A Sheepish Sermon for Easter 4

The Lord is my shepherd.

Well, that makes me the sheep, doesn’t it? And that simple suggestion calls up all sorts of images and connotations. I am a sheep. Baaa.

Knowing how sheep were herded and tended in the biblical time and location makes a difference to how we hear the message of the psalmist and of Jesus. Sheep: not the brightest creature God created, right? We hear about the stupidity of sheep, we teach our kids camp songs about how we don’t want to BE sheep, the scriptures repeatedly mention how the sheep are easily led or wandering astray.

However: the biblical references here lead us in a different direction.

Sheep: belonging to one, guarded by another, tended to by yet another.

Belonging.

The one who owned would have had significant interest in the well-being of the sheep; the sheep would have provided wool, food, income. The owner wanted to make sure there was health and abundance for the sheep, to keep them healthy, to keep them his own. We’ve all seen how we treat our animals – we know them, we know where they belong, we know when there’s something not quite right with them, we look after them. And so, those that ‘belong’ to us know us and know they will be loved.

Belonging to someone can, therefore, be a good thing.

Then we get the guarding. Well, we all like to be looked after, don’t we? In this society, our doors have locks. We can call the emergency services if we need. We can ask a neighbor to keep an eye on things while we’re away. Guarding is serious business, and always has been.

So the reference to the gatekeeper here is important to us, the sheep. The gatekeeper will make sure that we all get inside safely at the end of our day. The gatekeeper will make sure that any stragglers are found and brought home, that any stragglers from another flock are returned safely to their home. The gatekeeper will make sure that no dangers come in, even to the point of putting himself in danger to fight off thieves, wolves, other unsavouries. The gatekeeper is so dedicated to keeping the flock together, for their own benefit, that he will sleep at the gate and be ever on guard.

Being guarded can be a good thing.

Then we have the tending.

The shepherd has the most hands-on connection with the sheep. He is walking with them day by day, he is calling us – by name – to follow. Sure, the sheep can choose to ignore the shepherd and go their own way, but even then we hear of the biblical shepherds who came after the lost sheep, who invited them back.

Being part of a flock is being in community; it’s the support and culmination of care. Being part of a flock means that the shepherd is going to provide: food, shelter, safety. The shepherd will find the green pastures that were few and far between in the dessert of the scriptures. He will find some stream that is calm enough to approach and drink from; also a rarity. (Imagine if we had to get all of our water from the Birdtail – hardly ‘still waters’ recently!)

He will carry a staff to pull us from rocky cliffs and a rod to beat away any approaching threats. He will journey with us, finding a place for us to rest; he will keep us healthy; he will provide everything we need – individually and as a community - and more.

Being herded, being tended to, can be a good thing.

So. The Lord is my Shepherd. I am God’s sheep. I am not a stupid wandering creature: I am known, I am guarded, I am cared for. Whether it’s the bright sunny days or the darkest most threatening situations, I have someone to rely upon.

He restores my soul; he guides me in the right direction. He gives me everything I need for this life and –more importantly-for the next. He encourages me to change enemies into friends at the heavenly banquet.

He pours out his grace so completely that it overflows any of my expectations: my cup overflows without concern of making a mess or wasting the feast but as a celebration of such abundance that I can’t even begin to comprehend.

I am the one that Jesus himself came for, to bring life: to bring that spiritual health and joy and blessing- and to have them in such abundance that I can’t help but to share. I am the one who can choose to follow that leader, that great shepherd of the sheep, to celebrate his promise that he came to bring life, and have it abundantly.

The Lord is my shepherd; I am God’s sheep. And I wouldn’t want to be anything else.

Sermon, Easter 3 - The Road to Emmaus

There’s a song that came out last year, from the Irish folk band ‘Mumford and Sons’. The song is titled “Hopeless Wanderer” and the general message indicates that the journey of the singer is not about escaping the ordinary, or constantly seeking the next great adventure. Rather, the point is that the singer sees the moment as a journey. He speaks of each moment as an opportunity to fall in love with the surroundings and people, claiming “I will learn to love the skies I’m under”. What a wonderful message, to endeavor to be fully present in the moment – seeing exactly what and who are there, not focused on the past or looking solely to the future. And – here’s the hard part – the singer is suggesting that EVERY moment is THE moment to be savoured. So no matter what happened last night, today is a time to celebrate being in the here and now. No matter what the plans are for tomorrow, today is something to be held up and enjoyed.

This message of that song is no that different from the message of the Gospel today. The road to Emmaus. Again, it’s a well-loved piece of scripture, one that speaks to many of us. One that reminds us about the importance of living in the moment – in THIS moment – to the best of our ability. And that reminder comes to us from the disciples, who are not quite getting it at the time. Sigh – if only the disciples had been able to listen to our Irish folk band to understand it better!

Because here they are, the disciples. The Christ followers. Headed to a new town, because the women at the tomb told them to go. They’re journeying, but they aren’t focused on the now. Even when they chat with Jesus who has appeared to them, they aren’t paying attention – they don’t recognise him. Sure, he’s going to look a bit different, having been resurrected. But it’s still Jesus. And as we all know, looks aren’t everything – we can tell our loved ones by more than their appearance.

So there they are, walking along. Trudging, likely. Tired, dusty, hungry, thirsty, a little depressed. And Jesus asks them what they’re chatting about. Now, had they been paying attention, they would have seen in front of them the risen Christ. Instead, they are so focused on the past that they go through the entire story for him. Is he the ONLY one who doesn’t know what’s happened. Sigh. You can almost hear them, like a petulant child, telling the story.

Jesus, noticing how defeated they sound, realizes that their journey needs more of a story. And so he enters into telling the story all over again for them. Everything they’ve heard, everything he’s taught them, the scriptures being opened. It’s a timeless act, as the scriptures always have relevance and meaning to the NOW moment. And still the disciples don’t see Jesus right there, they just see another man, journeying, as the end of the day nears.

So, the day is ending, they need to find food and shelter, and they extend the basic offer of hospitality to this man. And Jesus joins them; he blesses the food with the same words he’d used just a few days earlier at the last supper. He breaks and shares the bread with them, in the exact same manner he had just a few days before. Can you imagine watching this – seeing Jesus give them every possible cue and clue as to who he is – and still his disciples did not understand. They were still depressed because of the past. They were too busy thinking about what the future might mean without Jesus there to lead them. And so they missed the moment, the NOW, the very presence of the risen saviour. They missed it.

Until. Until they stopped being so focused on the past and future that they were able to be present in the NOW. Until they were able to truly LOOK and see what a great gift had been given them. Until the realized that their journey was significant because it was a journey, a collection of important moments.

And once they had clued in, once they had realized that they were meant to live in the NOW, Jesus ‘vanished from their sight’. They did some reflecting – which is a good thing – not to dwell on the past but to learn from the past to make the present even better. And the realized – Christ had been present with them to encourage them to focus on the here and now, to celebrate those moments, to find the extraordinary in the ordinary. To delight in the gift of the now instead of being disappointed by the past or trapped by the potential future.

What a great message for them. It’s so great that they feel compelled to share it. Live in the NOW! Seek the wonderful that’s HERE! Don’t brood on the past or be overwhelmed by the future. Right here, right now, Jesus is present.

What a great message for the disciples of TODAY to hear. We get caught up in the same things – we get so busy, distracted, pensive, etc. that we miss the moment. We miss the times when someone comes along and our journey becomes a bit easier because we now have company to journey with us. We miss the people who want to journey with us but don’t feel they can engage with us. We miss the people who would share faith with us, discussing faith or opening the scriptures, because we’re afraid we might offend if we talk faith. We miss the people who would break bread with us, sharing in hospitality and nourishment, thereby dispelling loneliness and fear. We miss out because we are the disciples; we’re thinking about ourselves: our past, our future, our distractions. We become the ones spiritually trudging along the road, shuffling our feet and keeping our heads down.

Instead, we should be celebrating. We’re on a journey! We’re walking together in faith! We should be responding to that call to “love the skies we’re under”, to live in the moment. And when we do that, we’ll find Jesus – our eyes will be opened to the companions along our way. We’ll recognize the gifts of the people walking with us, even if it’s just for a short time. We’ll be enlightened by the opportunity to learn new things, to discuss what the scriptures mean, how our faith inspires. We’ll receive the spiritual nourishment of joining together for the family meal, enjoying company with others and with God. We’ll know that our hearts are burning within us, because we are in the presence of the risen and living God, who is constantly showing himself to us as we continue along our journey.

May our journey be joy-filled, may our eyes be open to the wonders of each and every moment, may we know the truth of the risen Christ as we encounter the world in front of us.