Traditional
Let us pray: O God, whose son Jesus is the good shepherd of thy people; Grant that when we hear his voice we may know him who calleth us each by name, and follow where he doth lead; who, with thee and the Holy Spirit, liveth and reigneth, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Contemporary
Let us pray: O God, whose Son Jesus is the good shepherd of your people: Grant that when we hear his voice we may know him who calls us each by name, and follow where he leads; who, with you and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
This fourth Sunday of Easter is also known as Good Shepherd Sunday. In today’s world, I doubt many of us know too much about shepherds and sheep. Here’s something I learned last year. Sheep recognize and only respond to the voice of their shepherd. You can call and yell and coo and coax all you want, but if you’re not the shepherd it doesn’t matter. I saw a YouTube video of a shepherd with his sheep and he invited several different people, including other shepherds, to try and get the sheep’s attention. They called and called and cajoled, all to no end. Nothing. Until…their shepherd called them and then… instant recognition and response. Quite amazing. Shepherds know each of their sheep and give them names. And sheep recognize their shepherd. A good shepherd is guide, protector, and provider. This is the image for us as God’s sheep. Jesus calls us each by name because he knows us, guides, leads and protects us.
Jesus is our good shepherd calling us each by name. Have you ever considered this amazing fact? Jesus is calling each and every one of us by our names! (Insert several parishioners’ names)
To call someone by their name implies relationship. Knowing someone’s name is powerful. Over my 22 years of teaching, I learned thousands of names of the teenagers in my classes. Until I learned and could remember a student’s name, I couldn’t fully reach out and connect with them. I couldn’t know them. Names are important! Taking the time to learn and correctly pronounce someone’s name shows you care. It shows honor, value, and respect. Learning, remembering, and using someone’s name can also be quite intimate. Do you have a special name that only certain people call you? God knows your name! Do you have a nickname? Or a special name that only a few people use with you? My middle name is Jacob, but only my dad and my older brother ever call me Jake. It’s our special thing. Families, partners, friends may all have these very personal and intimate names for each other. God desires to be in relationship with you in the most intimate way too. Having created you, God knows everything about you. Everything that makes you the amazing, unique, human being you are. Ponder this for a moment. When God calls each of us by our names, God lets us know that we are intimately known, seen, and valued. All of our quirks, weaknesses, worries, secret hopes and joys, God calls us to bring it all into our relationship with the divine.
Remember when Mary went to the tomb after Jesus’ crucifixion to take care of his body and the risen Christ was there, but she couldn’t recognize him? Until…he called her by her name, Mary. And she and cried out Rabbi! Honored teacher!
And in today’s resurrections story about the beloved woman who cared and created for so many in her community. When Peter called her name, Tabitha, she returned from the dead to continue to care for her community. There are many stories in scripture of God calling people by their names or even giving them new names.
In our collect for today we pray: Grant that when we hear his voice we may know him…
But how can we be sure? There are lots of different people and things calling for our attention. How can we know that we’re hearing Jesus? How can we recognize his voice? God created us in and out of love and for love. And God’s call to us is love. The frequency of God’s call is goodness and mercy, compassion and forgiveness, welcome and healing. If we look for beauty, care, and community around us, we are attuning our ears to God’s call. When we marvel at the splendor of nature, when we honor and care for God’s creation, when we smile at kids and families at play, at teenagers discovering their passions and identities, when we see people gathered in community coming together to care for the needy, little acts of kindness and compassion, people helping others through the toughest times, it is then that we hear God’s voice and recognize our Good Shepherd calling us, inviting us to follow.
In today’s collect we also pray that we may follow where God leads.
But where are we led? Having been made in love, working to receive and believe we are loved and lovable, then we must broadcast that healing love to others and to our world. Jesus our Good Shepherd is calling us by name, guiding, protecting and leading us into good works. Together, as beloved community, we are being led to bring this call of love to our hurting, broken and polarized world. Following Jesus’ lead, we are called to broadcast compassion, mercy, and community wherever we go, to share how we’ve been loved, how we’ve heard Jesus call us by name, and how that call is not just for us, but for everyone. Listen carefully, God is calling out to you, calling you by name, inviting you into relationship, inviting you to help bring love into our world today. Will you hear that call and enter into the loving care of our Good Shepherd today? Listen for God’s call for your life.
Amen.
