Whose Voice is Guiding Us?

 

Deacon Dave · Whose Voice is Guiding us?

Homily for the 4th Sunday of Easter, April 30, 2023. Gospel of St. John 10:1-10. Theme: Whose Voice Is Guiding Us? 

Today is called Good Shepherd Sunday. I would bet that our typical mental picture of Jesus under this title probably imagines Him in a flowing robe, walking in the midst of His flock and maybe even carrying a lamb in His arms. And while that might be a comforting image to hold in our minds, it’s so very far from what it was like to actually be a shepherd in Jesus’ time. It was difficult and dirty around-the-clock work. Even while he slept, the shepherd was protecting his flock by using his own body as a kind of obstacle, a human gate, laid across the opening to a sheep pen. This is what Jesus was referring to in today’s Gospel when He calls Himself the gate and gatekeeper. It’s a symbol of Jesus literally laying His life down for us. 

But there’s another interesting aspect to shepherding that Jesus mentions in the Gospel today. And that is His voice. You see, sheep learn to recognize the voice of their shepherd and they are able to distinguish between familiar and unfamiliar voices. In addition, they have an acute sense of smell and know the scent of their shepherd. So, this enables them to stay close to the one who protects them from becoming victims of thieves and robbers. So, this might make us wonder…what thieves and robbers is Jesus protecting us from today? Well, the New Testament singles out three main predators of Christ’s sheep and identifies them as the world, the flesh and the devil. Allow me to explain. 

The first on the list is “the world”. Now, when the Bible uses this term it does not mean the planet on which we live. Rather, it refers to an attitude, a way of thinking and living in which God is either explicitly exiled or for all practical purposes simply ignored. It’s a culture in which having a “body beautiful”, making a lot of money, and owning and enjoying the “finer things of life” are considered the real hallmarks of success. This “worldly spirit” doesn’t make room for a meaningful relationship with God as part of the picture. It considers religion and biblical morality as things to be confined to church buildings and a person’s private life. Those who are infected by this spirit of the world advocate that the Gospel of Jesus should not be allowed to have any influence whatsoever upon our laws and politics, upon marriage and sexuality, upon economics, business and education. But we who are His sheep listen instead to the voice of the Good Shepherd, and not to the voice of the world. He tells us, “Be light for the world and salt for the earth…Go out to all the world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature!” 

Next, the Bible identifies ‘the flesh” as one of our predators. What it means by this is what we traditionally call our “fallen human nature” (fallen means weakened by the effects of the original sin of Adam and Eve). Because of this condition we experience tension within ourselves in trying to do good and avoid evil. We have a tendency to be selfish and we find that we must struggle to be intentionally and consistently generous and kind (unless there is something in it for us, of course). Our fallen human nature urges us to do whatever makes us feel good and tells us to satisfy our "natural" desires as long as "no one else gets hurt". It says that the three most important people in life are “me, myself and I”. But the voice of the Good Shepherd protects us from falling into this selfish outlook and urges us to “love God above all else and love your neighbor as you love yourself”. He calls us to “deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Me.” 

Finally, the Bible warns us about the third enemy who stalks us and that is the Devil, aka Satan, whom Jesus called “the father of lies and a murderer from the beginning". He has only one main goal in mind for us and that is to prevent us from reaching Heaven. Motivated by pride and self-worship, he gave up the glory and joy of life with God and consigned himself to eternal darkness and despair. And he wants us to make the exact same choice. He and his demonic minions rarely go after us with a direct hit. Much more slyly, they usually partner with the world and the flesh to accomplish their dirty work. So, we need to stay close to Jesus the Good Shepherd and trust in Him for protection. He admonishes us in Scripture to “be alert, be on watch! Your enemy, the Devil, roams around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Be firm in your faith and resist him.” 

Just as the Good Shepherd has sent out his missionaries to spread the Gospel, so too have these three predators. Their false voices are amplified through the mainstream media who too often act as missionaries of the world, ambassadors of the flesh, and agents of the devil. Their incessant noise pumped into our heads and into our homes wears away at us daily, like erosion along a river bed, weakening our faith bit by bit until it simply crumbles and falls away. Through repeated messaging designed to desensitize us, these thieves and robbers are like cunning wolves set on snatching us away from our Good Shepherd. 

And so we must develop our spiritual hearing so as to recognize the voice of Christ our Good Shepherd. We must deepen our personal trust in Him by spending time with Him, getting to know Him better. Through prayer from the heart and reading the Word of God daily, we can learn to recognize His voice. By worshiping, adoring and receiving Him in the Holy Eucharist we can remain close to the One who lays Himself down as a Gate to protect us from harm. And since Jesus is alive and risen we truly can form and build a real relationship with Him, which is the one thing necessary if we hope to remain safe and sound within the sheep pen of the Church that He has built for us.