“On Following the Good Shepherd”
Psalm 23 & John 10: 11-18 ~ Rev. G. Scott Turnbrook ~ Northwood United ~ April 28, 2024
One of the titles that I am proud of is my status is that of being “The Godfather”. My Goddaughter holds the record as being the youngest person to have a traffic citation. At the innocent age of three little Becky was in the car with Mom as they pulled into the parkade. Mom got out of the car, closed the door, and moved around to open up Becky’s door and help her out of the car seat. You can imagine how the story unfolds…Every parent’s worst nightmare. Becky’s door was locked. Mom went back to open her own door. She had mistakenly locked it. She reached for the car keys and realized that she had locked them inside the vehicle. Her stomach sank. She was locked out of the car! She was separated from her 3-year-old daughter and had no way to get her. She didn’t have her cell phone. That was locked in the car too. What would she do? “Sweetie, I’ll be right back…just stay in your seat”. She runs over to some others in the parking lot to see if she can use their phone. The situation gets worse. The car is now moving. It is coasting out of its parking spot. Becky had disengaged the parking brake and shifted the car into neutral. Faster than a speeding bullet, mom races to avert the coming disaster, yelling and screaming with every step. She throws herself in front of the coasting mass of metal trying to bring it to a stop. She eventually acknowledges the inevitable. She lets the car run right into a shiny convertible Mercedes. The alarm screams. Everyone looks over. The owner of the Mercedes arrives. The police are summoned, and little Becky is freed without a scratch and given the honour of being the youngest in the family with a traffic violation.
Now if you can begin to imagine how Becky’s Mom felt through this traumatic event, I would suggest that can gain some insight into the kind of love that a shepherd has for their sheep. This, I believe, is our initial hurdle as we approach these powerful texts and consider the relationship between a shepherd and sheep. The problem is that we do not live in pastoral settings like New Zealand or Scotland with many sheep. We don’t walk around the lake and smell the scent of sheep and hear the “baaing” of these gentle creatures. Few of us have even touched a sheep and felt the warm curly wool coat in our hand. Few of us have met a shepherd or seen one at work. Yet these texts are written with these types of assumptions in mind. They assume a congregation full of shepherds. A community who understands the Shepherd’s undying commitment to life and protection. If you felt the deep commitment of Becky’s mother in the parking lot, you have entered the window into the shepherd-sheep relationship.
A community of faith often refers to itself as a ‘congregation’. Did you know that the latin root “grex”, which means “flock”, is the very word from which “congregation” is formed. At foundation, there is an understanding of a community of faith as being related to a flock. And coming out of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th Century, there was an understanding of leader’s role in the church. This new role was transformed from that of hierarchy, which gave the title of the revered “Priest” to the reformed role of “Pastor” which comes out of the Latin word used for “shepherd”. Many other clergy value this title as a role of extreme importance: their pastoral role. We have ‘Pastors’ and ‘Pastoral Care Teams’ and the many whose way in the Community of faith is that of a pastoral nature.
Of course, many will protest: “We are not a congregation full of stupid sheep!” And many do not like the thought of being part of a community that is related to a flock. A BBC story, however, might give a broader perspective of sheep as ever being described as “stupid” There were some very smart sheep in West Yorkshire, England. There in the Yorkshire moors, sheep are raised in flocks for their fleece and food, but with an expanding population, the sheep’s grazing area find themselves at the edge of private gardens and housing complexes. Sheep were grazing on gardens, graveyards and lawn-bowling greens. To remedy this, the townspeople installed metal cattle grids across the roadway to remedy the problem. You may have seen these before: about eight feet long - enough that no cow or sheep could possibly jump over. Now, while these grids work to stop cattle; they discovered that stopping sheep is another story. The sheep became quite adept at scooting over the grids on their backs, or rolling over and over for over past the grids. Dispelling any myth about ‘stupid sheep’ the BBC reported that: "sheep are quite intelligent creatures and have far more brainpower than people give them credit."
I am quite proud to be part of a flock that seeks to follow in the Way of Christ. At Northwood we imagine the Great Shepherd to be working through the varied ways that we ‘embrace all of Creation with the love of Christ’. Our ministry together is quite broad; however, it all comes down to that one central vision of Christ’s love pouring out through our flock. It takes us into some spaces to worship, into others for fellowship, still others for study and growth. We travel to other spaces for Outreach and justice and multi-faith events. It takes us into quiet spaces for devotions. The flock gathers; the flock is dispersed; the flock all centres on the one Great Shepherd whose Way is poured into our lives. And through our walk as a people of faith; through our united efforts in ministry; we do not walk alone. The Lord is our shepherd, we shall not want, he leads us beside still waters. He restores our soul. He leads us in the right paths…even through the valley of the shadow of death…the Lord is our shepherd.
Jesus continues this profound teaching from Psalm 23 in the 10th chapter of John by using the literary method of comparing and contrasting. While the hired hand is just paid, the shepherd is called into their role. The shepherd has embodied this role and taken it on as all they are and it flows through all that they do. In the church, we speak of a calling to ministry. Other professions have similar intentions, yet they use different language in how they express their commitment. Lawyer friends “called to the bar” engage in a ritual that expresses their deep conviction to law. The medical profession’s Hippocratic oath expresses their conviction to care. The police officer’s call to “serve and protect”. And the valedictorian’s speech at this time of year will inevitably touch on the theme of making the world a better place.
Jesus shines light upon the lack of commitment from the hired hand: “Upon seeing the wolf, the hired hand runs away, the sheep are scattered, and eventually are captured. The shepherd’s call and commitment leads them to stay. The do not run and they are not scattered. They know each sheep by name, by sound, and care for them as a mother cares for her child. The difference Jesus teaches, is that this one shepherd will redefine the boundaries of who is part of the fold. While the hired hand has run away in fear and the sheep are captured by the wolf, the shepherd’s undying commitment extends beyond the few sheep of their own fold. It extends to all sheep that roam the fields. The shepherd has a vision of being a united flock under one shepherd. We have changed much in the United Church over the years, yet, I’ve always been so pleased that, we have kept the Latin words at the bottom of our crest “Ut Omnes Sint” – That all may be one. That all are included as members of God’s family: all people…all welcomed…all one. This is God’s cosmic vision for a creation which began as a utopian paradise garden of Eden and continues today into an inclusive welcome.
Perhaps you are as excited as I am with the new initiative of racial justice that Northwood has begun? We have 10 people who will be taking in this opportunity for learning and growth offered from our National Church. Over the coming year, in our sessions, we will consider what parts of our church are embedded in colonialist thinking. Where are the us/ them divisions that we are creating…(often without even knowing it)? How can we be a better representation of the diverse ethnicities in our city? How can we be an intercultural church that values and welcomes all?
Indeed, we are blessed to have a Shepherd who enters into the human condition. Who shares all aspects of our life – even death – with us; who cares for us; who has known us since our very creation. May we walk through the valleys of darkness and the moments of light – the good times and the bad - knowing that our shepherd guides us in the right path.
Amen.