Hear the words of the Gospel lesson for the 2^nd Sunday after Easter:

“I am the good shepherd; and know my sheep, and am known of mine, even as the Father knoweth me, and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.”

Once again, let me pose a question: How smart are sheep? When we first look at them, they appear to be pretty simple creatures, going about their “sheeply” days of sleeping, eating, and playing follow the leader. Sheep, however, are not stupid. Scientific research shows us that sheep can learn and remember much as we do. They are able to apply what they’ve experienced to improve their performance and can retain information for about six weeks. Sheep develop friendships and loyalty, and can even remember a friendly human face, such as that of their shepherd. When we think about it, sheep sound remarkably like us, don’t they?

Isn’t it amazing that, the more we discover about Almighty God’s creation, the more the picture language of the Scriptures which He uses to describe us fits ever more perfectly?

A sheep’s only protection from predators is to herd together and follow the sheep in front of them, who have learned to trust and follow their shepherd. As it turns out, sheep are pretty smart after all! But if a sheep learns a new familiar face – a face that doesn’t necessarily have the sheep’s welfare in mind – that sheep can be led astray. And, if it is the lead sheep following the bad shepherd, all the other sheep get carried off as well.

Fortunately, we do not have a bad shepherd. Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ says, “I am the shepherd – the Good Shepherd!” Not the bad one who leads the sheep astray or fails to provide for them. Jesus doesn’t say He was the good shepherd, and now you’re on your own. He doesn’t say He will be the good shepherd, so get your life right and I’ll be your shepherd then. He says “I am the Good Shepherd, now and forever”. So, if He is the Good Shepherd right now – how does He lead us and tend to us? He does so in the reading of His word and hearing it proclaimed, in images of sheep in sunny pastures of green grasses.

In this world today, Almighty God’s Word has to compete with a very great deal of buzz and noise (and cellphones and computer screens).

Our lives today are full of distractions. When I was a young boy, growing up on San Marco Avenue in St. Augustine, attending St. Agnes Elementary School a few blocks up the street, we had a console television in the living room and a little 13” black & white TV in the kitchen, along with a single wall phone that had a three or four foot cord – and that was it. My older brother and sister and I were more dedicated to family time with our Mom, studying our school lessons, and helping out with the housework.  We didn’t have a choice – life didn’t have that many distractions back then.

Is it possible that, just perhaps, all of life’s distractions in today’s world  affect our attitudes toward church and faith?

Perhaps in a simpler, quieter time it was easier to make time for what God offers to us. Perhaps, in reality, society back then was more aligned to a life that acknowledged Almighty God and His gifts as important. What we have in our current culture is an overabundance of choices. Now that, in and of itself, is not a bad thing. Praise God that we live in a country and a time where we have the freedom of so many choices and such amazing technological advances that offer us more time to enjoy life. However, when the options and assortment of diversions leads us to exclude ourselves from participation with the body of faithful believers in receiving those gifts God comes here to give to us – we are the sheep snatched away by the wolf.

That old wolf, the devil, comes in and lures us out into the world far from our green and grassy pasture, into the places with all the shiny things and all the promises of bigger, better, and more; and just like a steady diet of junk food we are satisfied for a time. Ultimately, we wind up malnourished, feeling hungry and sick to our stomachs. If we keep it up, even though we appear fat and happy, we will eventually starve to death.

When we wander off, chasing what we think is important rather than what God knows is best for us, we are separated from the good grazing land, and our little flock misses us. The Good Shepherd misses us…do we miss them? Do we not hunger and thirst for heavenly things? These are truly wonderful things such as forgiveness, assurance of our eternal salvation, and even shelter from all the constant temptations of the world and the strength to resist them.

Our attention spans have become so short that we have become distracted from our own distractions, not to mention distracted from the great gifts of Almighty God. There never seems to be enough time, or  a “good” time, or enough “me” time. I’ll have to “make time” and that time is always some other time or at a later time. Sometimes, that time never comes, or doesn’t come as often as it should. How can we possibly have time for God and His Word if  we let everything attract our attention, flitting from diversion to diversion like a hummingbird.

It may be that we only realize earthly passions have become a priority when they all add up and leave little to no time for God, except perhaps one short hour or so, on a Sunday morning, or when we have a guilty conscience, or when something truly bad happens and we have nowhere else to turn.

It is no accident that Jesus’ birth was first heralded to shepherds by angels crying out “Fear not; for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.” (John 2:10)  Fear not, because God  the Father makes time for you. Fear not, because He sends you the Good Shepherd. He also promises that the sheep who hear His voice and follow Him are safe. As the prophet Isaiah said: “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6)

It bears repeating, because we all, like sheep, need to be reminded that no matter what we have done, or have thought of doing, or have neglected to do – absolutely nothing is so bad that God cannot forgive us. We are granted the relief of repentance, which is simply the trust to believe that Jesus Christ forgives us. The Good Shepherd doesn’t scold the sheep when they are lost…He doesn’t beat them with a stick…He hoists them, one by one, upon His shoulders, holding them tight and carries them back to the others. He doesn’t cover our sins up. He wipes them out along with our tears and our fear. He paid the price for them all on the cross. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for His sheep.

Jesus gets between His sheep and everything that threatens us with eternal harm. He says to us every time we gather to hear His Word: “I know my sheep. I am the Good Shepherd and you little ones – whether you are an unborn baby, one hundred years old or somewhere in-between – you belong to Me. I know my sheep and my sheep know my voice.” Jesus makes a commitment to us. He preserves and protects us; He knows us; He knows exactly what we are like and what is in our hearts; He knows we are sinners in need of a Saviour.

The Prophet Ezekiel wrote of the coming Christ: “…Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out…where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day…I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick.” (Ezekiel 34:11,16) Jesus is the Good Shepherd. We, like sheep, hear the Shepherd’s voice. He seeks us out and we hear Him speak in His Holy Word and we follow Him in trust.

The author of the novel “Fight Club”, Chuck Palaniuk, is quoted as stating: “People don’t want their problems solved. Their dramas. Their distractions. Their stories resolved. Because what would they have left? Just the big scary unknown.” What a dismal outlook on life – the big scary unknown. While our lives certainly have unknowns, and God doesn’t promise to fix our lives for us or cut through the drama, there is no big scary unknown waiting in the shadows. The point here is not asking God to sort out all the petty bothers of this short life. Those things are nothing compared to the wondrous eternal things to come.

The good news is here; and it is the great joy of Almighty God with His voice like thunder shouting “I AM!” What would we think if He stood in front of us and said “I AM!”  I am what? I am all there is, I am your everything at every time. I am gentle Jesus untangling you from the thicket, and you can trust Me to take you home.

Despite all the competition in today’s world for our attention, Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, promises us that we will know His voice. Sheep don’t know any differently  – they follow their shepherd in complete, unconditional trust. We think we know differently. We think there must be terms and conditions in the fine print, but that is just the secular world talking again and Satan’s whispers. It fills our ears with a background hum trying to drown out God’s Holy Word.

The Good Shepherd knows we are His sheep from before the day of our birth. We know our Good Shepherd from our rebirth in the faith. Let our souls be unburdened because we are completely forgiven through His sacrifice upon the cross. We, each and every one of us, are that little lamb that Jesus carries back into the fold.

Our Lord and Saviour died and rose from the dead so that we too may daily die to sin and rise forgiven and restored, trusting our Good Shepherd to lead us into His pasture. And what do we see when we enter that pasture? We see all our fellow sheep who have faithfully followed Him. We are living parts, fit together as one body with Jesus Christ as our head – comforted by His forgiveness and assured of our salvation in Him.

We are the church; we are the communion of saints. We gather around the Scriptures and the Sacraments, and Jesus Christ dwells within us and makes us radiant with His love.

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)

Let the world know our Redeemer lives, and the Good Shepherd seeks them too.

Amen,

The Rev. Mr. Timothy Fleming