Holy Cross Monastery, West Park, NY
Today, the Fourth Sunday of Easter is traditionally called “Good Shepherd” Sunday. What’s interesting is that, in our gospel lesson Jesus did not say he was the good shepherd. He said he was the gate. And he said so twice. I guess “Good Gate” Sunday wouldn’t be as catchy. There is actually a good explanation for all of this. Each year of the lectionary assigns different portions of chapter 10 of Saint John’s Gospel for the Fourth Sunday of Easter: Year A (which this year is) the portion is chapter 10:1-10. Jesus will say he is the good shepherd in verse 11. But Jesus does say very important things in today’s portion of chapter 10 about the shepherd, his relationship with the sheep, and the sheep hearing his voice.
I have to say that reading today’s gospel lesson really took me back to my former life as a youth theatre director. The passage has characters and scenery that would make a great production. We have a sheepfold, a gate (and that’s tricky because that somehow would need to be double cast with the shepherd). I know what a shepherd costume needs to look like, but I’m not sure about a gate costume. We have sheep. A chorus of sheep! Fantastic! I know exactly what those costumes need to look like and what material to use! We also have a gatekeeper and a stranger. And we have a thief and a bandit- how fun! So many characters for such a short story, and so many metaphors. But let’s talk about the sheep.
Sheep are mentioned more than 200 times in the Scriptures, more than any other animal. In biblical times they were important sources of wool, milk, and meat. Throughout the Scriptures, sheep are symbols for God’s people. God is portrayed as the shepherd of the chosen flock in the prophetic words of Isaiah and Ezekiel, and most famously in the 23rd Psalm.
It has long been assumed that sheep are dumb animals. You may or may not know about the word “sheeple”, a derogatory slang term combining “sheep” and “people” to describe individuals who are easily influenced, lacking critical thinking, and acting like a herd. But in 2017, the University of Cambridge published a study in the Royal Society: Open Science Journal demonstrating that sheep can recognize human faces from photographs, including their handlers and even celebrities like Emma Watson and Barack Obama. Sheep were trained to select specific faces on screens for food rewards, showing capabilities comparable to humans and non-human primates.
The experiment also proved that the average sheep could recognize and easily distinguish between at least fifty other faces of their fellow sheep, humans, and other species, and that this memory stays with them over a period of several years. Sheep can be trained to follow a distinctive call, or a unique melody played on a pipe, and can learn to recognize their own name and come when called by that name.
Additionally, the study found evidence that sheep are capable of a wide range of emotions, another signal of higher levels of intelligence. Sheep remember who treats them well, and even more, they remember who handles them harshly. They will allow a gentle shepherd to come close, but they will balk and run from a person who has handled them roughly in the past. So, sheep are more intelligent and visually sophisticated than previously thought.
Given all of this, one might ask why the idea that sheep are dumb animals? The reason is because sheep act stupidly whenever they become fearful. They are herd animals and will follow another sheep, even to the slaughter. Once they are scared, sheep don’t tend to show signs of intelligent behavior. And why do the Scriptures talk about humans as sheep? Well, there’s the being social and intelligent. But while humans are recognized as the most intelligent species on the planet, we too tend to react blindly and act stupidly when fearful.
In today’s
gospel lesson Jesus says that sheep know the shepherd’s voice when they hear
it. Do we know the Good Shepherd’s voice when we hear it? Among the
many competing voices in our current world, it seems that the most dominant and
controlling these days is the voice of fear. We seem to be living in a culture
of fear and anxiety. Instilling fear and appealing to our deepest anxieties
seems to be the preferred tactic of politicians, the media, advertisers,
advocacy groups and even some religious organizations in order to gain power,
advantage and profit. Broadcasters, influencers, and news shows (and they are
shows!) seek sensational, fear-inducing stories to ensure that people will tune
in and stay hooked. Advertisers use fear to sell their products. And while this
is not new, it certainly has gotten and continues to get worse.
In his 1928
book Propaganda, Edward Bernays, nephew of Sigmund Freud, wrote:
“If we understand the mechanism and motives of the group mind, is it not
possible to control and regiment the masses according to our will without their
knowing about it?” Today there is even a commercial marketing communication
field called “neuromarketing”, which applies neuropsychology to market research
in order to study the human brain’s response to different kinds of advertising.
They have found that fear sells. And then we have the politicians who harness
fear to get elected by convincing enough of the population that they will be
kept safe from various dangers. They also use fear to get people to agree to
policies or practices they would otherwise oppose. It seems to me all of these
are the thieves described in our gospel lesson: those who fail to protect the
flock because, “they care nothing for the sheep.”
The last verse
of our gospel lesson this morning ends exuberantly but begins with a solemn
warning: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.” Discerning who
or what is a thief in our lives is crucial. Many voices, from within us as well
as from without, compete for our attention. They keep us fearful and stuck, or
they may promise happiness and safety, but these are empty promises. We are the
gatekeepers of our hearts and must guard against the many voices of the thieves
that surround us with fear.
Whose voice do you follow most
readily? What calls to you, making seductive promises you shouldn't trust? Do
you know the shepherd well enough to recognize his call? Are you willing to
leave the fold in order to find pasture, or are you too fearful, complacent, or
jaded? Identifying the voices of thieves in our
lives takes discipline, continual conversion, and a life rooted in prayer. It
is about living the abundant life Jesus promises. Jesus' desire for us is not merely to exist or cope with our circumstances,
but to live abundantly. But what is this abundant life?
A young monk
went to an elder monk and asked, “How many years will it take for me to become
holy?” The old monk replied, “Ten years.” The young monk asked, “But what if I
work really, really hard?” The old monk said, “Twenty years.” Like holiness,
the abundant life is not something we achieve by working really hard. It is a
quality of life that happens when we let go and surrender to Christ who abides
in our hearts. The example of the Desert Monastics is that their ultimate goal
was to be transformed into persons of love, always aware of Christ dwelling in
their hearts.
Saint Paul
offers us a good guide for this way of living in his letter to the Galatians
with nine visible attributes of a life shaped by the Holy Spirit he calls the
Fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. This Fruit of the Spirit represents
the character of Christ within us. It is not a life of arrogance, greed and
self-absorption. It is not a life of bigotry, hatred, and violence. It does not
add to the pain of the world. The abundant life is a life of meaning, purpose,
integrity, and creativity.
May we always listen to the voice that leads us to abundant life- a life that reaches across boundaries and flourishes even in precarious places. A life that never denies the real threat of thieves and bandits, and yet holds out the possibility of pasture, nourishment, protection, and rest. A life that perseveres and thrives even in the valley of the shadow of death. ¡Que así sea en el nombre del Padre, del Hijo y del Espíritu Santo! ~Amen+
