The Promise of the Good Shepherd

Homily for Sunday, April 25, 2010


Lessons:
Psalm 23
Acts 9:36-43
Revelations 7:9-17
John 10: 22-30

Last Monday, a graduate student on a bicycle was killed when a large Charlottesville public works truck turned right onto 4th Street. The bicyclist must have been in the driver’s blind spot. Maybe he didn’t see the truck’s turn signal. Or there wasn’t one. Maybe he tried to beat the truck, thinking he could cross the street before the truck could turn. We will never know.

These are a few of the things we have found out since the young man died. His name was Matt King, and he was a student in the math department. His professor said of him, “He was a bright student with a very positive personality.” In fact, Matt was the kind of outstanding math student who might have had offers at other prestigious universities, but he chose the University of Virginia. Why? Because a pastor he had become close to as an undergraduate had moved to Charlottesville. Matt came to UVA so he could help with his former pastor’s ministry.

Last Monday morning, he was serving breakfast at a downtown homeless shelter called The Haven. Maybe he was in a hurry to get to class when he left there. Maybe he was listening to music on his iPod and couldn't hear the truck. We will never know.

We have learned that Matt King was from South Carolina and attended Clemson University as an undergraduate. He and his younger brother were very close; in fact, the day Matt died was his younger brother's 20th birthday. For the rest of his life, this young man's birthday, which should be a happy day, will always be associated with the death of his beloved brother.

The tragedy of Matt King's death has been on the minds of many of us at UVA this week. The story begs the question "Why?" Why did a young man so devoted to serving the Lord by serving others have to lose his life? How could the Lord let such a thing happen? When I realized this Sunday is Good Shepherd Sunday and includes the 23rd Psalm, I hoped to find words of comfort in today's lessons. Comfort is there, of course.

In the Gospel lesson from John, Jesus is confronted by the Jewish authorities, who want him to state outright if he is the Messiah. We can guess what their motive might have been, and their question is no doubt a trap. Jesus answers simply: "The works that I do in my Father's name testify to me; but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father's hand. The Father and I are one."

We cannot be snatched from God's hand. Our baptism promises us that we are God's own forever; that is the only promise we are given in scripture, but it is the only one we need. There can be no guarantee about not dying to this mortal life; our earthly bodies will die and we have no way of knowing the hour or the day. But Jesus says we who believe in him are his sheep, and he will gather us into eternal life with Him and the Father. Our celebration of the Resurrection in this season of Easter reminds us that Christ has died and risen to give us a life in the spirit that cannot perish.

The free will all humans enjoy allows us to choose to follow the shepherd. But human free will also permits a host of other things, everything from inattention to traffic laws to environmental degradation. We humans complicate our lives and the workings of the world in so many ways. Although the Lord does not contravene the exercise of free will, and we often suffer as a result, miracles can happen. In today's story from Acts, we see Peter raise from the dead a disciple named Dorcas. Whatever we do in the Lord's name has great power, even though we often cannot comprehend it.

The Book of Revelation can be inscrutable, and I usually feel some trepidation when I turn to its pages, but the passage for today is my favorite from the whole book, for a personal reason. I have struggled with my own mother's death. Why did someone who was so obviously a good and devoted Christian have to die at a relatively young age after suffering through a terrible illness? When the speaker in Revelation 7 is asked the question about the spirits clothed in white robes and standing near the throne of the Lamb, he answers, "These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." I can picture my mother in that company, blessed and comforted after her long ordeal, full of joy. How wonderful to know there is heavenly compensation for the suffering we humans endure in this life! So much of life is unfair, but there is justice in God's mercy.

The most beloved psalm of all is Psalm 23, and I think that's because it gets straight to the point in stating all of the things the Lord does for us. Our service leaflet has the modern version of it, but I think most of us know best the King James version, found at #506 in the responsive reading section of the Broadman Hymnal. Let's read it together now:

Psalm 23
1The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
3He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
4Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
5Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

In verse 4, the dangers and difficulties we encounter are acknowledged. Life can be like a dark valley, and death is ever present. But we are reminded that we have no need to fear evil of any kind. We will be guided and protected in this life, and embraced in the bosom of the Lord in the next one.

This grace is true for each of us, just as it is true for young Matthew King. The website for the college ministry he was associated with has posted this quotation from Matt. In explaining his beliefs, Matt said: "Restoration and redemption surround me."

Blessed assurance! Amen