CHRIST: LAMB OF GOD AND GOOD SHEPHERD
Revelation 7:9-17; John 10:22-30
4th Sunday of Easter, May 11, 2025
Pastor Ritva H Williams
The fourth Sunday of Easter is also “Good Shepherd Sunday.” Hence, today’s scriptures readings were introduced with Marty Haugen’s hymn “Shepherd Me, O God” which is based on Psalm 23.
Our first reading from Revelation treats us once again to a scene of heavenly worship. John sees a vast multitude from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages. This crowd represents humanity in all its ethnic, cultural, linguistic, gendered, sexual, and neurological diversity. Centered around the throne of God and the Lamb, they give voice to the refrain, “Salvation belongs to our God and to the Lamb!”
Salvation, soteria in the original Greek, includes healing from illnesses of body, mind and soul; protection and deliverance from danger and harm; rescue from bondage and enslavement; and restoration to wholeness and holiness. It covers all of life here and now, as well as in the world to come.
Salvation belongs to our God and to the Lamb, means that no human being, no humanly constructed institution (not even the church) gets to decide who is saved. It is not within our mandate to threaten or withhold salvation from anyone. The very best we can do is serve as God’s agents by using our time and energy, skills and resources to heal, protect, deliver, rescue and restore all who are in need in our communities. Ultimately, salvation belongs to God and to the Lamb, flows out of their infinite mercy, grace, and love as a gift to us, which we can only receive in faith and share with thanksgiving.
In John’s vision the great diverse multitude of humanity thanks God and the Lamb for bringing them safely through the great ordeal of life. All those hardships that test human faith and commitment, such as worry, distress, heartache, sorrow, grief, misery, misfortune, persecution and oppression.
These people have suffered, struggled and survived. They did not become angry and bitter. They resisted hatred and injustice. For the sake of the common good, they refused to participate in violence and revenge. In the midst of chaos and conflict, they did their best to use Lamb Power — Christ’s self-giving love, solidarity and forgiveness — to make the world a better place. Now, their journey is complete. God and Lamb shield them from hunger and thirst, burning sun and scorching heat. The Lamb guides them like a shepherd to springs of living water and wipes away their tears.
The point of John’s revelation is to show his readers, ancient and modern, that this is happening right now behind that curtain which hides the spiritual realm from our everyday experience. Yet, the song of those who have walked the road of path before us can reach our ears if we but listen for it.
That provides a nice segue into our gospel reading, where Jesus says, “My sheep hear my voice. I know my own, and they follow me.” These words come at the end of the “Good Shepherd Discourse” aka John chapter 10. Jesus begins with this illustration:
The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep … the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will not follow a stranger … because they do not know the voice of strangers (John 10:2-5)
When the audience doesn’t get the point, Jesus boldly declares:
I am the gate for the sheep … I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture … I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:7-10).
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep … I am the good shepherd, I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold, I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd (John 10:11, 14-16)
When Jesus comes to the Temple again at Hanukkah, they ask him to tell them plainly whether he is the Messiah or not. Jesus points to the evidence of his words and words, ending with, “you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:26-27).
Whoa! Jesus is saying to these people that they don’t believe because they don’t belong to his sheep. Is it really possible that there are people who do not and will not ever belong to God and the Lamb?
The answer is an emphatic, “NO!” God’s choosing sheep is a forever and always present-tense reality. God has been choosing you and me, our neighbors, strangers and foreigners, and yes even our enemies from 10,000 years before we were born, and every moment since. God is choosing you right now, right here this morning and God will continue to choose you tomorrow and the day after and the day after that right through eternity. This means that there are no people anywhere that God does not choose, that God does not love, that God does not yearn to save. But God’s love for us precludes forcing salvation on anyone.
The mystery of why some people don’t, won’t or can’t hear Christ’s voice is explained by Richard Rohr. He reminds us that all humans everywhere are “created in the image and likeness of God” (Genesis 1:27). He writes:
The word "image" describes our objective DNA that marks us as creatures of God from the very beginning … ”Likeness” is our personal appropriation and gradual realization of this utterly free gift of the image of God. We all have the same objective gift, but how we subjectively say yes to it is quite different. We already have image; we choose likeness.
So here’s the bottom line. Each of us has an innate capacity to hear the voice of the Good Shepherd. Whether we do or not is a matter of choice. A choice that is often very difficult to make because of all the other voices clamoring in our ears. Voices putting us down, telling us we are not good enough. Voices urging us to pursue wealth and power at all costs. Voices claiming to speak for God, but contrary to Christ’s message of self-giving love, solidarity and forgiveness, nonviolent resistance and courage in opposition to injustice. Thank goodness God and Lamb will never give up on choosing us.
Please pray with me this prayer adapted from one written by Pastor John van de Laar:
Lamb of God, Good Shepherd, open our ears and guide us
to care for all close to us, to protect the threatened,
to welcome the rejected, to forgive those burdened by guilt,
to heal the broken and sick, to share with those who have little or nothing,
to take the time to really know one another, and love as you have loved us.
Lamb of God, Good Shepherd, open our ears and guide us
to spread compassion to those who are far away, to speak for the voiceless,
to defend the oppressed and abused, to work for justice for the exploited,
to make peace for those who suffer violence,
to take the time to recognize your face in the other, and to love as you have loved us.
Lamb of God,
Teach us to to be faithful shepherds in your name.
Amen.
