It was a privilege to be with God’s people gathered as Our Savior Lutheran Church in Wayne, Nebraska on Sunday April 21, 2024. Thank you Pastor Chad Rademacher for the invitation and to the whole congregation for the warm welcome. In being with the congregation, I brought greetings during the announcements from Bishop Johnson and shared words of gratitude for all the ministry that the congregation does and makes possible, especially through mission share. I was invited to preach on stewardship and how we as God’s people are called and invited to respond by going to tell the story. Following worship, I had the joy of meeting with the congregation’s stewardship committee too. What follows is the majority of the manuscript I preached from, based especially on the appointed stories for the day for the Fourth Sunday of Easter (Year B): John 10:11-18; Acts 4:5-12; Psalm 23; and 1 John 3:16-24.
Grace and peace from our God in Christ, the Good Shepherd. Who walks with you, is for you, and who loves you, always. Amen.
Well friends, I told you a little about me earlier. But what I left out is that I am also a dad and husband. My wife is Pastor Allison Siburg, pastor at Salem Lutheran in Fontanelle just northeast of Fremont. And together we have two young daughters who keep us on our toes constantly as any six- and three-year-old would do. Yes, they have their moments of letting the world know that the world revolves around them, and if they don’t get their way an inevitable tantrum might be coming. But they also continually show us what a life of wonder and surprise looks like.
Surprise and wonder like how life might not always go as one might expect. Surprise that God might do a new thing– like bringing life out of death, or the kindness of a stranger at the Chicago O’Hare Airport who shared some cookies and food with a young dad who looked like he might be a bit exhausted running between gates and tired of flight delays as I was this past Friday. And wonder, that comes through having new eyes to see and experience life in a new way.
Our girls keep us on our toes, but they also help us to come and appreciate life in a new way. They might well upend our best plans for the day, but in so doing, they make space for God to do something if only we are willing to let there be space to see and experience it ourselves. Do any of you have such people in your life? A child? A grandchild? A neighbor? A friend? Someone who puts life in perspective in the best way possible. Who helps you notice something you might not otherwise notice?
Jesus the Good Shepherd
I start there, because the invitation to be surprised and to wonder are some of the best parts of being a disciple. They are a part of the Resurrection life. Of being open to having Jesus surprise us on the Road, and to have our eyes opened through the breaking of the bread and the interpretation of the scriptures. And of being open to being called again into the fold of God’s embrace by the Good Shepherd.
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Here we are again. The Fourth Sunday of Easter. A Sunday that each year brings us to reflect, hear, and respond to Jesus the Good Shepherd. The source of abundant life and love. The presence of the resurrected one who has overcome sin, death, and the grave for you and for me, and who will stop at nothing to bring all of God’s sheep into the fold. But before we pick up the story today, I want to offer one verse of context. Right before today’s gospel lesson begins in John 10:11, comes verse 10. In that Jesus says, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”[1] Jesus comes so that God’s beloved may have life, and abundant life at that.
There’s a central truth about stewardship here that we will come back to. But this claim shapes our understanding of who the Good Shepherd is. When Jesus starts with one of his famous “I Am” statements he is making a claim about who he is, and what this ministry and mission he is called to be a part of are too. Jesus proclaims, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”[2]
This is Good News for you and for me. We know this. Especially on this side of the events of Holy Week and Easter Sunday. God will go through the point of death on the cross and the tomb itself for you and for me, once and for all. And God in Christ does this, because that’s really what it means to be the Good Shepherd. To be with God’s own through the good, bad, and ugly of life. To be present with God’s people no matter what. Through life’s ups and downs. In griefs and sorrows, joys and celebrations, and everything in between. To bring life out of death. Hope out of despair. And Easter joy out of the pain, brokenness, betrayal, and brutal death of Good Friday.
But God’s work is not done at Easter. In some ways, that’s just a new beginning. It changes everything once and for all, but it’s not the last of God’s acts. Merely the fulfillment of the promise, and the promise too that more lies ahead. The promise like Jesus says today, “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.”[3]
Jesus continues, “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.”[4] This is God’s on-going work. The work of the Kingdom of God breaking into the world bit by bit. The work of bringing God’s beloved together. The work of reconciliation and community building. Of finding common ground in our shared identity as beloved Children of God. Each wonderfully unique in our own diversity, gifts, strengths, passions, and perspectives. But together all made in the Image of God. All claimed in the waters of Baptism. All known and beloved sheep of God’s fold.
This is part of the story. The story that is the why behind our stewardship. The story we are called and sent to “Go and Tell.” The story of God’s love made real. The story of God’s presence given for you and shed for you. The story that there is always room for one more around this table and all are welcome and invited to the feast, to come and see that the Lord is good. This is what abundant life is. It’s a gift. It’s a promise. It’s something we can’t earn or deserve. But that is given freely by grace.
Abundance and Enough- God’s other words for us this day
There’s so much stewardship truth in this. But there are other things to remember in this week’s stories too. Like what is abundance, really? The psalmist paints a picture we all know this week. A picture we have probably sung and heard more than possibly any other scripture. In Psalm 23, we profess, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.”[5]
The psalmist proclaims there will be enough. We will have what we need, through God. That’s what abundance is. Not to have too much that we hoard something for ourselves, but that all might have what they need. That all might be fed and provided for. That all might have their daily bread which we pray for every time we pray the prayer our Lord taught us. This abundance though also means a promise of presence. The promise that no matter what we walk through in life, God is with us, like we say, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil; for you are with me.”[6]
God walks with us and is with us. And with God’s presence and promise, we know that we are not alone. And we know that God’s promise of provision is true too. So much so, that the love of God, provides to the point where our very cup overflows like the psalmist says too.[7] Think about it this way. This provision is abundance. It’s the same provision which can do the unexpected and turn water into wine, and five loaves and two fish into enough food to feed thousands and have plenty of extra for leftovers afterwards. God provides and God does so abundantly.
This is what life is like with God. Abundant life. A deeply meaningful life. Where we are in relationship with God and neighbor. Where we not only see those around us, we know who they are, and come alongside each other and meet each other where we are at as signs of God’s on-going work and love here and now. Like the work we hear about in Acts 4, where Peter and John proclaim their faith which is grounded in their call and conviction to “Go and Tell the Story,” a story that they have seen and lived first-hand.[8] The story of the risen Christ. Knowing Jesus not just through the words of the prophets and scriptures, but through encountering God in Christ in daily life. We’re called to do likewise. To go and tell the story that God is alive. That God’s love is real. And that it is for you and for all.
Abundant life that Jesus provides as the Good Shepherd comes through love. Love like the writer of 1 John details again this week. Love that is both words and deeds. Both story and action. Both Gospel and response. We are reminded of God’s love for us, of who God is, who we are, and whose we are as Children of God and sheep of God’s flock. And then we are called to respond. To show our love for God through loving our siblings near and far, no questions asked. This love is what faith in action looks like. And it is the key to truly leaning into and living the abundant life that Jesus promises. A life of love. Grounded in relationship with God and each other. And a life of deep meaning and purpose that we know as the life of being a disciple and steward.
What is Stewardship?
I have said the word a lot, but you might be wondering at this point, “What is stewardship anyway?” What does this word really mean? I suspect it means more than you might think. For some, stewardship is everything one does after they have come to believe in Jesus. For others its about management. For others, it’s about being alert and awake. For me, it’s all of this and more. And I always start really with the psalmist. Conveniently, my go to verse comes right after Psalm 23 ends. In Psalm 24 verse 1, the psalmist sings, “The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it.”[9] Hear that again, “The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it.” The earth is God’s. And all who are part of the earth, are God’s too. Everything is God’s. You are God’s. I am God’s. And all that we have, and all that we are, are God’s too. The “all” in this psalm carries weight. It’s not that God owns some, but God owns all. And all means all here.
Everything that makes you the unique person and Child of God that you are, is God’s. Your time, talent, treasure, assets, and finances of all kinds. Your lives, health, bodies, hearts, souls, and minds. Your passions, strengths, vocations, gifts, relationships, ideas, dreams, stories, and even your questions. All that is yours, is really God’s. And all of creation that surrounds us and which God entrusts into your care in the beginning of Genesis, is God’s too. All of this and more, is God’s. And God chooses to entrust some of it into our care. God does this because God wants life to go well for God’s people. Because God wants to be in relationship with us. And because God hopes that we might live lives of deep meaning and purpose, in part through caring for our neighbors through all that God entrusts.
God does this and so much more, for you. God the Good Shepherd will go to and through the point of death on a cross to bring life, and to bring you safely back into the fold. God will go looking for you and bring you home. God does as only God can do, bringing life, hope, and salvation. All of this is pure gift and grace we could never earn or deserve. And that is Good News. Good News which we are entrusted with to “Go and Tell the Story.” News which we are given which then invites a question.
Joyful and Grateful Response
How will we respond? That’s the stewardship question. How do we, or how will we respond? Do we respond by going about daily life seemingly unchanged? Or do we respond by saying thank you to God, and by being so moved with joy and gratitude for what God has done, will do, and promises to do for us, that we can’t help but give our thanks and praise? Do we respond through the Spirit moving in and with us, that we even join in with God in some of God’s on-going work here and now, the work of the Kingdom of God today?
That work that is made real through our lives, vocations, and all that we are. This is what stewardship is all about. It’s the response of living life as a steward forever changed by God’s love, and forever growing as a disciple. It’s the response of being so moved, that we intentionally lean in, and step up, as part of God’s work. It’s the response of following our Good Shepherd and doing so as we truly take hold of the abundant life which God alone provides.
Go and Tell the Story
The Good Shepherd calls you back into the flock as Jesus calls you to come and see and follow. As Jesus invites you to then grow as a disciple, to grow in your relationship with Jesus. And this relationship matters and makes a difference. It changes you. It changes others. It changes your community, and it changes the world. This is what the Good Shepherd does in bringing abundant life. A life that transcends our wildest imaginations and the normal ideas of “success,” “prosperity,” and “wealth,” that the world might value. But lifts up instead a life of deep and abiding relationship with Jesus that overflows like the cup in Psalm 23 through love for others. Through a life of deep meaning and purpose, joy, and service. Leaning into and living out God’s promises made real for one and all.
Our Savior, you know this. This story is your story. It’s my story. And it’s God’s story which calls us together and sends us out into the world. So, how will you “Go and Tell the Story?” How will you show and tell your neighbors through all that you say and all that you do, that God’s love is real? That’s what telling the story looks like. That’s what living life changed looks like.
It might be as simple as sharing a smile with someone who might need an encouraging glance at the store, or holding the door open for a perfect stranger, or even sharing some food with a tired dad at the airport. It might be sharing hugs like the kids did today in worship. It might be sponsoring a shopping trip for your confirmation students to go shopping at Pac-N-Save to deliver food and other items to the Wayne Food Pantry and School Backpack Program. It might mean going all in during your Lenten 40/40 challenge and loading two pick-ups with groceries to help meet your neighbor’s needs here locally. It might also be helping out another in need, quietly without fanfare, but stepping up for someone for whom life might be hard right now. It might even be making time to be present with someone, and through such a gift of time, you too might be showing Jesus’ love and presence through your very own presence.
All of these acts matter. They open eyes. They change one’s days. And in so doing, they start a ripple effect. The ripple effect that comes as God’s kingdom breaks into our world a bit more each day as God’s work of reconciliation and love is done. The ripple effect of growing as disciples and responding as stewards of God’s love. The ripple effect of the abundant life taking hold and spreading with and for all of God’s beloved. Friends, Go and Tell this Story and live it out! Do so as Jesus calls. Do so as you can’t help but respond with joy and gratitude for what God in Christ has done for you. And do so knowing that Jesus, our Resurrected Good Shepherd, is with you, for you, and loves you. Always. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Sources, Citations, and References:
[1] John 10:10, NRSV.
[2] John 10:11, NRSV.
[3] John 10:14-15, NRSV.
[4] John 10:16, NRSV.
[5] Psalm 23:1, NRSV.
[6] Psalm 23:4, NRSV.
[7] Psalm 23:5, NRSV.
[8] As detailed in Acts 4:5-12.
[9] Psalm 24:1, NRSV.
Timothy Siburg 