“Do we know the shepherd?” | By Rev. Dr. Jack R. Miller
 
John 10 27-30 - "My sheep hear My voice; I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life. They shall never perish, nor shall anyone snatch them from My hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all. No one can snatch them from My Father’s hand. My Father and I are one.” 
 
A story is told about everyone's favorite psalm, the twenty-third. At a family gathering, a youngster stood up and recited it from memory. It was beautiful. His family applauded enthusiastically and asked him to do it a second time. But before he could begin, grandpa stood up from his easy chair, and in a voice seasoned by the years, he began, "The Lord is my shepherd. There is nothing I shall want..."  The family sat hypnotized, and when he finished and returned to his chair, they were too overwhelmed to applaud. Through the silence, the young boy’s father finally spoke up. "Our son knows the psalm," he said, "but grandpa knows the shepherd."
 
What about you and me? Do we "know the shepherd?"  In our Gospel reading today, Jesus says, "My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me." Jesus offers himself as a guide who brings us into green pastures filled with abundant life described in the 23rd Psalm. Can we hear the Good Shepherd calling our name, or are we too buried in the busyness and distraction of our demanding lives? Do we hear his voice? Are we listening to it?
 
Christ the Good Shepherd calls us to listen consciously, deliberately, and wisely for his voice in the depths of our hearts. He asks us to listen for his voice in the love and joy, the pain and anguish, the cries for mercy and justice of those around us; the Risen Christ assures us that we are always safe and accepted in the loving embrace of God. In turn, as his disciples, we become the voice of Christ and the embrace of God for one another in the compassion, peace, and forgiveness we humbly offer through the Spirit that fills us.
 
Amid our noise-filled lives, hampered by the expectations made of us to secure the lifestyles we wish for ourselves and our families, the voice of Christ the Good Shepherd speaks to us in the depths of our hearts, in the pull of our conscience, in the emptiness of our spirits. Do we hear him? His voice asks questions we don't want to confront, invites us to places we would rather not go, and warns us of the dangers. To hear the voice of Christ demands that we come out of the isolation of our interests and listen deliberately and intentionally to the struggling, the poor, and those in crisis. Hearing the voice of Christ is not easy; we must first be willing to listen to it with both attention and intention. It is in hearing and responding to the voice of the Good Shepherd that we begin to live lives of purpose and meaning; we begin to mend the brokenness of our hearts and experience the Easter Promise that the dawn will come for us even after the darkest of nights.
 
Christ speaks in many voices, including our own. We can become the voice of Christ's compassion, comfort, forgiveness, and peace in our smallest and simplest acts of kindness and selflessness. To hear the Good Shepherd demands that we let ourselves appear from the isolation of our fears and disappointments, our resentments, and expectations, and hear Christ speaking to us in the plight of the poor, the needs of the helpless, and the cry of the persecuted. In turn, the Risen One asks us to be his voice to them in the compassion, support, and forgiveness we extend in the Spirit of Easter peace. In acts of generosity, love, and forgiveness offered in his name, we echo and give voice to the Risen Christ and the good news of hope and grace that is the Easter Promise. Jesus said, "My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me."  Let us respond to Jesus' call in the words of the old hymn:
 
"I have decided to follow Jesus, I have decided to follow Jesus,
I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back, no turning back."
 
Amen? Amen!