I don’t know about you, but throughout the course of the week, I find I spend a little too much time on news websites – some local, some national. And what I mean by “too much time” I really mean just about any time at all, because it seems almost all the news that we hear these days is some variety of “bad news.” And it’s not because there’s only bad news in this world – it just seems that those are the things that draw the most clicks, according to some algorithm. So if you’re anything like me, you might find yourself finding tragedy after tragedy in your news feed, and it gets a bit depressing. Now, the ones that always get me the most are whenever there is a news story involving a child – often in tragic circumstances like a fire or a car accident. And whenever I read these stories, I find I have an almost overwhelming urge to drop whatever it is I’m doing and go track down one or all of my kids and give them a really big hug, and then wrap them in as much bubble wrap as I can find to try to protect them from the world.
Anybody else ever feel that way? Because I strongly suspect I’m not alone. And this feeling that we have gives us just a small glimpse of what we are told the Good Shepherd – Jesus Christ – feels for his flock today. Because it’s apparent from the first moment of Jesus speaking today that he is speaking from the deep compassion that he feels for his flock – which includes even those who might be prone to wandering. And although Jesus uses this imagery of a flock of sheep – those who need protecting from the wolf, it’s apparent this isn’t the only analogy that applies to this idea of investment and love for the community that Jesus is called to protect. In Jesus’ context, surrounded by rural communities of farmers and shepherds, this analogy is the one that makes the most sense. To those of us who are more removed from those farming communities, it’s a bit more of a stretch. After all, how valuable are those sheep, really? The hired hands don’t think they’re worth enough to risk their own lives. But to the Good Shepherd – the one to whom the flock belongs? The flock is worth everything.
It’s apparent that Jesus takes this identity very seriously. It’s a core part of his purpose here on earth – to gather and protect his flock – both in the practical sense and also from the eternal struggle of sin and death. For Jesus, being this Good Shepherd means far more than simply keeping track of a sometimes wandering flock. It also means giving everything he has, everything he is, for the sake of his sheep. And in this Easter season, we’re reminded that Jesus fulfills this purpose by giving his very life on the cross. But because Jesus is indeed the Good Shepherd, his story doesn’t end there. And because his story doesn’t end there, our story doesn’t end there either.
I’m going to take a moment – we’ve been talking a bit about identity today, and I think it’s important to remind us all today that our gospel today isn’t just about the identity of Jesus – it’s about the identity of the flock as well. Because it’s apparent that Jesus is referring to his disciples and all who have come to believe in him as those who are a part of his flock. He’s most likely also referring to the entire Hebrew people that are scattered about the region at that time. When he refers to other flocks that he is called to bring together, he is most certainly referring to those who haven’t heard the good news yet and those who would be skeptical – specifically people who aren’t part of the Jewish tradition and those who otherwise might see Jesus’ identity as a Jewish man as a barrier to trusting in him. So Jesus is drawing together many different identities as those he considers a part of his flock
In the gospel of John alone, Jesus seeks out the outsider many times. We first see it when Jesus encounters the Samaritan woman at the well. Jesus shouldn’t have approached her, but he sees her not as the other, but instead as a part of his flock. Soon after, he heals a wealthy official’s son. He then heals a man paralyzed for over thirty years, someone who doubtless had been ignored by society for most of his life as a burden and not worth engaging with. No, Jesus sees him as someone worth healing – even though to do so meant doing work on the Sabbath.
After feeding the multitudes, Jesus prevents a woman caught in adultery from being stoned – giving value to even those that society would shame the most. And just before our gospel begins today, Jesus heals a man blind from birth – once again on the Sabbath. And this formerly blind man, who was healed for God’s glory, is soon cast out of the synagogue for his proclamations of who Jesus must be. And after being cast out of the synagogue, Jesus himself comes and seeks him out, because to Jesus he was still a part of the flock.
And in all these disparate identities that Jesus encounters and draws to himself as a part of his flock, we haven’t even gotten around to the fact that as Jesus drew all these outsiders to his flock, so Jesus draws us in as well. Whether our primary self-identification is that of spouse or parent or some segment of our career, Jesus has already identified us chiefly as beloved children of God and members of God’s holy flock. In the waters of baptism we have been claimed, and God’s claim on us will never end. And as we are gathered into Christ’s holy flock, we are reminded of this truth – the Good Shepherd who laid down his life for the sake of the whole world then has also laid down his life for us who are gathered here today – each and every one of us. Which means Jesus – our Good Shepherd – values deeply each and every one of us.
And this is good news – incredible news, but also unsettling news, because most of us who are here – including myself? We can never measure up. We don’t see ourselves as worthy of so great a sacrifice. We often value ourselves more like the hired hands in the world would – not as beloved and worthy of sacrifice, but instead as commodities worth only as much as what we would receive back from them in return. But that’s not how Christ sees us, and now we’re caught between receiving the value that Christ gives us, and wanting to prove our own worthiness. But no matter how hard we work, no matter how amazing we are at whatever we see as central to us, none of that matters as much as the claim we are given in Christ Jesus, who values us not because of what we can contribute, but instead simply because of who we are – sheep in Christ’s fold.
But this still offers a small challenge to us – because as we have trouble seeing ourselves as beloved sheep of the Good Shepherd, sometimes we also have trouble seeing others that way as well. To continue the sheep analogy a little bit further, we see the sheep that looks a little different, maybe acts a little different, and a part of us wonders whether they are really a part of the same flock of Jesus Christ. When Christ calls new flocks to join His one true flock, do we act with skepticism? Are we now gatekeepers who try to keep out those who don’t look or act as we think that they should? People of hope, if there is one thing the good news of Jesus Christ tells us, it is that we cannot pick and choose who God loves, because God’s love surpasses any human understanding. As Jesus sought out the outsider, we too are called to welcome them in, to include them – just as they are – as a member of God’s holy flock of beloved children of God. So today – this day – however you see yourself, however you see another, know that God calls each of you beloved, and the Son, the Good Shepherd, has already promised to lay down his life for you, and has done so in the cross, so that all might be joined together in one holy flock, called to love and serve God, and join together in the community of saints formed here on earth, all members of God’s eternal flock, who all reside in Christ’s eternal protection and care.