As the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus are recounted and celebrated by God’s people all over the world this season, I am reminded of these words from John 10:10-11, where Jesus announced ahead of time what he would do for us. He said, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”
As the disciples experienced the events of Good Friday, it seemed, from all worldly appearances, the violent injustice of this world overcame even him, culminating in his brutal death on a cross. That’s why, despite what he said in John 10:10-11, the disciples were not anticipating his resurrection. In John 10:18, Jesus had even assured them regarding his own life: “No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”
When Jesus rose, his disciples finally grasped the power of those words – and these words in John 10:27-28, where Jesus said: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.” With the Good Shepherd, we have a new life. Our sins leave us burdened in guilt. Or they leave us striving with self-justifying defensiveness to chart a life of our own away from Jesus and away from our Heavenly Father. Jesus calls us out of that homeless wandering to a new home, a new life, forgiven and loved, in the hands of our Good Shepherd.
I visited two Good Shepherd homes in the last month; both are founded upon this news of our resurrected and living Good Shepherd, Jesus.
I visited the Lutheran Home of the Buen Pastor (translated to English, that is Lutheran Home of the Good Shepherd), in Palmar Arriba, Dominican Republic. The LCMS President’s Office secured a grant to send all the first term District Presidents to the Dominican Republic to learn about our Synod’s international mission emphases of (1) spreading the gospel, (2) showing mercy, and (3) planting Lutheran churches. It was a bonus to see three of our LCMS missionaries while there who call the Northwest District home: Deaconess Danelle Putnum-Schumann, Deaconess Tirzah Krey, and Pastor Ross Shaver.
Ross is serving as a theological educator at the seminary in Palmar Arriba and as a church planter in Santiago. Tirzah is supporting worker wellness for missionaries throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. Danelle is involved in deaconess training, but she is also still very connected to the ministry she began with in the Dominican, caring for people with intellectual and physical disabilities and founding the Lutheran Home of the Good Shepherd. It was there I met Junior, Randy, Francis, Estefani, Moises, and Ramona, who have each found new life in the resurrected Jesus in that home because believers from the community, some of whom didn’t even have running water in their own homes, shared the love of Jesus and a home with these kids who had been abandoned by their parents and were overcome by the violent injustices of society.
As believers in Jesus, we do not have to be in a foreign country to share the abundant life we have in our resurrected Savior. I met Marlene Bolar at the Good Shepherd House in Seattle, Washington. The Good Shepherd House is a ministry of the Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd. They partnered with an organization named LIHI (which stands for Low Income Housing Institute) to build an 84-unit low-income housing development on their property. While visiting for worship at the Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd, I met Marlene, and she gave me permission to share her story.
Marlene was baptized as a child at Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd and grew up in a church-going family, but as an adult she lost her way. For many years she lived on the streets. She was overwhelmed by the violent injustices of society, too. When she was homeless, occasionally she would bring other homeless people to the church because she felt she needed it. She needed strength because it is hard to make it on the streets. She said she used to come to church to get what she called her “Jesus fix.” With tears welling in her eyes though, she admitted to me that it often did not last long because she felt too ashamed. She carried heavy guilt over who she was while living on the streets and of the things she had done. So when she heard that her church was building housing for people who were homeless, she was afraid to ask about it. She felt too unworthy to be given a place. It is so hard to get off the street once you are homeless, she said, because she did not have any identification, she did not have a bank account, she did not have any credit, and living on the street was all she knew.
The members of Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd offered her a place. They connected her with the social workers at LIHI who helped her apply for other community resources. She now has a furnished studio apartment on an upper floor, just big enough for a twin bed and a two-person table. You might think it small, but it is her home, and she was so proud to show it off, and for me to tell you her story. She is now regularly in worship at Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd. Jesus’ promise, “no one will snatch them out of my hand,” was true for her. Marlene is a sheep of the Good Shepherd. She no longer lives in shame. She is confident in her crucified Savior that her sins are forgiven. She is confident in her risen Savior that one day she too will rise to live eternally with him. In the meantime, because Jesus works through his people of faith, Marlene is experiencing that life already. As Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10).
This resurrection season, is there a person near you with whom you can share the abundant life we have in Jesus? To whom can you show the mercy of the Good Shepherd? Who needs to hear the gospel of the crucified and risen Savior? Who can you draw closer to him through connection to his church?
That’s a lot of questions, but the risen Jesus invites us to follow him, and when we do, we will have no trouble finding people he wants to draw into his abundant life.
He is risen! He is risen indeed, Alleluia. Amen.
In Jesus,
Rev. Dr. Michael T. Von Behren
President of the Northwest District of the LCMS
