April 26, 2026 "Free Like a Sheep"

Fourth Sunday in Easter

Acts 2:42-47

Psalm 23

1 Peter 2:19-25

John 10:1-10

Alleluia! Christ is Risen!

Christ is Risen Indeed, Alleluia!

Today, the fourth Sunday in Easter,

has the unofficial title of Good Shepherd Sunday

as there are sheep and shepherds

 all over our readings for today.

God, Jesus,

as the Good Shepherd

is one of the most common images all throughout the scriptures

and has caught the imagination of many

particularly those who love Psalm 23.

 But what does it mean to call Jesus a good shepherd?

 Well, what does a shepherd do?

They take care of the sheep.

and if Jesus is the shepherd

that means we are the sheep,

that we need care.

Now we might rebel a bit against this assertion.

We like to think we are self-sufficient,

 That we can take care of ourselves,

do it on our own,

that independence rather than interdependence is true freedom,

and yet God made us to be in relationship with God and one another.

 We need one another,

we need a shepherd.

One sheep in particular is a great example of this

Yes, a real sheep named Shrek

It’s been over twenty years since Shrek the sheep was in the news

But it’s just too good of a story to let go of

He has even been immortalized in a couple of children’s books

Yes I looked, no I couldn’t get them in time

Shrek was a sheep in New Zealand

Who escaped,

and hid from his shepherd, farmer for six years,

 by hiding in caves

Now Shrek was a kind of sheep

 that was bred for the production of wool,

even without regular shearing

 his wool kept growing and growing,

when they finally caught him

he looked like a giant cotton ball with a nose and feet.

And when they sheared him,

his fleece weighed 60 pounds

 and contained enough material to make suits for 20 large men. 

(https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-13680884 )

Now Shrek may have thought he was free

 and hiding would ensure that,

 but the longer he hid from the shepherds

 the more weight he had to carry around.

 Imagine the freedom he felt

when he finally had a haircut after six years!

We humans are often like Shrek the sheep,

 there are times when despite the good care of our shepherd

 we feel like we could be freeer on our own,

 and off we go,

 we don’t need a shepherd we insist,

hey look a nice comfy cave we can hide out in,

and at first it may seem like fun and freedom,

but as time goes on

 we find that there are things we can’t do for ourselves

and these things begin to weigh us down

 gradually accumulating

 until we are hauling around a fleece of monumental proportions,

our sins and worries,

mistakes and vulnerabilities

all tangled around us

obstructing our movement

and only the shepherd can set us free.

And the whole time

 the good shepherd has been looking for us.

 God is not willing to remain at a distance from us

 and so is continually calling to us and searching us out. 

That’s what we see in our gospel for today,

the story actually starts a chapter back,

with Jesus healing the man born blind,

we read that together about a month and a half ago,

 Jesus sees a man blind from birth,

 heals him, and when the man goes to the Pharisees

they don’t believe his testimony about Jesus

and kick him out of the temple,

 hearing this

 Jesus goes and finds the man,

he seeks him out

and what we have today

is Jesus teaching the man born blind who he sought out

 and the pharisees that kicked him out. 

Be careful he tells the gathered crowd,

 it is perilous to follow the wrong shepherd,

 the implication being

that the pharisees are the wrong shepherds.

 But they don’t get it.

So Jesus tries another image

saying “I am the gate for the sheep”

 the gate, open in the evening

 allows the sheep into the sheepfold

and closed keeps them safe from anyone not supposed to be there.

Open in the morning it allows the sheep to access food and water.

 And Jesus must have received more blank stares from his audience

because he summarizes it for them

whether he’s the shepherd or the gate

or any other number of images he says look

“I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly”

This is Jesus’ mission statement in the gospel of John.

The Word present at creation in the beginning

becomes flesh and lives among the people

 so that they may have abundant life.

Jesus is the way to life

because he himself is life.

And as all of Jesus’ varied imagery shows us,

what abundant life looks like

 depends on the time and place,

 at night abundant life for the sheep is being gathered together

behind a closed gate that keeps out all the things that go bump in the night

 that like to eat sheep.

During the day

abundant life looks like the ability to roam,

to find the tastiest bit of grass

 or most refreshing drink of water,

 but all the while the shepherd is there watching,

 calling to the sheep

keeping them close

 so that the shepherd can point them to abundant life

whatever that happens to look like in the moment,

 and if one sheep wanders off,

the shepherd goes looking for it,

brings it back to the fold

 and the care of the community.

We are like sheep,

to have full abundant life

we need the care of our good shepherd, Jesus,

who knows each of our names,

who calls and gathers us

 and leads us to abundant life

and yes, sometimes that may actually feel restrictive

we long to leave the fold

 and so we make a bid for freedom,

we strike out on our own

and Jesus notices,

 calls out for us,

 goes out in search of us

 for as long as it takes

 and when he finds us,

only he will be able to set us free

 from the heavy load we are carrying,

the load that we created.

However far we may roam

Or even stay close to home

Jesus knows us,

 and calls to us,

guiding us along

offering comfort and life abundant,

 our good shepherd. Amen