2nd Sunday after Easter 8 May 2011 Sermon

2nd Sunday after Easter 8.5.11 Good Shepherd

Jesus protects the sheep. From what? From the power of evil, from getting lost.

The danger we face is not primarily physical (as with real sheep). For us it is sin. Jesus protects us from that. He protects us from defying Him.

The reason we sin is that we are looking at things from a lack of understanding of the whole situation. We see the forbidden fruit, and we desire it, not worrying about longer term needs.

How can the Shepherd protect us from that? By gathering us in to be close to Him.

He gathers us in, not just to sit on the grass but to be transformed by Him. If we stand close to a fire we will be burnt. In this case to be burnt is a good thing. As we stand near Jesus the fire of His heart will affect us. Not just physically near, but spiritually, opening our hearts and minds to His influence.

As the Epistle puts it: we were to become dead to our sins and live for holiness... this is the new order of things, the new humanity.

Protection comes from the fact that we are no longer under the influence of the evil one. We move away from the world and false ways of thinking.

Our Lord implants in us a different way of looking at things - His own way, His own mind, heart, wisdom, will.

So, for example, if we were in the past inclined to steal, with His heart we see the value of the property to the other person. Now I not only will not steal but I will give my possessions away. Cf Zacchaeus... willing to make fourfold reparation in his joyful grasp of new life.

Or for purity. Before one might have just been seeking pleasure. Now with the heart of Christ we see the dignity of the human person and all that goes with that.

The commandments become real to us, no longer just burdensome rules, but reflecting our own way of seeing things.

Conversely if we do not let Him gather us in we are in great danger of falling away from the faith, falling into sin.

People do not plan to do this. It happens because of a kind of spiritual malnutrition. If we do not keep up with prayer and sacraments, do not take in our daily intake of grace we become vulnerable and then we fall. And from that if we do not return we will fall further.

The sheep will be swallowed up by wolves. We can be swallowed by the ‘world’!

So we have to be humble here and know our limitations. Many do not pray or receive sacraments, thinking that they are strong enough to get by for themselves. It is like driving at night without headlights. In our own strength we are nothing when it comes to spiritual combat.

For us here, we are probably not ‘lost’ sheep in the sense that we have wandered far away from the flock. Yet we also, with our habitual sins and just the stress of modern life – we also need to draw close to the Shepherd to fight against temptations. And we must realize that we could be lost. So vigilance is required.

The Good Shepherd, having gathered us in, forms us in His image, making us Christ-like in our thinking and acting. We take on a new self. We are saved from ourselves, from the old self. The new self is a brand new person.

For this to happen and to have any sort of reality on an ongoing basis we have to renew our commitment day by day.

Our closeness to the Shepherd needs to be more like desperate clinging than just a casual affiliation.

He will look for us even if we don’t look for Him; even if we try to hide from Him. He goes in search of the lost sheep. But why make it harder than it needs to be? We can approach Him and find all that we need.