Acts 13:15-16,26-39
Revelation 7:9-17
John 10:22-30
More than twenty years ago
within sight of the Twins' baseball stadium
(the old Bloomington one),
there was a large field of sheep
and a shepherd by the name of Kelley O'Neill.
A good shepherd: showing both his Minnesota and Irish heritage,
with his bib overalls and fiery red hair.
I took my preschool daughters to visit Kelley. He'd got to know them while he was a student in Pennsylvania where we lived. And he'd honored us by naming two of his sheep for my daughters: Miranda and Juliet. So we went to meet their namesakes.
Well there they were, Miranda and Juliet, with all the other sheep coming over to the fence as soon as they recognized their shepherd Kelley. The sheep all looked the same to me: not pretty, fluffy, cuddly, white cloud puffs, but identical, dirty, and decorated with twigs. They all smelled the same, too: wet wool picks up all kinds of remarkable and usually unpleasant smells. I could hardly tell where one animal stopped and the next began.
But Kelley had a big grin on his face as he climbed over the fence to welcome his sheep.
He went right into the flock, and without hesitation brought back Miranda and Juliet
to introduce to Miranda and Juliet.
A good shepherd, like Kelly, knows the sheep, sees the caked mud and the twigs tangled in the wool, and at the same he time sees the sheep as uniquely beautiful individuals. A good shepherd loves the sheep.
"My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me." The sheep followed Kelley; there was no need to herd them from behind. He knew them and they knew him..
I looked at the Mirandas and the Juliets, both daughters and sheep,
and like young creatures everywhere,
they'd already made something of a mess of themselves.
My Juliet had found some mud to jump into
and her sister Miranda had been exploring the barn.
They were no cleaner than their wooly namesakes.
I remembered, though, the newborns .... both lambs and children, clean, innocent, and trusting. Then I smiled at the analogy of my daughters being like the little lambs, who are pretty, fluffy, cuddly and white, and follow their smelly, tangled, twiggy mothers (like me?).
Of course, no one, least of the shepherd, would suggest that instead of following the mother sheep, the flock follow one of those lambs. Without Mom, they'd wander away from the shepherd, away from everything they need, maybe even, in Bloomington, into the road and danger. No one is going to follow little Juliet, whether that means the lamb or the toddler, except her Mom or her Shepherd; and they follow only to catch her and keep her out of trouble.
Yet today we hear what is supposed to be "good news" – that "the Lamb ... will be their shepherd." We will follow not the old, wise, and strong leader, but one who is clean, innocent, and trusting. The good news is that we'll follow the baby?
This lamb is the Good Shepherd. It is the miracle of the incarnation, that the King on the throne became one of the flock. God became like us but without blemish: no dirt, sticks or smelly stuff, innocent and clean as a lamb. The messiah comes not as a wiseman or a warrior, but as a newborn baby. This is the Lamb to whom salvation belongs. "The Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd."
Of course that's all in Revelation, one of the most confusing books of the Bible, how are we supposed to know what all that really means?
If, as many believe, Revelation is about liturgy, about the worship services of the early church between Maundy Thursday and Easter, the part we read today is about baptism. It is about being washed clean, being born again as clean as a lamb, as clean the Lamb. Baptism is about becoming like Christ.
Who, then, are these, robed in white that Revelation asks about?
They are those, we are told, who have been through the ordeal; they are God's dirty, smelly, broken and hurting sheep. They are those who have suffered, those who have failed, those who are hurting and ashamed of their mistakes. We are those sheep.
WE are those robed in baptismal white who are asked to stand before God in praise.
God knows us, dirt, twigs, smelly wool sins, wounds, and all. And God loves us and washes us clean.
The Lamb, who is our Good Shepherd, sees in us the reflection of himself. The Good Shepherd sees the face of Christ in each one of us.
We are all dirty, smelly, stupid sheep; we are broken, hurting wounded sheep. But in Christ's love we are healed and washed clean in the blood of the Lamb. Seen with the forgiving and healing eyes of love we are images of the Lamb of God, reflections of Christ.
And Jesus, the Good Shepherd, comes among us as one of us,
calls us by name
and lovingly takes each one of us in his arms,
healing our brokenness and making us clean.
The Good Shepherd knows our names
and calls us to follow.
Listen, Little Flock, for the Shepherd's voice, we all know that voice if we listen carefully enough. Listen, andlet us all follow to that place of healing and wholeness, where
We will hunger no more, and thirst no more; the sun will not strike us, nor any scorching heat; for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be our shepherd, and will guide us to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from our eyes.