But why are we still celebrating Easter? Fifty days seems like a long time to be singing Alleluia - and we are only half way through the season. And so, it is at this midway point, that we celebrate Good Shepherd Sunday – a title taken from the today’s famous gospel passage. So why do we call Christ the Good Shepherd? And how can insight from a New Mexico shepherd help us to use all of our senses in order to uncover the Gospel message and of how we can find Christ today? Check it out.

1. 1 Deacon Jim Knipper
10May20144th
Sunday of Easter Princeton, NJ
Christ is Risen! Christ is Risen Indeed!
Just because the lilies are gone don’t give up on celebrating Easter! For we are only halfway through the
50 day Easter season which began three weeks ago when we retold the story of how the stone was rolled
away from the tomb, the burial cloths were found lying on the ground and the angel appeared to the
women to say that Christ rose from the dead. And so, it is at this midway point, that we celebrate Good
Shepherd Sunday – a title taken from the famous gospel passage we just heard.
This image of “shepherd” actually appears over 200 hundred times throughout the bible. Hebrew scripture
shepherds include: Abel, Moses, Abraham, Rachel, Jacob and perhaps the best known - David. And
when we turn the pages to the New Testament – who are among the first to visit the new born Christ
Child? – the shepherds.
So it is no surprise that John merges what is believed to have been two parables into this one gospel
passage which likens Jesus the Christ to the good shepherd. In order to get a better understanding of
John’s metaphor I think it is necessary to gain some insight on what shepherding is all about. So listen to
the words of the early 20
th
century author Henry Morton which he wrote after visiting the Palestine – and
of the relationship of the shepherd to his sheep:
“A most remarkable thing is the sympathy that exists between the shepherd and his flock. He never
drives them, rather he always walks at their head, leading them along the roads and over the hills to new
pasture; and, as he goes, he sometimes talks to them in a loud sing-song voice.
“Early one morning I saw an extraordinary sight not far from Bethlehem. Two shepherds had evidently
spent the night with their flocks in a cave. The sheep were all mixed together and the time had come for
the shepherds to go in different directions. One of the shepherds stood some distance from the sheep
and began to call. First one, then another, then four or five animals ran toward him; and so on until he
had counted his whole flock.”
Then just a few years ago a friend of mine interned as a shepherd in New Mexico and wrote the following
about his transformational journey tending to the Navajo Churro Sheep. This is what he had to say:
Shepherding is a dance of partnership. You cannot forcefully impose your will; you can only skillfully
make suggestions with your body in a way that a sheep can understand, trusting and hoping they will
respond likewise. I found that much of sheep herding is waiting and seeing, letting the occasion arise
wherein you position yourself to redirect the sheep to where you want them to go. When the sheep settle
in a place to graze, we shepherds find a spot at a distance where we can still have a good view of the
flock, rest our feet, and enjoy the beautiful landscape of the mesas and the expanse of the clear blue
skies
One can see why John used the metaphor of Christ as shepherd for it is the Christ who waits for us, leads
us, directs us and calls to us…waiting and hoping and trusting that we will respond to his voice and his
unconditional love. But today I think we need to take the advice of the shepherd intern and step back
from today’s Gospel to find a place where we can take a wider view of the Easter Gospels. Because
without doing so, I think it is easy for us to miss the good news of Easter, which is spread across these
fifty days.
And why fifty days? Because I think we need that much time to absorb what the Resurrection truly
means. Yes, we all know that Christ died and rose from the dead - but what about us? What about our
roles…our participation in the post resurrection story? The Resurrection is not simply a one-time

2. 2 Deacon Jim Knipper
historical event that happened 2,000 years ago, recorded by a small group of his followers to be passively
commemorated each year...rather it is this paschal mystery of suffering, death and resurrection which is
played out time and time again, which we experience day in and day out in each of our lives. And it is
these Easter Gospels that teach us how we respond, how we participate, and how we need to use all of
our senses in order to find and follow Christ.
Remember the Gospel from two weeks ago? It was the story of Doubting Thomas who needed to touch
the Christ – and thus was invited to put his fingers into the nail marks and his hand into the side of Christ.
And so we find Christ through the sense of touch – when we reach out to others, when we extend to
another the kiss of peace…when we hold our children….hug our loved ones…lift up the elderly…and
stroke the face of the dying…and thus the face of Christ.
Last week we heard of the travelers who were on the Road to Emmaus and who lacked the ability to see!
But then their eyes were opened through the sharing of scripture and the breaking of the bread by Christ.
We are no different than those travelers – that is why Christ implored us to do exactly what we are doing
right now and to gather, to remember, to share scripture, to break bread, and to feed on his body and
blood. All this so we would remember that Christ is before us every day and yet many of us walk around
with our eyes most often closed. We are blinded for so many reasons and unable to see Christ in our
daily lives… and to see Christ in each other.
This Sunday we heard the good news of Christ, the Shepherd who calls our name and we are invited to
hear his call…that we find Christ through the sense of hearing – but we need to pause and listen to his
voice. However our ears are often filled with everyday chatter, amplified with our technology to the point
where we can miss the voice of God that is often found, as the prophet Elijah tells us, in the quiet winds of
life that blow by us. Christ calls each us, everyday…but are we listening?
Then next week, be sure to listen to the gospel where Christ tells his disciples that he has prepared a
place for each of us that he will one day take us to and yet Thomas asks the question – how do we know
the way? This same lack and sense of knowledge can grip us at times when we face life changes and
challenges… and suddenly we find ourselves feeling lost as to how to know our God in all of that.
But Christ tells us – “knowledge comes to those who believe in me and will do the works that I do.” In
short, we are called to a ministry of active participation – not just being a passive witness. We are called
to bring thy Kingdom come – not hide in the Upper Room of our lives all day. We know Christ by being
like Christ.
And finally…in a few weeks we will approach the end of the Easter season…and over the 50 days we will
have listened to the Gospels that tell us that it is through touch, sight, sound, and knowledge that we find
God, see God, trust God, love God and have faith in God…and if that is not enough, Christ knowing we
cannot do it alone, promises us an advocate – The Holy Spirit, who is with us always.
Now can you see why we need fifty days to celebrate the Resurrection? Why we gather every week for
the sharing of scripture and the breaking of the bread? For we all need to roll away the stones from our
personal tombs. We all need to unwrap ourselves from our personal burial cloths and tie ups. And in
doing so we have the freedom to touch, to hear, to see and to know the Christ that dwells within each of
us. For it is not just these 50 days, rather it is every day of the year that we need to celebrate Easter…to
rejoice and give thanks for our God who is always calling us, loving us, accepting us, enlivening us, and
dwelling within us.
Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!
Amen. Alleluia!