Just Another Sheep

John 10:22-38 and Psalm 23

The good shepherd JESUS MAFA

A substitute was called to fill in for a kindergarten teacher one day. 

After identifying the most unruly student, a boy named Tommy, this substitute teacher went right to work. 

The Substitute pulled him to the side and asked if he would like to be the “special helper” that day. 

Tommy was advised that as the special helper for the day, he would keep watch over the class when the substitute stepped out, keeping classmates orderly and safe, and he would function as the line leader for the day. 

Tommy followed up the instructions by demanding to know “What’s in it for me?”

“Well” Responded the Substitute “you would be in charge whenever I am out, you would be helping me, and you know what else? NOBODY messes with the line leader!”

It worked.

Tommy behaved marvelously once he’d been given the task 

and it provided a role that gave, at least, the illusion of authority. 

As the class left the art room later that afternoon, the substitute had to take one of the children who had eaten some glue to the school nurse. 

Tommy was instructed to guide the class back down the hall, past the school office, to their regular classroom and wait until the substitute got back. 

Tommy did as he was told, taking his line leader position quite seriously. 

But as he walked past the office, the principle saw Tommy leading them down the hallway. 

The principle, quite familiar with Tommy for all the wrong reasons and noticing the lack of any adult supervision, ran out of the office yelling for Tommy to stop. 

But he did not stop, he continued on following his orders from the substitute to a T.

As the principle ran to the front of the line demanding Tommy stop leading the class astray, the class began to hesitate. 

Tommy spun around and demanded they continue to follow him as the principle grabbed him by the shoulder exclaiming “You stop right now! What do you think you’re doing!?”

Tommy responded by thrusting his finger into the Principle’s face and informing him “Hey! Nobody messes with the line leader!”

Hope for the future Dwight Baird

In John’s gospel for today, Jesus is also being stopped in the hallway. 

The religious authorities have noticed Jesus’ discipleship growing and they have become worried. 

There have been numerous charismatic figures that have claimed religious authority over the years. 

These charismatic religious figures had caused uprisings, wars, and acts of treason against Rome that had caused the full force of Rome to be brought down on the community. 

Many of the religious authorities had worked out a deal with their Roman rulers, basically, go along to get along. 

It had worked out well for most of them, they were able to continue to practice their religion as they had before and they were even recognized as leaders in the community. 

So, it is understandable that many of these religious elite would prefer to not have anymore of these uprisings. 

Rooting out these uprisings meant rooting out these charismatic figures, putting them back in their place, and keeping the attention of the community set on those whose authority really mattered; 

the religious elite. 

But the authority of these religious elite cannot come from Rome  

-the very force that is oppressing the community-

So, they must claim themselves to be divinely ordained, pointing to themselves as the Shepherd that leads the flock, a claim that is rather contrary to the 23rd Psalm. 

The role of the shepherd was more of a metaphorical role than a desirable vocation. 

It was a miserable job, more similar to the lifestyle of a rancher or a cowboy, than that of the shepherds we envision from Christmas pageants and claymation cartoons. 

It was difficult labor, with few benefits. 

Oftentimes Shepherds were not even caring for their own flocks, they would take care of sheep that belonged to their community or family, rather than caring for their own personal investments. 

and they were held accountable for each and every one of those sheep. 

But in the Ancient near east, a shepherd served as a good metaphor for a king. 

Prior to the psalm, the imagery had been used by many other cultures throughout the region to describe the magisterial role of their human kings and rulers. 

For the Israelites, it was a common practice to take the grand titles given to lofty rulers and superimpose them on God. 

It was an attempt to correct the idea that human rule could be unflawed 

Rulers in the Ancient near east were often seen as not only governing authorities but human gods

Taking the title of shepherd and placing it on God made a clear statement to all that there was no human rule that could match that of the divine. 

So when Jesus is confronted in the portico by these religious elite and accused of blasphemy, his response is not only justified but damning evidence of their own blasphemy. 

Because their entire practice is not pointing to God, it points to themselves. 

Not only are shepherds good metaphors for rulers, but flocks are good metaphors for us as people. 

Flock animals can easily stray if not cared for properly. 

The problem is that most flock animals do not have the means to protect themselves. 

Anyone can observe that whether it be sheep, cattle, birds, or other herd or flock animals, if one of them becomes startled, the rest will follow the first animal that flees the group. 

It is a natural response, programmed for their own safety, strength in numbers. 

Native Americans used this response it to drive bison herds off cliffs when hunting. 

It is a gruesome example of how flocks and herds can be led astray, even to their own demise. 

So, just imagine sheep that name themselves as the shepherds. 

This is exactly what Jesus is pointing out to those accusing him of blasphemy. 

Because while the religious elite are pointing to their own authority, Jesus -the One given the true authority- uses it to point to the Father. 

In 1947, the iconic baseball player, Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier.

After having played baseball for the Kansas City Monarchs in the Negro Leagues and the Montreal Royals in the Minor Leagues, Robinson was signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers. 

Robinson’s admirable career would have been iconic regardless of the color of his skin but it was his role in breaking the color barrier that is usually associated with his career

…..and I find this sad in a way. 

You see, Jackie Robinson was a great ballplayer, but he said very little about breaking the color barrier. 

He wanted to play baseball, and while he resented the insults, the ridicule, the threats, and the actual physical violence that was inflicted on him, he did very little to respond. 

He didn’t respond because he ended up making a similar argument to the one Jesus makes in our gospel today by the very way he played the game.

Robinson’s debut in the Major Leagues was condemned by many as just a marketing ploy, a distraction from baseball. 

This icon did very little to stand out in any way, unless you count the way he played baseball. 

In his first year he led the league in sacrifice hits and stolen bases, had 175 hits -125 of which were scoring runs-, and drove his teammates to scoring runs 48 times!

He led the Dodgers to the World Series in 47, 49, 52, 53, and finally winning the whole thing in 55. 

Sisters and brothers, Jackie Robinson was just a sheep. 

Yeah, a black sheep that conformed to the flock for the benefit of the flock. 

And while other sheep led others astray they became distracted and distracted others from the game, making a spectacle of themselves and a mockery of the game through their hateful actions and rhetoric.  

But Robinson and his famed bronx bombers conformed together no matter what valleys or enemies they faced or what evils were threatened against them. 

Jackie Robinson, Pee Wee Reese,
and Preacher Roe 

And it wasn’t because they were focused on Robinson, it is because Jackie Robinson, Pee Wee Reese, Gil Hodges, Duke Snider, Carl Furillo, Roy Campanella, Don Newcombe, Carl Erskine, and Preacher Roe were one flock following a call to the same prize. 

In the film 42, Pee Wee Reese is portrayed in one scene joking with Jackie Robinson;  “maybe tomorrow we will all wear the number 42, that way they won’t be able to tell us apart”

The authorities that confront Jesus as a blasphemer in the portico fail to recognize that they are the ones leading other sheep astray, gathering whole flocks of stray sheep into the valleys and enemies awaiting, alone. 

Because they have named themselves as the authority, they have told the people that they will be the shepherd in a world where we are all ill equipped for that roll, and the greatest danger are these overambitious sheep. 

Psalm 23 doesn’t assure that the shepherd will eliminate those evils, it only assures that the shepherd will remain with us as we flock together and journey through these narrow passes we travel. 

It is the idol we make of ourselves and our own selfish wanting that leads us astray. 

Just like a sheep that is looking for that greener pasture and wanders from the safety of the flock. 

It isn’t that individuality is a bad thing, because it is not, it should be cherished. 

But just like the shepherd knows every scar, blemish, and abnormality of each sheep in the flock, 

So too does our Shepherd, it is how we are identified and accounted for as we walk through the valleys we travel. 

Because we are sealed with the shepherds brand at that font and we are called to the meal where we are fed. 

And we are called to conform to the shepherd that will lead us home. 

But in a world where individuality is so prized, I find it ironic. 

We claim to demand an acceptance of one another’s uniqueness and individuality

Yet we consistently find ourselves asking why other’s do not join our own flocks?

Leading other sheep to our political parties, our shared hatred of a particular group, our demand to think, act, or live the way we deem ideal. 

How many of our flocks distract us from what it truly means to be in relationship with God and one another in the true flock that God calls us to?

How many of the sheep who claim to be shepherds are drawing attention onto themselves rather than what is best for the flock? 

In a few weeks, this will be the very question I will ask of you. 

Because as this internship comes to a close, I hope that I have not led you astray. 

I hope that the ministry I have shared with you in this place will continue to be of value to you, not because it was mine but because it was ours, because it was something we created together as a flock. 

I pray that years from now you will still see the cross I pointed to rather than the finger that was pointing to it. 

And most of all, I hope and pray that the ministry we have shared over this past year was Christ centered and not Nate centered

Because sisters and brothers, no ministry should ever mistake a sheep for a shepherd 

And God help me, sometimes faith is just trying to recognize where the true flock really is.

Amen

Leaving it all on the track

John 21:1-19

 The Miraculous Draught of Fishes

Raphael

Before attending seminary, I used to run marathons and other road races. 

One of the keys to long distance running that I learned in high school and on, was pacing oneself. 

If you go out too fast, you will run out of gas.

There are few long distance runners who can “leave it all on the road” or “the track” so to speak. 

One runner who has become an icon in the running community was Steve Prefontaine, who broke records in long distance track and field and qualified for the 1972 Olympics in Munich. 

Prefontaine or simply “Pre” as many have come to know him, was infamous for starting out fast, right from the starting block.

This was what made and continues to make “Pre” a legendary figure in the running community even after his untimely death. 

During the 1972 Olympic 5,000 meter event, he broke the slow steady pace of the other runners right around mile 2. 

Pre leading the pack in Munich (1972)

He attempted to break the spirit of the other runners early enough that it would leave him with an easy half mile jaunt to the gold, perhaps a world record, and give the other runners nothing to compete for outside of a silver or bronze medal finish. 

But Pre went out too early and the iconic runner ran out of gas, falling to third place with just 200 meters to go, then, a mere 10 meters from the finish line, 

Pre was passed and was deprived of a third place finish and an olympic bronze medal. 

At Easter we heard Luke’s account of Peter’s one man footrace to the tomb. 

Peter runs alone, sprinting to the tomb to see for himself what Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary, and the other women from Galilee had described as the empty tomb.  

But last week, we changed gears from Luke’s account of the gospel to John’s gospel and we continue with John’s account today. 

In John’s account of the empty tomb, Peter finds himself with a little competition. 

The unnamed disciple, usually described as the “other” disciple or the “beloved” disciple, not only runs with Peter but beats him to the tomb, taking the lead and depriving Peter of the first place role Peter consistently seeks among the disciples. 

This unnamed disciple not only has a fairly nice stride but is the only one of the 12 disciples that shows up at the foot of the cross as Jesus is taking his final breaths. 

This beloved disciple is entrusted with the care of Jesus’ own mother, Mary, at the foot of that cross.

The unnamed disciple even accompanies Jesus into his trial prior to the crucifixion, leaving Peter in the courtyard where Peter fulfills Jesus’ prediction and denies his own discipleship. 

Peter is not only a poor competitor in this race, it would seem he hasn’t even crossed the starting line. 

Peter’s denial of his discipleship is not only an abandonment of Jesus’ teaching, it is an abandonment of the man who is left to die alone on the cross. 

Left to die by all of those closest to him with the exception of a mere few, including that unnamed disciple. 

So it is any wonder that as the disciples are struggling to haul in this huge catch of fish, Peter’s attention shifts back to winning the race.

The scene even strikes me as a bit comical as this unnamed beloved disciple tells Peter, “Hey, check it out! It’s the Lord on the beach giving us fishing tips!”

I imagine Peter pushing this disciple into the boat proclaiming, “I got dibs this time!”

The Disciples Peter and John Running to the 

Sepulchre on the Morning of the Resurrection

Eugène Burnand

100 meters from shore and Peter is all in, literally. 

No way he is going to be beaten this time as he swims to shore.

Now many claim that Peter is seeking a redemption that would return him to first place in the eyes of Jesus. 

I suppose that is one interpretation and a potentially valid one, but after abandoning the man that Peter told he would follow to the cross on Golgotha, I would argue this is more of a personal redemption. 

It is hard to believe that Peter is jockeying for the position of the most favored disciple. 

After abandoning Jesus to die alone, there is no way for Peter to think that a first place finish as the #1 disciple is even attainable. 

Peter’s abandonment and denial must have seemed unforgivable in his own eyes. 

Rather than seeking favor, I would argue that Peter is seeking the chance to confess his shame. 

And there is no shame that compares to the abandonment of another especially someone we claim to love, in their final breaths.

Peter most likely has returned to Galilee to escape his own shame, to return to the sense of normalcy, hoping to find a sense of peace that is no longer attainable. 

In Ernest Hemingway’s World War I novel, A Farewell to Arms, he tells the story of an American who receives a commission in the ambulance corps of the Italian Army. 

The character, Lieutenant Frederic Henry, deserts the army and travels to Stresa, Italy to escape the war. 

He attempts to avoid any memory of the war, refusing to talk about the war or even catch a glimpse of the newspapers, even claiming that he intends to completely forget the war ever occurred. 

But anyone who has ever experienced war can attest to the fact that war cannot be forgotten.

It changes you and it is a change that cannot be undone. 

In fact, the character Henry himself attests to this reality when he claims, 

“The world breaks every one and afterward many are strong at the broken places. But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially.”

Peter has come to recognize this when confronted by the reality of the Lord on that beach. 

There is no escape from the reality of the ministry that he has witnessed. 

It is a consistently challenging ministry in John’s account. 

A public ministry that doesn’t build up to a climactic confrontation but is riddled with conflict throughout. 

An account of Jesus’ ministry that takes him and his disciples to Jerusalem not once, as in the other gospels, but four times over the course of three years. 

And a ministry that breaks all those who joined Jesus, a breaking that culminates at the cross shattering the disciples in grief and fear. 

Which is where we find them following the empty tomb, attempting to mend themselves and move on with life. 

This is why we find the setting of the story at the sea of Galilee, where the disciples seek to return to their old ways of life but cannot even return to the vocations they have always known. 

Pulling in empty nets, they are fisherman that can no longer even catch fish.

And even though this is the third appearance of Jesus following the empty tomb, there was no clear call or vision for a continued ministry in the absence of Jesus. 

But in this meeting, Peter -longing to be mended and made strong in his broken places- comes before the Lord to find redemption, but is instead questioned by the Lord. 

Peter knows this line of questioning will offer him no redemption. 

Peter is no longer a credible witness before any of the disciples much less Jesus himself. 

And the subject in which he is questioned is the very topic in which he has already perjured himself before a litigator who has most certainly proven himself to be the foremost expert on the topic: love. 

Peter’s love is questioned by the One who measures love

Not in hospitality

The Denial of Saint Peter

Gerard Seghers

Not in displays of affection

Not in pledges of loyalty

But in the sacrifice of one’s own life!

So when Jesus asks,

“Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”

Peter knows he is being asked if he can again make the same pledge he made at their final meal together before the crucifixion, when Peter claimed he would follow Jesus to the cross and lay his life down for him. 

But this time he knows that if he says it, he’d better mean it. 

And just as he denied the Lord three times, he is asked three times. 

“Simon son of John, do you love me?”

Peter is deeply hurt when he is asked the third time. 

Peter’s confession of his love for Jesus has been expressed in the deepest way Peter knows how. 

And the pain Peter feels is grounded in the futility to prove his love because he interprets Jesus’ repeated questioning as an understandable reflection of his own lack of credibility. 

But Peter misinterprets the reasoning for this three part questioning. 

It isn’t grounded in Peter’s lack of credibility

It isn’t grounded in Peter’s lack of love

It is grounded in Jesus’ love for Peter

Because Peter’s confession of love will carry a heavy yoke, one that all the disciples failed, fail, and will continue to fail when asked to bear: 

FOLLOW ME

The word "following" is used in all four gospel accounts a total of 90 times. 

And regardless of how that word is translated, the act of following is never an act that is seen to completion. 

They are all in the race, yes, but Jesus leaves it all on the track. 

And that is why we all fail to follow Jesus, because Jesus invites us to leave it all on the track and that is a pace that we just can’t keep. 

The Christ invites us to run a race that we cannot run, at least not on our own.

And it is a race that we will not win, at least not alone. 

But in this final account, Peter is warned, we are all warned this is a race that will take us to places that we don’t want to go. 

A finish line we claim to seek but we are hesitant to reach for.

Feeding the lambs we would prefer to persecute.

Tending the sheep that we cannot herd because they refuse to hear.

Feeding the sheep that exhaust our resources.

Wearing the yoke of Christ that may take us to places that we do not want to go

But those are the places where the gospel leads us.

The font where we are not only born into Christ but the place where we die with Christ.

The railing where we receive the very body and blood, but we seldom feel the weight of that body through the bread we hold in our hands. 

The assurance we receive in the absolution that we are not only forgiven but loved in spite of the fact that we are all so undeserving of that love. 

And the charge we are given to go out into that world and share this good news, after receiving a benediction that Christ the Lamb, the Spirit of Truth, and the Lord God Almighty will be at our side as we share in that mission we are so hesitant to take on.

Yeah, it’s a tough race and the finish line doesn’t seem too appealing, but we are assured the gold, as long as you get in the race. 

And you don’t have to even catch up to Jesus.

After all, even if we can't keep the pace, he’s invited us to draft him from the font to the finish. 

Amen

Crucifixion of St. Peter  

Caravaggio