“The Father and I are one.” (John 10:30)
The
last thing Jesus told Saint Peter—and us—in last week’s gospel from the Revised
Common Lectionary (John 21:1-19) was “Follow me.” This always seems to be our
evangelist’s point. You want to know God? Look to Jesus. He’s the way, just as
John has him say in John 14:6. The whole freaky, wonderful, mystical, “I
AMness” of God is too far beyond our puny brains’ ability to comprehend it. I
don’t care if you’re a MENSA scholar, God remains a mystery. The clue we have
as Christians to living with this mystery is the person of Jesus Christ.
On
the fourth Sunday of Easter, we always get these “Good Shepherd” reading in our
lectionary. Our gospel is John 10:22-30 in which Jesus promises eternal life to
his “sheep.” If you know anything about sheep, you may take a certain amount of
umbrage at being compared to a critter renowned only for its fluffy coat and
notoriously low IQ. What’s more significant, I think, is that Jesus compares himself
to a shepherd. That’s his way. Shepherds don’t drive sheep like cowboys
drive cattle. Shepherds lead sheep. Jesus is always leading us by his
example. A fun little detail about the Easter 4 gospel reading is that we
encounter Jesus in the act of devotion. He’s a good Jewish boy, so he’s in the
temple for the Festival of the Dedication—Hannukah. He’s being observant of his
faith tradition, taking time to celebrate an historic act of God’s goodness and
love for God’s beloved people. Just like we all should do, right?
But
what else does a shepherd do? Looking at the appointed Psalm (one which
everybody’s grandma probably knew by heart back in the day), we see that a
shepherd keeps the sheep safe, provides food and drink, and makes sure they go
where they’re supposed to go. Who in your life has been the protector, the
provider, and the guide?
(Don’t
you like the way I handle this segue?)
For
a lot of us, our mothers served a shepherding role. Moms make sure you’re fed
and clothed and they try to teach you to grow up as a decent, contributing
member of the human race. When I taught a diakonia class in my synod, I asked
the students who was the most important religious influence in their lives.
Just about every student replied that influence was their mother or their
grandmother.
Although
my dad was a big influence on my faith, it was my mother who said nighttime
prayers with me and my sisters, who taught us the dinner grace, and taught us
the words to “Jesus Loves Me.” Dedicated Lutheran that she was, my mom was also
my Sunday school teacher. I learned the doctrine of justification by grace
through faith from mom, not my pastor or my seminary Confessions professor.
My
wife was a single mom for many years. I know she did a terrific job because my
stepdaughter didn’t grow up to be a jerk. Rather, she’s one of the most
accomplished people I know, and she credits her mother with being her
inspiration.
Moms
don’t have to swim in the same gene pool with us, either. Sometimes God puts
other shepherds in our lives like teachers or Girl Scout leaders or coaches or
aunts, grandmoms, foster moms, or bosses. The mom who raised you had the duty
of leading you to the green pastures and beside the still waters, but another
shepherdess might’ve seen your talents, inspired you, corrected you, and made
you see something about yourself you didn’t know was there. I will always be
grateful to my grad school thesis advisor, a little English lady named Dr. Sybil
Robinson. She was very patient with me, always good-humored, and she encouraged
me to be a teacher. My seminary theology professor, Dr. Margaret Krych and my
Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) supervisor, Sr. Aine Garvey, were mature
ladies whom I thank for their inspirational wisdom. I’ve also “borrowed” moms
like my very cute late mother-in-law Mary Meidhof and older ladies from the
congregation who always made me feel welcome and valued like a visiting son.
John’s
gospel points us to the sacredness and mystery of God through the person of
Jesus, our good shepherd. We know we follow Christ so we may live in
relationship with God. But I believe the way of Jesus, through the Holy Spirit,
is manifest in the brothers and sisters around us. Let’s thank God for our
mom/shepherds, and keep looking for the way of Christ in others so we,
ourselves, may be that way of Christ for others.
A
Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there. Thanks for leading your sheep.
PS - Prayers and blessings to Pope Leo XIV. May our two communions join together some day as one.
I love that we both know Dr. Krych. She was at St. David's at times when my grandmother was alive and Rev. Krych was in charge. There is a picture somewhere of me with her son David in preschool only 40 years ago.
ReplyDelete