April 21, 2024
St. Andrew Church
Rev. Anne McAnelly
Fourth Sunday of Easter

First Lesson:                                              1 John 3:16-24

16 We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us—and we ought to lay down our lives for one another. 17 How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help? 18 Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. 19 And by this we will know that we are from the truth and will reassure our hearts before him 20 whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. 21 Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before God; 22 and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him. 23 And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. 24 All who obey his commandments abide in him, and he abides in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit that he has given us.

Second Lesson:                                       John 10:11-18

11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”

 

Do you ever read scripture, a familiar passage and say to yourself, “Wow, I never saw that before?” I certainly have. This week reading the gospel, I did not focus on Jesus as the Good Shepherd, as I usually do, as much as the laying down your life. We hear about laying down one’s life 6 times in the two passages. I must admit, I have avoided this part, because I did not know how to preach on it. But this time I thought Anne, dig in and explore what Jesus means by “laying down one’s life.”

The context here is Jesus healing the blind man which leads him to see and believe. Then Jesus declares himself the gate to the sheepfold, before saying, “I am the good shepherd” and “There will be one flock, one shepherd” (16). “When Jesus spoke of shepherds and sheep, he was speaking to people who had everyday experiences with lambs, sheep, goats, and kids. Even if they made their living as a carpenter or fisher, they knew or watched the shepherds all the time, moving the sheep and goats from the pens to the fields. They drank the milk of those animals, turned that milk into cheese, and eventually ate the animals. Those animals provided not just daily nourishment; they were essential for important religious rituals. All of Jesus’ friends and followers had grown up telling and re-telling the story of Moses and the flight out of Egypt. Each year they heard the call to ‘take a lamb for each family’ (Exodus 12:3b) and prepare the Passover meal” (Working Preacher, Lucy Lind Hogan).

With this familiarity, Jesus’ followers knew that part of being a shepherd was placing yourself between your sheep and danger, being willing to die to protect your flock. Laying down one’s life was an occupational hazard for shepherds. But of course, not all shepherds would sacrifice so much. The hired hands could just run away. But the good shepherd is willing to die.

Yet Jesus calling himself the good shepherd had its own challenges. “It must have seemed quite strange and startling for Jesus’ friends and followers to hear Jesus tell them that he was the good shepherd. After all, they knew who the good shepherd was – God. The scriptures were filled with images of God as the shepherd of the chosen people” (Working Preacher, Lucy Lind Hogan).

The story is told of a little girl reciting the 23rd Psalm with, ‘The Lord is my shepherd; that’s all I want.’ Maybe she missed the wording, but she sure got the theology right. To have Jesus as our shepherd is indeed a blessing. As he moves towards the cross, Jesus holds up this model of the good shepherd, reminding his listeners that a good shepherd would lay down his life for the sheep. He would give his life to protect the sheep from thieves, wild animals, or whatever danger might confront the flock.” (B. Wiley Stephens, One Life to Give, Sermons.com).

Laying down one’s life is a real life understanding for shepherds. But 1 John reframes it all within the context of love. “We know love by this, that (Jesus) laid down his life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for one another” (16). Love, reciprocal love, divine love, sacrificial love! For Jesus to lay down his life is for us to experience love.

“Archbishop Desmond Tutu once said, “When a chap is in love, he will go out in all kinds of weather to keep an appointment with his beloved. Love can be demanding; in fact, more demanding than law. It has its own imperatives. Think of a mother sitting by the bedside of a sick child through the night, impelled only by love. Nothing is too much trouble for love.” Jesus makes it clear as he draws near the cross that his motivation is love. He is choosing to make this sacrifice. He is choosing to be faithful to what God has put before him” (Sermons.com, Wiley Stephens).

We see this love in three ways: Jesus protects his followers like a good shepherd.

Love is born out through relationships. Jesus said, “I know my own and my own know me.” God loves Jesus, “because he lays down his life to take it up again” (17).

First, in the garden, when Jesus is betrayed and arrested, he shows love when he acts as a good shepherd. He places himself between the soldiers who sought to do him harm and his followers, his flock he worked to protect. Jesus came to give them life through the giving of his own. You recall Jesus acknowledged who he was and asked that his followers be let go. Jesus put himself between the danger and his sheep. He doesn’t run away, but cares for his followers. He also told Peter to put down the sword so that no follower would be hurt, so that his flock would safe (Jn. 18). Jesus was laying down his life when he willingly gives himself up leaving his disciples safely in the fold, in the garden. Before ever going to the cross, Jesus lays down his life by handing himself over to the authorities in order to save his sheep, protecting them from harm.

Secondly, we see love when Jesus says, “I know my own and my own know me.” The connection Jesus shares with us is relational. He was a good shepherd then and he is our good shepherd now. Just like a shepherd knows his flock and the sheep follow his voice, that is how it is with us as Jesus’ followers. We know Jesus and Jesus knows each one of us. Then Jesus connects this love with the love and knowing between God and Jesus. One commentator writes, “Knowledge here has to do with the knowledge that friends and family have of each other, the emotional tie between husband and wife, father and children. That is why the analogy with God the Father is being made: just as God knows Jesus and Jesus knows God, so also Jesus knows the community and they know him. This intimate relationship between God and Jesus is so similar to that of Jesus and the community that one could say that through Jesus God is intimately related to the community also” (Working Preacher, Osvaldo Vena). This relational theme continues in 1 John. Let us love, not in word and speech, but in truth and action (18). Let us care for those in our community because we have this relational connection with God and Christ.

Leo Tolstoy said, “The only certain happiness in life is to live for others.” It is when we see the world with a larger level than self. It is when we become concerned with others that we find the depth of God’s love for our lives (Sermons.com, Wiley Stephens, One Life to Give). This relationship, this personal knowing, is what they mean by abide. “I know my own and my own know me.” Or I abide in them, and they abide in me. This is how we love and how God loves us! Finally, we know this love by Jesus’ willingness to lay down his life. Martyrdom, Jesus dying so you and I can live. I never really liked that part of the faith. Why did Jesus have to die? Yes, he was following God’s will. Yes, he paid for our sins. But then I read one sentence. “For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again” (17). “He did this not as a victim but as a willing, voluntary sacrifice. ‘No one takes it from me,’ he said, ‘but I lay it down of my own accord.’ This, he said is a command ‘I have received from my Father”‘ (18) (Working Preacher, Osvaldo Vena). Jesus lays down his life to protect his sheep. Jesus lays down his life because he shares this intimate relationship with God and wants to share that connection with us. Jesus laid down his life so that he can take it up again! “He has the authority to lay it down and the authority to take it up. The laying down and taking up of life on the part of the good shepherd are an expression not only of immense love and faithfulness toward the sheep but also of love and faithfulness toward the Father-God from whose loving presence he has come to the broken, dangerous, beloved world” (Working Preacher, Meda Stamper). We can’t know the joy of the resurrection, the glory of abundant life, if we do not know the grief of Jesus’ death. We are resurrection people, let us live in the love, joy and promise of Easter! Amen.