Good Shepherd, tell us plainly

[greetings – great to be back here St. Augustine’s by-the-Sea, Santa Monica]

In this morning’s Gospel lesson from John, Jesus is being confronted by religious leaders during a celebration (Hanukkah) in which observant Jews remember the heroic faith of their ancestors (Maccabees) who reclaimed Jerusalem and rededicated the temple that had been desecrated by Greek conquerors two centuries earlier.  Understandably, the people confronting Jesus in the portico of the temple want to know if this charismatic guy from the rural country presumes to be the messianic leader who will reclaim Jerusalem from the now Roman occupiers.  

There’s something beguiling about them putting such emphasis on words in order to grasp the truth about God’s love in action among us.  And, Jesus knows this. 

Although he will use words to help people understand his identity and intentions, he is aware how words can be misused and can mislead.  Rather than merely explaining what sort of messiah he is (which was a challenging paradigm shift given the prevailing messianic expectations of his time), he has been demonstrating what true ‘kingdom’ salvation is (beyond nationalistic or tribal restoration) when the rules of righteousness and laws of love are truly fulfilled through actions rather than words.

Jesus has been preaching pretty plainly about positions and roles in the kingdom of God through focusing on restorative relationships among divinely beloved and blessed people previously separated by ideological presumptions.  When Jesus does testify to the truth with words, he prefers using parables that require active inquisitive communal engagement to fully comprehend – again, emphasizing that working through new relationships together is how we will come to know the truth about God’s desire for us to be reconciled as a family.  

To those who want to know his identity and mission, Jesus responds with, “I have told you…the works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me”; essentially saying “hey what more do I need to tell you with my mouth; I’ve been showing you with my living everything you need to know about me and how to realize the kingdom of God at hand.”

How are we telling people plainly through our living who we are in Christ’s name and what this church thing is all about?  About what truth do our works testify? 

Consider this more contemporary parable that says something about the perils of speaking about our faith within the walls of the church (our temple) without telling it through action in the community (God’s vineyard):

Parable of the Lifesaving Station:  On a dangerous seacoast where shipwrecks often occur, there was once a crude little life-saving station. The building was just a hut, and there was only one boat, but the few devoted members kept a constant watch over the sea, and with no thought for themselves went out day and night tirelessly searching for those who were lost. Some of those who were saved and various others in the surrounding area wanted to become associated with the station and gave of their time, money, and effort to support its work. New boats were bought and new crews trained. The little lifesaving station grew.

Some of the members of the lifesaving station were unhappy that the building was so crude and poorly equipped. They felt that a more comfortable place should be provided as the first refuge of those saved from the sea. They replaced the emergency cots with beds and put better furniture in the enlarged building.

Now the lifesaving station became a popular gathering place for its members, and they decorated it beautifully because they used it as a sort of club. Fewer members were now interested in going to sea on life-saving missions, so they hired lifeboat crews to do this work. The lifesaving motif still prevailed in the club’s decorations, and there was a liturgical lifeboat in the room where the club’s initiations were held.

About this time a large ship wrecked off the coast, and the hired crews brought in boatloads of cold, wet, and half-drowned people. They were dirty and sick. The beautiful new club was in chaos. So the property committee immediately had a shower house built outside the club where victims of shipwrecks could be cleaned up before coming inside.

At the next meeting, there was a split among the club membership. Most of the members wanted to stop the club’s lifesaving activities as being unpleasant and a hindrance to the normal social life of the club. Some members insisted upon life-saving as their primary purpose and pointed out that they were still called a life-saving station. But they were finally voted down and told that if they wanted to save the lives of all the various kinds of people who were shipwrecked in those waters, they could begin their own lifesaving station. So they did.

As the years went by, the new station experienced the same changes that had occurred in the old. It evolved into a club, and yet another lifesaving station was founded. History continued to repeat itself, and if you visit that seacoast today, you will find a number of exclusive clubs along that shore. Shipwrecks are frequent in those waters, but most of the people drown. 

I’ve read that this parable was written in 1953 by The Rev. Dr. Theodore O. Wedel, who was ordained an Episcopal priest in 1931, served as Canon of the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., and also served for a time as president of the Episcopal Church's House of Deputies. (http://www.ecfvp.org/vestrypapers/death-and-resurrection/parable-of-the-lifesaving-station/)

We can talk about our doctrines and theology… yes, we can embellish our spaces with symbols that should speak to the heart of our collective purpose and work… yes, we can even enact beautiful rituals and rites that are to be visible signs of spiritual truth (particularly as Episcopalians)… Let’s not be tempted into believing that ‘saying it plainly’ in common prayer alone, or acting it out in here once a week, is sufficient testament to the world of salvation through suffering and loving together with our living, resurrected Christ.

It’s not that our words are not important – indeed, professing our faith and sharing our stories are powerful testimonies.  And, there’s nothing more revealing and persuasive about new life in Christ than what our charitable actions toward our neighbors communicate out there, beyond the walls of this place.  If a picture is worth a thousand words, acts of self-sacrificing love speak more than any amount words along can express. 

I imagine that most of us yearn to participate in a life-saving station more than merely contributing to the maintenance of yet another clubhouse along the coast… that rather than just trying to tell people what this is all about through, we’re more enlivened when we’re explaining who Jesus is through healing, restorative love, acts of charity and justice, and life-affirming relationships.  

Whether reaching out to our neighbors who are adrift or shipwrecked… or tending to lost sheep among our friends and family… how do others understand you speaking plainly about new life with, in, and through Jesus Christ?

Where is the Good Shepherd?  Is Christ still at work in our world?  Tell us plainly?

Which says it most clearly… a talking-head trying to explain God’s presence in the midst of tragedy, or the witness of people at the end of the Boston marathon, immediately after bombs have gone off, running back into harm’s way to help others in the shadow of death?... platitudes about innocent children at Sandy Hook Elementary being lifted to heaven by angels, or stories of courageous teachers who dared sacrifice their own bodies as shields for the innocent in the face of evil? 

This morning, we heard from Revelation (7:9-17) of a sacrificial Lamb becoming the heavenly shepherd for people from all nations who have survived great tribulation and now enjoy fellowship in a new, heavenly pasture where this is no more hunger, thirst, scorching heat, or tears – just perpetual worship in a new kingdom defined not by the things that have previously separated us, but by a purity and unity in victory over death itself.

We also heard again one of our most memorable metaphors in the pastoral assurances of Psalm 23.  The Lord is our shepherd who walks with us through fear, guides us through imminent danger, and leads us toward generous and abundant nourishment in greener pastures.

In the Gospel reading (John 10:22-30) Jesus likens himself, in contrast to misleading or nefarious leaders of the vulnerable , as a good shepherd, unified with God in heart and mind, who gathers and protects all sheep who follow his voice. 

In what we heard from Acts, a community which believes that death does not have the final word seeks assistance when they are in need.  Peter doesn’t pontificate in the face of their needs; he uses very few words while demonstrating the power of faith in Christ and the Holy Spirit.

And,  remember that in our Gospel lesson last week, Jesus commissions his disciples to be good shepherds to others (“feed my sheep / tend to my flock”). 

As it is written, it’s not enough just to say the right things or merely to claim to have faith – faith without action based in/on that faith is as good as dead (James 2:16-26). 

Our faith expressed through action with Christ is what revives us as well as what is otherwise thought to be dead. 

Gathered together in the name of Jesus, our true messiah and Good Shepherd, we are in the business life-saving - serving as good shepherds to, for, and with our neighbors. 

Let us tell this plainly first through courageous and faithful actions out there… then we have more cause to celebrate our work with Christ through elegant and comforting words when we gather in here at his table each week.

AMEN.