Sermon Text: Psalm 23, 1 John 3:16-24, John 10:11-18
7 May 2006
We are city folks -- all of us here. There are probably a few of us who grew up on a farm, but for the most part, the closest any of us ever get to sheep is at a petting zoo. If you really want to get to know a sheep, one of the fun and educational events here in Atlanta takes place every spring -- it was actually a week ago Saturday -- Sheep to Shawl Day at the Atlanta History Center. They have a fold of sheep there -- a fold, by the way is what they call a group of sheep -- and in late spring every year, they shear the sheep, and then wash, card, spin, and weave the wool. It's a fun way to learn something about sheep.
Some of what we know about sheep actually isn't very flattering. They stray from the fold. They are easily lost. They need to be guided to food and water. They need protection. And once lost out in the wild, they are easy prey for wild animals like wolves. There are still places in the world where sheep and shepherds roam much like they did during biblical times. And it's not an easy life. Shepherds have to put up with simple food, and harsh weather. Even when they're bored, they have to stay alert for straying sheep and wandering wolves. Shepherds have to be diligent, they have to persevere.
And as probably most of you know, over and over in the Bible, we human beings -- that's us folks -- are compared to sheep, while God is called the shepherd. Jesus as the Good Shepherd is one of the most familiar and comforting images we have from the Bible. "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep," Jesus tells us in John's gospel.
And then there is Psalm 23 (which we read together in our call to worship). It's such a familiar and comforting passage. It's often used in funerals, it becomes a prayer in a hospital room, it is a comfort in the middle of the night when you can't sleep. "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me besides still waters, he restores my soul." Lord, give me green pastures, and still waters. That's where I want to be.
But there is more to the scriptures and more to this image of sheep and the Good Shepherd than comfort. Remember what Jesus says at the end of John's gospel? When he's talking to Peter? He asks him 3 times -- Peter do you love me? And each time, after Peter says Yes Lord, Jesus says, Then feed my sheep. We can't forget that Jesus calls us -- his followers -- to feed his sheep.
So which one is it? Be the sheep? Or feed the sheep? Like most ideas in the scriptures, it's not either/or. It's both/and. There's comfort in the scriptures and there's challenge.
I've been struggling all week with this idea of our faith being both a comfort and a challenge. Let's talk straight. Who needs challenge? I don't know about you, but I'm barely keeping up with the basics. It's May, if you have kids in school, it's the end of a long school year, and May is full of end of year celebrations -- graduations, promotions, girl scouts, boy scouts, cub scouts, soccer, baseball, you name it. Even if you don't have kids in school, you're probably being invited to everyone else's events. Is anybody worn out yet?
So who needs challenge at church? This church has worked hard -- very hard -- the last six months. We are short on staff and long on work. I know there are leaders here who are exhausted, worn out. I'm worn out.
It's tempting to want to stay in those green pastures and rest by those still waters. But that is not what it means to be a sheep following the Good Shepherd. The shepherd who has laid down his life for us calls us -- challenges us -- to lay down our lives for one another.
The first letter from John spells this out for us very clearly. "We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us -- and we ought to lay down our lives for one another."
The writer of this letter goes on to instruct us in how to love. "Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action."
Simple words. Challenging to live by. What does it mean to love in truth and action?
For some reason, the church has more trouble with this than anybody sometimes. In our desire to love one another we sometimes forget the truth part. To love in truth means in our caring and compassion for each other, we speak the truth in love. Sometimes this is called tough love.
The simplest demonstration of this is the child before dinner. "I'm hungry," the five-year-old whines at 5 o'clock. "I want a cookie." "No, honey, that will spoil your dinner." Mom replies. "I want a cookie. I want it now!" the five-year-old is building up to a tantrum. So what does the loving, kind, compassionate, mother do? Does she say, "Sure, of course you know best, you can have the cookie." No. The loving, kind, compassionate mother says, "No cookie." She doesn't give in just because she is being bullied.
If we think in the church that "love one another" means the church gives people everything they ask for, that can be destructive to the Body of Christ, which is the church.
Loving in truth means we have boundaries; we expect accountability. I am reading a book called 10 Dumb Things Churches Do and How to Avoid Them. One of the dumb things is to permit self-indulgent behavior. We let people get by with behavior that hurts the Body of Christ, because we just don't like conflict. The author of this book, Rev. Philip Wiehe, who is writing from his experience as a pastor and consultant with many churches, says "Somehow, the idea got loose that it is un-christian and possibly un-American to deny people anything. We forget that sometimes loving one another means setting some limits with one another" (Philip Wiehe, 10 Dumb Things Churches Do And How to Avoid Them, Harrisburg, VA: Morehouse Publishing, 2001, p. 34).
Sometimes people want help that hurts them in the long run. A good example of this is NETWorks, our cooperative ministry. Lynne Stone, the director, is superb at this work. When people get into a situation where they are short on rent or can't pay their utilities, she doesn't just hand them a check. She finds out how they got into their situation, and then helps them make a plan so it won't happen again.
Besides loving in truth, there is loving in action. Right after church today, there is a group of newcomers -- visitors and new members -- who are meeting together to learn more about this church. And we are going to talk about loving in action. We are not just going to talk about what a loving, caring welcoming church we are here. We are going to talk about how we individually and as a body put that love into action. That's why we are here -- to work together as the Body of Christ, so that we can be Christ in the world.
If you're thinking "I'm too old, I'm too young, I'm too anything" -- that's simply not true. We have one of our older members who is starting a prayer shawl ministry. If you can knit or crochet -- and actually even if you can't, they'll teach you -- you can do this. We have other members whose ministry is to keep in touch with folks by notes and cards. We have some younger members who have learned to ring bells. We have other members who have signed up to be part of our homebound visitation program. If you think that someone else is going to do it, that's not what it means to be the body of Christ. That's not what it means to be the church. We -- all of us -- are the church. Every one of us here must be a contributor, not just a consumer. And there are all kinds of ways to do this.
The message we learn from the scriptures today takes us outside the doors of the church. In today's gospel reading from John, Jesus says "I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice." This was a radically inclusive message -- just imagine how the Jews who were listening to this teaching of Jesus heard this. Jesus was saying the message of God's shepherding love and care is for everyone -- not just the in crowd. God is with us, but God is not ours to own -- the God who shepherds us to life also gives life to the world (J. Clinton McCann, Jr., Psalms, New Interpreter's Bible: A Commentary in Twelve Volumes, Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1996, p.771).
That message is for us, right now, here in this church. I was invited recently to sit in on one of the meetings of the search team. And at one point, the group shared what they thought this church needed in the next 18 months. Each person said practically the same thing: we need to look outside ourselves. We need to focus on a mission beyond this church. We need to care about the people in the community. We need to broaden our vision. Hearing all this was very hopeful. In order to thrive, and not just survive, we do need to look beyond ourselves.
We have been going through a lot of transition here in the last 5 months. Change. And there is going to be more. Following board and congregational approval, we should have an interim senior pastor here by June 1, and part of his purpose is to help determine where we are going. I have been serving as the acting senior minister for the past 5 months. And as the current pastor -- did you know that the word pastor means shepherd? -- I have something to tell you. I hate to tell you -- it kind of feels like tough love. Because I know we're tired. But when this new shepherd comes in, it will be a mistake if we think that this person will be the shepherd while the rest of us sit around and just eat grass in the pasture. If this church is going to thrive, and not just survive, we are going to have to not just BE the sheep but FEED the sheep.
There's a tendency around here to let maybe 20 so folks carry the load, while the rest of us hang out in the pasture. You can see it with the way we give time and treasure. The nominating committee is beginning their work this week for the next service year which starts in July. And it's frustrating work, because so many people say no. Lots of people want to be the sheep, not help feed the sheep. It's the same way with money. Our stewardship chair, Scott Kelly, told me that 18 households contribute 50 percent of our budget. We can't have a handful carrying the load of this church while the rest of us are out grazing in the grass.
The image of the green pasture and the still waters -- it's tempting alright. That's where I want to be. Especially right now after all we've been through in this church. And there is a time for green pastures and still waters. That's the comfort of our faith -- there are times when we are in a dark valley -- from sickness, or suffering, or sadness. Where we feel we are in survival mode. And during those times, we remember that God is there to comfort us. We remember that God is the one who leads us to the green pastures and still waters. And restores our souls.
But those green pastures and still waters are not a permanent resting place. So after we've rested, we remember the challenge. There are a lot of sheep out there who are not yet part of the fold. Brothers and sisters in need of a church that calls them into a relationship with the Good Shepherd.
We ARE the sheep. But part of our call is to feed HIS Sheep. Amen.
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