Year C

John 10: 22-30

The Very Rev. Denise Vaughn

The Easter Hope

During the 50 days of the Easter season, the main focus of all the readings have been and will be to speak to the hope the resurrection; the hope for the end of suffering, death, and evil. Living leads to dying, but the resurrection of Jesus means that the Great Shepherd who left behind death, will continue to lead his disciples to the water of life and that God will wipe away every tear from their eyes as they participate in the work of Christ in the world. Peter raises Dorcas from the dead. Those who sing with the psalmist lack for nothing in God. The sealed and saved servants in the book of Revelation washed by the last Passover, lack for nothing. The Great Shepherd is present and simply will not let his followers go.

Keeping this hope alive, in the midst of the ongoing and ever increasing human and other tragedies of our time, is our task. Our new life in the risen Lord is not yet complete, to be sure. But the texts today emphasize that our role in God’s mission will mean the end of tears. Hard to believe; is this too optimistic a hope for a world like ours? How can it be that there will be no more pain and sorrow? How can we hear and have this hope without getting discouraged and afraid? In his book Conquering Fear, one of my favorite authors, Rabbi Harold Kushner, remember he wrote the book Why do Bad Things Happen to Good People, he  reminds us that “more than 80 times in the scriptures, God tells his people to not to be afraid.

God says it to Abraham, to Isaac, to Jacob, to Moses. God tells that to Joshua four times in their first conversation. He tells it to every one of his prophets and to his disciples. The very first words the angel speaks to Mary, the mother of Jesus, are “Don’t be afraid.” And what about the angel at the empty tomb telling the women “Do not be afraid. Go and tell.” Maybe the reason why God has to repeat this admonition so often is because there is so much to be afraid of! The world is fearful and a fearsome place, just look at what our young people are facing every day when they go to school, a place that should be safe. It takes a whole lot of faith to face today unafraid. I have to remind myself every day to not be afraid and to trust in the shepherd who loves his flock.

The texts today give us ample reason for living without fear, with trust in the care of a vigilant, loving God, whose concern reaches out to needy folk, many of whom have no one else to lean on. For example, the saintly widow’s in Acts known for their acts of charity, but widows were also vulnerable in society and subject to being manipulated by ruthless and aggressive scoundrels…nothing has changed. The recent AARP magazine had a feature story about the top 10 scams and how not to be scammed. The widow’s, find in Peter an instrument of divine mercy to bring life out of death for their leader, Dorcas. The raising of Dorcas stands as a witness to the power of the resurrection of Christ over all people—not in the sense that pain and death will be vanquished in this life but that Christ possess the power to bring new eternal life to all people. 

In the vision in Revelation, the great, diverse host of people, gathered before the throne to sing in various languages praises to the Lamb, “have come out of the great ordeal.” They have known hunger and thirst, exposure and weeping, but they now experience a deliverance, a shelter, and a way to the “springs of the water of life.” Even death cannot separate us from God. They are intimately close to God who feeds, nourishes and refreshes them. Their shepherd watches over them and “wipes away ever tear from their eyes.”

Both Psalm 23 and John speak to this care in the familiar picture of the good shepherd, who provides every want the sheep may have. The passages abound with images of guidance, protection, presence, and assurance. To be part of the shepherd’s flock means to be watched carefully so that no foe can snatch the sheep from the hands of the divine caretaker. They know his voice because theirs is a unique and intimate relationship. They know him, and he knows them and even calls each one of them by name.

Our salvation from fear comes from a God who is like a shepherd to us and from the intimate connection we have with that shepherd God, through Jesus Christ. A relationship that comes though prayer, study, and service, and no one can steal his sheep from him once we have established that intimate relationship with God, through Christ. “No one can snatch them out of the Father’s hand.” Life may be painful and difficult at times. There is much to fear in this life, but while we can and should let our fears inform our lives, they should never be allowed to rule them. Rabbi Kushner says, “God commands us to not be afraid. Not because there is nothing to fear but precisely because the world can be such a frightening place, and God knows that we can never fulfill our full potential as human beings called to love God and neighbor, if we are overcome by fear.”

We are people of the promise and God’s promise is this Kushner says, “Should you one day find yourself in a situation you will need special strength to go on, I will give you that strength.” “The Good Shepherd is the one who takes care of his sheep. We are not alone; God is with us even in the darkest hour, even in the valley of the shadow of death. “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for he is with me.” God is ever present with us. He leads the flock to where the grass is green and the water is calm and safe to drink.”  

Easter is the proof for us that Jesus is in the hands of God, not in the hands of death, and so in our celebration we claim that we are in the hands of the Good Shepherd, not in the hands of the other powers of this world. So what might it mean for us to live out of that confidence and trust, and become the hands of Christ in the world? And, as we are the hands of Christ, whom are we to hold on to? “Know that the Lord is God. It is he that made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.”  This is our Easter hope.