"The Good Shepherd" - John 10:11-18

The past several weeks have been especially intense in regards to the issues racial equity and criminal justice.  The return of the first ever conviction of a police officer for the killing of a black person in Minnesota history was a much needed sign that some progress is being made toward justice.  Yet less than a week before the verdict came the news of the killing of Duante Wright in Brooklyn Center.  And the continued and shameful gap in racial outcomes in Minnesota was again highlighted in the New York Times last week.  It is clear that we have a long way to go to achieving racial justice and equity in our state.

In this week’s biblical text, John 10:11-18, Jesus compares himself to the Good Shepherd.  Although a hired hand will abandon the flock at the first sign of trouble, he says, the Good Shepherd will lay down his life for the sheep.  In Jesus Christ, God shows the depth of His love for us by choosing to lay down his life for us.  There are no lengths to which God will not go to save us, to demonstrate God’s love for us.  The joy of the Christian life is knowing and trusting in the depth of God’s love for us.  The call of the Christian life is to live immersed in that love and to extend that same love to our sisters and brothers, to our friends and neighbors.  

As Christians the question of racial justice and equity in Minnesota is a question of what we are willing to do to demonstrate our love for our black sisters and brothers.  Acknowledging the injustice and the inequity that are a part of their daily life is a beginning.  But as Christians we are called to emulate the love of one who willingly lays down his life for others.  My hope is that we as a congregation will think seriously in the coming months about how we can more genuinely, humbly, and lovingly work with our black sisters and brothers here in Rochester for justice and equity in our state. May God be with us in this work.  Amen.     

 - Pastor Andrew Greenhaw