Year A Easter 4 2023 Sheeple

Year A Easter 4, 30 April 2023

St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA

“Sheeple”

Collect: O God, whose Son Jesus is the good shepherd of your people: Grant that when we hear his voice we may know him who calls us each by name, and follow where he leads; who, with you and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Psalm 23

1 The Lord is my shepherd; *

I shall not be in want.

2 He makes me lie down in green pastures *

and leads me beside still waters.

3 He revives my soul *

and guides me along right pathways for his Name's sake.

4 Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil; *

for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

5 You spread a table before me in the presence of those who trouble me; *

you have anointed my head with oil, and my cup is running over.

6 Surely your goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, *

and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

John 10:1-10

Jesus said, “Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.” Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

So again Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

Today is Good Shepherd Sunday, and if you look at the readings for today you can see why. In the Acts, the people of the Resurrected Lord flocked together, caring for one another. In I Peter, we look to Jesus as our model and guide. And the other two passages are so explicit. We read Psalm 23 so readily, but it is so ubiquitous we so often miss the meaning of it. And John 10 shows, for me, the purpose of Christ’s coming and resurrection.

Today I want to turn my attention to what it means to have a Shepherd, what it really means to be a sheep. There is a derogatory term that has come into play, sheeple, people who are, and I quote, “compared to sheep in being docile, foolish, or easily led.” Our egos have us reject this notion of being sheep, but that was not David’s intent or Jesus’ in their words.

David had been a Shepherd, so for him to say the Lord is Shepherd is a big deal. He knew the ins and outs of sheep. All they required, how to care for them best. And in the Psalm he walks his way through living one’s life in the Lord’s flock, and the eternal reward of doing so. David would have gladly worn the label, Sheeple, if it were in the Lord’s flock. But if you look into the promises made, it describes a place of security and abundance. Death comes, but there is no evil in death. Enemies are present, but we have a place at the Lord’s table and have nothing to fear. It does not deny the harder parts of life, but it alleviates them. It gives us a place to turn through the twists and turmoils of living. And then, “I will dwell in the house of the Lord, for ever.” Sounds pretty good to me.

You may have heard my sermon on my favorite verse, John 10:10 which ends today’s Gospel reading, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” So much of my theology and ministry is based on my view of Jesus’ promise to us, his flock. Jesus lived in the rural area in the north of Israel, the Galilee, and would have known the pastoral life of a shepherd well. Sheepherders need carpenters, too.

Jesus alludes to the security and abundance David spoke of in Psalm 23. So often we hear these words, but do not take the steps to embody them and live them out. 

Abundance is a mindset, and it is an ethical and theological foundation of so much of what we do. If our God is a god of Abundance, providing all that we need and the safety to live in that abundance, how can we not respond graciously and generously?

We may have lots of excuses, note excuses not reasons, by the way. Abundance goes against our experience. Being in want. Having things run out. Entropy is a universal law. Things fall apart. Dishes break, and don’t go back together. Heat expands and does not return. But the stories we tell at church are miracles. Entropy retreats in the face of Resurrection. The blind see. The deaf hear. The dead rise again. Our God is a God of Abundance, and Entropy flees. Maybe that is what a miracle is, when Entropy stops having sway.

I realize all I have just said is a statement of faith. Drivel to those that do not share it. Aspirational for many striving to grow in their faith.

Christ’s love was (and is) Gracious and Generous. We are called to Jesus’ example and understanding that God is good and abundant in Grace. As was read from I Peter, 

For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps.

That is our goal. But how do we get there?

It comes down to basics. Even though these words we look at today are 2,000 years old, they still ring pretty true. Scientifically accurate even.

We are fearfully and wonderfully made, Scripture tells us. [Ps. 139:14] But we are hardwired for relationships. In our neural programming it is so etched into our hard drives between our ears we do not even know it. It is a part of us. As I often point out, we cannot tickle ourselves. We are meant to live socially. But even more, our very brains are wired to be in relationship.

Studies have shown that a baby’s heart rate slows in utero when it hears its mother’s voice. Think about that. Before birth we are in relationship with our mother that we have not even met! 

7 to 12 year olds were played less than a second of women’s voices saying nonsense words, and over 97% of them were able to tell which one of them was their mother. [Source] The power of a voice, especially one in an abiding relationship, cannot be dismissed. And Jesus says the same thing of himself:

“The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.”

We know his voice, and he knows us by name. It is one thing for us to know and love the Lord, but one of the powerful images repeatedly throughout Scripture is that God knows us. GOD KNOWS YOU! By name, by the number of hairs on your head, by likes and dislikes, by good and bad, and in knowing you God LOVES YOU! Wow!

“See, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands…”  Isaiah 49:16

“But even the hairs of your head are all counted. Do not be afraid…” Luke 12:7

“Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. To everyone who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give a white stone, and on the white stone is written a new name that no one knows except the one who receives it.” Revelation 2:17

If the Lord is our Shepherd, we know him and he knows us. 

“For now we see only a reflection, as in a mirror, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.” I Cor. 13:12

What a promise. But even more, it is not something yet to be. It is about that abundance here & now. Right here and right now.

If we take Jesus at face value, that he has come to give us abundant life, then that is what he means. That is life right now. The thief lives in the moment, the major part of Jesus’ metaphor. The thief lives in the moment. I can take this NOW. This can be mine NOW. Jesus’ concern begins in the now and continues into the ALWAYS.

The thief comes to fulfill their needs, or even worse, their wants of the moment. The shepherd, however, comes to fulfill the needs of his flock. The perspective makes all the difference.

The Shepherd knows our names, and calls us by them. The Shepherd binds our wounds so that we are healed. The Shepherd ensures we are fed. The Shepherd keeps us safe, even putting himself at risk to protect his sheep. The Shepherd leads our way to the fields so that we can live in the promised abundance. And when our days are done, the Shepherd brings us home. And when we get there he is the gate as well to let us in.

I want this. I want this security. I want this abundance. I want to be the Lord’s Sheep. I want to be counted among Jesus’ Sheeple. On top of that, I have been a paid minister for 36 years. In that time, I can attest that not in one of my churches have the members been “compared to sheep in being docile, foolish, or easily led.” Docile. Nope. Foolish. Nope. Easily led. I don’t have to say it. We are Jesus’ Flock, his Sheeple.

Drivel to those who are outside the fold, the greatest blessing to those who claim it.

This imagery is so strong. We cannot dismiss it. Our bishops guide our church, and what is their symbol? A shepherd’s crook. I am called a Pastor, which is just another word for Shepherd.

In my office, I have a lot of artifacts that I have collected over the years. From my time as a teacher, a church planter, and the many churches I have served over the years. When people step in they notice and often comment on the bric-a-brac. But they would not be there without a meaning and purpose.

Here is this week’s example. When I first moved to Ashland I got this. It is a sheep with a shovel. I see it and am reminded that I am meant to follow, and to be at work. Period. It is not an either/or. It is a both/and. Each and every one of us. 

If we count ourselves in the Lord’s fold, know this. We do not give up anything, except the sin that clings so closely and will only lead us to the path of destruction. Jesus came for us to have life and to have it abundantly. A big part of the Life Abundant is having a life of meaning and purpose, a life of making a difference. When we are led into green pastures and beside still waters, it is so we can be who we were born to be. We do not lose anything, and yet gain everything. So dear Sheeple of God, pick up your shovel and abide in that promised abundance! Thanks be to God! Amen