Bound in Love

We know that Jesus died for us on the Cross and won the victory of eternal life for all who follow him. We celebrate that victory for 50 days during the Easter Season. We take this Sunday in Easter to proclaim Jesus as the Good Shepherd, as we do every year during the Easter season.

From Paschal Lamb to Good Shepherd, the transition we make is from the sacrifice that opens the way to the life that embraces the way. Jesus the Paschal Victim opened for us the way to our heavenly home. Jesus the Good Shepherd opens for us the way to walk so we can reach our heavenly home.

We are going to reflect a little bit on the first person singular. I. I was a problem for Jesus during the gospel readings of Lent. If you remember during Lent we saw that what really got the Jewish leaders mad was when he kept saying “I AM” during his discourses. “I AM” is the name of the Creator, as Moses discovered at the top of Mount Sinai. When Jesus said “I” the way he did, the Jewish leaders knew he was saying “I am one with the Father.” That’s when they decided he needed to go, and in a public and painful way. From that moment on, we are told, they sought ways to have him crucified.

They achieved their objective. He was in fact crucified. He was – he is – one with the Father, so Death had no hold on him and he rose from the dead on the third day. He came and died on the Cross so that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. He paid the price of Adam’s fault, and he opened for us the doors of heaven.

In the Cross, he showed us how to live if we wish to reach the doors of heaven. Fr. Neil has noted once or twice that the Cross is “I” struck out. The Cross is “death to I.” It is through death to ego that we must try to live if we wish to live with him in eternity.

In the Good Shepherd readings, which take up most of the 10th chapter of John’s gospel, we hear the “I” word a few more times. But here it is telling us more about how to live. After explaining the relationship between a good shepherd and his sheep, Jesus says, “I am the shepherd.” He says a bit later in the chapter, “I know mine and mine know me.” He had made himself clear to the Apostles when he said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”

To live for the end that we want, we have to live as Jesus wants us to live. If we are his sheep, we will hear his voice. We will only recognize his voice if we really get to know him by spending time with him, by devoting our energies to him, and by learning how to listen for his voice.

He spoke actual words in Greek or Aramaic to his Apostles. But he also spoke in the Old Testament and he speaks today. When Elijah went up to listen for the voice of God, he was expecting something mighty, but he heard the voice of God in the still, small whisper. Jesus is the voice of God. Jesus was speaking to Elijah on that mountain in the whisper.

His word to us is not always miraculous revelation like Elijah’s experience. It’s another kind of miraculous speech. He speaks to us through the natural order: what are the beauties of nature but the voice of God? As the Psalmist says, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.” He speaks to us in other non-verbal ways, as the Psalm today reminds us: “Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”

This is the voice of the Good Shepherd. How well do we hear it? How well do we recognize it? I’m used to big loud messages, but can I hear the still small voice? I know how to find the law firm of Morgan & Morgan if I need to sue somebody because Morgan & Morgan is on every other billboard along the highway and on most of the buses driving through the city. Jesus doesn’t do a lot of billboard advertising; he works more subtly and sometimes in a still small voice. How can I learn to hear that voice?

When we look at the world we live in, are we hearing the voice of the Good Shepherd, or is everything simply a combination of chemistry and physics? Do I see what the Psalmist saw? Does the natural lead me to the supernatural? Does the creation lead me to the creator? And if the answer is “no,” what can I do to make that leap?

If you’ve ever been spanked with a belt, then it’s very hard to think of the rod and the staff (a big stick) as comfort, but that’s what Scripture calls them. We are familiar with the shepherd’s crook, the little hook at the end of his staff that could pull a little sheep to safety. Most of the time, however, the shepherd was using the other end; he was thwacking the sheep to keep them moving to the good grazing places and away from danger. When I think I feel God whacking me, do I see that it is really a love tap? What can I do to learn that the blows of suffering are truly gifts from my loving Shepherd?

The answer to all these questions is relationship. The sacraments are not like a vending machine, where you put in a dollar and a bottle of soda comes out. They are signs of the relationship, so the relationship needs to be in place ahead of the sacraments.

The relationship is grounded in Word and Prayer. The entire Bible is one long love letter from the Good Shepherd to his sheep. We should read the Bible on our own. There is no need to become scholars who can argue about the intricacies of this particular word or phrase. These are our family stories. Just get to know your ancestors as people, fallen people stumbling along, no stronger than you or me, but loved by God just like you and me. Get to know the Word of God and you will know the Son of God because he IS the Word of God.

You cannot have a truly good relationship if you never talk or listen. Breakdowns in communication are the number one reason for marital difficulties. You are the Bride of Christ. So you should really chat with him at least once a day. And, after you have gotten comfortable telling him what’s not going well and what is, you can even try listening to him. Relationship is a two-way street, and it requires effort. Elijah didn’t just walk up that mountain and recognize the Word of God in the still small voice; he had spent many long periods alone learning to recognize the sound of God speaking to him. “The sheep follow him, because they recognize his voice.” Elijah is a model for us of learning to recognize the voice of our Good Shepherd so we can follow him.

Let us be like Elijah. Let us be better sheep who know the Good Shepherd’s voice. Let us be among those of whom Jesus said, “I know mine and mine know me.”