April 28th:
One Flock
April 28, 2012
Potsdam
Call: 1 John 3: 16-17, 23
Text: John 10: 11-18
Read: Psalm 23 (137)
One Flock
Let's take a look at ourselves.
Look to the right. Look to the left
Look to the front Look to the back
Look to the North and to the South
Look to the East and to the West.
Look at who is in the pews.
Look at who is in the pulpit
You can even look under the pews if you want
Although I would be at least mildly surprised
If you found anyone hiding there.
Aren't we a motley crew?
Not the band, of course.
And not a crew that is motley
In the negative sense we have so often heard the term used.
For when we use it negatively, it often conveys the idea of
The unwashed, undisciplined, and often unscrupulous dredges of humanity
Although I am uncomfortable referring to anyone as
"dredges of humanity."
I believe that I first heard the word "motley" used to describe a band of pirates made up of scoundrels of all sorts and all backgrounds
Probably in Peter Pan, but I am not certain.
But "motley" simply means either
Variegated in color
Or made up of diverse elements.
And our look around this room
Shows us that we are a congregation made up of diverse elements
For despite the many similarities that exist,
We have differences in education, income, and ethnic backgrounds.
We have differences in our political registrations and even within the party with which we have aligned ourselves.
Many of us have come out of various Christian denominations
Some of us have been life long Methodists
Although those born before 1939 have seen the changes
From Methodist Episcopal to (plain) Methodist to UM
Some of us can sing At least one of us can't carry a tune.
Some of us like sports Others can't fathom why.
Some of us are even (and this is painful and embarrassing to admit) Yankee fans.
And yet we are together.
We are together because we are followers of Jesus Christ.
We are his sheep. He is our shepherd.
We are not a group that just happens to enjoy each other's company
Although hopefully we do enjoy each other.
We are not a group that just happens to share interests or concerns.
Although we do share many interests and together address many concerns.
We are not the Kiwanis, Lions, or Rotary
nor any other civic or charitable organization
although some of us also serve through such organizations
and even those who don't, hold them in high regard.
We are a community brought together by
The life, the death, the resurrection, and the love of Jesus Christ.
Jesus is the good shepherd
We are his flock
Jesus talks about this in our text this morning [John 10: 11-18]
He tells us that he is the good shepherd
Not just some guy hired to watch over us.
The difference is that
the "Good Shepherd" loves and cares for the sheep so much
that to protect them and save them
he will lay down his life for them
unlike a hired hand who will sacrifice the sheep
to save himself by running away
instead of taking the risks involved in protecting them.
For years, the image of the good shepherd has comforted us.
We have seen dozens of pictures of Christ
Holding a lamb, while leading the flock.
I not only have the reassuring pleasure of now having my office
In a room dominated by a marvelous stained glass window
Depicting that calming scene, that comforting image
But every time I am in the fellowship hall
I can look up and through the open door to that office
see that window
With the sun, at different times of the day
Bathing that image with different tones and hues
And the best known and most comforting of the psalms - the 23rd
Reminds us of that image as well
Reading it, we begin "The Lord is my shepherd"
And then as we continue
We celebrate that because he is, we have all we need
And are confident that we shall not want
And we declare that
even as we walk through the valley of the shadow of death
we are so confident in his protection
that there is no evil that we fear. [pause]
But we do have something to fear.
To paraphrase Franklin Roosevelt:
"With Christ as our shepherd
All we have to fear Is fear of ourselves."
For the danger in the image of Christ as the good shepherd
Is that you and I will see only
that Christ is our shepherd
and will allow ourselves to ignore the rest of the image
that we are Christ's flock
And if that happens, you and I will start to think and act as if
We own Christ and He works for us
When what we need to think and how we need to act is as if
Christ owns us and we work for Him
For, (paraphrasing some else) "That's the way it is April 29, 2012
And for the 2000 years immediately past"
As parts of Christ's flock we are indebted to him
Indebted to him
For the remarkable love and protection he has provided us
and For the continuing love and protection we are confident he will provide us.
Remember, this shepherd was not only willing
But actually did lay down his life for us.
And that act of love and caring merits much more of a response than
A tepid "That was nice of him."
Or A casual "He is a good shepherd."
Our response has to be
one of deep gratitude
one of enthusiastic and heartfelt praise
one of determined and willing obedience
In short,
We have to place him above all else in our lives
And stop coming up with excuses not to.
and we - motley bunch that we are - have to respond
not only as individual sheep
but as a community
as parts of the one flock for which he calls in the scripture.
We must worship as a community - and do so regularly
For if we don't,
we slide into the pattern of giving other things priority
Using Him rather than acknowledging His right to use us
We must serve willingly because we are serving Him
Not trying to impress others
We must do all that we can to make irrelevant and out of date the question raised in the passage that called us to worship this morning:
"How does God's love abide in anyone who has the world's goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses to help?"
and we must reach out and tell and show His story to those other sheep who do not yet belong to the flock
and not just with those who seem identical to us
For this flock is inclusive - not exclusive.
This flock is open to anyone who is
prepared to recognize, accept, and acknowledge
That He is our shepherd
That we are dependent on Him and responsible to Him
That He owns us - not the reverse.
This flock, his flock
can respond even better to the shepherd's love and sacrifice
Because of the variety of gifts and experiences
That result from the fact that the flock is motley
Wow! We are his motley crew.
What a wonderful thing to be!