Fourth Sunday of Easter

Fourth Sunday of Easter
April 17, 2005

"... The Shepherd calls his own sheep my name... and the sheep follow him because they recognize his voice... they do not recognize the voice of strangers... I am the gate" (John 10:1-10)

Jesus compares himself to a shepherd, the entrance to the sheepfold, and us to his flock. Shepherds and their flocks would have been very familiar to people of Jesus' time. It was a life-and-death (for both shepherd and flock), intimate, uniquely personal relationship. It was not entirely equal. The sheep needed the shepherd more than the shepherd needed the sheep. Nevertheless the sheep were the shepherd's livelihood, precious and vulnerable to many dangers. The enclosed sheepfold (corral) and the familiar voice of the shepherd meant safety for both, especially at night. It was also necessary to spend their days outside the fence finding enough food to sustain life.

Perhaps the relationship between us and God is not so one-sided after all. We need God. God needs us. We are in a partnership here, even if it is significantly one-sided. We are hopefully quite familiar with our dependence and vulnerability. I wonder if we are aware of how much the Shepherd needs us. Was God in some mysterious sense "lonely" for us before creation? Does our existence in some mysterious way complete the divine plan, and therefore God's own existence? Today we are invited to explore this metaphor of the shepherd and the sheepfold as poetry as well as doctrine. To think that God might need me to recognize the divine presence is very appealing. God is in some mysterious sense completed by my response to the call of the Spirit.

This past week my 22 year old niece Molly was suddenly stricken with a stroke, her father underwent cancer surgery just ten days before, and her grandmother died only weeks ago. Just weeks ago her dad and mom were here several times a week looking after me. I now found myself looking after them by telephone and e-mail. How quickly things change. Molly and her family are doing much better now, thanks in no small part to the flock looking after its own and petitioning the Shepherd for protection and strength to endure whatever might be ahead.

It is not just poetry to consider all that we have yet to offer God and the flock, both in our living and our dying. How vulnerable and powerful we all are when we work and pray together. The more dependent we are, the greater the opportunity to be reduced to our essence: love. The flock of humanity is knit together by divine love. We respond to the voice of the Spirit, and the Spirit response to us. Blessed be the Shepherd and the flock.