I was really looking forward to preaching about nice, innocent, fuzzy sheep this week--sheep, who maybe aren’t the brightest animals, and maybe are kind of stinky, and shepherding is hard work--but, sheep never hurt anybody. They just eat grass and follow shepherds.
Well, we’ll still talk about sheep, but I want to talk a little bit about the events of this past week as well. I found these Scripture passages took on a new meaning for me while I was watching the news about the Boston Marathon massacre. Maybe if I recount them, you’ll see it with me:
An Unbearable Ordeal:
Like the passage in Revelation, that conversation between John and the elder in his dream, in the midst of this great multitude all gathered together from every nation, tribes and peoples and languages: “Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?” “These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” We now know about people who have come through or are still coming through a great ordeal, and we have seen the pictures of their bloodied clothing--perhaps we saw more in these pictures than we’ve ever seen of the injured before in a catastrophe such as this.
Or even, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.” As I was looking at the aerial photos and video of the scene, those tall buildings on either side, it struck me how much it looked like a valley of the shadow of death--how utterly inescapable it seemed.
The scene also reminded me of another valley of the shadow of death, that is, Jerusalem, in the time of Jesus, as the Gospel reading tells us about today. It was the Festival of the Dedication--swarms of people were coming into the city, and there was a big security crackdown, the people in the crowd most certainly felt the police-state presence, and not in great ways. And then there were the people questioning Jesus about his role in the midst of all of this: Why keep us in suspense? Tell us plainly--but they weren’t asking because they wanted to believe; they were baiting a trap. And yet Jesus, who was in danger of being trapped by the powers that be, responds: My sheep hear my voice, I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand.
We Can’t Live In A Bubble:
John Calvin [a founder of the Reformed tradition of Christianity] wrote of weeks that happened just like this, and about the paralysis of fear: that really at any moment you and your family could be swept off by war or famine or weather or plagues; you could be riding your horse to market and a tree could fall on you; you could stay home, the one place where you think it’s safe in this dangerous world, and the house might burn down!
In reality, there is no way to avoid absolutely every peril.
And just this week, we realize: you could take your family to a happy sports event and be wiped out by a bombing; you could be sitting in a nursing home and the fertilizer plant next door could wipe you out (Texas); you could stay home and be swept away in a flood (Wisconsin). As much as I want to bubble-wrap the children when I hear the news these days--I also can’t succumb to the fear. We must still live our lives, wisely, of course, but living them nonetheless.
There are some other passages that really resonated with me as I studied the Scriptures this week--for example, that the people were being scattered like sheep, afraid--we saw some folks running still towards the finish because that’s what they were supposed to do, the singular goal they’d had for so many miles; others were searching desperately for their loved ones. Others yet were injured and bewildered.
And then, there was this passage, which gave me some comfort: The one who is seated on the throne will shelter them. They will hunger no more, and thirst no more. The Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life....God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.
Did you see the helpers?
Fred Rogers, who is perhaps my favorite Presbyterian pastor, had a saying which is now repeated in ubiquitous facebook postings every time we have a tragedy like this....Look for the helpers, in every tragedy you will find people trying to help --and in Boston, they were there--including the first responders, those folks dressed in yellow, running to the place of death and destruction, removing the barrier fences, and providing aid; and directing others away from the danger. Others were picking up injured people and running away from the danger. Yet other folks were running to donate blood to those who would need it. They were all...shepherding. They were themselves, good shepherds.
In a time of spring, we find these events hard to fathom, and yet these verses bring us comfort. For some, the green pastures and still waters are found in our heavenly home. For others, they’re as immediate as outside our church windows [we have beautiful views of the fields around us in a semi-rural setting]. It’s a gift to us to have land around us where deer come to graze and ducks come to swim and owls live in the trees and sandhill cranes stop by every now and then. It reminds us that there is more here, that our Heavenly Father has done much more, and much more good, than any evil we humans can cook up. When humanity seems very inhumane, this little plot of land, I think, can help us remember who truly is in control.
And there is, throughout our world, a community of healers every time there is a tragedy--God calls us to respond in love and compassion--and not to be afraid; not to hide our families from a good world because of the evil that someone may perpetrate, but to prepare ourselves to respond in ways that show we know that what our God has done is greater than all of this. No one can snatch that out of the Father’s hand.
We are not promised that there will be no evil or enemies; we are not promised that there will be no death. We are not promised that there will be no ordeals. However, we are promised this: God will wipe every tear from our eyes; God has promised us eternal life; and God has also promised us here on this earth his holy presence, no matter what we may face. Much more than we can see, goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our life, bringing healing, and allowing us to be a blessing to others.
