13. April, 2008
Easter 4 – Good Shepherd Sunday

Title:  “A Pearl Dropped From Heaven!”  as preached at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Oakland, CA
Text:  St. John 10: 1-10

In the name of the Eternal Majesty, the Incarnate  + Word, the Abiding Spirit, One God. Amen.

 As many of you know, last week I returned from Vancouver, British Columbia, where I attended the “Start Up—Start  Over” Conference sponsored by the Anglican Church of Canada and our own Episcopal Church.  I do not want to say too much about the conference just right now, because I still have a lot of sorting out to do of some 32 hours of note taking, lectures and presentations, and, more important, I do not want to prejudice or color the experience for the three people from our Parish (Anne Jensen being one of them) who will be attending the same conference next month in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. However, let me say this: the experience was incredible (the word “overwhelming” would not be an over statement).  In many ways it has transformed my life and the way I think about ministry.  There’s an old Buddhist saying when one becomes enlightened (you know, when the “lights go on”) and one comes to a new understanding about one’s self or the world in which we live: “A Pearl Dropped From Heaven.”  Well, let me tell you, “Start Up—Start Over” was a rainstorm of pearls.  You will be hearing more.
 While I was at this “Start Up—Start Over” conference, I started preparing today’s sermon.  The Gospel reading is that familiar tenth chapter from St. John about shepherd and sheep . . . part of which we hear every year on this Sunday . . .  a story we know so well (you would have recognized it more easily if today’s reading had included the next verses: “I am the Good Shepherd.  I know my own and my own know me”)  . . .  a text that is at the basis of many of the hymns we sing and the prayers we pray . . . a focus of Christian art and many-a stained glass window . . . words so familiar, that some even call this day  “Good Shepherd Sunday.”  Because of my own familiarity with the text, I wasn’t too worried about preaching today: I know the story well, have studied it often and have preached on it more times than I can remember. Well, let me tell you, as I began to dig into those words again, I saw some things that I had never noticed before (I suspect the “Start Up—Start Over” conference had something to do with that) . . . it was as if I had been given a new set of lenses and was reading these words for the first time.  And “A Pearl Dropped From Heaven.” 
 As one looks at this Gospel, even though the words are familiar, it is not an easy text to understand.  For one thing it’s filled with all kinds of mixed images and metaphors: the sheepfold and sheep gate, thieves and bandits, shepherds and sheep, the voice of the shepherd and the voice of the stranger, the gatekeeper (and all in ten verses) . . . it’s no wonder “they (the disciples) did not understand what he was saying to them” (Seems like no one ever told Jesus not to mix his metaphors).  To unpack all of this was (is) no easy task?  To begin with, where do we find Jesus in this story?  Is Jesus the sheepfold, the gate, the gatekeeper, the shepherd, or the shepherd’s voice?  And the answer is: “YES!”  And how do we see ourselves in this story?  Are we the sheep?  Most people think of sheep as stupid, so obviously prefer not to be cast into that role. Clergy might think of themselves as shepherds (I know one priest who talks about herself as the sheep dog, a character not mentioned in this story but surely part of every sheepfold).  Perhaps we see ourselves as the gatekeeper, opening the gate to some or baring the door against those people or those things we don’t want in.  And, I must tell you—perhaps confess” is a better word—I  confess to you, I myself have had thoughts along those lines, and when I had preached on this text in the past, I emphasized the gate  as representing entry to eternal life, and Jesus as the gatekeeper, telling us that the only way into the fold is through him . . . and whereas there is some truth to that, that is not what this text is all about.  As I continued to study this text and how I would preach on it today, suddenly I was struck by verse three: “The gatekeeper opens the gate . . . the sheep hear his voice . . . he calls his own sheep by name . . . and he leads them out.”  “Wow,” I thought” How come I’d never seen that before? And “A Pearl Dropped From Heaven!”   
 Now, what does this all mean? Well, it’s packed with meaning for all of our various journeys, but to understand its meaning, we have to know something about shepherds and sheep, and frankly coming from an urban setting that can be somewhat challenging for most of us.  I am told (I have no first-hand experience), sheep are “interesting” animals.  To be sure, they are not like those cute fuzzy toy lambs we give to our children . . . No, they’re somewhat dirty and smelly; they tend to wander about with no direction or purpose; and prefer to stay in the sheepfold, where they feel safe and secure. Left on their own, they would die, because the last thing they would do is to venture out on their own and leave behind the familiar and comfortable sheepfold.  The problem is, the sheepfold doesn’t provide all that a sheep needs, like green pastures for food and still waters (Psalm 23). And so, day after the day, the shepherd has to entice and call the sheep—even calling each one by name, mind you—to call the sheep out of the comfort and security of the sheepfold to find the green pastures and still waters.  Their very life depends upon their moving between the familiar place of safety and comfort,  to new places, that are somewhat strange and threatening, where they can eat to their hearts content and wander about under the guidance of the shepherd.  Discovering that, suddenly this Gospel began to fall into place . . . “A Pearl Dropped From Heaven!”   
 So, what do these words mean for us and for our life journey?  Well, it would be somewhat arrogant of me to tell you what this Gospel is suppose to mean for you and for your life journey.  I don’t have that right.  But I can share with you what these words mean for me, and especially this past week in light of the “Start Up—Start  Over” conference that was for me transforming in so many ways.  It means that even though I am 67 years old, I may have to make some changes in my life, especially the way I think about some things and do some things.  “Start Up—Start  Over” was not just about organizations and institutions . . . it’s about me and life the way I live it. I don’t know yet what all that means. I still have a lot of discerning to do . . . a lot of reflection,  . . . but I do know it will probably require me to make some changes in my life . . . I may have to give up some of the things with which I have become familiar and find safe . . . and that may not be so easy or so very comfortable . . . I am waiting for some more pearls to drop from heaven . . . and indeed they will. 
 And I can say something about us here in this congregation we call St. Paul’s:  We are in an interim time . . . a time of reflection . . . a wonderful opportunity to hear the voice of God . . .  a time when we can look at all the pearls dropping from heaven,  and to discern their meaning . . . a time when we can engage one another in prayer and conversation . . . a time when we can discover this community and the richness of this place . . . and  try to figure out  what God is calling us to be and to do.  To be sure,  we may have to make some about the way in which we think about some things and the way in which we do some things . . . we may have to give up some of the things with which we are familiar, comfortable, and secure as we venture forth to the green pastures, the still waters, and the abundant and new life to which our Good Shepherd is calling all of us.  And look for those pearls dropping from heaven , , , they’re on their way.
 When I was a child (and here I am not quoting the Apostle Paul) . . . when I was a child, I learned a prayer . . . actually a hymn . . . words that have sort of stuck with me down through the years. When I was in Vancouver wrestling with this Gospel, those words came back to me, like “A Pearl Dropped From Heaven!”    I share them with you . . .  they may be helpful for your own journey: 

  I am Jesus’ little lamb,    Day by day, at home, away,
  Ever glad at heart I am;    Jesus is my Staff and Stay.
  For my Shepherd gently guides me,   When I hunger, Jesus feeds me,
  Knows my need, and well provides me,  Into pleasant pastures leads me;
  Loves me every day the same,   When I thirst, He bids me go
  Even calls me by my name.    Where the quiet waters flow.

     Who so happy as I am,
     Even now the Shepherd’s lamb?
     And when my short life is ended,
     By His angel host attended,
     He shall fold me to His breast,
     There within His arms to rest.  Amen.

         S.D.G.  The Rev. Dr. David E. Abernethy-Deppe