put it in the
context of the context
of the
whole book where the text is found.
For
example, the Good Shepherd lesson
is in the Gospel According to John.
In
John, Jesus says he is the Good Shepherd
who knows his sheep, cares for them,
calls them by name.
But
where is he doing that from?
Is
he sitting on a cloud watching us and saying “turn left,
no a little to right”?
Or
has he delegated this job to ecclesiastical authorities
like priests and bishops?
No,
in John Jesus prays that he may dwell inside us.
That’s
part of the meaning of Holy Communion.
We
take Jesus into ourselves.
St.
Paul says in Philippians,
“Have the same mind in you that was
in Christ Jesus.”
So
if we are looking for the Good Shepherd,
where are we to look? Within.
After
the Ascension, the disciples were staring at the sky,
looking for Jesus,
but the angels said, “You’re looking
the wrong direction.”
People
have been looking at preachers, gurus, and so-called saints
for generations hoping to see Jesus.
I
can’t tell you how many times somebody has said of their priest,
“I just can’t see Jesus in him.”
That’s
because they’re looking the wrong direction.
They
are looking outward -- when to find Jesus,
we have to look inward;
to hear the voice of the Good
Shepherd
we have to listen
inward.
This
is absolutely essential because we are each
not just like a single sheep;
we
are each like a whole herd of sheep.
Inside
each of us, there isn’t one will, one personality.
There’s
a whole herd in there.
At
work, we are one person with one set of thoughts, feelings, attitudes.
At
home we turn into somebody else.
Out
with our friends, we think, feel, and act differently.
And
those different parts of us don’t always get along.
Sometimes
the ambitious worker takes over and we ignore our family.
Sometimes
we get so ensnared in our family dramas
we don’t allow ourselves to have any
friends.
Sometimes
some of us get taken over by a part that feels sorry for itself.
Sometimes,
a righteous judgmental part of us takes over
and goes after either other people
or other parts of ourselves.
There’s
a whole herd of personalities in there,
each of them capable of wandering
off on one fool path or another.
That
happens to me every single day of my life.
But
there’s somebody else in there too.
There’s
a part we might call “the Good Shepherd.”
That
part just stands back and watches over
the whole flock, caring for them,
knowing each one by
name,
calling them back
together.
Another
metaphor might be to say that we have a spiritual gyroscope
that keeps us right side up and
headed the right direction.
We
have a lot of parts of ourselves that get agitated
over one thing or another.
Parts
of us are inclined to go off on a tear.
And
that’s ok.
Those
parts of us are not bad.
Without
them, we’d be pretty boring and our lives would be pretty bland.
if we don’t check in with another
part
– the Christ within us,
the Good Shepherd.
When
we find the Christ he is always serene, objective, wise, curious,
sometimes amused, and
always compassionate.
He
understands all the wild and crazy parts of us.
He
doesn’t judge them or condemn them,
even when they judge and condemn
each other.
He
just calls them by name and nudges them back on the path.
He
makes sure they all get fed and watered,
and he keeps them away from the
predators.
That’s
why it’s so important to listen,
so important to stop and pay
attention
from time to time to the serene center of our
souls.
It’s
so important to feel what we feel, think what we think,
but then step back and check in with
the Good Shepherd
before we act.
Can
you see how different this is from the Proverb of the 1970’s?
Remember
that one: “Go with your gut.”
Don’t
do that.
Your
gut is one of the sheep.
That’s
where we keep our fear and loathing,
our regressive impulses, our unmitigated
selfishness.
Don’t
go with your gut.
Listen
to the Shepherd.
Be
still and look at your situation through the eyes of wisdom,
the eyes of mercy, the eyes of
Christ.
That
isn’t being docile.
It
isn’t being timid.
It
isn’t being indecisive.
It’s
wisdom.
It’s
spiritual balance.
If
you are looking for Jesus, look inside yourself.
John
says that’s where you’ll find him.
And
he’ll speak softly, not harsh words of judgment,
but calm words of guidance,
“leading us beside the still waters,
restoring our souls.”
