Sermon: Misericordias Domini (Easter 3) - 2019

5 May 2019

Text: John 10:11-16 (Ezek 34:11-16, 1 Pet 2:21-25)

In the name of + Jesus.  Amen.

Christ is risen!  He is risen indeed!  Alleluia!

“The good shepherd,” says our Lord Jesus Christ, “lays down his life for the sheep.”

Of course, shepherds do a lot of things.  They lead the flock to good grass for them to graze, and bring them to water for them to drink.  They give medical care to the injured, and tend to the ewes giving birth.  They give names to the sheep and train them to stay together.  They seek out the sheep that get lost, and give compassion to those who are dying.  

But our Lord mentions this one characteristic of a good shepherd: he interposes his own life between the wolf and each one of the sheep in his flock.  One of the most important roles of the shepherd is protector.  The good shepherd defends against the predator, and he will put his own life in harm’s way to beat back an attacker.  In this sense, the shepherd is a warrior – which fits in well with King David’s vocation as a shepherd-king.  And of course, the ultimate Shepherd-King is David’s descendant Jesus.

For as God, as our Creator, Jesus is the good shepherd because he owns us sheep.  He is not a hired hand.  And the difference is that the one who is just doing a job isn’t going to lay down his life.  When trouble comes, he will flee.  But not the good shepherd.  He stays.  He fights.  He bleeds.  And if necessary, he dies.

The warrior professions, those vocations involving the protection of others, has this same component.  The police, the military, the fire service – all of these callings take great strength: physical and mental.  A warrior is called upon to even harm other people if needed in order to protect his flock.  There is a fatherly component to these callings.  For we have all seen examples of huge, burly, manly men who are as meek and gentle as can be with his little children – even to the point of being a pushover.  But let someone mess with one of his little lambs, and the father just might rip the attacker limb from limb.  This fatherly trait is derided by our deranged culture today as “toxic masculinity.”  But there is nothing toxic about it, dear friends.  It is normal and natural for a father to be the shepherd of his family: both gentle and aggressive, depending upon the circumstances, all in service to his family.

Pastors are also an example of this so-called “toxic masculinity.”  The word “pastor” is Latin for “shepherd.”  And bishops (who are pastors of pastors) traditionally carry a staff called a crozier, which is a reminder of the shepherd’s crook that the shepherd in the field uses to crack the heads of the predatory wolves and lions.  The pastor is, in a very real way, the father of his parishioners.  And this is why there is the ancient custom in the church to call them “father” – which is still done in Lutheran churches around the world.

And all of these vocations are described to a certain extent by our Lord’s teaching that fathers and warriors and pastors lay down their lives for those placed under their care.  But He is mainly speaking of His own ministry as the Savior of the flock of all Christians, as what St. Peter calls, “the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.”  The Greek work that Peter uses is actually “bishop.”  Jesus is the Good Shepherd, for we are sheep under His care, and He holds nothing back in our defense.  He is not a hired hand.  He sees the wolf coming, the devil, and our Lord interposes Himself physically between prey and predator.  His crozier is the cross.  The cross is the weapon that Jesus uses to crush the serpent’s head and save us from being devoured by the ruthless enemy.  He is the Good Shepherd whose veins are opened and whose blood flows freely and sacrificially.  His flesh takes the blows, deflecting them from falling upon us, just as a father or soldier would do to save his children or comrades from attack.

Jesus knows His own sheep, and His own sheep know Him.  He has called each one of us by name.  He gathers us by the Holy Spirit to assemble together in His name, to receive His shepherdly gifts.  And He leads us to green pastures, to food – even the mystical food of His own body, just as He leads us to still waters – even the saving waters of Holy Baptism.

The prophet Ezekiel speaks of Jesus when He says that the Lord God Himself “will search for [His sheep],” gathering them where they have been scattered.  God Himself.  No hired hand who would just run away.  But God Himself, in human form, willing to lay down His life, to fight, to scrap, to bleed, to die.  

This prophesied Shepherd will gather His people from all the nations, from around the world.  He will seek the lost” and “bring back the strayed” and “bind up the injured” and “strengthen the weak” and will destroy the enemies of the flock that have grown “fat and strong” by their injustice.  Jesus is the Good Shepherd. 

For as St. Peter confesses, “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.  By His wounds you have been healed.  For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.”

Another reason why Jesus is the Good Shepherd is that His flock consists of everyone.  He dies for everyone, for each and every poor miserable sinner on the planet.  And so He offers His saving blood for the forgiveness of sins for all.  And what a tragedy that so many refuse the offer of eternal life.  But Jesus is the “King of love” as our hymn goes.  And love is never compelled or forced.  The gift of the lover can be refused by the beloved.  For we are sheep, not rocks.  We are living creatures who may submit to our shepherd, or who may choose not to.  

And our Good Shepherd knows that there are members of His flock who are unattached to the flock.  He seeks them out.  He calls them back.  He impels but He does not compel.  He urges but He does not force.  He draws all of us in by means of His voice, that is, His Word: “And I have other sheep that are not of this fold.  I must being them also, and they will listen to My voice.  So there will be one flock, one shepherd.”

One shepherd, dear friends!  This corresponds to the unity of our “one holy Christian and apostolic church.”  We find unity in the head of the church, who is Christ, our Good Shepherd, who died for us, forgives our sins, and rescues us from the devil.  He bears the blows that we deserve, and like a doting father, He is gentle towards us when we call upon Him for help.  But towards those who would hurt his lambs, He is anything but meek and mild.  

“And so through all the length of days

Thy goodness faileth never;

Good Shepherd, may I sing Thy praise

Within Thy house forever.”

Amen.

Christ is risen!  He is risen indeed!  Alleluia!

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.