Father Peter F. Hansen

Sermon for the 2 nd Sunday after Easter

May 4, 2003

Other Sheep

“I am the good shepherd; and know my sheep, and am known of mine, even as the Father knoweth me, and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one flock, and one shepherd. ”

What if there isn't enough for everyone? What if someone new takes my place? What if new blood changes the face of my brotherhood? What if I get lost in the shuffle of new people? What if we welcome new members, only to find our own significance diminished as a result?

     People form groups for security. The first group we form is that of lover and spouse. Within this tiny group it is possible to share life, food, shelter, and provision in a way that insures a level of security. An invader into this circle of two is a violation at the core of our society— adultery is not only a sin, it is a threat to life itself, as it attacks the most sacred and secure bond we have between people.

     The next circle outward is with our family members, parents and children. We are bound to them by blood. When love is strained, we still have them ; owe them our help, obedience at times, assistance, concern. The elderly who age without children are particularly lonely, like orphans at the other end of life, with no resource except the general population: a risky business. When one falls below the poverty level and is terminally ill, even in our advanced and wealthy society, they must give the government everything they have first, then receive aid as its dependants. Family : sisters, brothers, sons and daughters, fathers and mothers form the next grouping of humanity and we need them, whether they live with us or hundreds of miles away.

     Now the task of creating larger groups for our mutual good becomes more creative. We choose our associates, our friends, our workmates, our churches. We can associate with whomever we please, and it is often a testimony of our character whom we have as friends. “Birds of a feather, flock together.” Now, I find very interesting the names we have devised to describe groups of certain animals. Birds in general come in flocks , as fish do in schools , but specific species may come in other names, such as a bevy of swans, a bouquet of pheasants, a brace of grouse, a building of rooks, a murder of crows, a parliament of owls, a watch of nightingales, a cast of falcons, or a charm of finches. Other animals have group names too: such as a crash of rhinoceros, a bale of turtles, a barren of mules, a bed of oysters, a cloud of bats, a pod of whales, a skulk of foxes, a congress of baboons, a pride of lions, a yoke of oxen or a blessing of unicorns. People also form groups with names like tribe, squad, platoon, troop, battalion, brigade, army, company, nation, staff, board, commune, alliance, gang, club, party , and church .

     The word “ church ” is a collective word, same as synagogue , which means the meeting of God's people. When Jesus commended St. Peter that he knew whom the Lord was, he called him a rock , upon whom He would build His church . God's people have been compared to sheep, a flock led by the Great Shepherd, who we know is Jesus . He is the good shepherd suggested in Psalm 23 . And if we are sheep, we need the shepherd to lead us because we are too dumb to lead ourselves. We need each other for security, because stragglers get picked off by wolves (which hunt in packs , by the way).

     St. Paul suggests many ways that the Church is of benefit to its members, and he says that each of us have something to give to the benefit of the group. He calls it Christ's Body , with each of us as a small member, each with a spiritual gift that adds to the good that the Church can do for its members. One member may be an encourager, another nurtures, another speaks for God clearly, another sees future events. If we listen to each other, and make room for each person's gift, we can benefit from the collective nature of the Church. We can't do without each other, just as a hand— which is quite a marvelous thing with great capabilities —couldn't do much without an arm, or an eye to help guide it, or feet to take it to new places. We need each other. We find that such a group becomes a new family, bound together by a common faith, following the same God, worshiping the same way, understanding similar things, and sharing in the same hope.

     One of the gifts we want to foster among members of Christ's flock is the gift of welcoming . The flock called the Church is not a static thing, a prescribed number, a closed circle without room for more. The Church that Jesus broke in upon in the 1 st century was racially based, sharing one common history, one language, and a unifying bias and bigotry against outsiders. Gentiles were simply not welcomed into Judaism. Their abominable pagan gods had allured Jews in the past, and their forefathers' failures in idolatry had doomed Israel to serve successive empires, never to be free again. Gentiles not wanted might read a poster outside a 1 st century synagogue, or even a 21 st century synagogue. Oh, they will let you join, but there has never been any Jewish zeal to evangelize. That was not their gift.

     It took some years after Christ's Resurrection and Ascension, but the Jewish Christians finally got it: they were supposed to reach out to other people with the Gospel . St. Paul's entire ministry was to non-Jews. It was revolutionary. Christianity was for all people, and the good news was to be preached to all nations , baptizing them all into the Name of our God. This broke down not only lines of racial difference , but class distinctions, demarcations created by previous lifestyles , the ravages of the sins of the past. No one was deemed unfit for the kingdom , if they were willing now to submit to Jesus, the Holy One, who died for them as well. Even while the Church was most threatened by the great persecutions, Christians reached out for new souls to embrace the Risen Lord. Their zeal and courage in the face of martyrdom brought more people to Christ than a thousand sermons.

     The gift of welcome is not peculiar to Christians. Cults welcome new members readily. It is a gift that Satan can emulate. And it's a gift we can lose, if we're not careful. Our security as a Church is based on knowing God first, then knowing one another—our strengths and weaknesses, understanding who we can go to with our problems and who we can't trust with secrets. Knowing the lay of the land , so to speak, gives us security in being sinners saved by God's grace and mercy . We are free to react to astounding and redeeming things in each other's company, free to cry if the moment calls for us to feel deep emotion, or to care for someone as though she were our dearest family member, a grandmother, or favorite child.

     This freedom meets a stranger and may feel threatened. “I don't know you. You seem nice, but I have no idea what you believe, how you will react to me, what you will think if I cry, or laugh, or say something. You're not one of us.” When we feel these things, it's only natural. But we're not a natural society . We are a supernatural one. The Church is a cooperation of people and the Holy Spirit. It always has been. And the Holy Spirit draws new people into the kingdom every day . We were once excited about it and rejoiced to see any new face in Church. Perhaps some have gotten used to familiar faces and no longer joy at a stranger who darkens the door to the Church. I'm not suggesting it's you , and I will quickly state that my experience with St. Augustine's Church has always been one of inclusion more than exclusion of guests and new faces. But it is a value that, if not mentioned from time to time, may be forgotten.

     Jesus told the people how He is the good shepherd . His sheep know His voice and will come and be saved, nor can any man pluck them out of His hand. If one is lost out of a hundred, He will go out and bring the straggler back. He will give His life for His sheep, for they are His. He will lay His life down, and He will take it up again. He knows each of His sheep, and they know Him. Then He said a challenging thing: “…other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.” Likewise, when the Apostle John told Jesus that, “We saw one casting out devils in thy name; and we forbad him, because he followeth not with us,” Jesus said to him, “Forbid him not: for he that is not against us is for us.” Luke 9:49-50

     Jesus had a mission that He could not fulfill in His lifetime. His earnest desire was that the Gospel be preached to the ends of the earth, to every family of man on earth, and that people of every tribe, race, language, culture and age would be brought into His Church. The New Covenant is with all mankind and must represent all humanity, not just Western Europeans, not just Semitic Jews. That zeal of His must be ours and we have to have His outlook toward this wicked world. The outside world so hostile to the Christian message at times is filled with people I like to call pre-Christians . They are B.C . They are yet to come , but will come, if we welcome them in. If we truly love Christ, we have to feed them, like lambs, and continue feeding them as full members of Christ's flock.

     We have to remember whose Church this is. If it should ever become stamped with our own personalities, apart from who Christ made us, wearing the image of you and me , it will never attract those outside you and me . It can become a cult of personality, or a gaggle of the same type of geese , all honking alike, flying in our favorite V, going north and south together, but never welcoming another goose to come alongside. I would rather break the fellowship apart before I would see this become merely a reflection of my own personality. I'm not worthy of a following . Only Jesus is worth that, and His value is to welcome, to seek and to add, to reach out, and to die for the unregenerate.

     What if there isn't enough for everyone? What if someone new takes my place? What if new blood changes the face of my brotherhood? What if I get lost in the shuffle of new people? What if we welcome new members, only to find our own significance diminished as a result? We must never give these questions room in our minds. Every new person who darkens the door of the Church is a miracle of God, a mission field for each of us to bring the light of the world to, and is Jesus Himself , who looks for us to do unto the least of brethren. One flock, one shepherd, one faith, one Lord, one God, one Church.

             PFH+