A Sermon by Pastor Tom Lacey . . .
Two guys are walking through the woods and come across this big deep hole. "Wow...that looks deep." "Sure does... toss a few pebbles in there and see how deep it is." They pick up a few pebbles and throw them in and wait... no noise. "Jeeez. That is REALLY deep... here.. throw one of these great big rocks down there. Those should make a noise." They pick up a couple football-sized rocks and toss them into the hole and wait... and wait. Nothing. They look at each other in amazement. One gets a determined look on his face and says, "Hey...over here in the weeds, there's a railroad tie. Help me carry it over here. When we toss THAT sucker in, it's GOTTA make some noise." The two men drag the heavy tie over to the hole and heave it in. Not a sound comes from the hole.
Suddenly, out of the nearby woods, a sheep appears, running like the wind. It rushes toward the two men, then right past them, running as fast as its legs will carry it. Suddenly it leaps in the air and into the hole. The two men are astonished with what they've just seen... Then, out of the woods comes a farmer who spots the men and ambles over. “Hey... you two guys seen my sheep out here?” “You bet we did! Craziest thing I ever seen! It came running like crazy and just jumped into this hole!” “Nah,” says the farmer, “That couldn't have been MY sheep. My sheep was chained to a railroad tie.”
Ever seen those early Sci-Fi Movies that now seem so “camp” next to special effect laden spectaculars of the last twenty-five years? Remember those aliens with antennas sticking out of their heads who emerged from their rocket ships to demand: “Take me to your leader?” As an aside, the brilliant astrophysicist Stephen Hawking just told us that we shouldn’t mess around with aliens. If they know we are here, and they could reach us, who knows what they might do to us. What if you actually met an extra-terrestrial this afternoon? And “it” demanded to go to your leader, where, or to whom, would you take your inter-galactic visitor?
John refers to Jesus as the “Good Shepherd.” John used the Greek work Kalos which doesn’t mean good as in “Have a good day.” Kalos means model, ideal, true, or real. Jesus is the ideal model of a leader. Jesus is the kind of leader we should follow and emulate. Jesus is the kind of leader we should want our earthly leaders from parents to Presidents to emulate as a role model. Jesus is the kind of leader we should be like when the mantle of authority is cast upon us at work or church. Jesus is the leader we want to be when we grow up. It seems like often we are a long way from this. The truth is I’ve heard this Good Shepherd reading dozens of times in my life, and I missed one essential point until this time. If Jesus is the Good Shepherd then I am one of his sheep. And that’s not necessarily a compliment! Sheep are not the warm, cuddly, cute little animals that you might think they are. Sheep are stubborn and willful. Martin Luther wrote that sheep “are the most foolish and stupid animals.”
Jesus said that sheep would not follow anyone else they did not know or trust. You might say that sheep will do their own thing. I can see all of us in that description. When I look at our church, community, nation and world . . . I see that we are sheep-like. We so often do things the way we like, at the time we want, for the reasons we want. We think we know better than the shepherd. Doing it the way we like it, just like sheep. Tell you what, sheep need a shepherd. We definitely need a Good Shepherd? Is Christ guiding you in your life’s direction?
People, like any herd of sheep, need a shepherd to point them in the right direction. We need to listen carefully to our Lord’s word. Oh sure, we can hear his word in the scripture lessons at church. We hear some reflections of his word in Sermons, creeds and anthems. But we also need to follow their leader. Some of us are walking headlong into grief and sorrow. Some will experience the pain of failure. For a few, the best things in life may be slipping out of one’s grasp and control. Listen! Dare to follow the Good Shepherd. You can go forward into your tomorrow because you know the Good Shepherd will be going with you.
We also have a need to belong. Sociologists call this the quest for identity. We put on uniforms, robes, wear funny hats, carry membership cards and display badges to prove we are belongers. When we try so hard to belong to the right IN-GROUP and do the IN-THING, we often get into trouble. Be stubborn about falling into the wrong people’s hands, even if they promise you will belong to them. Keep to your good path. Stay in God’s word for you. Be patient. The Lord is bringing people into your life who are the right people for you. As Christians, our faith meets our needs for identity at its highest level. In the Christian faith we are related to the eternal God and identified with his kingdom. If you are looking for a significant identity, you will never find a finer one than this. I tell you, Christians are the most IN people I know.
There’s one other need I should mention: The need to be needed. You want to be useful, to matter and make a difference. Life seems so futile unless we can mean something to somebody. There’s a story of a young woman intent on suicide. She came to a bridge intending to leap off the middle. There, at the entrance, stood an aged man who asked help across that bridge. With her strong, young arm, she steadied him and guided him to the other side. He thanked her. She threw here arms around him and said, “Sir, let me thank you.” Suddenly, in this small way, she had meant something to somebody, and she saw life as worth living again.
We are all like sheep, but sometimes we are leaders, too. A model leader, a Christian leader is someone who leads kindly, strongly, supportively, graciously, and with vision. A really good leader creates leaders, kind, gracious, visionary, strong leaders. This is what Jesus was doing almost from the beginning. He knew he wouldn’t be around forever, so he knew he was going to have to turn his followers into leaders. Jesus, on the night before his death, called for a basin and humbly washed the feet of his disciples. At some Maundy Thursday services, Jesus’ washing of his disciples feet at the Last Supper is re-enacted. A good leader steps down to wash feet, to give you a break, lend a hand.
The most important thing a leader is simple: Someone who cares enough to do something more. Harvey was a Boy Scout leader with 12 boys on a camping trip. One morning they smelled smoke. A forest fire headed toward them. They gathered up their gear and headed for the river. Harvey said, “We’ll swim across to safety.” Most of the boys yanked off their boots and jumped into the river. But four stood motionless with fear. They couldn’t swim. Harvey didn’t have enough time to carry each of the four. So, he took a long rope and tied it across the river. The rope was used by each boy to get across the river in safety.
Leaders who think only of their own agenda and advancement are false leaders. They rob followers of life by failing to provide a way for them. I have trouble with parents who say to their kids: “Do as I say and not as I do.” And I will say it again, after hearing about the latest Tulane University report on corporeal or physical disciplining of children in the US, and its demonstrably negative effects on the child’s life: We should not, we must not, spank a child. We do not need to spank children. Timeouts work fantastically well.
When it comes down to it, a Christian leader does the best he or she can for others at the time. Being a shepherd for others is an offering of the best of our mind, heart, soul, faith, hope, and love. We let God take care of the results.
On a Saturday night several weeks ago, this pastor was working late at Almighty God Tabernacle, his church, and decided to call his wife before he left for home. It was about 10:00 PM, but his wife didn't answer the phone. The pastor let it ring many times. He thought it was odd that she didn't answer, but decided to wrap up a few things and try again in a few minutes. When he tried again she answered right away. He asked her why she hadn't answered before, and she said that it hadn't rung at their house. They brushed it off as a fluke and went on their merry ways.
The following Monday, the pastor received a call at the church office, which was the phone that he'd used that Saturday night. The man that he spoke with wanted to know why he'd called Saturday night. The pastor couldn't figure out what the guy was talking about. Then the guy said, "It rang and rang, but I didn't answer." The pastor remembered the mishap and apologized for disturbing him, explaining that he'd intended to call his wife. The man said, "That's OK. Let me tell you my story. You see, I was planning to commit suicide on Saturday night, but before I did, I prayed, "God, if you're there, and you don't want me to do this, give me a sign now." At that point my phone started to ring. I looked at the caller ID, and it said, 'Almighty God'. I was afraid to answer."
God has a wonderful way of working things.
Return to Sermons (table of contents)
Return to Homepage of the Congregational Church of Boca Raton