Bringing in the Sheep: John 10:11-18 - Fourth Sunday of Easter

[Jesus said:] ¹¹“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. ¹²The 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. ¹³The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. ¹⁴I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, ¹⁵just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. ¹⁶I 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. ¹⁷For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. ¹⁸No 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.” (NRSV)

Shepherd by Gianluca Carnicella on flickr.  CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Where did all the people go?

The church has been asking this question for decades. But we’re not the only ones asking it…

Volunteer Fire departments are desperate for new recruits. Membership is rapidly declining in community service organizations like the Elks, Rotary, and the Lions’ Club. Fewer and fewer young people are participating in scouting, sports, and the performing arts. People aren’t shopping in malls. Families aren’t eating meals together. 

I see three reasons for this:

• The first is technology. Life going digital—schooling, working, shopping, banking, and even socialization. Many people are more comfortable interacting with others through their devices than in-person.
• The second reason is economic. The 9to5 job is quickly becoming a relic of the past, as is the working middle class. People are stressed and exhausted trying to make ends meet and care for their loved ones. They don’t have the time or the money for additional commitments.
• The third reason is Covid-19. It has scattered and isolated us in all aspects of our lives—and I fear that we will get used to it. God did not create us to live this way.

This truth is at the heart of today’s Gospel. Jesus had just healed a man born blind from birth. But when he professes faith in Jesus, the religious leaders ban him from the synagogue. Not only was he deprived of community, but he was also effectively banned from God. 

Last Sunday, I read an article about why young people aren’t coming to church—and their answers were disturbing. “They’re judgmental.” “They preach that something is wrong and do it anyway.” “They scolded me for questioning their beliefs. “They rejected me because of my sexual identity or orientation.” Some, like the man Jesus healed, were driven out.

We can spend the next decade asking, “where did all the people go?” But are we doing the hard and necessary work of creating a church in which people can come as they are and experience with us the shepherding love of Jesus? 

We have come to an extremely critical time not just as a church, but as a society. People are hurting—and when you lack a caring community, you cannot be well. 

And what’s really scary is that if people of faith do not care about lost people, there are plenty of other “communities” that will welcome them with open arms: street gangs, hate groups, cults, pyramid schemes. 

It’s so easy to blame the residents of a community when it becomes infested with drugs, violence, and decay. What about people who can’t make ends meet, who struggle with addiction, who are lost and rejected? So much human suffering and pain could be eliminated by people who care, and who love like Jesus.

We can grieve that our churches aren’t as full as they used to be, or that life in the world has become more complicated and uncertain. But that’s nothing compared to the tragedy of people who endure life’s most bitter pains and their own mortality—without a relationship with Jesus Christ or the people of his flock.

Do you know why Jesus is the Good Shepherd? For Jesus, there are no “good sheep” and “bad sheep.” Just beloved sheep. Jesus’s mission is to bring in all the sheep who belong to his fold, but who are not yet living as part of it: sick people, poor people, rejected people, forgotten people, broken people; sinners, seekers, and doubters; the young and the old…

You know such people. You work with them. You live with them. God put you in their lives for a reason—and it is not for you to convert them, but care for and about them.  

Do you know the difference between hope and despair? People who care. People who love unconditionally; who give generously when you’re in need; who stand by you, for you, with you, no matter what… 

This is what our neighbors and neighborhoods desperately need right now. And we’re not truly following Jesus if we’re not seeking out and serving lost and hurting people. 

So invite you to look at our Good Shepherd window, and consider: who Who do you know that is lost, broken, rejected, and afraid? Who can you hold in prayer, that Jesus may hold them in love—and we give care and welcome? 

There are other sheep that are not yet part of his fold. The good news is that they will listen to Jesus’s voice. The most miserable sinner; the most beaten down soul; the rejected and forsaken; they are all destined to be held in the arms of our Good Shepherd, surrounded by the love and support of his flock.

We can’t predict the future, though we do know that today’s trials and challenges will not be over any time soon. But we have a Good Shepherd—and we have each other. We can do a tremendous amount of good together. The future is a lot less frightening when we face it together. When we love our fellow sheep as our shepherd loves us, life is already better. 

Together we are fed, forgiven, and filled with blessing to love and care for a hurting world.