The Voice of Reason
Speaker: Rev. Matt Henry
Location: Whitney United Methodist Church
Date: May 3, 2009
It was Martin Luther who was asked once what he considered were his primary duties as a priest. Now, let’s use the term “shepherd” here. Martin Luther, when he was asked what his primary duties as a priest were he forthrightly stated this, “I drink beer, I preach, and I leave the rest to God” in that order. The difference between Lutherans and Methodist, eh? I do not believe brother Luther was too far off the mark, actually, what it means to be a good shepherd. In contrast, a famous televangelist once admitted, concerning his duties as a shepherd said, “I find them, I feed them, and then I fleece them.”
Things weren’t so different in Jesus’ day. In John’s text the sheep are God’s people, the nation of Israel, while the hired hand represents the corrupt priests whom God had charged to protect the flock as opposed to fleecing them with burdensome legalism, who, rather than declare them healed and free from the rules of sin and Rome, ran away from the job leaving the people to be devoured by oppressive taxation imposed upon them by Rome and their own Temple taxes. Jesus’ words still astound us as to what it truly means to be a shepherd, to willingly take the hit meant for the sheep and to go down for all of them. And I lay down my life for the sheep Jesus reminds us. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also and they will listen to my voice.
Once a long time ago when I was in seminary I had the honor to attend a graveside service in San Francisco for a young man who had died of AIDS. He was gay. Most of the mourners were gay as well and they had nothing much to do with Jesus or his religion or his church, for they had never found the feeling of grace offered there, only the priestly fleecing of condemnation. Thus it was incredibly moving when, grieving over the loss of this loved one at his gravesite, they found themselves at a loss for words. “Isn’t there something we should be saying at this point?” one of them said through tears. Now, I thought about interjecting the Lord’s Prayer but I decided against it as they were already grieving enough without reminding them of a religion that usually made the claim they wanted nothing to do with them.
Now, at this point suddenly, miraculously, culled from what must have been a deeply buried past memory, one of them started to speak. One of them started to speak these words. You could have heard a pin drop. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake. And even though I walk through the darkest valley I fear no evil for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. It was incredible how these people who had been so isolated from the church, however at one point in time managed to resurrect a blessing that had been connected in them so long ago. By verse 5 all these people joined in, offering evidence that at one time in their lives, long, long, long ago, the good shepherd had indeed been watching over them for they were, as he himself said, other sheep that do not belong to this fold, yet I must bring them also and they will listen to my voice. You prepare a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. You anoint my head with oil. My cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.
You see sisters and brothers, this is what the sheep, all of them, have a right to expect from the good shepherd….feeding, protection, peace, forgiveness, and healing. Such is the voice of reason. As Jesus says for this reason the Father loves you. No, the Father L-O-V-E-S you because Jesus laid down his life in order for ours to be taken up again. Amen? But his is not a reasonable voice from my standard. We would no sooner leave the health of the entire flock open to predation whilst roaming around far and wide, seeking to bring that lost, wayward, stray of a sheep back to safety than cheer for the rival team’s victory at a BSU football game. Am I right about that? But that’s precisely what our good shepherd does, forsaking everything in order to find us, you and me, the least and the lost, the undeserving wanderers, in order to save us because we are each one worth that much.
These words I give you this morning I speak to you in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, the good shepherd. Amen.