Good Shepherd Sunday
Anybody out there been
really busy this week? Busy at work,
busy with the kids or grand-kids or maybe taking care of adult parents? Busy living life? Busy is the norm—isn’t it?
We live in a world where
we go 100 miles an hour 24 hours a day 7 days a week! There is so much in our lives that vies for
our attention. I don’t know about you
but it seems like there is never a free
moment- as soon as we have a moment the world snatches it out of our hands—the
phone buzzes with another email, text message, Facebook post that screams out
for our attention. When the world isn’t
keeping us occupied—our fears bubble up and over take us, the anxiety of living
in an uncertain world creeps in and dominates our attention and focus. Our
thoughts--What about terrorism? What about immigrants? What about Zika virus? Presidential
race? What about that funny mole on our forehead or that lump under our
armpit. What to do about that thing
going at work? How am I going to make
ends meet? When the world isn’t gobbling
us up—there are so many loop running in our heads that occupy our times.
There are just so many
voices that grab at us and try to occupy our every waking moment. And in some way it’s just the life we live
in. We will probably never change it
fully, but I’m guessing there are moments of guilt when the really important
things-- relationships with our families, friends, with God- are tossed aside
and become casualties because “LIFE” has taken over.
Today I commend you
because you have stopped your busy life—you have put aside whatever is
pressing- and cleared away a few moments you’ve put your phones away to be
quiet and rest. You’ve done a very
counter cultural things to stop the 24/7.
And I think in some way one
of the gifts that the church could give moments—we provide moments, we provide opportunities to stop all of the frenetic
life and connect with ourselves again and to connect with God again.
Of course, if you we come
here continue to be Martha all the
time-doing, doing, doing then we are missing a great opportunity to be Mary in
a Martha world--- to stop and sit at Jesus feet. We are really good at doing things
producing- getting work done, but we are not so good at being-resting taking a
deep breath. It doesn’t have value.
But is forty-five minutes
once a week enough to stop and listen
for the gentle voice of God, to stop and rest?
Today we have arrived at
my favorite Sunday—Good Shepherd Sunday.
Every year three weeks after Easter we celebrate the shepherdly- loving
presence of Jesus in our lives. We hear
stories about sheep and the loving care of the Shepherd .
Today what captured my attention is the part
of the Gospel where Jesus boasts that his sheep—they hear and they follow his
voice.
I watched a video this
week about sheep and how they are able to discern the voice of their shepherd
among many of the competing voice. In
the video, there were these people who one by one tried to call a flock of sheep together. The shepherd of the flock had taught the folks the call he
used to get his sheep to follow him. Three different people tried their hand at
calling the flock together-- Each time they called out just as the shepherd
called out , the sheep didn’t move— they didn’t flinch--they didn’t look
up—they didn’t stop what they were when
the strange voice called—but when the shepherd called them with the same call
the other’s had been using—the ears perked up, they started to look around--
the started to bah—and then the came across the pasture toward the shepherd-
they heard and knew the shepherd’s voice.
How well do we know our
shepherds voice? Can we hear the shepherd’s voice over all the competing voices? Is the shepherds voice a voice that’s gets
drowned out?
I think the way that we
get to know the shepherds voice is about cultivating moments to sit quiet--
listen to –Jesus says the sheep hear his voice—so guess what if they hear his
voice that means Jesus is calling—he is calling to each of his sheep
So then how do we have
moments or how do we incorporate practices into our lives where we stop to
listen, stop to rest?
Could we take a day every
week- maybe Mondays and drive into work with the radio off?
Could we before we go to
bed-take a moment to focus breathing—breathing out the distractions and
breathing in the presence of God. Are
there moments where we could intentionally say I am turning off my phone and
take a walk in the woods? Is there some way to create some sort of margin—take
an afternoon off to be quiet?
What would it look like
to spend a minute before dinner just sitting quietly in the presence of family?
What if Jesus calls out
to us in this and every moment- but what if we miss that voice we don’t make
some room. How tragic.
Where could you clear
just a moment-to just be still and listen?
Listen for his voice
because a voice of peace is calling to us—listen for his voice because a voice
of love is calling. Listen for his voice
because a voice of comfort is calling. Listen for a voice of healing is
calling.
Calling us to still
waters. Calling usso that he can
spread a table before you- a magnificent feast.
Just take a
moment—to—listen—listen for the voice of the shepherd.
AMEN
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