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4th Sunday of Easter: Psalm 23, John 10:22-30
"The dread of evil is a much more
forcible principle of human actions than the prospect of good ... What worries
you masters you."
-- John Locke
Today we gather
together in this nave, seeking to know God. We yearn for answers to the questions that are posed by the
ills in our society.
Geologist and theologian Thomas Berry reminds us that spiritual
traditions emerge out of a confrontation with terror.[1] We seek God because we have been
confronted with chaos, with incoherence, and with the absurd. When we experience events like the
bombings on Monday, the explosion in Texas, or the mayhem that ensued in Boston,
it is as if a veil has been lifted from the earth that exposes the dark cosmic
forces at work in our world. The
events of Newtown and Boston make us more aware of the deep disorder that cannot
be explained which is present in our society. It is completely incomprehensible. I can hardly do more than shake my fist and shed my tears. And pray. We live in fear.
God, where are
you in the disorder of our universe?
God, where are you in the chaos of our lives? Where are you in the hearts and minds of our elected
officials? We search and we
pray.
This morning, we
hear the words that have brought so many so much comfort in times of sorrow and
grief. “Yea, though I walk through
the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me;
thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”
We seek the Good Shepherd.
Yet this
morning, we are also gathering together to celebrate. This morning we will
formally welcome four new people into the Christian faith through the waters of
Holy Baptism. We celebrate
because it is through death that they have new life. It is the most difficult paradox of the Christian faith for
us to comprehend. The words, which
capture our theology, should be especially striking for each of us as we pray. Today is the single most important day
in their lives, just as our own baptisms were for each of us. It was the day that that we were marked
as Christ’s own forever, brought into the fold by the Good Shepherd.
But just what in
the world does that really mean? We
certainly do not feel any less confused by the actions of others. We still search for meaning in the
loss. We seek to be people of resurrection
through pain and suffering. We
seek to understand this paradox of the Christian faith, more than ever.
And just as the
metaphor of Jesus as Good Shepherd is comforting, the passage we heard from
today can be somewhat challenging to understand. In the story, people want to know if Jesus is the Messiah. His response is confusing because he says,
“I have told you, and you do not believe.” Yet we know from looking back in the Gospel that the only that
Jesus has shared this secret with is the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4). And the people who are questioning “do
not belong” to Christ’s sheep.
Yet this tension
has a purpose, and that is because John wants us to know that it is God who
seeks us out long before we know to seek God. Do we seek God, or does God seek us? John is claiming that it is God who
initiates and brings us into God’s grace.
This takes the responsibility of finding God out of our hands. It means by nature of our baptism,
being marked as Christ’s own forever, God has made us his sheep.
Two of the
children being baptized today began singing in the choir a few months ago. If you have experienced a baptism at
St. George’s any time since last November, you might recall the children’s
choir singing a refrain after each person is baptized. The song says, “You have put on Christ,
you have been baptized. Alleluia, Alleluia.” After singing this refrain a few times, Amanda and Zach decided
that they would like to be baptized.
“My sheep hear my voice. I know them,
and they follow me.”
God has led
these five to the waters of baptism, drawing each in by initiating grace. God, the Good Shepherd has sought them
out, and God has sought us all out.
“He leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul. He leads me in right path for his
name’s sake.”
It is rather
remarkable how spot on our lectionary can be. The Psalmist and the Good Shepherd are so important today,
because they remind all of us, that God’s mercy and grace is seeking us out in
the depths of our fear and sorrow. God’s love moves through the cosmos of the
world to find each of us and draw us in.
It leads us, it guides, it comforts us. We could spend the rest of our lives seeking to find God in
the midst of tragedy. The reality
is, as our Gospel passage reminds us, not to seek in order to find but that God
has already reached out like a shepherd bringing us out of fear and into the
fold of grace.
In a moment, we
will answer the call of the Good Shepherd. We will join with those who are making their baptismal vows. We will all answer, I will with God’s help, to five
questions. Where we cannot
explain, rationalize or deconstruct the horror we experienced this week,
We can ask for
help to answer the following questions.
We can ask for help in resisting evil. We can ask for help in striving for justice and peace, and
respecting the dignity of all human beings. We can ask for help to seek and serve all persons, loving
our neighbor as ourselves. We can
ask for help in proclaiming the Good News of God in Christ. And we can ask for help in breaking
bread, following the apostles’ teachings, and praying. And by doing this we are asking
for help to bring us out of a place of fear and into a place of love.
This is a tall
order. One that we will recommit to
shortly, and one that some will make for the first time. It is the only rebuttal we can muster
up in response to the world today.
It is the only response we can sing because we have heard and we know
the Shepherd’s voice. He leads me by
still water… He leads me out of
fear. He restores my soul.
So today we
pray. We mourn. And we give thanks. And with God’s help, we follow the Good
Shepherd’s voice.
Preached at St. George's Arlington
April 21, 2013
[1] Thomas Berry, “Spiritual Traditions and
the Human Community”, The Christian
Future and the Fate of the Earth, ed. Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim,
(Mary Knoll, New York: Orbis Books 2009).
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