2023 04 30 Sermon
Listening for the Voice of the Shepherd
Easter 4 A
John 10:1-10
Rev. Karl-John N. Stone
On my family’s last day of vacation in Italy, we wanted to do a bit of exploring in this little lakeside village of Varenna before catching the train to Milan, the big city where our flight would leave from the next morning. So we checked our luggage into luggage storage at the train station, and bought 4 tickets for the 2:35pm train. Liam and I hiked up to a hilltop castle with amazing views of Lake Como and all of the mountains surrounding it. Beth Ann and Henry walked into the village for some shopping and to find some good gelato. When we returned to the train station, we picked up our luggage and walked to the platform to wait for our train. Soon, a message played over the loudspeaker in Italian and English: “The train is delayed by at least 15 minutes.” Five minutes later we heard another message: “The train is delayed by at least 20 minutes.”
A few minutes later a group of 30 or 40 fifth-grade students crowded onto the platform. Liam and I had met a few of them earlier when we had hiked up to that hilltop castle. They had been very interested in meeting people from the United States, and finding out where we were from, and saying “Nice to meet you. Welcome to Italy!” They were visiting the castle for a field trip, and were now traveling home by train. Kids being kids, they were noisy! When another message played that “the train is delayed by at least 30 minutes” we could hardly hear it, despite the teachers’ best efforts to help their students quiet down.
Meanwhile, a couple of trains going north—the wrong direction for us—stopped at the station, but very few people got on or off. Soon after this, a group of young adult friends arrived on the platform, maybe 8 or 10 of them. Another message about another train delay played over the speaker, but we could hardly understand because of the noise from the 5th-graders. A train pulled into the station, and the young adult friends ran over to the opening doors and climbed in. Almost as quickly, half of them climbed back out realizing that this train was going north—and suddenly the doors closed. The friends on the platform banged on the doors to try to get the conductor’s attention, but he carried on his appointed route, carrying half of this group of friends in the wrong direction! What a difference it makes to be able to hear a voice clearly.
In the gospel of John, chapter 10, we hear Jesus describing himself as a “Good Shepherd”. He explains this figure of speech by describing how the sheep hear the voice of their shepherd. “He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. He goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.” They hear it clearly. “They will not follow a stranger because they do not know the voice of strangers.”
He calls his own sheep by name. Jesus knows each of us by name. He knows you and loves you exactly as you are. And he leads his sheep out into the world. The love and grace of Jesus that we receive—whether that is in church, out in the world, among our family or friends, or when we’re with our follow Christians—are not intended to stay in one place. Jesus intends for us to take his love and grace out into the world, because God loves everybody, everywhere. The world needs more love and grace.
So how can you tell the voice of Jesus? Especially when there are so many competing voices and distractions in the world? His voice is heard through the things that lead us to have greater love for others. If you’re moving towards greater love, greater compassion, greater service to help the well-being of others, those are signs that we are listening to the voice of Jesus and following it.
But it’s not always so easy. Even when we want to follow his voice, it can be easy to go the wrong way. Like those young adult friends at the train station—they wanted to get on the right train. They wanted to go in the right direction. They even thought they were, at least at first. But because there were so many distractions, they couldn’t hear clearly. In this case, the distraction-makers were not being malicious. The fifth-graders were excited to be on a field trip. They even kind of quieted down when their teachers asked them to.
The good thing is, even if you don’t hear the right voice and you go off in the wrong direction—like jumping in the north-bound train, when you really meant to go south—with Jesus you always have another chance to get off that train and start anew each day, and go back in the other direction. Wherever you are in life, Jesus has already gone ahead of you; and as the Good Shepherd he is calling your name, and he will keep calling your name because he came into this world that we “may have life and have it abundantly.”
The abundant life that Jesus talks about is more than mere survival; and it’s more than simply “getting more stuff” or getting fancier stuff or cooler stuff. Abundant life in Christ is about finding meaning and purpose. It’s about the fulfillment that comes with building relationships; of being known and accepted for who you are, as well as knowing and accepting others for who they are. It’s about realizing the infinite dignity and worth within each person, that God has given each person. It’s about embracing the love and grace of Christ that he already gave you when he went to the cross, and when he rose again. It’s about pouring out God’s love and grace within you for the sake of others, with no intention of puffing up your ego, or even getting anything in return. Abundant life is bit by bit living a little more in the way of Jesus each day.
And one of the great gifts he has given to strengthen us for following his way is Holy Communion. Today at House of Prayer, we celebrate that seven of our young people have received their First Communion instruction, and they will be joining us in the family meal of the church. Now, there are many shades of meaning of Holy Communion, and we can keep discovering more of those meanings throughout our whole lives. But one of the meanings of Communion is that it’s a great feast! A sign pointing us toward heaven’s great feast! It’s a party, and so we celebrate because Jesus is in our midst, and you belong to him. And like he promised the disciples at the Last Supper, he keeps promising today: This bread is my body; this cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this as often as you can in remembrance of me, and I will keep making myself available to you in the simple gifts of bread and wine.
As he once poured himself out on the cross because of his love for us, we now pour the wine for each other, and pour ourselves out for the sake of others, in loving words and deeds. And the grain that had to be harvested and ultimately die to make the life-giving loaf of bread, it now feeds us and gives us new life—resurrection life, because the crucified Jesus is risen!
In Holy Communion we revisit and re-enact the mystery of faith at the heart of Christianity: “Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.” So come to the Lord’s Table. Listen there for the voice of the Good Shepherd. Live into the abundant life that Christ has for you. Amen.