Rejoice With Me
A Sermon by The Reverend Shearon Sykes Williams on the Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost, September 11, 2022.
“…Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost….” Luke 15: 1-10
Today is a day when a lot of seemingly disparate things are being brought together. We are mindful of the death of Queen Elizabeth II, the 21st anniversary of 9/11, and the beginning of our new program year. How do Jesus’ words today help us to see God at work in all of these events?
“Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.”
The shepherd in the parable today knows each and every one of his sheep, the ones who stick with the herd and the ones who wander off to do their own thing. The shepherd is so attentive, so watchful, that he notices immediately when one goes missing. And he will not rest until he finds the one lost sheep.
All of us can relate to this story on some level, whether as a sheep or a shepherd. It may evoke a memory of us as a young child when we got separated from our parents or conversely, it may bring to mind your role as a leader in your family or at work when one person in your care walks to the beat of a different drummer than the rest. All of us are both sheep and shepherd at different times in our lives. And at any age we can feel isolated and alone and unable to find our way back home. And we can also become the grumbling, judgey Pharisee, who has a hard time welcoming the wanderer back into the fold.
But perhaps the most powerful way to reflect on this story is by letting Jesus’ words teach us about the nature of God. We worship a God who, like a good shepherd, is not distant and removed, but a God who knows each and every one of us, individually, by name, our strengths, and our weaknesses. God knows us far better than we know ourselves and loves us with abandon. God cares for each of us so much, that God will come looking for us when we are lost and will also tell us a story to get us on the right path when we are being judgmental about our fellow sheep who have gotten a little restless. It is good for us to remember that we are sometimes one of the 99 and sometimes the one who is lost. And in the midst of the visissitudes of this life, God remains constant, loving and always eager to scoop us back up and bring us home.
The metaphor of God as shepherd has been with us for a very long time.
“The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not be in want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He revives my soul. Ye, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, he is with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.”
These words from Psalm 23 would have been very familiar to the people who first heard Jesus’ parable (minus the thees and thous that are so dear to us today.) Psalm 23 has been a constant throughout the ages. It is a favorite at funeral services as a reminder that God is with us from the time we are born, until the time we die, and for all eternity, providing succor and strength. We come from God, we return to God and God is with us throughout our lives. So when we confess our sins, we do so before a loving and infinitely gracious God, whether we are confessing instances when we have been judgmental like the Pharisees or when we have sinned by being prideful and thinking we can live life without the support and nurture of others.
The parable of the lost sheep teaches us that thinking that we can go it alone is an illusion. It’s just not possible for us to reach our full potential apart from community, because we are made for connection. That is how we were created. And our sacred task in this life is to figure out how to be who we uniquely are while remaining part of the community. And that can sometimes be hard work. But it is also deeply meaningful work. And God is there to guide us as we go about that work.
Queen Elizabeth II knew a lot about the joy and challenge of being a good shepherd to her people. As we reflect on her extraordinary life today, we are reminded that we as Christians and we as Americans are united with people around the globe and especially our brothers and sisters in Britian who mourn her very deeply. She was a good shepherd if ever there was one. Since her death on Thursday, there have been continuous tributes to her. She was such a constant leader in an unstable world. She was someone who never sought power but who was very committed to carrying out the duty that was laid upon her shoulders at a very young age, and she did so both faithfully and lovingly.
On her 21st birthday, she gave a speech that has been quoted often over the last few days, one that was emblematic of her reign. ‘I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong.’ Never has anyone been more true to their word. Little did she know at age 21 that she would reign for 70 years. And I have to believe that her faith had everything to do with both her resolve to do her duty and her ability to carry out her promise. When she made that pledge, she was making it to her people, but she was also making it to God.
Queen Elizabeth went to church every Sunday and among her many titles, she was the “Defender of the Faith and Supreme Governor” of the Church of England. The Episcopal Church is descended from the Church of England and we are still very much connected to it through the worldwide Anglican Communion and the Archbishop of Canterbury whom the monarch appoints. But Queen Elizabeth’s commitment to God and the Church went much deeper than that official role. She respected and honored people of all faith traditions and she was also personally committed to the way of Jesus. In her Christmas broadcast in December 2000 that she wrote herself, she said this: ‘For me the teachings of Christ and my own personal accountability before God provide a framework in which I try to lead my life.’ Queen Elizabeth had the humility to acknowledge that she needed a shepherd too.
And as we mark the 21st anniversary of 9/11 today, that day that changed our lives forever, we recall that Queen Elizabeth was quick to respond in our time of profound national trauma and mourning. In addition to issuing a statement offering condolences on behalf of the British people on 9/11, the next morning, on Sept 12th, she broke with 600 years of protocol during the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace and directed the band to play the Star Spangled Banner in a show of solidarity and support for the people of the United States. And two days later, a memorial service was held at Saint Paul’s Cathedral, again at the queen’s behest. She knew it was important for people to come together to mourn, to pray and to support one another. That is leadership. That is being a good shepherd. That is being a shining example to the global family. And today we join in solidarity with, and in prayer for, the British people as they mourn the loss of their beloved queen. And when she is finally laid to rest, most likely at Saint George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, we, as Saint Georgians, will feel a special kinship through our shared patron saint. One chapter ends and another begins.
So too for us here at our Saint George’s. We begin our “new normal” today. This is the first time in 3 years that we expect to have a full, in-person program year, thanks be to God!! As much as we appreciate all of our on-line offerings, it is so wonderful to be able to meet again in-person between the two services for adult forum and Sunday school. And I am very grateful to all of the good shepherds in our community, our ministry leaders who are so lovingly and faithfully guiding all of us, from our young toddlers to our most senior members. We are all on a lifelong journey with Jesus who leads the way home.
So today, we give thanks knowing that Christ is with us always, in times of national tragedy and global loss as well as in times of great celebration. And we give thanks that our sister Elizabeth is being welcomed into that place of ultimate gladness, as we will one day be, as a sheep of Christ’s own flock, a lamb of his own redeeming.