Sunday Homily - May 3, 2020 - Listening to the Good Shepherd

Jesus the Good Shepherd Icon

The Third Sunday of Easter

Acts 2:42-47

Psalm 23

1 Peter 2:19-25

John 10:1-10

I.

I love being in charge,
 don't you?

I like it when I have the ability to chart my own path,
 go where I think is good,
  do the things I believe to be in the right
   and not have to explain myself to others in so doing.

Yet, if I'm honest with myself,
 I also sometimes feel so lost in my own freedom,
  my own perception of what is right,
   that I completely go down the wrong paths,
    even when I'm convinced that they are right.

I both really love having the freedom I have,
 yet I also get lost and frustrated that I don't know where I should be going.

And, when I examine this a little closer,
 I find that...
  it isn't that I have a free will to act that is the problem.
   The problem is that
     I'm infatuated with being in control.

Maybe you are like me.
 I want to be in control of my world,
  ordering it the way that I like,
   arranging things in the ways that I believe is good.

But, friends,
 the more that I grasp for control,
  the more I discover that I cannot control my world.

It leaves me frustrated and angry with myself.
 I can't control what happens,
  I feel trapped,
   I feel lost,
    I don't know the way.

And the only person that I can point to,
 to blame for getting lost,
  is my own self.
   Because I think that I'm in the lead.

However, friends,
 there is a reason why shepherds carry a large, hooked crook.
  To keep sheep,
   like me,
    going the right way,
     even when I cry and protest because I think I know better.

What kind of patient person would put up with a person like me?
 What kind of loving person would lovingly choose to dwell
   with people who so often think they know the right way
    when in fact we are lost?

Thankfully, brothers and sisters,
 we have such a loving patient person
  who every day chooses to dwell with us
   even when we were scattered and lost.
    His name is Jesus,
     and his title is the Good Shepherd.

II.

And the thing about Jesus the Good Shepherd,
 (which may sound obvious, but it deserves to be said)
  is that Jesus is the one who lovingly directs and leads US.

Jesus Christ, who is the Good Shepherd,
 is the one who is in charge, so to speak.
  And it ain't me!

And if we all can come to that place of realization
 that Jesus has better plans for our souls that we have for ourselves,
  perhaps we can find the peace that God wishes to give
   by learning the true skill of peace:

And that skill is learning how to listen.

Learning how to listen to the Good Shepherd when he calls our name.
 Learning how to listen and trust that where we are being led is good for us.
  Learning how to listen and be still, knowing God is there.
   Learning how to listen, and to follow in loving obedience,
    because we know that Jesus Christ desires to show us the way.

Because when we forget to listen to the Good Shepherd,
 there are all kinds of voices that beg us to follow them.

The voice of license:
 "No one orders me around. I do what I want."

The voice of pride:
 "You know better than anyone where we need to go, so just do it."

The voice of despair:
 "Just give up. Everything is meaningless, and you will always be lost."

But these voices don't desire your good, friends.
 These are the voices that will shred your soul
  and leave you broken, lost, and wounded.

Rather, the Good Shepherd's voice desires your life,
 and Jesus not only is with you in hard times,
  but he actively calls you to new life
   by his leading of our lives by his gracious hand.

III.

The fact that Jesus Christ is our Good Shepherd
 is so incredibly important to remember in our current times.

Even though we have been led into dark valleys,
 with a worldwide pandemic that is claiming hundreds of thousands of lives,
  we have been led here by someone who knows the way through.

Jesus Christ knows the way through,
 and we have to reengage our ears to listen to his lead.

We need to relearn to sit still,
 to be patient,
  and to know the voice of the shepherd when he calls.

This is most surely the case as it comes to when we can even get back together
 as Church in the midst of these times.
  We cry out, "How long is this going to last?
   How long must we be away from worshiping together?"

Friends, I do not know the answer to that question.
 But what I can tell you is to listen to the one who can answer that question.

Listen to Jesus,
 and listen fervently to what he speaks.

Read your Bible, the Word of God, and listen to what Jesus speaks.
 Pray every day, and listen to what Jesus speaks.
  Look into the world and glimpse where the Shepherd is leading us.

And don't give in to despair, friends,
 just because we cannot control the world.
  Rather, give yourself wholly to the Good Shepherd,
   who desires life abundant for our souls.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.