This is the final opportunity I will have to offer my design for the last stained glass window for St. John’s. I intend it to fit right over there, closest the pulpit. Apropos of the Gospel lesson it will be Jesus the Good Shepherd window. The depiction of Jesus as the good shepherd was definitely never meant to evoke a simple bucolic pastoral scene on a calm sunny day. Nor would Jesus’ original hearers think of shepherds being prophets, priests, or pious rabbis at worship. Shepherds would be out in the fields, on the lookout for danger, not in the temple, synagogues or other shrines. Very likely when Jesus mentioned a good shepherd, people would think of the young David, later King David, the shepherd par excellence who fiercely protected his flock. Young David was as tough as they come. More than once he protected his flock from bears by snatching the lamb out of the bear’s mouth, and then by grabbing the bear by the hair on his lower jaw, he swung him around, and did him in by pounding him into the ground. He did the same thing with lions. (Look it up if you don’t believe me, its in the Book of I Samuel Chapter 17:33-35.) If David took out lions and bears, I don’t think wolves presented much of a problem either. It is no wonder that when David spied Goliath, David wasn’t particularly rattled, refused a suit of armor, and, I suspect, calmly said in effect, “No problem, you should have seen the size of the bear I took out last week.” So make no mistake about it; David was no skinny shepherd boy who exercised his muscles just by dancing around the campfire playing his flute.
To be sure later chroniclers of David’s deeds would see the spirit of God working in all this, but later generations would honor David as the good shepherd because his first priority was in protecting his flock and his people, not his own skin. In legend at least, before he became a corrupt king, he was the champion of the poor, the defender of the weak, and the stalwart defender of justice for all. It was for such a ruler that succeeding generations would desperately long.
Jesus contrasts a good shepherd with hired hands who only did the job as long as they were not in any danger and only as long as they were paid. Previously in the Gospel, Jesus mentions bandits and thieves who pretend they are shepherds in order to steal or take advantage of the flock.
Jesus emphasized and modeled what a good shepherd is like. The metaphor was not about sheep. Jesus never tried to put distance between him and his followers. In the accounts of Jesus after the resurrection, Jesus went out of his way to urge the disciples to come closer, and not hold back. Jesus’ metaphors are meant to bring us together and close the gap between us and God and the gap among us all. Jesus didn’t call his disciples sheep, he called them his friends. That is why Jesus was not giving justification to would be leaders issuing pronouncements such as, “I am the great shepherd and you are to be docile sheep, so all together now, say baa, baa, baa.” No! Rather, Jesus modeled what each of us is called to be to each other. We are all called to be like good shepherds. We have the opportunity to serve as good shepherds to students and graduate assistants, to colleagues and associates, to neighbors and friends, to customers and clients, and to strangers and visitors. We will likely never have to stand up to or wrestle with a bear or lion, but there are other things in life just as powerful and just as deadly in their own way.
So I’ve decided that the Good Shepherd window will reflect what was once common in every town, namely a small hole-in-the-wall diner. The tall coffee urns will be steaming away, and there will be fresh donuts in a glass cabinet. The worn, well-wiped countertop will have stainless steel napkin holders bordered by glass salt and pepper shakers at regular intervals. A menu of white letters on a black felt board will be on the wall, listing staple breakfast offerings; eggs, bacon, French toast and hot oatmeal, but there will be no lattes, no cappuccinos, and no croissants. A half-dozen customers will be sitting on the stools, nursing their coffee in thick china mugs. The donuts seem popular. Hard to tell their exact age or what each patron did. It doesn’t matter because being a good shepherd is not a specific job, but a way of life. The pair behind the counter look as if they brook no nonsense, but know their job. The cook has big red hands, and the assistant has rough furled skin and graying hair. There will no mistaking them for good-looking baristas.
In the midst of all in the diner for morning coffee, is one obviously enjoying the conversation and taking it all in. All seem to know who this person is, and know you would be listened to with respect and understanding, but whom you could not deceive. Someone who would pay attention to what you were saying, but would pull no punches and not be hesitant to offer stern advice. Like the coffee, the conversation might be strong at times, but always genuine. If you were ever in trouble, that’s who would be the sort of person you would like to show up. You could tell in the eyes of all sitting there that this person was trusted, and was what a true friend and a good neighbor was all about, who would be able both to laugh and cry with you.
No, the interior of a small diner doesn’t fit the mold of a traditional good shepherd window. The yellowing glow of dusty incandescent light bulbs and a wobbly ceiling fan stained with grease don’t bring out the colors like a clear blue sky above a verdant hillside. A plain Syracuse China coffee mug is not as exotic as a shepherd’s curved hand-hewed staff. A few crumbled napkins on the dark brown linoleum tile floor under the stools are no substitute for cute little lambs playing in the grass among forget-me-nots. The scene is sure not a trendy place like Starbucks, but I’m not so sure Jesus ever was trendy, or Jesus ever fit the world’s mold either. Maybe that’s what a being a good shepherd is all about anyway.
So I offer you my last window design, in the name of the good shepherd of us all.
