“The shepherd always tries to persuade the sheep that their interests and his own are the same.”
~Marie-Henri Beyle, a.k.a. Stendhal, French writer 1783-1842 4th Sunday of Easter, Year A
Good Shepherd Sunday
April 15, 2011
Acts 2:42-47
Psalm 23
1 Peter 2:19-25
John 10:1-10
Today is known as Good Shepherd Sunday. It is celebrated every year on the 4th Sunday of Easter, and it always includes a reading of Psalm 23 and a portion of John, Chapter 10. I would like to share one simple thought with you about the Good Shepherd and the sheep, or as my title says, Teh sheep d00d an shepz. My thoughts have to do with the shepherd’s VOICE. The Gospel of John tells us that “the sheep follow him (the gatekeeper or shepherd) because they know his voice.”[John 10:4] The shepherd’s VOICE is extremely important to the shepherd – and sometimes it is not his spoken voice, but a special way of whistling. Over time, the sheep get to know the shepherd’s voice, be it a vocalization or a whistle.
The sheep of the Bible were not raised for their meat. Primarily they were raised for their wool ¾ and a few for animal sacrifices. But mostly the sheep lived as part of the family for their life-span of twenty to twenty-five years. The sheep were treated like pets. The sheep all had names - like Ken’s cows all had to have names. The sheep had identities and were known by the shepherd. And they, in turn, knew their shepherd by his voice.
Now that’s a hard concept to get — knowing the Shepherd’s voice, meaning God’s voice. How do we hear and ultimately get to know God’s voice in today’s world? It seems to me that this is the number one most difficult question facing the Church today. How do we hear and ultimately get to know God’s voice in today’s world? This question is often asked in different words, however. It might be the question of “How do we attract our young people?” or “How do we reach the unchurched?” or “Why do some people come for awhile and drop out never to return?” or “Why don’t people think the church is important anymore?” I think these questions are really questions about how people come to know, hear and listen to God’s voice in their lives — and to differentiate God’s voice from the other voices that lay claim to their lives — and then come to respond to that voice in an active and faithful way.
A while ago I was privileged to come in contact with a very strange website that, for me at least, illustrates this issue. The site is LOLCatBible.com. It is a blog site, which means that, with the blog-owner’s permission, other people can comment, help edit, or add to the site. The purpose of this site is to translate the entire Bible into what the site calls LOLSpeak, or CatSpeak. The site has a grammar and spelling section to teach people how to write in LOLSpeak, which is a combination of how people might sort of “baby talk” to their cats or kittens joined with how the creators of this “cat language” think cats might speak among themselves. The site also has a page of very sound classical theology — written in LOLSpeak, of course. The site was created by a young man in high school, and most of the participating translators seem to be high school or college young people along with some college or university professors. It is an interesting site. If you look on the back of your bulletin, you will see the translation of the gospel lesson for this Sunday. Let me read it for you in my best CatSpeak dialect. Keep in mind that Jesus is speaking to some Pharisees as well as his own disciples.
1 Jebus say "k gais i is for srs, if ur in shepfold and u no goes thru dor, u is r0bbr.2 but if u can goez in thru shepfold door, is ur shepfold.3 cuz that means shepfold dorman see u and all ur sheepz hearz u. cuz u give shepz names and takez them from shepfold4 and so the shepz hearz name and folowz cuz is shepfold gai an hear liek teh shepfold gai.5 but if iz no shepfold gai, sheepz no folow cos is no shepfold gai and no sowndz like shepfold guy so shepz are like: run awai! is no shepfold gai!"6 Teh gaiz wer liek "WAT?! Wat u talkin bout sheepz 4? We is has NO KLU wat u meanz!!"
7 Jebus sez agn "k, lsn srsly gais, i iz shep door.8 Erleer peepz was r0bberz, n sheepz was like: i no lisn 2 u.9 I iz door. (I iz opn door, so u no need 2 compln, k?) U goes thru me, u iz ok, n u go in n u com out n u getz nice gras n stuf.10 R0bberz d00dz steelz ur stuff n kilz u. I iz here so u can has lots of lif, an it can has abunden... ubund... lotza gudniss.1
Perhaps that seems silly to you — or a waste of time. One critic who commented on the site agrees with that. David Mikkelson of snopes.com wrote:
“Sure, the Internet has more than proven itself as an invaluable tool for research, communication and business. Still, sometimes the best features of the Web are the most banal — namely those that let you kill time online while at work or school. Perhaps no other online project of the moment is greater testament to this than the Lolcat Bible Translation Project.”2
Perhaps to David Mikkelson it is a time-waster. But it occurs to me that if high school and college kids and even college professors are willing to spend their time translating Bible passages into LOLCatspeak, they would first have to very carefully read that passage and understand it well to be able to do that. They are, then, actually participating in one of the most clever Bible studies I’ve seen in a long time. What better way to learn the Bible than to have to paraphrase it into other words — even “catspeak” words! And what better way to learn the sound of God’s voice than through the study of God’s word! And here are young people from all over, adding to this project every day — learning the sound of God’s voice through the words of the Bible.
Jesus said: “My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me.” [John 10:27] Jesus guarantees us that we have a name and that he knows our name. He is the good shepherd. Over time, with the deepening of the relationship, the sheep and the shepherd know the voice of one another. We understand this because the closer we are to people, the more we know the sound of their voice. They don’t have to tell us their name on the telephone; we know their name because we know the tone of their voice. And so it is with God; God hears our voice and knows our voice by its very sound. And we know the sound of God’s voice: the voice of God in the Bible, the voice of God in prayer, the voice of God speaking through those who live by God’s love and share that love with others. By experience, we learn to know the sound of our LORD’s voice.
Jennie Gordon, a member of the worship-revised common lectionary list, has written a poem entitled “how will we know your voice?” that I would like to share with you in closing my Reflections:
how will we know your voice?amidst the din of a thousand othersdrumming their droll into our earsjumping fences, crashing partiessneaking in when the gate’s ajarhere; just try this, it’s what you need,with this, success is guaranteed …and then leaving us, fox-quickhungrier than beforesomehow sold-out, depletedflattened, fleeced and cheated,
how will we know your voice?
it holds the breath of all beginningsfills the cup with love outpouringbinds the broken, finds the lostfeeds the hungry, pays the costa still, small voice that dampens stormsageless and timeless, since life’s dawn,your tone the same
you are the one who speaks our name© Jennie Gordon 2011 [used with permission]
EndNotes:
© Carol J. Borland, Interim Pastor, West Danville United Methodist Church, West Danville, Vermont. April 15, 2011 Good Shepherd Sunday, Easter 4A
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