Which Shepherd Do We Follow?

Fourth Sunday of Easter 2012

First Reading - Acts 4:81-12

Regarding Jesus: "There is no salvation through anyone else, nor is there any other name under heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved."
Pretty strong words, and not so popular in our milieu of cultural diversity, but for all the COEXIST bumper stickers out there, it needs to be said that whatever merits there may be in other religious traditions, Christians must affirm that there is no salvation through anyone else (other than Jesus). This is a sine-qua-non of Christianity; otherwise the book, which gives us the definitive portrait of the early church, would not have Peter saying this.
A common mistake made by Christians, however, is that this means that nobody who isn't Christian, by which they mean Catholic or Orthodox or 'tolerant Christian' or 'fundamentalist Christian...nobody who isn't in whatever group I count as Christian will be saved. Let's stick with Catholics, since I'm most theologically well versed there. There is a Catholic teaching that there is "no salvation outside the church." Many people used to say that this meant that if one weren’t Catholic, one wouldn't make it into heaven. But that's way to easy. In fact, the teaching means something more like, "Insofar as anyone is saved, it is through the mystery that is the church, which is fully subsistent in the Roman Catholic church," meaning that all who are saved are saved by some radical participation in the Roman Catholic church, whether or not they came to that conscious realization or not. The Orthodox Christian teaching is similar, except that the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church is the Orthodox church, and insofar as anyone is saved, it is through a participation in the Orthodox Church, of which all who are saved will ultimately be members, even if that is not evident today. Only fundamentalists insist that you absolutely must be a member of this or that denomination of Christianity in order to be saved.
But this is still way to easy. The real challenge here is to examine ourselves, and ask the question, "By what other means am I trying to be saved?" Am I trying to be saved by wealth, power, a fabulous lifestyle, a political party, being American, [insert favorite false savior here], or do I really believe that salvation comes ONLY through Jesus Christ our true God? Have I bought into the notion that I must have perfect health, the correct weight or BMI, be free of the need for medicine, or use the right age-defying face cream to experience Shalom? We are tempted constantly to place our trust and hope in something other than Jesus, and it is vital that we examine ourselves to see where we have fallen to this temptation, so that we can repent and thus approach the true fountain of immortality, the true Savior, the only real Salvation.

Second Reading - 1 John 3:1-2

"The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him."
You know, you would think that being children of God might get us more respect. After all, our Father is the one who created all that is, who gives every good gift, and a little gratitude and respect would not be inappropriate. But, we are children of God in the person of Christ, and look what they did to him. They didn't believe that he is who he is. So how can they believe we are who we are? A better question might be, “How much do we believe we are who we are?” See, we are God's children now, not in some distant future, but now. We have been shown what this means by the one natural Son of God. We have been brought into that same relationship, not by nature, but by grace, the free gift of adoption through Christ. So, if Christ is able to trample death by death, crushing evil through the means of being crushed by evil, then we can and must do this, as well. It doesn't matter, right now, if they get it; what matters is that we get it, and get about the work of living it out. How are you going to put your faith in the love the Father has bestowed on us in making us his children? How are you going to lay down your life for the sake of the world today? Those are the better questions.

Gospel - John 10:11-18

I AM the Good Shepherd.
Lots of things going on in these five words. First of all, they are one of several I AM statements, by which Jesus is identified with the Lord, God of Israel. The Greek words, "Ego eimi," mean I AM. This is a translation of the Hebrew word YHWH, also known as the tetragrammaton (four letters) and Name of God, which God gave to Moses as his identification. The word has many dimensions of meaning, but essentially it can be translated as "I AM." The Good Shepherd refers to a passage from Ezekiel, where the Lord says that he himself will shepherd his people, being THE good shepherd, as opposed to those bad shepherds who were victimizing the people and leading them astray.
This passage should raise the question for us, "Which shepherd are we following?" Do we really know the voice of The Good Shepherd, or have we turned aside to follow the shepherds that speak with a different voice, but who say things that we would prefer to hear. Here's a great way to tell...would the shepherd you are following lay down his or her life for you? Oftentimes there are those who stand up to lead people in a direction they would prefer to go, and as long as things are going well, they stick with you, champion your cause, stand up for your 'rights.' But they are leading because it benefits them right then and there to lead. None of these will put his life or even livelihood on the line when it comes to standing up for the truth, which is oftentimes the same as laying down his life for the flock, because it is more important to steer the flock in the right direction than it is to please them with how they are being led, or what they are being told. It's easy to jump in front of a group of people who are headed in a certain direction, and say, "Hey, I'll lead you. Let's go!” and then continue along the path they were walking anyway. Often times, this 'leader' then goes in the direction he thinks the sheep want to go, but ends up leading them a ruin they might not have reached on their own. Much more difficult is to jump in front of a group and say, "Hey, I'll lead you. Let's go!" and then steer them along the right path, away from their current direction, toward the safety of the sheepfold, where they can find true rest, true peace, and genuine care that begets true wellbeing.
So, which shepherd will you follow, the one who just makes you feel good about the way you are currently wandering, or the One Good Shepherd who will lead you toward the goal that fulfills your heart's deepest desire, the purpose for which you have been made?