Dear friends in Christ, grace and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Happy Good Shepherd Sunday, the one Sunday a year when around the world pastors and priests universally and intentionally preach really baaaaaad sermons. Truthfully, there is hint of exasperation in ever pastor’s study when he or she discovers they are scheduled to preach on that Sunday. You find yourself asking, how many times can you talk about shepherding practices in ancient Palestine and the dimness of sheep?

Don’t get me wrong. It’s not that preachers don’t like Jesus as the Good Shepherd. After all, half of Christian art would disappear were it not for this popular image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd. What would we do without the 23^rd Psalm, the Lord is My Shepherd, and the countless comforting words and images it offers.  No, I think the real question the image of the Good Shepherd raises is simply, who are you following?

After all, we do all follow someone. As a toddler, I followed my parents. As a child, I followed my friends and siblings. As a teenager, I followed my friends. As a young adult, I followed those who encouraged and inspired me. And now as father, grandfather and pastor, I am followed.  Sometimes by my children and sometimes not. Sometimes by my parishioners.  But truthfully, we should also be cautious.  Sometimes even pastors get lost.

Yesterday, I was so excited for a special worship service and banquet celebrating the 75^th anniversary of the Latvian Lutheran Church in Minneapolis today at 3:00.  The Archbishop from Latvia Karlis Zols was travelling for the event to preach, and I was invited to read this gospel of the Good Shepherd for the service in Latvian.  To be honest, I was a little anxious about speaking in Latvian after 30 years, so I called an old friend, the former U.S. Ambassador to Latvia to try out my pronunciation.  He was sufficiently impressed by my efforts, and said that I shouldn’t be worried about embarrassing myself. I Truthfully, I am still traumatized from my missionary work in Lithuania, when I baptized a child in the name of the “Father and the Son and the Holy Toast.”  Well, I was looking forward to this afternoon’s worship service at the Latvian Church, all day yesterday, until I looked at my phone about 5:30.  There was an email from the Ilze the Latvian pastor. “Pastor Arden – we are waiting. Hopefully everything is ok. We will start a few minutes after 3 pm.” It was only then, that I realized the 75^th anniversary celebration was on a Saturday, instead of Sunday. I was no longer the Good Shepherd. I was the lost sheep.

Oddly, there is no verse in all of scripture that has so inspired me as the Good Shepherd’s saying: “I came that you may have life and live it abundantly.”  For me, this is Jesus’ word to those who have lost their way and are seeking direction; it is the word to those who were  lost and have been found, and have been given a second chance, and it is word for those who have completely messed up. Today, let me share with you the abundant life that I believe the Good Shepherd longs for you to experience- an abundant life filled with purpose, perspective and peace.

This morning’s gospel reading is actually the continuation of the story we read several weeks ago of Celidonius the man born blind who could now see.  After being healed from his blindness, the young man was cast out of the Temple in Jerusalem by the religious authorities, and he had no natural place to turn. The familiar community he once knew, including his own family, was no longer a place offering direction, comfort or solace. So, like all those who have faced the challenges inherent in life’s new beginnings in new places, the young man was searching and struggling, and it was at the hour Jesus came to him offering the gift of abundant life.

To live abundantly, my friends, is not about resting in the Lord’s shadow and waiting for life’s green pastures and still waters to appear before you.  No, the abundant life Jesus offers is a choice to wander with him out of the sheepfold and to discover the possibilities he has for your life.  God has not intended for you to live your life in an empty, secure place with a community of only like-minded believers. No, he has created you as a part of a great enterprise of ministry to others.  The abundant life Jesus offers is not about easy methods or tricks, of how to how to be prosperous. That is the work of thieves and bandits.  The abundant life he offers is about how you live and work during your waking hours. That is what the Celidonius, the young man born blind would soon discover as he travelled to the ends of the earth telling the story of Jesus.

My friends, God knows your name as well and he will lead you. He alone knows your talents and your gifts. He knows the possibilities and opportunities. And more importantly, he knows the needs of his world.  He will give you a sense of purpose- if you dare to follow him.

God’s abundant life, however, is not without its inherent dangers.  Many people today, including faithful Christians, live in the bondage of fear.  In a recent study a psychiatrist said that the greatest problem facing his patients was fear.  It is the fear of Alzheimer’s, the fear of being alone, the fear of catastrophic illness, and the fear of death.  But the Good Shepherd offers his assurance that he is always near.

God’s abundant life will also challenge your perspective on the world. Mother Theresa of Calcutta was once invited to speak to hundreds of important politicians and international business leaders at a banquet. Shortly before the time of her speech the Master of Ceremonies noticed that she was no longer seated at the head table. They went looking for her throughout the hotel. When they finally found her in the basement talking with the housekeeping staff, the irritated M.C. said to her, “There are important people waiting for you!” And Mother Theresa responded, “I know. I just found them.”

The Good Shepherd, you see, has a way of turning our world upside down and offering us a new perspective on ourselves and on our neighbors.  And what a difference it makes. The abundant life he offers may not be the abundance that the world prizes and seeks.  Career promotion and advancement, a significant financial raise, a new and larger home, may not be on your horizon, and perhaps it shouldn’t be.  Indeed, the shepherd’s new perspective may instead challenge you to consider your own values and desires, and the practices you have accepted all your life.  And in so doing, you may discover that you have following the false shepherds.

And finally, with that new perspective comes the abundant life’s abiding peace. It is a peace that even in life’s hustle and bustle, even in the midst of transition and change, the shepherd can comfort and calm you with his gentle presence.

Yesterday, after I got over my initial shock that I had the wrong date on my calendar for six months, I called my wife Janna to tell her how embarrassed I was. She immediately asked me if I was going to go to the banquet.  Perhaps I could make part of the celebration. She texted me the address, and I raced to the Ukrainian Center for the banquet, still quite late. The program had begun, and all the tables were filled. There was only one vacant seat left, at the head table, to the left of the Archbishop. I sheepishly went to the vacant seat, and said in my best Latvian, “Piedod, Es esmu Ardens Haugs, pazudusi avs. Forgive me, I am Arden Haug, the Lost Sheep.”

My friends, our Lord doesn’t promise a life without pain or sorrow or embarrassment.  He doesn’t promise a world without tears or weeping.  He doesn’t promise a fellowship without hatred or enemies.  This is not the abundant life that the Good Shepherd offers.  But for those who hear his voice and follow him, he offers a sense of abiding purpose, perspective and peace. I am still learning day by day, to keep my mind centered on the shepherd’s abundant life. And day by day, I am discovering anew that all my worries and anxieties and concerns do pass, and all that remains is the shepherd’s perfect peace. Amen.

May the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.  Amen.