Monday, May 8, 2017

Follow, Always Follow

SERMON
St. Simon’s on the Sound
Fourth Sunday in Easter
John 10:1-10

“Whenever he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice”
Several years ago, I embarked on a two-week pilgrimage that followed the footsteps of Paul’s three journeys through Greece and Turkey. As I am sure you know, it was in the wake of these many miles traveled by Paul, that the first churches of the Christian faith were founded.

In that brief two-week period, I visited and walked through the ruins of over 15 ancient temples and churches, and I experienced Paul and his commitment to Christ in a new a very tangible way.

As the first week of the pilgrimage drew to a close, and we were just about to leave the very northern region of Greece and enter into Macedonia, we visited the Monastery of Great Meteoro, also known as the Monastery of the Transfiguration of Christ. This is the largest of the seven monasteries located in the Metéora Valley. (middle of the sky; in the heavens above)

The Great Meteoro Monastery was erected in the mid-14th century. Its purpose was to protect the Byzantine monks who were threatened by the invasion of the Turks.
Access to the monastery was deliberately difficult, requiring either long ladders lashed together or large nets. Pilgrims who wished to visit the monastery were hoisted up vertically alongside the very sheer 1,224-foot cliff where the monastery overlooks the Valley.
To say that the visit to this monastery was a breathtaking experience is putting it mildly – both literally and figuratively - especially after having climbed the many steps that have now replaced the ladders and baskets.

As we drove away from the ethereal heights of the monastery, we turned down a winding road skirted by lush green grass. Coming around one the of hairpin bends, we came upon a lone shepherd leading his sheep home to their pen for the night. The shepherd looked tired. He was leaning heavily on his crook with each step that he took.

However, the sheep did not look tried at all. They were spread out over quite a large area, and the young lambs were running back and forth, playing and perhaps checking to see if their mother was still close by.

But, no matter how spread out, the sheep continued to move in a forward direction following the shepherd. And the shepherd, no matter how tired, continually looked back to check on them, and he always stayed in the lead.
There were 27 of us on the bus that late afternoon, and to a person everyone shouted, “Look at the shepherd. Just like Jesus in the story of the Shepherd.”

And then, of course, as the bus hurried along, the shepherd and his sheep disappeared. Exhausted from our afternoon of climbing and exploring the magnificent monastery, we sank back into our comfortable bus seats, some of us dozing and others, perhaps like myself, thinking about Jesus as our Shepherd, and the struggles that the early Christians encountered as they followed their Shepherd in faith and with courage.

Knowing the little that I do about farming and farm animals, I do not believe that there is anything terribly romantic about sheep or their shepherds. Sheep are dirty and dumb and shepherds are hardworking souls who most frequently live in abject poverty, and who are constantly on the watch for wandering sheep, predatory animals and bandits who are dedicated to stealing all the sheep they can for their own profit.

The image of Jesus in a blazing white robe, with flowing golden locks and an angelic and clean lamb around his neck is, as I am sure you will agree, grossly romantic – a completely unrealistic depiction of Jesus as a Shepherd.
A more accurate description of Jesus as Shepherd might be that of a charismatic and loving Nazarene struggling to harness and inspire an illiterate and unrefined group of Galilean disciples as he wends his way to Jerusalem, teaching and healing as he goes from town to town.

Jesus, the rabbi, the teacher, leading his sheep through dust and dirt, intense heat and freezing cold, perhaps leaning heavily on his staff and from time to time sleeping in crowded stranger homes, other times sleeping in scruffy fields and arid desert caves, with little water and almost no food – that, I believe, would be a more accurate portrayal of Jesus as Shepherd.

But, the most important aspect of Jesus as Shepherd overrides all pictures or physical descriptors. The most important aspect of our image of Jesus as Shepherd is our understanding of Jesus as leader. Jesus who knows the names and personalities and needs of all his sheep. Jesus who lovingly leads his sheep always -  always, despite all hardships – leads them always in one direction. Leads them to the sheepfold, to Jerusalem. Opens the gate for them and leads them to the Holy Temple, leads them to the cross – leads them to God.

“Whenever he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice”

Today, the fourth Sunday of Easter, is known as Good Shepherd Sunday, with Jesus depicted as the Good Shepherd. In the brief passage from John that I just read, Jesus is both shepherd and gatekeeper. He refers to himself as a shepherd who calls his sheep by name, and leads them both into and out of their pen.
He also refers to himself as the gatekeeper who opens and closes the gate for them. He claims responsibility for the sheep’s well being, their salvation from thieves and bandits who are eager to distract them and lure them into danger, and perhaps death - Distractions and malicious ways that kill and destroy.

This passage is preceded by the story of Jesus healing the blind man when Jesus proclaims to the crowd that, “I came into the world for judgement so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind.” And, it is followed by the passage in which Jesus declares, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep…”

These declarations are quite stunning. Jesus will help us cast off false ways of looking at how best to live our lives – he will teach us how to make possible the world that God envisions for his beloved children – he will help us to see.

Jesus will lead us to a place of peace and safety; a way of living a life based on love and faith. He will help us push aside the distractions and distortions of our world that lure us into situations of discord and violence – he will be our protector.
By going to the cross Jesus will lay down his life for us to ensure that those who now see and those who have now entered the safety of the sheepfold – a new way of life - will remain safe in their new way of seeing and their new way of being.
Jesus will be our savior – he will lead us to God.

“Whenever he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice”

Receiving and holding fast to the gift of our Good Shepherd is no easy task. Life is filled with distractions and temptations. It is so easy to fall away from God as we bustle through the challenges of everyday life at home, at work, and elsewhere. Our vision can be so easily blurred; we can so easily wander onto the wrong path and miss the gate that has been opened for us. We can so easily lose sight of God.

I think back to the monks who scaled a 1,224-foot mountainside in the Meteor Valley to protect their faith – the Christian faith – from the invaders from the far East. They were determined in their faith to hold fast to God and to retire to a place where they could not only worship their Lord, but could also create incredible art and literature that has depicted the glory of God to hundreds of thousands of pilgrims.

And, then I think of the shepherd ascending the hill, tired from a long day of protecting his flock. His challenges throughout the day may have been many, wandering and perhaps sick sheep, bandits, hunger and thirst, and loneliness, but he has held fast in his determination to be a good shepherd and in doing so has maintained the safety of his sheep.

Neither one of these paths are easy ones. They require incredible faith, love, courage and discipline. They require perseverance and the clear vision that allows Jesus to remain in their sight always, so that the wrong path is not taken, but the open gate – help patiently open by our Lord Jesus Christ is -attained and entered.

I believe that each one of us here at St. Simon’s and all those who are members of the body of Christ – the church -understand the incredible gift of our Good Shepherd. A gift that is beyond understanding. A gift that is more than a gift. A gift that is a way of life. A gift that brings us every day into a way of seeing the world and being in the world that leads us all into God’s kingdom, both here and for ever and ever.

Michael Curry, our presiding bishop said in his famous sermon “Crazy Christians – A Call to Follow Jesus,”

“being a Christian is not essentially about joining a church or being a nice person, but about following in the footsteps of Jesus, taking his teachings seriously, letting his Spirit take the lead in our lives, and in so doing helping to change the world from our nightmare into God’s dream.” 

O God, whose Son Jesus is the good shepherd of your people: Grant that when we hear his voice we may know him who calls us each by name, and follow where he leads; who, with you and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. AMEN