Sermon for Good Shepherd Sunday

April 17, 2005

St. Luke’s Church, Jamestown, NY

Eric M. Williams

Devoted

Ninety-two year old Elizabeth Tashjian has devoted her life to nuts—literally.

         This resident of Old Lyme Connecticut has spent the last thirty years

                  creating and tending the Nut Museum out of her home.

Along the way she has made appearances on the “Tonight Show”

         and is the subject of a new documentary called “In a Nutshell.”

                  Her lifelong collection includes paintings as well as actual nut samples.

                           Never married, somewhat reclusive, nuts have been her life.[1]

There are thousands, perhaps millions of people like Elizabeth Tashjian,

         people who range from ordinary to genius to simply eccentric,

                  people who are devoted to something so wholeheartedly

                           that it becomes the major focus of their life.

For some it is work, for others family, for others a hobby.

         In our driven culture, even our recreation often begins to look obsessive,

                  whether it is exercise, dieting, scrapbooking, or golf.

We are devoted to something when we give it our first priority,

         when we invest significant resources in it—

                  when we give it our time, talent and treasure.

Devotion is a good thing.

         It is a mark of our passion, our commitment, our zeal.

                  But often our devotion is misplaced.                                   

The earliest disciples knew all about devotion.

         In Acts we learn that three thousand converts,

                  “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship,

                           to the breaking of bread and to the prayers.”

They devoted themselves—body, mind and soul—to this new faith.

         They joined with the other Christians in a radically new way of living.

                  This new life style included worshipping God every day.

                           It even included sharing all of their worldly goods

                                    with each other and with the poor.

This devotion, while admirable, seems a little scary.

         We modern disciples are often a little more cautious,

                  a little more circumspect.

                           After all, no one today wants to look like a fanatic.

If we really examine our lives, measure our commitments and enthusiasms,

         it turns out we are much more devoted to other things

                  than we are to God.

We may not have a nut museum,

         but our energy is divided and scattered among so many things

                  that there’s not much left over for God.

We want to follow Jesus, but we are afraid to commit ourselves too much.

         And because we put little into our faith,

                  we often get little out of our faith.

A recent ground breaking national study of youth and religion

         revealed that young people today actually do on the whole

                  admire their parents as the greatest influence in their lives

                           and do emulate their religious beliefs.

                                    That’s the good news.

However, like their parents, on the whole,

         young people are amazingly ignorant

                  about what their religion actually teaches,

                           and how it affects the rest of their life.[2]

This study echoes what I hear from people as well.

         Both young people and adults

                  think that religious faith is a good thing, important even.

                           But in their crazy, stressed-out lives

                                    they are unable or unwilling to be devoted to it.

As G.K. Chesterton pointed out,

         it isn't so much that Christianity has been tried and found wanting,

                  but rather, it's been tried and found difficult.

Devotion, true devotion requires a leap of faith,

         a whole reorientation of priorities, commitments, life style.

                  You can’t fit God into a few openings in your busy life.

                           It doesn’t work that way.

God wants more of you.

         God wants all of you.

         God wants your devotion—body, mind and soul.

But here’s the thing--

         Just knowing that doesn’t seem to make a difference.

                  I can know that intellectually, I can even preach it,

                           but I still struggle to live it.     

One of the delights of parenthood

         is discovering and rediscovering wonderful children’s books.

                  One of my favorites is a classic by Margaret Wise Brown

                           called The Runaway Bunny.

The Runaway Bunny is the charming story of a young bunny

         who decided one day to run away from his mother.

                  “If you run away,” said his mother,

                           “I will run after you.  For you are my little bunny.”

Again and again he tried to run away.

         Again and again she followed him.

                  Her persistent love finally conquered him.

At last he gave up:  “Shucks,” said the bunny,

         “I might just as well stay where I am

                  and be your little bunny.”  And so he did. [3]

This story is not about the child’s devotion,

         but rather the mother’s unswerving devotion to her child.

                  She will go to any length to find him, to shield him, to love him.

                           She doesn’t wait for him to come around, to be devoted to her.

                                    She loves first, without reservation, without counting the cost.

This story gets me closer to the heart of the gospel today.

         Because in the end it is not about how much I love God,

                  but about how much God loves me.

In my childishness, my arrogance, my willfulness, my laziness,

         I continue to be a runaway bunny, a runaway disciple,

                  but the Good Shepherd, who knows my name,

                           will always come after me,

                                    will always call me back.

The Good Shepherd is described beautifully in the 23^rd Psalm as the one who:

Knows us, Leads us, Guides us, Feeds us.

                        The Good Shepherd protects us

                                    and shows us the abundance of the kingdom

                                                even in the darkest times of our lives.

And the Good Shepherd in the Gospel is something even more.

            “I am the gate for the sheep,” Jesus said.

In ancient Palestine, shepherds would often keep their sheep

            in rough enclosures made of field stones or wood.

                        There were no fancy gates so the shepherd himself would be the gate,

                                    lying down in the opening to protect the sheep from predators.

Thieves, bandits, wolves or other predators

            could only get to the sheep over the shepherd’s dead body.

This is the kind of shepherd we have in Jesus--

            not a hired hand who runs away when trouble comes,

                        but the Good Shepherd who gets down in the dirt with us,

                                    who lays down his life for us.

I am the Good Shepherd, he said.

            I am the gate for the sheep.

                        And then he proved it on Good Friday,

                                    giving us life over his dead body.

With every word, every action, every breath that he took,

            Jesus devoted himself to our salvation,

so that you and I might have life, abundant life.

The more I think about that,

            the more I remember his devotion to me,

                        the more ashamed I become of my runaway bunny tendencies,

                                    my misplaced devotion to other things,

                                                the nut museums I have built in my heart.

It’s hard to be devoted to God,

            to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship,

                        to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

It’s only possible, in fact,

            when we first remember how much God has been devoted to us.

                        When we remember the love of the Good Shepherd

                                    who lays down his life for the sheep.

410 North Main Street, Jamestown, New York 14701

Phone (716)483-6405 * Fax (716)483-6406 * stluke@madbbs.com