The text of the sermon, based on John 10.11-18, preached with the people of St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church, Spartanburg, SC, on the 4th Sunday after Easter, April 21, 2024.
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Easter Day has come and gone. Our March 31 celebration, a fast-fading memory. Nevertheless, we persist in our pilgrimage through the Season of Easter. Also known as Eastertide. Also known as the Great 50 Days, from Easter Day to the Day of Pentecost.[1]
For Christians, it makes all the sense in the world…in the universe that we take time to continue, to deepen our reflection on that Divine act in human history that gives meaning to (that is the meaning of) our lives: the resurrection of Jesus.
In the eternal light of Jesus’ resurrection, today, let us hear afresh his declaration of leadership: “I am the good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep…I know my own and my own know me.”
Initially, I confess that I consider it a bit (just a bit!) unfortunate that Jesus said this. For any close identification of speech and speaker can influence greatly how the words are understood. Therefore, it is no accident that for centuries the application of this shepherd imagery of leadership has been confined mainly to the church, and then, largely, to clergy.
Truth is, in Christian community, all of us are shepherds. We claim that calling every time we baptize. During the baptismal liturgy, we – parents, godparents, and the whole community – are asked, “Will you who witness these vows do all in your power to support these persons in their life in Christ?” And we respond with righteously riotous vigor, “We will!”[2] Thereby, we, each and all, re-claim and re-proclaim our role as shepherds who lead and guide, nurture and watch over those who come into the caring “sheepfold” of Christian community.
What, then, does it mean to be a Christian shepherd? A Christian leader? Two principles. Responsibility and mutuality.
Responsibility. Response-ability. That capacity to choose to respond to the needs of others. Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep…(and) I lay it down of my own accord.”
Jesus chose to be crucified. Therefore, the cross is the principal symbol of sacrificial leadership for Jesus and us. No, we are not required to journey to Jerusalem to be hoisted up on a cross to demonstrate our acceptance of this responsibility. That was Jesus’ destiny. Nevertheless, leadership, on occasion, does demand dying. And there are many ways to die. This language of “laying down our lives” is metaphorical, but no less actual.
As my namesake, the Apostle Paul, in writing about spiritual gifts[3] and love,[4] offered examples so that the Christians in the ancient city of Corinth and, centuries later, we would know what he meant, so, I share some of my conscious choices to die to myself (indeed, my self)…
Whenever I refuse to insist on having my way…
Or whenever I, seated at a table of decision-making look around to see who is not present, not represented, and then seek to help voices other than mine, sometimes contrary to mine to be heard…
Or whenever I, in response to criticism, refuse to defend or excuse myself, but rather remain quiet, patiently listening for some truth about me that I, in my ignorance, sometimes, arrogance, cannot see…
Or whenever I, in the struggle to be true to myself, what I think and feel, believe and know, accept and affirm the sometimes-conflicting authenticity of others.
To lead is to die. This is true, I believe, whether one is a shepherd-leader in the church or in the world. Whether internationally, nationally, regionally, locally. Whether as an elected or appointed official. And in every relationship, whether professional or personal, whether within one’s family, among one’s friends, or in the company of strangers.
This kind of dying is difficult…undesirable. For we humans are inherently (often selfishly) self-interested. Therefore, dying for the sake of another is fundamentally counter-intuitive. This explains why there are so many “bad” shepherds, who, as the prophet Ezekiel denounces, charged with the care of others, care largely, sometimes only for themselves.[5]
Mutuality. Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me.”
Shared experience and knowledge are essential, inescapable aspects of the relationship of shepherd and sheep, the leader and the led. And mutual vulnerability. And mutual awareness and acknowledgment of personal woundedness, brokenness. Neither the leader nor the led ever have it all together – possessing all wisdom and understanding, having no doubts, making no mistakes. For this is a reciprocal relationship of honesty and trust.
Leaders. Those who are willing to die and to be real with those they serve. True for Jesus. True for us.
Final word. We, each and all of us, are shepherds and sheep. Always. Therefore, life lived in relationship involves knowing when to lead and when to be led. Even more complicated, a good shepherd knows how to be led while leading. A good sheep knows how to lead while being led.
Very truly, I say to you, we have the greatest, grandest example in the world…in the universe. For Jesus, who is our shepherd also is our sacrificial lamb.
© 2024 PRA
#Jesus ##Jesusresurrection #Jesusteaching #shepherd #leadership #shepherdleadership #responsibility #mutuality #shepherdandsheep
Illustration: The Good Shepherd, James Tissot (1836-1902)
[1] This year, May 19.
[2] The Book of Common Prayer, page 303
[3] 1 Corinthians 12
[4] 1 Corinthians 13
[5] See Ezekiel 34.1-10.
occasional observations of mind and heart, soul and spirit 