The Good Shepherd is Calling

St. Peter's 

Easter 4A

April 30, 2023

Our choir did a lovely job of singing the 23rd Psalm this morning.

I have a hard time hearing the 23rd Psalm sung without thinking about the Vicar of Dibley.

Which started me thinking about the special relationship that show had with sheep...

including the groundbreaking interrupting sheep joke at the end of the episode titled the Christmas Lunch Incident in 1996.

You remember that one,

Geraldine, the Vicar, played by Dawn French, and Alice, her verger, played by Emma Chambers are having tea in the sacristy when Geraldine says, Knock, knock.

Who's there?

The interrupting sheep.

The interrupting she...

Baaaaa!

You get it?

No, sorry, 'cause I hadn't finished my bit. Do it again, and...

No, that's the joke, you see. The interrupting sheep always interrupts people. See?

And that's funny?

Yes. It's hilarious.

Well, depending on your preferred level of comedy.

Today is commonly known as Good Shepherd Sunday.

Every year in the middle of the Easter season,

one Sunday gets the distinction of being dedicated to the metaphor of Jesus being the Good Shepherd.

The parable of the Good Shepherd is in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark

the parable of the lost sheep in the Gospel of Luke

And we have this allegorical passage from John.

The metaphor of God's anointed one being a good shepherd starts in the Hebrew scriptures

with the 23rd Psalm and some passages in Ezekiel

and continues through the end of the Bible into the Revelation to John.

The Good Shepherd story is such an important one in Christianity.

The earliest Christian art in the catacombs of Rome depict a man carrying a sheep.

The image has messianic and kingship overtones

it connects Jesus with the history of David and the line of God's people

It tells of servant hood and personal relationship

it talks about the realities of life

sometimes we are stuck in hard places

sometimes we are out in the wild

sometimes we get lost

and in those moments we definitely need a good shepherd

to call us by name and bring us home.

Jesus does call each of us by name

and calls each of us home,

to the reality of God in our midst

in our communities, in our families, in our hearts

day in and day out.

Jesus is consistent and persistent.

Unfortunately, the reason we end up lost and in the wild to begin with

is because the world and our own egos

interrupt Jesus' call and lead us astray.

Like the interrupting sheep in the baaaad joke from the Vicar of Dibley

the world likes to interrupt us when we hear Jesus' voice

the world can so easily get in the way of whatever God is calling us to do

Sometimes, the world brings justifiable questions: who is going to pay for the food when we try to feed the hungry?

Sometimes however, the world brings interruptions that draw us away from what is important

by asking questions such as, how will this bring us new gadgets or fame?

The world loves to interrupt

We love to interrupt

Actually, some of us love to interrupt others

and some people expect others to interrupt them

This is one of those learning how to be people in relationship things

that I'm not sure I have ever mastered

When it is okay to interrupt someone when they are talking and when not to

because I have literally been standing next to a person who was constantly talking

having them say to me, I just keep talking, you're supposed to interrupt me, that is what my friends do

which boggled my introverted mind

All the things which interrupt our calling from God

doubts, fears, other people's hurtful decisions, false advertising

are pretty consistent and persistent as well.

I don't know about you, but when I've been interrupted too many times

I want to give up.

Thankfully, Jesus keeps calling.

God will sometimes interrupt us

when we desperately need it

however, most of the time, I have found that God waits until we are ready to be open to hearing Jesus' voice

and then God tells us what we need to know

One of the important things about this story, this metaphor,

Jesus mentions calling out all his own

Jesus gathers all who listen to his voice

and you know what that means?

we don't get to judge who hears Jesus voice

because we are not in any head but our own.

We all hear the voice of the same Shepherd.

But that doesn't mean that it sounds the same to each of us.

Psalm 62, verse 13, which you can find in the BCP on p. 670, says,

"God has spoken once, twice have I heard it, *

    that power belongs to God."

In many stories where God speaks in the scriptures, different people hear it in different ways,

some hear what God says, some hear something like thunder.

I think for many of us, we would say we hear God's voice through

other people's voices, or in art or a flash of insight or in a dream.

Jesus calls all the world to himself and we don't get to judge who shows up

who hears Jesus' voice.

The Latin roots of the word Communion means "with unity".

In Communion we are gathered together to be in unity

and its not our movement that makes that happen, but the movement of God.

The Good Shepherd calls us to the table

And then, the Good Shepherd sends us out.

Following the voice of Jesus our Good Shepherd

is a courageous act of surrender

we are no longer chasing the dreams of what we think will bring us love, belonging, and agency in this world

but we follow the voice of one who knows far more than we ever will

Once we start listening to the voice of Jesus

we know we have to stand for the things that Jesus stood for

like equity, inclusion, the poor, the homeless, prisoners, refugees, and migrants.

Listening to the voice of Jesus will be different for each of us

some are called to teaching, to cooking, to gardening, to protesting

in all ways, following Jesus means

letting go of the ambition of the world and the status of wealth and grandeur.

How do we know what is God and what is ourselves or someone else?

love, belonging, and agency

If it leads to greater love, its definitely God

if it leads to greater belonging, actual belonging, God

if it leads to more people having voice and agency and dignity, its God.

Any voice telling you to shoot someone else, is not God.

Such things do not lead to love, belonging, agency and back to God.

Stick with Jesus.

Jesus the Good Shepherd is calling your name

Calling you onwards and upwards

towards eternity

Don't let the world interrupt

Listen

Listen to God calling out to you

God is working good for you

listen