The good shepherd lays down his life...
O God be in my mouth as I speak for you and fill this place with your
great grace, that we may leave this place less of what we use to be, and more
of what we ought to be, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his
life for the sheep.
Friday before last, I was exchanging “cars and daughters”
with Cynthia at Brewster’s on Peachtree. Cynthia had been driving my car and
had noticed there was a tear in one of the tires.
After passing the kids from one parent to the other, I
hopped into the car to drive to the tire shop next to Lowe’s.
As I traveled along with the packed traffic on Peachtree,
I found myself listening to 92.9, known as Dave FM. Maybe you have seen some of
their billboards around town, “rock without rules,” I believe is their motto.
The radio station was running one of those radio contests
where you try and identify the title of a song after you are given a few
lyrics. The grand prize was two tickets to the Bob Dylan concert at Chastain on
Friday evening.
All right, everyone be honest. Who here at St. Martin’s
has ever won anything on a radio contest? Neither have I.
Since there were no kids in the car, I thought it would be
okay to dial, talk on the phone, and drive at the same time.
The phone rang and rang for what seemed like a minute. By
the time, the station picked up I was convinced the tickets were long gone to
some other person who had a super computer dial up system from Best Buy that
instantly blocked all other calls from getting through.
Well imagine my surprise when the DJ told me that I was
the first caller. Crossing my fingers, I gave the song title.
The DJ congratulated me and this past Friday for the first
time in my entire life, I was sitting at Chastain as a guest of the local radio
station enjoying one of my all time favorite rock and rollers.
Oh yes, you’re probably wondering what the words were to
the song I identified: Momma’s in
the basement mixing up the medicine, I’m on the pavement thinking about the
government.
The song is called Subterranean Homesick Blues for
the Dylan fans in the congregation. And No, he did not play it at the concert.
Of course, in addition to bringing back some college
memories, attending the concert did make me pause and reflect on the different
sorts of people that I had idolized in my younger days.
Musically, Dylan was probably one of my greatest
influences, although my classically trained wife still likes to point out that
he really doesn’t know how to sing.
Spiritually and intellectually, most of you know that C.
S. Lewis was and continues to be one of my favorite writers and Christian
mentors.
And when it comes to historical figures, I never get tired
of reading books about the life of Sir Winston Churchill.
I am sure that many of you have your own heroes as well,
and this being Good Shepherd Sunday, it is not a bad time to think about those
men and women that have impacted our lives in significant ways.
In our gospel lesson we hear Jesus telling his disciples
that he is the ultimate good shepherd for their lives and their souls.
And I think it is safe to say, that good shepherds are the
types of people that help give our lives a clearer sense of direction and
purpose.
Of course, they don’t have to be famous people. For
example this Sunday, we honor our Stephen’s ministers.
Men and women that in quiet and anonymous ways give love
and support to people in our parish in times of personal crisis.
And truth be told, the best sorts of shepherds are
probably not the kind that adorn the walls of our teenagers, play concerts at
Chastain, and dazzle us at Turner stadium.
No, good shepherds are the people that live right next
door to us.
They are our teachers, our clergy, our parents, our
brothers and sisters, they are our friends, they are the people that we hold
closest to our hearts.
They are those individuals that have the greatest impact
on the lives and the choices that we make in our lives as Christians.
This point was emphasized for me again this week during a
funeral for member of the church who had died at the age of 48 from a heart
attack.
Three people spoke during his service. Two were close
friends that shared many wonderful stories about Gary’s life. But ultimately it
was his 17 year old son, who had the greatest impact on the gathering.
He spoke of how much his Dad had meant to his life. How he
always made time for him, never missed a basketball game, was his confidant,
and greatest friend.
This type of testimony spoke volumes about how the
simplest things; spending time together with your children can impact the lives
of those we love.
And in this case, we were all reminded that none of us
ever knows how much time we have as a shepherd on this earth and this makes our
individual choices even more important.
On the fourth Sunday of the Easter Season, Jesus gives us
some hints about how we are to make those choices.
He tells his followers that he is the good shepherd that
is willing to lay down his life for his sheep.
The hired hand sees danger coming and flees from his
responsibilities.
The hired help does not have any investment in the well
being of the sheep.
This distinction is personally useful for me because it
reminds me that while I continue to love Dylan’s music. I am wise enough after
twenty years to know that Bob doesn’t really care much about how my life turns
out.
And truth be told, it is probably more the other way
around, my financial resources have benefited his life, kept his records in the
top ten and probably paid helped make the occasional alimony payment.
Jesus claim on our lives as his followers as his sheep is
different from that of a celebrity or sports idol.
Our Lord wishes us to see that for him his ownership or
investment in us determines the quality of life that he wishes his flock to
have.
The sheep belong to Jesus because he gave his life for us. He sacrificed the most important thing he possessed to demonstrate the depths of his great love for us.
And this how I believe in our own lives we answer the call
of discipleship and the call of being a good shepherd.
For we are not only called to follow Christ as the good
shepherd but we are called to be that “good shepherd” to each other.
This involves throwing away the usual, “what can I get for
myself” equation that usually guides human relationship today.
Instead it means that we concentrate as Jesus did on what
we can give to others and this is what ultimately brings meaning to our lives
as Christians in the church today.
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his
life for the sheep.
And this is precisely what Christ asks us to do each day,
and each moment of our live no matter how long we may have.