- Psalmody: Psalm 33:5b–6a; 1; Liturgical Text;1 Corinthians 5:7b, 5:8a, c; Psalm 63:1a, 4b; John 10:14
- Lection: Ezekiel 34:11–16; 1 Peter 2:21b–25; John 10:11–16
In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
This morning, we pray “O God, who by the humiliation of Thy Son didst raise up the fallen world, grant unto Thy faithful ones perpetual gladness, and those whom Thou hast delivered from the danger of everlasting death do Thou make partakers of eternal joys.” We begin that collect in an acknowledgement which is good not to take for granted or to idly let slide right past us. We first confessed that O God, who by the humiliation of Thy Son didst raise up the fallen world. Let the picture be clear to hearts that long for a Shepherd Who is good, a Shepherd from above Who has raised up the fallen, Who has raised us up, by first Himself coming down in great humiliation. Oh, how wonderful the Easter story continues whereby even in our prayers there is a descent and a rising again: the descent of the only-begotten Son of God first into the valley of the shadow of death, into the pit of this fallen world. And not only here, but then into hell to set the captives free, restoring fallen man not unto a world that is perishing, but raised up unto an eternal kingdom that has no end. Infinite and peaceful are the verdant pastures where this descended and risen Good Shepherd makes us to lie down! He makes us to be good sheep, His sheep, for He says, “I am the Good Shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.” It is good to have a Good Shepherd and to follow in the Good Shepherd’s good steps.
More than a shop owner manning his own cash register, stocking his own shelves, or answering his own phones is the dedication and demeanor of the Shepherd Who lays down His life for the sheep, for the sheep are lives which He desires to be preserved. He desires them to be safe, healthy, and at peace. He desires them to realize fully that they are His and that to be so can have no greater an existence. For, in true shepherding vocation, especially in that of ancient, eastern lands, the shepherd’s rod and staff are used for more than the sheep’s guidance and correction. The shepherd’s own life is put to risk in a wilderness where his watchful eye at times could lead to his own peril in defense against fierce beasts and robbers. Against such things is the shepherd the best, if not nearly the only means of defense for poor, vulnerable sheep. The Good Shepherd has gone beyond the defense seen in earthly similarities of His Holy Office. Jesus laid down His life for the sheep, showing that His greatest care wasn’t to protect His own skin, for which earthly shepherd would remain in a battle once death is the certain outcome? Hirelings and cowardly men alike are more self-preserving than self-sacrificing. Christ has not hesitated. He has not left the sheep and fled, but laid down the full-priced measure of Himself to see to it that His flock is safeguarded. O, little flock, fear not the foe, for you have a Shepherd Who has proven Himself Good by expensing His own life blood in the jaws of death for you, the sheep He knows, so that you may know Him and believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.
Consider the marvelous wonder of being known by such a One as this! To be sought to be known, sought out from heaven above by miraculous descent into all pits of peril that you face in this wilderness. He has not abandoned you. He has not fled from you nor kept His distance when He saw how tasty a morsel you make in the pack of wolves’ teeth that devours by of sin, death, and devil. His humiliation meant that He laid down His life alongside yours. He laid it down in a bed of suffering, despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. His intimacy with you, His own, means He is intimate with your sorrows, your grief, your weakness. You are the flock that He knows by His own suffering in the flesh, so that He may feed His flock like a shepherd Who sympathizes with all your weaknesses; so that He may gather the lambs with His arm, And carry you in His bosom. This is a hope for which your fallen mind understands not fully nor how to ask, and yet the Good Shepherd has already answered you in full measure, having long ago promised “It shall come to pass That before they call, I will answer; And while they are still speaking, I will hear.” Oh, how good it is to be known by Him Who is good!
This Christ shows Himself as example for all shepherds who tend to His flock; to all who are given to oversee your souls. This truth cannot be ignored amidst the joy of having a Good Shepherd Who does much for us. Indeed, His goodness is immeasurable and for our great relief and delight. He also does much in us. He does much in His undershepherds, not only redeeming us also as ones among His multitude of sheep, but also to stir within those who fill His Holy Office His own heart, His own desires, His own love, and His own sacrifice for the sheep. Pastors are to lives that imitate our Savior, for we come to you, speak to you, tend to you in His stead and by His command. Christ-likeness is rightfully to be expected of pastors by all Christ’s sheep, for together we know that He suffered for us, leaving us an example, that we should follow in His steps. Glory be to Jesus that the pastor’s burden is easy and light when it is the Good Shepherd’s yoke he bears.
The holy words flow further from the we of pastors to the we of all Christ’s people, to all of those who count it a joy to be known among His flock. Even the minds of simple beasts learn what is good and seek it out. Sheep do this. They see the actions of the shepherd, learn his ways, know his voice, trust his leading. They follow the paths on which He leads. Our lives within the eternal flock are not purely passive ventures. Salvation is, most assuredly and thankfully, yet our response must be quite active. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep as the ultimate sacrifice that saves us from all threats and perils that seek to destroy us. And in Christ’s life, sacrifice, love, and giving of Himself for His friends, all His sheep are given the good example for themselves to follow. Any such flock that pursues the virtues of love and sacrifice follow the voice of the Good Shepherd and tread upon His path. In such following of Christ, in such pursuit of Him in Whose humiliation the fallen world is raised up, does God grant unto His faithful ones perpetual gladness, and those whom He hast delivered from the danger of everlasting death does He make partakers of eternal joys. The Eternal One brings eternal joys in which we partake in lives that follow the Good Shepherd’s good steps.
In ✠ Jesus’ Name. Amen.
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