Sermon: "What's All This about Sheep?"
The Right Reverend Charles G. vonRosenberg
Third Bishop of East Tennessee

[This sermon by Bishop vonRosenberg was delivered using the following notes.]

Some images from the Bible represent challenges for 21st century Americans. Unfortunately, sheep are one of those challenging images. And, this is unfortunate because sheep - along with other pastoral, farm images - are fairly prominent in the Bible. The fact is that not many of us have had a great deal of contact with sheep, nor do we really understand the job requirements of a shepherd. Indeed, most people these days live lives far removed from the farm and from the agricultural world from which Jesus drew many of his stories and illustrations.

Having admitted that, though, we can acknowledge several aspects of the relationship of sheep to shepherd … a relationship that we know was important in the Gospel world, even if we may not really understand it in our own. Since Jesus used this image so often, it is appropriate for us to attempt to make sense of it.

From our Collect today and from the Gospel, it seems to me that we can point to three particularly characteristic actions of sheep. And, since the analogy puts us in the category of sheep, those are the actions that we need to recognize, in a personal way. First of all, the sheep hear the shepherd's voice. In the Gospel, Jesus says, "My sheep hear my voice." And, in the Collect, we prayed, "O God, whose Son Jesus is the good shepherd of your people: Grant that when we hear his voice…" Thus, the first action of the sheep is to hear.

Then, secondly, the sheep know who the shepherd is. Jesus in the Gospel says, "I know my own and my own know me." Thus, there is a mutuality of knowledge between shepherd and sheep, and trust is implied in that relationship. The Collect picks up at the same point, "Grant that when we hear his voice we may know him who calls us each by name…" Therefore, the second action of the sheep - an action shared by the shepherd also - is to know … to know one another.

Finally, a response is called for in this relationship. The response itself is implied in our Gospel reading today, but earlier in the tenth chapter of John, the response is put more explicitly: "The sheep follow him because they know his voice" (10:4). Once again, the Collect offers us a similar idea: "We may know him who calls us each by name, and follow where he leads." Therefore, the third and final action of sheep is to follow.

Hear, know, and follow - these are the actions of the sheep identified in our Gospel and our Collect today. And, since we pray that we may be sheep of the Good Shepherd, Jesus, then these are things that we need to pay attention to. Hear, know, and follow.

These actions describe the process of nurture in the Christian life, it seems to me. I am aware, for instance, that such a sequence identifies my own process of nurture in the church. That is, I heard about Jesus in Sunday School, church, and at home from an early age. I began to know Jesus through the lives of my parents and others. Then, finally, I was ready to try to follow Jesus, having first heard and known.

I suspect that those to be confirmed, received, and reaffirmed today also have had similar experiences. That is, they have heard and known Jesus in their own lives. And now, they reach a point in their lives to make a public affirmation of their intention to follow Jesus, too. Hear, know, and follow, once again.

In addition, it is our responsibility as followers of Jesus Christ to take this idea and expand it, including other people in the image and ideas presented by our Collect and Gospel. After all, I suspect that our calls to evangelism and to mission may be enriched by such considerations. Our readings from the Acts of the Apostles during this Easter season tell of sharing the good news in the early days of Christianity, for instance. In addition, St. Paul often wrote of the imperative to spread the good news of Christ. In the Letter to the Romans, we read, "How are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him? And how are they to proclaim him unless they are sent?" (10:14-15). Therefore, it is not just we ourselves who are to hear, know, and follow. But also, we are called to enable others, that they, too, may hear, know, and follow Jesus Christ.

Sometimes, in our enthusiasm, we expect people to jump into this sequence at the final step: follow. We say, in effect, "Those thirty percent of the population of East Tennessee who are unchurched need to follow Jesus Christ … and, by the way, they need to come to Church of the Good Samaritan." But according to what we learn today, we need to enable those folks first to hear and to know Jesus. Then and only then, will they be prepared to follow him.

Our responsibility as Christians includes allowing Jesus to be heard and making him known in what we say and do. Then, God willing, there arises the possibility that Christ will be followed, too.

Hear, know, and follow. Those are the directions on our Christian journey … for those of us who are sheep of the Good Shepherd. And those directions name our responsibilities toward that unchurched thirty percent of the people who live very nearby, too. May we be mindful, therefore, of our need to hear, to know, and to follow Christ. And, then, may we do everything we can do to ensure that our friends and neighbors without a church hear and know about Jesus, so that they, too, will be enabled to follow Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

Copyright © 2007 The Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee