"Good Shepherd Sunday" - Psalm 23; John 10:10b-18

Good Shepherd Sunday - A sermon by Rev. Kate Fiedler

May 8, 2022

Psalm 23 // John 10:10b-18

In a noisy world, how do we listen for the Good Shepherd’s voice?

Whew! Church Family, it has been a week! I mean, I mean to tell you!

Beloved of God, it has been a week!

Let me start with Monday. Monday evening through Wednesday lunch, I joined other Second folks for the Sprunt Lectures at Union Presbyterian Seminary. (—Terry Crickenberger, Kelley Connelly, Roger Gench, and Mary Jane Winter…along with Sam Adams, Almond Sin, Frances Taylor Gench, and Sharon and Brian Blount—) We spent time in Watts Chapel learning from two brilliant Womanist scholars.  We heard three lectures about how and why translation matters, and two sermons packed with wisdom like — pay attention to unexpected heroes,  and pay attention to our periphery vision, address the real power in the room (that being God and not who’s sitting at the head of the table…), and trust God more than you trust your circumstances.  We also gathered for a Question and Response session, moderated by Sam Adams, and kicked off with a heartfelt question by Almond Sin. Let the record show, I have spent a lot of time in that chapel space—as a student for four years, then back on staff for four and a half more years—and I can’t remember a time when so many Presbyterians were shouting Amen! and exclaiming Oh! and proclaiming, “She’s preaching now!” in that sacred space.  My brain was overflowing with new insight and knowledge, and my heart was beating rapidly with the delight of seeing dear friends and fabulous colleagues after years of Zoom conferences.  I wasn’t myself.  Wednesday evening at our Mission and Advocacy Council meeting I talked about Pentecost coming up on January 5th.

My mind was so overstimulated I switched Epiphany with the Birthday of the Church, and I didn’t even notice… Kelley kindly corrected me in the chat, and I give thanks for dear colleagues who can keep me on the right track.

Church—it’s been a week! And I’ve only shared two events from my calendar, Monday through Wednesday.

No need for me to recap for you the news from Ukraine…with another week of bombings and terror as warfare continues.  I don’t need to get into the sadness of a hotel explosion in Cuba.  No need for me to belabor the point that this week more gun violence broke out in Richmond, and now we have more families grieving the loss of loved ones gone too soon.  No need for me to dip into politics and health care, leaked reports, and increased protests in the streets…again. I know I’m not the only one here who pays attention and watches, reads, listens to, or Tweets the news.

Church, it has been a week!

And for such a time as this, it’s good to be here in worship.  For such a time as this, it’s good and right that we should listen to the words and teaching of Jesus.  For such a time as this, it’s fitting to pause and reflect on Jesus—the Good Shepherd. 

Joseph just read the familiar passage of Psalm 23.  I call it scriptural comfort food.  It’s like your grandma’s recipe of mac and cheese:   you can never get enough, and it warms your heart and fills you up. It’s no secret that Psalm 23 is often read at funerals—when we gather to grieve, and we need to be filled up with comfort and compassion, with hope beside still waters and peace in green pastures.  Psalm 23 is essential when it comes to our understanding of the Good Shepherd.  It’s personal and poetic. It’s familiar and future focused.  When life is overwhelming for our tender hearts, or confusing for our attentive minds, we need scriptures like Psalm 23 to steady us.  It’s good news that it is not our only scripture that points to the Good Shepherd.

Today, we hear Jesus teaching the disciples, guiding them to understand his role as the Good Shepherd. Now I recommend the full 10th chapter of the Gospel of John for your reading delight this week. It’s good stuff.  Take some time and enjoy it. Today in worship, we will focus on verses 10 through 18, found printed in your bulletin.

Take a deep breath, get comfortable, and listen for how the Spirit is still speaking, as we overhear Jesus teaching the disciples.  Jesus said:  I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So, there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”

Beloved of God, this is the Word of the Lord.  Thanks be to God.

The Good Shepherd.  Jesus claims this title and role, for the disciples then and for us today.  As the Good Shepherd, Jesus proclaims that he will protect his flock. He knows his people, and we know him.  As Alex reminded us last week, Jesus gently offers that other sheep, other people belong to Jesus, even if they don’t belong to this fold, or this church.  The Good Shepherd—the one Good Shepherd—emphasizes that his work is to bring in other sheep, so that there is one flock for God to tend to with provision and care.  Suzanne Stabile writes about faith and the Enneagram, and her podcasts are just as popular as her books.  She says that, “we all want to belong, and we all want our life to have meaning.”  Here, in the 10th chapter of John, Jesus teaches the disciples that they belong to him.  In this passage we hear Jesus claiming us—we belong to him.  Through the love of the Good Shepherd, our lives matter.  When we follow Jesus, our lives have meaning beyond ourselves.  As a church family, as members of God’s flock, we serve our neighbors and strive to create the beloved community for all.  When we follow the voice and commands of Jesus, we care for all he cares for—for all creation, for all humanity, for all faiths, and for justice for all.  Jesus makes it personal and plain—we who listen for his voice belong to the Good Shepherd, and he will face death to declare his love for us.  Our worst, our most evil response to his compassion and justice, cannot stop him from loving us.  As Easter people, we trust that not even death can separate us from the love and tender mercy of the Good Shepherd.  For such a time as this, when it has been a week!, we welcome this good news for our tender hearts.  We find rest and hope in the promises of the Good Shepherd, whose love and care are beyond our imagination.

Our question for today’s sermon is:  In such a noisy world, how do we listen for the voice of the Good Shepherd?  When the news from overseas and across our country worries and wearies us, how do we tune our hearts to hear what Jesus is saying?  When there is so much background chatter—on social media and in our own minds—how to do we focus on the voice of the Spirit? 

One way to listen carefully to the Good Shepherd is to apply his words to what lies before us.  Jesus said, “I came that they [that you and I and countless others…] may have life and have it abundantly.”  Jesus lived among his flock so that we could live, and not just simply subsist, but live abundantly.  When we slow down and consider if the decision before us leads to abundant living, if our response to disappointing news will ultimately lead to life abundant, if how we treat others and speak to ourselves demonstrates life at its fullest, most abundant—then we start to pattern our lives in the way of Jesus.  When we seek to create abundant life for our neighbors near and far, then our lives grow richer and more meaningful.  When we tend to the flock of the Good Shepherd, then we are reminded that we belong to each other, just as we belong to Jesus.  Abundant living is one way to listen for the voice of Jesus.

And Beloved of Second, this is a church family that is no stranger to abundant living!  During Church school these past weeks, we welcome some of our mission partners to share what they are doing and to learn how we can be more involved.  This church family continues to make sure that our neighbors who are hungry are fed—every Monday—throughout this world-wide pandemic.  We welcome them in for a meal and for a taste of abundant living.  And today, we have another opportunity to extend abundant living.  We heard Vernon invite each of us to prayerfully consider how we might shine God’s light and share God’s grace, with a gift of $100 to one of our mission partners or a non-profit of your choice.  That, my friends, is living abundantly!  I’m not going to name any names here…but I know of a few churches who would be quick to save and invest an extra $200K for a rainy day—for a stormier day that today.  I bet you can imagine that some church families would want to hold on to such abundant generosity for the “just in case” scenarios of the unknown.  But here, we are invited to share it!  Over half of the generous funds have already gone to support some of our mission partners—as far away as CEDEPCA in Guatemala and Ministry of Hope in Malawi—and right here in our backyard, at AFOI, Camp Hanover, CrossOVER, REAL Life, and Caritas.  Because of your faithfulness and generosity, we are now able to give back even more than we promised.  And we are invited to be a part of it as a church family, as a flock of the Good Shepherd’s sheep.  I hope you will spend some time exploring our mission partners—we have over 40 of them! I hope you will spend some time in prayer considering where you want to send your gift. I hope you will join this new initiative as a chance to celebrate living abundantly together.  The extension of this capital campaign is indeed good news for us.  It’s one way we can faithfully listen to the voice of the Good Shepherd and follow his lead to love.

This week, I heard a beautiful story of love and life abundant.  I am a fan of NPR’s StoryCorps, which plays each Friday morning.  This Friday morning, I woke up to listen to a love story that began in the Catskills. It was the summer of 1946. Hunny Feller and her identical twin sister, Bunny, were waitresses at a hotel. Another set of identical twins, Elliot and Danny Reiken, worked as musicians in a band there. At StoryCorps, Hunny and Elliot remembered what happened when the twins met the twins.  [Listen in on their conversation:]

ELLIOT REIKEN: When we met, you and your sister couldn't tell us apart, and we couldn't tell you two apart.

HUNNY REIKEN: But by the end of the summer, there was no chance of separating us. And we had a double wedding. You and I were married the same day as Bunny and Danny were married.

ELLIOT REIKEN: What'd you think about marrying me many years ago?

HUNNY REIKEN: You bowled me over with your way of kissing and the way you hold me when we dance. You're not a fantastic dancer, but you hold me fantastically. And I feel it. It's genuine. You're just not phony. I don't think you have a phony bone in your body. And I never thought anybody lasts this many years.

ELLIOT REIKEN: Like, just yesterday was our 50th anniversary.

HUNNY: Yeah. And now it's 11 years after that. I never [fear,] what will he do if I die first? You know how to open tuna fish. You know how to schmear it with mayonnaise. You will not fall apart. You'll feel sad when I'm gone. But you will manage. And that makes me feel very good.   Thank you for being you, Elliot. You made my life complete.

ELLIOT: And I say the same. You made my life complete and hope we go on for another 50 years.

HUNNY: I'll take five good ones. Five good ones, and I'll say thank you, God.[1]

After being married for over 60 years, Hunny and Elliot know a thing or two about enjoying life and enjoying it abundantly.  Now tuna fish and mayonnaise may not sound like the joyful feast to you, but appreciating the simple things in life is one way to appreciate the abundance of the Good Shepherd.  Knowing you are loved and feeling secure in that love are other ways to enjoy abundant living.  Hunny and Elliot belong to each other, and their lives have meaning.  Their love story illustrates the ordinary and extraordinary ways we are invited to experience abundant living.

Today, you are reminded that you are known by and belong to the Good Shepherd.

You and I are created for life abundant through the love and grace of Jesus.

Today, our church family is invited to share abundant life with our community, with mission partners and non-profits.  We are invited to shine the light of God’s grace with those who are doing the good work of caring for the least and the lost, protecting the earth and children, offering health care and healthy meals.  After church, I hope you will join us in the chapel to get your voucher. And as you pray and discern where to share God’s light, I hope you will consider your part in following the Good Shepherd. 

Listen for his voice.  Listen for his love. Listen for his encouragement to nurture abundant living. And then act. Do your part to nurture abundant living this week. Say something kind to a neighbor or family member.  Pay attention to the clerk or cashier with compassion. Remember we all belong to the same flock.  It is good news indeed, that we belong to the Good Shepherd.  It is good news that we are loved by the Good Shepherd.  As you live into such belonging and belovedness, may your life resonate with meaning and with love. 

May it be so for you and for me.

Amen.

[1] A StoryCorps love story: Twin waitresses caught the eye of twin musicians. May 6, 2022. https://www.npr.org/2022/05/06/1097065431/a-storycorps-love-story-twin-waitresses-caught-the-eyes-of-twin-musicians