Images of Christ (series)
The Good Shepherd
By Rev Steven R
Mitchell
Mountain View
United, Aurora 1-20-2013
Based on John
10:11-18
Today
we are embarking on a journey that will look at some of the images of Christ
found in scripture. We often hear or
read references to Christ as a care giver such as: good shepherd. We have
images of Christ as being submissive when we refer to him as: the lamb, or as the suffering servant. Jesus is
also compared as a plant when we say; Jesus is the branch, or true vine. Jesus is a revealer of truth when he is said
to be the light of the world. We give Christ titles like: bridegroom, head of the church, or corner stone. We honor Christ as life giver when we refer
to him as bread of life. It is my hope that as we learn more about how
Christ is described throughout scripture, we will be better able to see the
relationship between these descriptions of Christ and our own lives. And by understanding our relationship with
Jesus, be able to become more like these images ourselves.
I
have chosen to begin this series with the image of the Good Shepherd to
correspond with the remembrance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr King, in my
opinion, is one of the best examples of the Twentieth Century’s good shepherds.
This has been a
week of revelations and of stimulation, both of the mind and more importantly
of the heart, for me. I was able to
attend the annual board meeting of the Aurora Inter Church Task Force with
Kathy Groth, our churches representative.
I also attended a breakfast, one of many functions going on this week in
honor of Dr. King with Wayne Laws, where we heard two riveting speeches
addressing disunity and brokenness as it is experienced through racism in this
country. I watched a PBS special that chronicled
the Mormon Church’s teachings on sexuality and its involvement in California’s
proposition 8, which repealed equal rights and protections given through
marriage. This weekend has provide
stimulating conversations with Paul’s daughter and son-in-law as we spoke about
the goals and visions of a new church in which they are members of and how
changes toward being a religious institution in their former church were so dramatic,
prompting them to leave and join this
new fellowship.
So how does Jesus
saying, “I am the good shepherd.”
relate to these experiences I just spoke of?
How does racism, bigotry, homophobia, and new church starts relate to
the concept of “good shepherd?”
Within this story,
we hear how Jesus sees himself and his relationship to those who follow God’s
teachings as well as his relationship to God.
We hear Jesus say, “I am the Good Shepherd”. But what does Jesus mean when he says, “good”? Is this the same as when we say, “Mary Jo is
a good teacher”, or “Mark has good health”, or “I will give you a good amount
of money.” In our understanding of the
word good, we most frequently think of “attribute”, “quality or quantity of”,
even “morally just or righteous.” We
tend to think of “good” as opposite to “evil”.
Yet a more accurate way of understanding the word “good” as it was used
in Jesus’ day would be more likened to our understanding of “Model”. “I am
the Model Shepherd” would be more of how the first century listener would
understand.
It may seem like
it’s the same meaning and I am just playing around with semantics, yet there is
a subtle difference from an “attribute” to that of “model.” Jesus is speaking about the relationship and
trust that exists between, in this case a shepherd and his flock, or between
teacher/prophet, or even parent, student, congregation, or child. When I was in seminary, my New Testament
Professor was Dr Gam Shea. Dr Shea was
from Burma and he modeled for those of us in his classes what it means to be
meek, another concept most severely misunderstood in our Western culture.
Model then can be
understood as a “way of life”, the way one reacts automatically. Jesus says that a “model shepherd” is in such
relationship to his flock that he would go so far as to die for them in order
to have their life spared. Jesus’
relationship to the people of God was a reflective model to his relationship
with God. Jesus’ relationship was so
deep with God that he often referred to God as his parent. We read about the intimacy Jesus had with God,
by the amount of time he spent in prayer and in his references to God. The authority in Jesus’ words reflected his
relationship with God.
Not only did Jesus
speak about his relationship as shepherd for the Hebrews, who saw themselves as
God’s chosen people, but he tells them that there are other sheep that are
outside of the flock (non-Hebrew) that he will bring in. This was the offensive part of Jesus’
message.
We don’t see its
offensiveness when we read about it in the context of John, but how many times
has the Christian church found it offensive when we have had “model prophets”
such as the Dr Rev Martin Luther King, Jr tell us that those with dark skin are
equal in the site of God? It cost Dr
King his life, preaching that message.
How welcomed is the message that we still do not look at the Native
American with equality? How offensive is
it to many Christians in this country when there are voices that rise up and
demand marriage for all people, or that those who are in the LGBTQ community
are also fully accepted by God. The
Mormon Church funded proposition 8 with millions of dollars. I hear Christians argue that basic medical
care should not be a right to all people in this country. And I could go one with multiple examples
such as: the death penalty, immigration reform, and housing for the poor.
My question for us
is, “Where do we as a community of faith draw boundaries?” “How big is our pen?” “What model of shepherd” do we as a congregation
live by? Is the word “political
activism” or “social justice” one of our boundaries that we do not wish to cross
over? Yes, we call ourselves an “open
and affirming/more light/reconciling” congregation, yet what is the prevailing
color of this family? We have 106 or so
members, yet almost a third of those members do not attend any church sponsored
function. Is it because of some type of boundary
we have placed before them?
Jesus says that
there are wolves that attack the herd.
What are the wolves that attack us?
What are some of the wolves that attack the relationships and trust
within our families and between our friendships? What are some of the wolves that attack us
spiritually and work at detouring our spiritual growth? What are some of the wolves that eat away at
the relationships in this church family?
If Jesus were with
us this morning he would be asking us to think about our relationship with
God. How open are we to allowing the
Holy Spirit space within our hearts, so that we might be more deeply nourished
by love, assured that we are not alone, and the sense of peace that comes when
we let God take the helm of our lives.
We are starting a
series of monthly breakfasts to start educating ourselves on a variety of
social issues, as a way of seeing where we as a congregation would most want to
focus our energies. We are in early
conversations with another church that is looking for a new partner in
ministry. We have youth that need model
adults for learning how to cope with life’s challenges as they grow up. As a church, we need to seriously understand
what Jesus is about, of what he means when he says, “He is the model shepherd”, so that we can work at continuing to be
that “model shepherd” for those who we meet.
I asked at the
beginning of this morning’s reflection as to how does: racism, bigotry, homophobia, and new church starts relate to the
concept of “good shepherd? All of
these are symptoms of what happens when wolves are attacking God’s people. Just where are our boundaries and how do we
need to widen the circle so that the “model shepherd” can include everyone? Amen
No comments:
Post a Comment