What do the TV show "Cheers" and today's gospel have in common?

In the television show Cheers, a small bar in downtown Boston was known to be a place ‘where everyone knows your name.’  Norm is the rotund beer drinker with a permanent place at the corner of the bar.  He was a loser at his job, suffered from poor self esteem, and had trouble with virtually all human relationships outside the bar.  But whenever he entered Cheers, the crowd erupted with a one word greeting:  NORM!   And suddenly all the failure and security of the outside world would just melt away.  Norm came to the bar to drink beer.  And there were lots of jokes about that.  But you had the sense that if they wouldn’t serve beer, he would still come – because in this place, people knew his name, they knew his story, and he was home. 

It is that sense of familiarity and intimacy that Jesus’ uses in today’s gospel when speaking about the role of the shepherd.  “The sheep hear his voice, as the shepherd calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.”  Shepherding was a much gentler practice than herding cattle.  Each of the sheep was named, which means each animal was treated as special and unique.  The shepherds led the animals from the front, rather than driving them from the rear.  The sheep knew and trusted the shepherd, so all the shepherd had to do was call the sheep by name, and they followed.  No whips or barking dogs; no ‘git along little doggies’ filled the air around the sheep.  Just the gentle and familiar sound of the shepherd calling the sheep by name was enough.

It is that familiarity that Jesus begins with in this metaphor of the good shepherd.  Like Cheers, where everyone knows your name, Jesus knows our name, our idiosyncrasies, our strengths and weaknesses.   And he calls us out and leads us on the mission of discipleship.  But here is where Jesus takes the shepherding image a step farther.  Listen to his motivation, his desire for us: “I have come that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”   Life and life more abundantly!  That is what our shepherd wants from us.  And that is what our shepherd demands of us.  Anyone else who comes with a different agenda is not to be trusted.  Thieves and robbers, Jesus calls them, coming only to steal and slaughter and destroy.  Jesus, the good shepherd is all about ABUNDANT LIFE.

Beware of those who try to motivate you with anything less than that.  Beware of those who will prey upon your fears.  And in this year of local and national elections, that is exactly what you have heard and will hear.  Negative campaigning.  People trying to motivate you out of fear economic ruin, or global disaster, or a resurgence of racial tensions.  I have received pieces of literature this week playing on the “race” card.  I hate it.  But the shepherd has a message for us.  Don’t buy into the fear and hate mongering.  Don’t follow those who would lead you away from a life of loving service to a life of fear or retribution.    Rather, act only from the truth that each of us is loved by the Good Shepherd, and that there is a dignity inherent in each of us.  Any other agenda than life and life to the full for this community and nation is not the teaching of the Gospel.  Anyone trying to sell you something less is a thief and a robber.

Think of what would happen in our lives if we chose our major/career according to the ‘abundant life’ principle.  You’d study science or music or criminology or optometry, because at the end of the day of studies – it made you MORE ALIVE, more yourself.  It drew you closer to God and the energy and gift he put into your heart.  You knew LIFE because of what you were learning.  Or if the litmus test to all our relationships was the same.  Does my friend, significant other, fiancé draw me to a deeper and more abundant experience of this world – its joys and sorrows and glory?  Do I become more myself when I am around them?  Am I drawn closer to God because of them?  Or are the ‘comfortable’, are they someone just to have me not feel so alone…  The shepherd wants life and life to the full for us…