Sermon for: Easter IV B_RCL _ May 3, 2009_”Good Shepherd”
St. Benedict’s, Los Osos (The Rev) Brian McHugh +


Recently, we here at St. Benedict’s have had the fun opportunity to hobnob with a flock of goats. That’s probably the closest most of us get to sheep. But in general, we don’t have much if any experience of the culture of shepherds. “Good Shepherd Sunday” usually produces a lot of reflection about sheep. I would like us to focus on the shepherd today. Here is one reflection on the shepherd role:

The symbolism of the shepherd … contains the sense of a wisdom which is both intuitive and the fruit of experience. The shepherd symbolizes watchfulness. His duties entail the constant exercise of vigilance. He is awake and watching. Hence he is compared with the Sun, which sees all things, and with the king. Furthermore, since … the shepherd symbolizes the nomad, he is rootless and stands for the soul which is not a native of this Earth but always a stranger and pilgrim. In so far as his flock is concerned, the shepherd acts as a guardian and to this is linked knowledge, since he knows what pasture suits the animals in his charge. He observes the Heavens, the Sun, the Moon and the stars and can predict the weather. He distinguishes sounds and hears the noise of approaching wolves, as well as the bleating of lost sheep. Through the different duties which he performs, he is regarded as a wise man whose activities are the result of contemplation and inner vision. In other words, the Shepherd is a guide to be trusted.

Why essentially do we gather as “church”? Why are we striving to follow Jesus and His Gospel? I’m a life-long seeker after knowledge, and so I’m always asking and re-asking these questions, and will continue I’m sure until the day I die to this Life. I’m well aware that there are no simplistic answers to these questions. Today, the question is, Who is this “Good Shepherd”, and to what sheepfold are we being shepherded? What Voice are we being asked to hear and trust?

Bruno Barnhart, in his book “The Good Wine: Reading John from the Centre”, writes these words:

Jesus, the new Adam, is at once shepherd and Word, “Name” of God, who is sent to men and women, to call them by name – by their true names in the creative Word, which are godly names, generative of divine being. Those who hear the Word of God are gathered into it and become “gods.” Those who receive the Son of God are gathered in to him and become children of God (John 1:12).

Did you hear those words? “Generative of divine beings”. Now that is a startling phrase! The Shepherd is the Divine Word that has been sent to us. The Divine Shepherd dwells within every person. The Divine Shepherd is the One Who knows who we really are, are meant to be. The sheepfold we are being led to is God, where we become “gods”, or “children of God”. Or, as Barnhart puts it: “The Father and I are one” (10:30). The sheepfold into which Jesus leads those who hear his voice, who hear him speak their new names – whether they have been Jews or Gentiles – is ultimately this One, this I Am, which is his own being. The ultimate goal of the Christian - and as a symbol, of all persons - is, by following what is called in mystical theology the “Unitive Way”, to become One with the Divine. To become not “God” as in taking God’s place, but of God in our humanity. We Christians hold a very high doctrine of human nature - and it is Scripturally based!

Christianity is of course not the only religion or path that seeks unity with God. Most do. It has been said that the primary concern of most religions is Incarnation - the recognition of the divine in Creation. I recently finished a book called “Hidden Journey”, by Andrew Harvey, who was the youngest man, at age 25, to be elected a Fellow of an Oxford college. His description of the search for union with God by fully offering himself as a disciple to a Hindu woman who was recognized as an avatar of the goddess known as the Great Mother, was intriguing. While the Eastern context is “strange” to Westerners, I recognized in it many principles of the mystical life that are taught in Christian and Jewish mysticism. Primary is the recognition that we are of the Divine; that we are not, as our Ego tells us, separate from God, or each other. In reflecting on Jesus’ hearers rushing forward to stone Jesus to death, Barnhart comments that “what they rush forward to destroy is the divine-human life which is their own destiny”. Yes, we are often our own worst enemies when it comes to fulfilling our destiny as human-divine beings – and this is why finding and following a Good Shepherd whose “voice” we can trust is critical.

What does that Voice sound like, and what makes Jesus an authentic “Good” Shepherd? A former Archbishop of Canterbury, William Temple, once translated the meaning of “Good” as “The Beautiful One”. He had this to say about the word “Good”, as applied to Jesus and, by association, with us:

….. the word for “good” here is one that represents, not the moral rectitude of goodness, nor its austerity, but its attractiveness. We must not forget that our vocation is so to practice virtue that [people] are won to it; it is possible to be morally upright repulsively! [What a superb phrase – and true!] In the Lord Jesus we see “the beauty of holiness” (Psalm xcvi,9). He was “good” in such manner as to draw all men to Himself (xii,32). And this beauty of goodness is supremely seen in the act by which He would so draw them, wherein He lays down his life for the sheep.

Yes: the words and deeds of unconditional Compassion and Love - these are the “voice” that will or should resonate with the divine nature that is at our core as human beings, and with the urgency of our Journey through this Earthly Life.

We have a tendency to make the picture of Jesus carrying the little lamb all cute and cuddly and benign. Perhaps we should rethink our iconography about this. “Wandering sheep” – that is, we - are often at great danger, and the shepherd has to be tough, wise, experienced, vigilant, sensitive to the waywardness of our “soul”. In other words, if we really want to achieve Oneness with God, really want to become fully human and fully our Selves, we must not listen to the voice of false shepherds about whom the prophet Ezekial warned the people of Israel - and there are plenty around with seductive voices willing to take on the job!

One of the primary reasons we gather as “church” is to learn the character and nature of a true Good Shepherd. And, as well, to learn how to be a Good Sheep. Ultimately, the Sheep and the Shepherd are One – that is the Mystery we are seeking to inhabit. It is our destiny to become, by our union with God, “attractive”, living our moral virtue so that others are drawn by our acts of kindness and justice, not repulsed by moral aloofness or arrogance. We see a lot of the latter these days. I am heartened by the result of recent polls which show that Americans in greater numbers are rejecting the voices of false shepherds.

Every human person is born with the Good Shepherd indwelling in us. The Christ we know as Christians is trustworthy. Our work is to distill out the authentic Shepherd from the false shepherds that others have insinuated into what we now call the Scriptures.

One hymn that will be sung at my funeral (#645, Hymnal 1980 – The King of Love my Shepherd Is) - in hopes that I have been faithful - makes clear what the central character of the faithful Good Shepherd is; it is a paraphrase of the 23rd Psalm appointed for today’s Liturgy. Listen to the Psalm again, in The Message version:

God, my shepherd! I don't need a thing. You have bedded me down in lush meadows,
you find me quiet pools to drink from.
True to your word, you let me catch my breath and send me in the right direction.

Even when the way goes through Death Valley, I'm not afraid when you walk at my side.
Your trusty shepherd's crook makes me feel secure.

You serve me a six-course dinner right in front of my enemies. You revive my drooping head;
my cup brims with blessing.

Your beauty and love chase after me every day of my life. I'm back home in the house of God
for the rest of my life.

You and I have been “attracted” by the true Goodness of the Christ in us. May our Life Together at St. Benedict’s deepen that Divine Presence in us. May our own lives, reflecting Jesus’ giving up His life in love for the sheep, “attract” others to authentic humanity, and to Oneness with the God of Love.