The Good Shepherd

I have really been struck this year by how the focus during this Easter season is on Jesus’ ongoing and living presence with the disciples as a group. The Scripture lessons that we hear in these weeks after Easter day teach us about Jesus’ presence with us as a church, as a community of the faithful. There are many stories of individual or private encounters with Jesus—stories in Scripture and in the history of human experience. And these stories we are hearing now about Jesus in the midst of community don’t serve to discount those individual stories at all. But the stories we’ve been hearing throughout Easter are about the risen Christ present when the disciples gather. And they illustrate what Jesus does and what gifts he brings when he is present with the people gathered.

One of the lessons from all of these stories is—to hijack a phrase from the movies—if we gather he will come. If we gather, he will come. Or maybe it is better to say, when we gather he will come. When we gather, he will come. Period. No further conditions. Gathering together as the people of God is all that matters. Isn’t it wonderful that Jesus’ coming to be in the midst of us does not depend upon the quality of your faith or piety or degree of holiness? All you have to do is be a part of the gathering. And the living presence of God will be in the midst of us, present for you, present for us all.

It’s also worth remembering that on some days you may be called to be a part of the gathering for the sake of others. It does take a gathering, and a gathering takes people. No matter what’s going on in your life, maybe you’re supposed to be counted as present among the people assembled because somehow that will enable someone else to find and know Jesus. It’s just possible that if you don’t come, it won’t be a gathering, and if you do come, just come, it will be a gathering… a gathering that will bless someone else with the living presence of Christ.

When we gather, he will come. Jesus, alive, will come and be present with the people gathered.

In the Scripture readings we’ve heard on Sundays over the last few weeks, we’ve learned what it is that Jesus brings to us when he comes, risen and alive, to be with the faithful community. Two weeks ago, we heard the so-called story of doubting Thomas. There are many meanings in that passage… Thomas’ doubt being one of the less important ones. Probably the most important part of this story is the reassurance that Jesus is still with the disciples after his crucifixion and resurrection. Just as he is with us after his crucifixion and resurrection. And each time he comes to be among the disciples, his first words are “peace.” He is present, yes, but with his presence he brings peace. He stills their fear and quiets their anxiety with the assurance of peace. He does the same for us, when he comes to be with us. Peace. Not only in the doubting Thomas story, but again and again and again, Jesus speaks “peace.” Jesus brings peace to still our fears and quiet our anxieties.

The peace of the lord be always with you. When we gather together in worship, that’s what we say. We offer and share peace with one another. Through the presence of Jesus with us, we give one another peace. The Lord’s peace. The peace that passes all human understanding. The peace of the Lord be always with you.

Last Sunday, the focus was food. Jesus shares a meal when he comes, even after his resurrection, to be among the community of his disciples. He eats with them. And he, by his own presence with the disciples, nourishes and sustains them spiritually and physically. Jesus provides the nourishment and sustenance they need to continue in his ministry and mission. It is Jesus’ presence with them that fuels their ongoing lives as the new Body of Christ in the world.

And, of course, when we gather together today as a community of disciples and apostles, we share a meal with Jesus. Or, Jesus shares a meal with us. Jesus shares himself with us when we gather at his table for Holy Communion. He is the food and drink that nourish us. Listen carefully to the post-communion prayer we say each Sunday. In it we give thanks for the spiritual food we have received. Remember what food really does. It fills hunger. The Body and Blood of Christ fill the hunger in our souls. Food fuels our lives. The sacramental meal nourishes and sustains us as the Body of Christ as we are sent out into the world to do God’s work.

When we gather together, Jesus is with us to give us peace and nourishment.

This Sunday we hear of Jesus, the Good Shepherd. This morning’s Gospel is not technically a post-resurrection story. It does not recount an occurrence that takes place after Jesus’ resurrection. But remember: in another of the post-resurrection appearances Jesus repeatedly tells Peter: “Feed my sheep.” In this morning’s Gospel Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd.” And when we hear these words during Easter season, we are reminded that the risen Christ will be among us as the Good Shepherd. We are the flock; we are his sheep. There’s the community thing again. By definition, a flock is a group. And one of the things the shepherd does is keep the flock together as a group so that no particular individual is lost or isolated. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, gathers the flock, restoring those who are lost to the fellowship of the community and calling everyone to be a part of his flock.

There’s a reason the 23^rd psalm is so popular. It describes for us what the risen Christ, as the good shepherd brings to us, his flock. The shepherd provides… Comfort. Protection. And guidance or direction. The Good Shepherd provides the comfort of green pastures and still waters. He offers protection. Even in the valley of the shadow of death, the good shepherd is with us. We need not fear anything. We are protected from all evil. And guided. The Good Shepherd gives guidance along right pathways. We are nudged and corralled in the way we should go. The good shepherd keeps us from going astray.

The risen Christ, the living God, is present in the midst of us—the people gathered together as the church community. And Jesus is not just passively present. He is active among us. Bringing peace. Offering to us the peace of the Lord. Giving us the peace that passes all human understanding to still our fears and quiet our anxieties. Jesus also feeds us. Nourishing us with the spiritual food and drink of his own being. Filling the hunger in our souls and sustaining us in the life of faith. And Jesus is among us as the Good Shepherd to comfort, protect and guide his own flock.