Sermon on the 4th Sunday in Easter time May 8, 2022 in Cothen and Odijk

“I am the good Shepherd” says Jesus in the Gospel “My sheep hearken to my voice” 1).
Sisters and brothers, the past Sundays since Easter we have listened to stories in which Jesus appears to his disciples as the risen Lord. All to emphasize that Jesus is always with us as the Living one. This 4e sunday we no longer hear a Gospel story about the appearance of Jesus to his disciples after his resurrection. We meet Jesus in the Gospel of this Sunday in the words He spoke while He was still among men. But in the actual knowledge that He is risen. His words are no longer words of a mortal human being, but of Him who is risen. Here speaks the Lord who is always with us.
“I am the Good Shepherd”. In this way He reveals Himself to all who believe in Him in every age and in every generation. Also to us. His words speak to us all the more when we know that kings and dictators of that time and through the ages also adorned themselves with the title “Shepherd”. Also in Jesus ’time. Men like Putin also believe that they want the best for their people and that they know what is good for their subjects. But they behave like wolves and monsters, even towards their own people. They do not exercise power, but abuse their power.“I am the Good Shepherd” says Jesus “And my sheep hearken to my voice”. The voice of this shepherd still rings out. His kingdom is not of this world that will pass away, but his kingdom is the kingdom of God which is eternal. In response to the voice of the Good Shepherd, the voice of the sheep sounds, saying, “Lord, you are my Shepherd.”Recently there was an internet survey by the EO (Durch Evangelical Broadcast) with the question: “what are the most cherished psalms for you?” A large majority put Psalm 23 at the top: “The Lord is my shepherd. I lack nothing.” This psalm is also very popular in the Roman Catholic tradition: “My shepherd is the Lord. I will never lack for anything.” It is quite astonishing that a song dating back two and a half thousand years still encapsulates what we as believers experience in ups and downs. That we are not left to ourselves, nor to those in power who abuse their power or who promise many things but cannot deliver. But that we have a Shepherd, with whom we feel safe. A Shepherd who has laid down his life for us, and who has conquered death.
Notice that the one who prays this psalm says, “The Lord is my Shepherd.” The relationship is a very personal one. Not in the sense that this Shepherd engages in favoritism. He doesn’t favor one over the other. He is the Shepherd of all the flock, but to each of the sheep there is a personal relationship. It doesn’t matter if someone is doing well or if someone is in need. They both get what they need. The one who is doing well says, “I lack nothing. He points me to lie in grassy meadows. He leads me to waters of rest.” The one who is in need and for whom life is a trial says: “Though I pass through a valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me. Your rod and your shepherd’s staff give me courage and confidence.” The Dutch Father Titus Brandsma, whose canonization we celebrate next Sunday, prayed in the solitude of his cell, facing death, this same psalm as his fellow priest in the occupied Netherlands and the priest and believers in America where many parents feared. for the lives of their boys who were sent across the ocean as soldiers to fight for our freedom. All very different circumstances, all very different lives, all very different persons and characters, but all sheep of that one Shepherd by their faith, all people who each in turn prayed: “The Lord is my Shepherd.”
And it still is. In countries where there is war and in countries where there is peace, in countries where the churches are overcrowded and in regions like ours where we anxiously look around to see where the younger generation is. In our relationship with the Good Shepherd we find nourishment for our souls, support and comfort, sight and strength. He will never let us down because He has given everything for us, even His own life. He gives us everything we need to live as children of God. As people who have deep respect for the other, who do not think of themselves first, who are eager to share the good of the earth with each other, who do not overlook the needy and weak person, but for whom everyone counts. Then we are not only sheep of the Good Shepherd, but we also resemble Him without even realizing it because whe are sheep that hearken to the Lords voice. Amen.

(c) Martin Los, pr
1) Gospel of the fourth Sunday in Eastertime: Johannes 10:27-30
image: Christ as the Good Sheperd (Galla Placida in Ravenna)