The Shepherd Calls Us All

This sermon was heard at the First Presbyterian Church in Berryville, Arkansas on April 13, 2008, the 4th Sunday in Easter.

The image at right is a chalk drawing of Jesus the Good Shepherd in the chancel of the First Presbyterian Church in Berryville, Arkansas.


Acts 2:42-47
Psalm 23
1Peter 2:19-25
John 10:1-10



May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen

In our gospel reading today, we heard the first half of what is known as the “Good Shepherd” discourse. There is no more endearing image of Jesus from scripture than the Good Shepherd. You need only look behind me for proof of this. The wonder of this image is not only that the shepherd cares for the sheep, but that the shepherd protects the sheep from predators and thieves.

Imagine if you will a large pen, a stockyard or a sale barn perhaps. In this yard are the sheep of many different shepherds. The gatekeeper recognizes the shepherd, so the gate is opened and the shepherd calls the sheep by name. Somehow, some way, the sheep know the voice of their shepherd. When the shepherd calls, the sheep come.

Saturday afternoon, I was sitting at the computer, looking over this sermon, and one of our cats came into the room. Now, cats are historically finicky. It is said you don’t own a cat, the cat owns you. But Cal is different; he knows his name and responds when called. When I call him he knows he will be petted, he will be loved. We even started a game while in seminary, while he is on the bed I can walk up to him, pat my chest, and he will come up, put his paws on my chest, and I pet him.

Now does that make him well trained or me?

I couldn’t tell you how the sheep know the shepherd’s voice, but scripture says they do. Perhaps it is something like me calling Cal by name. The shepherd develops such a loving and protecting relationship with each sheep that an intimacy develops. Or maybe it is the flock who knows their shepherd’s voice like Israel knows the voice of the Lord their God.[1]

In our Call to Worship we offered the words of the nation of Israel, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.”[2] In this Psalm, the Lord is worshipped for the protection of the shepherd and how the shepherd provides for the flock.

We give thanks that we have a good shepherd in the Lord Jesus, a shepherd who protects the sheep from danger. That’s actually what I preached a year ago, the last time this gospel reading was used in worship.

But when I read all of the lectionary readings this time I became more interested in the sheep than the shepherd.

My usual sermon points to Jesus in the word and in the world. But recently I have been thinking not just about Christ but the body of Christ, the church. And while these readings from John and the Psalms wonderfully describe Jesus as the Good Shepherd, today I am drawn to who we are as the sheep and the flock.

As the sheep in the psalm, we shall fear no evil because of the work of the Good Shepherd. We are fed and watered in perfect rest and harmony, not in a terrified and anxious hurry. We have been anointed and set aside; we drink from the cup of many blessings, the cup which over flows with the goodness of the Lord.

We are so loved that we have been given a name, both as individuals and as a holy people. We are a people following the call of the good shepherd. The voices of other shepherds surround us; voices that call us away from the good shepherd and toward a life that is less; voices that tempt us to veer from a holy way of life.

The thief would come to steal and kill and destroy, but the good shepherd offers life, abundant life.

So often, this is where I would say give praise, halleluiah, glory to God. But today, as the church, as the holy people of God, as the flock of the shepherd, I want us to ask the question “what comes next?”

In Acts, we are offered the answer. The Acts of the Apostles is a unique book in the New Testament. It is a sequel to the Gospel of Luke and continues the narrative account of the early church, from the ascension of Jesus and the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost, continuing with the spread of the gospel “to the ends of the earth.”[3] In this portrait of the church, the people devoted themselves to the Lord and the teachings of the Lord in the church.

The first of the four characteristics of the church in Acts is holding fast to the teaching of the apostles, as they teach the meaning of the kerygma, or gospel message.[4] Kerygma is one of those fancy words you can drop into conversation to impress or bore your friends, but there is a very important reason to use it. Kerygma by its very definition reminds us that the message is more important than the messenger.[5]

When I was working at the University of Arkansas, one day I was on my way to my boss’ office when I heard a campus preacher on a soapbox. This is nothing new at the UofA; in fact, there had been an article in the campus newspaper about this particular man. As I walked by, he was preaching the Good News of the Kingdom of God. Two hours later, as I returned from my boss’ office and from lunch, he was still there in full voice. But he had gotten off of his soapbox and onto his high horse preaching hair length.

Yes, it is biblical. Paul’s discourse on hair in 1Corinthians 11 is there for a reason. But this young man had gone from the fullness of the Gospel to the narrowness of Paul Mitchell and Miss Clairol. He had gone from the message of sacrificial love and gone to cosmetology school to show what offended him and God. As the early church in Acts, we need to focus on the full teaching of the Gospel, not tiny pieces of it. We are called to focus on the one who is the message, not the one who gives it today.

The second of the four characteristics is koinonia, the fellowship which entails both spiritual communion and the sharing of possessions.[6] The people were called to be together in the community of believers.

There are many who say: “I feel just as close to God in the woods (or on the lake, or with my family, or in bed, or so on) than I ever could in church, and I was once one of them. There is something to be said for solitary time of meditation and reflection, but this alone is not how we are called to respond to the word of the Lord.

We are called to come together to hear the word of God. We are called to come together to be the community of God and it is impossible to be a community of one. I have spoken of Jewish theologian Martin Buber who said, “I cannot be an I without a thou.” In the Lord, if we do not have a relationship with others, we do not have a relationship with the people of God, nor do we have a relationship with God. We don’t even have a right relationship with ourselves. To be God’s people, we must be with God’s people as God’s people serving God’s people.


This point is also elaborated on later in this reading. The author of Acts reminds us that the people would sell their possessions and distribute the proceeds to those in need. Scripture does not say “other members of the community as they had need,” it says “distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need.” Yes, God is alive in the church, but only when the church is alive in the world meeting the needs of all God’s creation.


The sharing of meals and celebration of the Lord’s Supper is the third element of the church’s devotion shared in Acts.[7] Today we will celebrate both beginning with the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. We are called to joyfully come together and share the bread of life and the cup of salvation, the body and blood of God’s Son Jesus Christ. We celebrate this meal that we might live no longer for ourselves but for him who died and rose for us. [8]

Today we also celebrate Fellowship Sunday. We come together and break bread and drink from the cup of what is in the refrigerator. We will sit around the table and share stories, we will laugh, and we will share concerns with one another. We are called to share the word of God, and we are called to joyfully share the bounty of the Lord’s Table and the kitchen table together.


The last of the four characteristics of the early church is prayer, both in their homes and in the Temple.[9] We are called to share our joys and concerns for the church, the world, and one another. We are called to pray not just for those we love, but for those who would do us harm. We are called to pray not just for the weak, but also for the strong. I am called to pray for you and you for me.

Brian Kolodiejchuk, a member of the Catholic Order of the Missionaries of Charity, collected and edited the letters of Mother Teresa in a book called “Come Be My Light.”[10] In her letters, there is one thing that stood out to me as she wrote of the Sisters of Loreto, the Missionaries of Charity, and the people of India; she ended nearly every letter begging the recipient, “Please pray for me.” The Saint of Calcutta knew the prayers she needed from the people and from the church. In this, we should remember that if Mother Teresa needed prayer, all of us need prayer.

Let me say to you, in the words of Mother Teresa, “Please pray for me.”

We talk about the Good Shepherd, but we also need to talk about our role as the flock; the body of Christ bringing in the Kingdom of God; the kingdom begun before the creation, marked by the crucifixion and resurrection, continuing today. The shepherd calls us all, all of the sheep in the pen. The shepherd calls us to be the flock and follow him, Jesus the Christ, into the assembly and into the world.

We are called together to share the good gifts of God with one another and with the world. We are called to do this as joyful response to the gift of salvation given freely by the grace of God.

We are called to be like the church of Acts spending much time together; breaking bread and eating with glad and generous hearts praising God; having the goodwill of all the people; through kerygma, koinonia, breaking bread and prayer. And by these things, through God’s grace and peace, the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.

We are called to be the church, the body of Christ in the world today as the church was called to be two thousand years ago.

[1] New Interpreter’s Bible, volume IX, page 667.
[2] This rendering of the 23rd Psalm comes from the Presbyterian Book of Common Worship. As this Psalm was from today’s lectionary, we used it as our Call to Worship.
[3] Introduction to “The Acts of the Apostles” from the New Interpreter’s Study Bible, electronic edition
[4] Ibid, text note for Acts 2:42-47
[5] “Kerygma”, BDAB Lexicon, Electronic Edition
[6] Ibid, New Interpreter’s Study Bible, text note for Acts 2:42-47
[7] Ibid.
[8] Ibid, Presbyterian Book of Common Worship, Communion Setting E
[9] Ibid, New Interpreter’s Study Bible, text note for Acts 2:42-47
[10] “Mother Teresa, Come Be My Light, The Private Writings of the Saint of Calcutta”, Brian Kolodiejchuk, MC, editor. New York: Doubleday, 2007.