Shepherd’s Sunday/Change the World April 25, 2010 “The Master’s Voice” Reverend Michael D. Powell John 10:11-16

"God is my shepherd, I shall not want; God makes me lie down in green pastures, and leads me beside still waters."

Ah, green pastures and still waters, blue skies and clean air; God’s great gift of the garden, and we, you and I, are gardeners and shepherds, stewards who hold dominion over this precious gift of planet earth and all the blessed creatures of our God and king!

"In 1970, Americans were slurping leaded gas through massive V8 sedans. Industry belched out smoke and sludge with little fear of legal consequences or bad press. Air pollution was commonly accepted as the smell of prosperity. Environment was a word that appeared more often in spelling bees than on the evening news. It was into such a world that the very first Earth Day was born." The late Gaylord Nelson, then a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, proposed the first nationwide environmental protest "to shake up the political establishment and force this issue onto the national agenda."

On April 22, 1970, 20 million Americans took to the streets, parks and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment. This year we mark the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. The United Methodist Church designates one Sunday each year, preferably the Sunday closest to Earth Day, as a Festival of God's Creation, "celebrating God's gracious work in creating the Earth and all living things, incorporating it into the church's liturgical calendar, and developing appropriate ways for congregations to celebrate it." (Resolution 11, God's Creation and the Church, 2004 Book of Resolutions) Genesis 1 says, "God looked over everything God had made; it was so good, so very good!" Today, as we celebrate the Festival of God's Creation, let us remember to cherish and protect God's beautiful world. (1)

So today we’re doing our part to help “Change the World,” at least one little portion of it. Morningside UMC will join with our neighbors in sprucing up Morningside Park, spreading bark dust and generally being good stewards for this part of God’s garden. Yesterday we did our regular 12^th street cleanup. And, our local activities have global implications, because we’ll also have fun activities and helpful information to raise money to help purchase nets to send to Africa for the prevention of malaria.

It’s appropriate that these more recent observances of World Malaria Day and Change the World Sunday are overlaid on the ancient liturgical calendar. For centuries today has been observed as Shepherd Sunday, which always falls on the 4th Sunday of the season of Easter. The image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd is one of the most heartfelt and powerful images in scripture. We always read the beloved 23rd Psalm, which is a spiritual touchstone that has provided comfort and healing for many, many people, as well as the words of Christ from the Gospel of John, "I am the Good Shepherd…"

The image of the Good Shepherd conjures up childhood memories for many of us. Here are some contemporary renditions, one with a very Jewish Shepherd, one African, and another Chinese:

But it’s not just a sweet, nostalgic metaphor. The term shepherd, as far back as the Pharaohs of Egypt, was a metaphor for rulers. It was a way of describing the responsibilities of both religious and political leaders who were held accountable for the safety of their people, their flock. As we read Christ's claim to be the Good Shepherd, we discover a strongly worded statement about political and theological accountability. The words of warning against "thieves and bandits who come only to steal and kill and destroy" could have been written in this morning's headlines.

The fact is, it's not a particularly good time for shepherds. Commenting on the relevance of this passage for our times, Sociology of Religion professor, Martin Marty, commented: "Phony grace and false security and make-believe shepherds abound, and so do misleading doorways." Not long ago somebody scribbled these chilling words on a wall in Washington, "Dear God, save us from the people who believe in you." (2)

From America to the Middle East, shepherds of faith are leading their people astray. It's not a Roman Catholic problem. It's not a Jewish problem. It's not a Muslim problem. It's a hearing problem. Too many of the shepherds who have been entrusted with the oversight of their various flocks have not heard their Master's voice, the voice of love, tolerance, mutual respect, unity and reconciliation. At our Church Council meeting last Monday I read the words of the Dalai Lama about how the whole world is one small, interdependent, vulnerable and mutually accountable family. If children are dying of malaria in Africa, we in America are called upon to help. If we in the industrialized nations pollute the atmosphere, the underdeveloped nations suffer just as readily as we do. This fragile earth has become a global neighborhood, and false shepherds who seek to divide our family into warring factions threaten us all.

Here are some examples: The shepherds of Israel and the shepherds of Islam are extremists. They're not listening to the Word of God. Islamic shepherds, Muslim clerics, preach an intolerant radical purity, citing scriptures that make trusting members of their flock somehow believe that blowing themselves and others to bits is a glorious step on the stairway to heaven. And on the other side, the whole issue of the Israeli Settlers' movement has nothing to do with the word of God. Holy Scripture is being used as a warrant for military and political aggression. Both the Palestinians and the Israeli army are guilty of terrorism. Shepherds of both faiths are accountable for the murder and the carnage done in God's name. God save us from the people who believe in you.

Within the Roman Catholic tradition of Christianity the Pope is the chief Shepherd and it remains to be seen whether he is more concerned about damage being done to the institutional church or the damage that's already been done to individuals who were abused and wounded. God save us from the people who believe in you.

Too many of the Shepherds are neither listening to their Master's voice, nor to the voices of those in their flocks who are hurting. At one point in his ministry Jesus said, "The people are as sheep without a shepherd," and that's the situation today.

In order to be faithful, Shepherds must listen for the voice of God. The paradox is that the voice of God speaks most eloquently through the grief and the pain of those entrusted to the Shepherd's care. To paraphrase 1^st Corinthians: A Good Shepherd listens. A Good Shepherd is not arrogant or proud. A Good Shepherd does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. As for prophecies and politics, they will all pass away, but the patience, the love and the healing power of a Good Shepherd will never end.

Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd, but in order to guide and protect, to comfort and keep count of his flock, the shepherd needs a staff. You and I are the shepherd’s staff! We are blessed to be a part of this church family. We not only pray for, minister to, and keep track of one another; we also take seriously our responsibility as citizens of this global neighborhood. We are called upon to listen for the Masters voice, to be ambassadors of Christ, agents of reconciliation, gardeners, stewards, caretakers, and shepherds of this planet earth.

We baptized Ricardo Vega this morning. That is a significant statement about who we are. Many of you were on the cradle roll in some church, somewhere, at some time. And often those cradle rolls contained the image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd, surrounded by little lambs, and there’d be pink and blue ribbons connecting the lambs to the Shepherd. That assurance of being connected to and belonging to a spiritual community is something we never outgrow, no matter how old we get. You may have moved many times and changed churches in a dozen different locations, but you are all, still, on God’s cradle roll. You are now, always have been, and always will be lambs of God connected by ribbons of love to the heart of the Good Shepherd. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our lives, and we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Thanks be to God. Amen.

(1) Earth Day Network Web site, as quoted by United Methodist Communications

(2) Newsweek, April 15, 2002