We’re already headed to the fourth Sunday after Easter on April 25th. The passage about Jesus as the Good Shepherd always is read on this Sunday in the church calendar. I chose this artwork because I love its gentility. Jesus carries a lamb, the flock follows him closely, and knows his voice. There is one flock and one shepherd. Many very good reasons support our annual focus on this vital passage. It’s about the preservation of life in safety. Not for some, but for all.
I’ve included part of this Gospel reading for your convenience.
John 10:11-18
10:11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
10:12 The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away — and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.
10:13 The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep.
10:14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,
10:15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep.
10:16 I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.
10:17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again.
10:18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.” (my emphasis)
Jesus models being a protector of safety
This passage tells us how Jesus stands up for us in a way that others will not. Jesus laid down his life for his flock. He did not back down, and he did not compromise. Jesus had the power to violently overthrow his enemies, and he did not.
These are all teachings directly from Jesus to guide us in how we work for safety and justice. He explained that the third party does not have the same interest in working for safety, and that the wolf is standing by, ready to scatter those in danger, isolate the weak, pounce and kill.
We need to constantly interpret who is engaging in these roles:
- the shepherd
- the flock and specific sheep in danger
- the wolf, and
- what defines safety and justice.
An example of wolves in sheep’s clothing
Punchbowl News first reported that Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green (R-Ga.) and Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) announced the creation of the “America First Caucus” late last week. The Hill reports that the reaction to America First Caucus has been fast, furious, and very unsupportive.
The America First Caucus floated a 7-page draft policy platform on Capitol Hill. It cites the following wolfish goals among several other disturbing ones:
- To end mail-in voting (note the entire state of Washington has voted by mail for several years): Endangering the entire flock by scattering and isolating it
- To end COVID-19 government restrictions: Endangering the entire flock by failing to adhere to solid science in ending the pandemic
- To end U.S. foreign aid (not sure if that means all foreign aid): Further endangering the marginalized flocks around the world
- Even more troubling, the document promotes what it has identified as America’s “uniquely Anglo-Saxon political traditions” and infrastructure projects that reflect “European architecture.” Excluding those from outside the “uniquely Anglo-Saxon” ancestry, meaning “other flocks” that we are told Jesus adopted.
The shepherds arise to their duty to protect the marginalized and excluded
Swiftly, GOP House members condemned the ideology of this document in no uncertain terms.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) dismissed the caucus without naming it by equating its platform as “nativist dog whistles,” according to the Washington Post.
Rep. John Katko (R-NY) stated that “Racism and nativism are antithetical to our core principles and should have no place in our society, let alone the Halls of Congress.”
According to The Hill, “Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), one of 11 Republicans who voted with Democrats in February to oust Greene from her congressional committees, went a step further, calling on the House Republican Conference to expel any lawmaker who signs up for the America First Caucus” (my emphasis). Kinzinger tweeted, “While we can’t prevent someone from calling themselves Republican, we can loudly say they don’t belong to us.”
In disbelief, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), wondered if the America First Caucus platform was “a joke.” She tweeted that the “American First Caucus should mean ALL Americans. Wherever you are from, whatever you believe, as long as you want to be here and be free.”
One of the pithiest and most damning comments came from former House Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.). Curbelo is a Cuban American in full support of comprehensive immigration reform who commented to The Hill on April 19th.
“This is a modern, decaf version of the KKK — a group designed to elevate one race and ethnicity by diminishing all others. It should be summarily dismissed and condemned.”
“Decaf version of the KKK,” indeed, I couldn’t have put that better myself.
The “hired hands” run away
The HiIl further reported that in a “series of tweets Saturday, Greene dismissed the policy document as a ‘staff level draft proposal from an outside group’ that she had never approved, while lashing out at the ‘scum and liars in the media.’” I’m not sure how the media are “scum and liars” when they released her verbatim 7-page document that was “circulating.”
Plus, Green’s spokesman Nick Dyer had initially confirmed the launch of the group by referencing the impending public release of the America First Caucus platform. He later stated he made a mistake, according to the Washington Post.
However, Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-La.) confirmed he was considering joining the caucus and that Rep. Green was involved. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), floundering in his own significant legal troubles, had formally announced joining.
The backpedaling, including Green throwing her “staff” under the bus, may not mean she has given up on this exclusivist caucus. I’m troubled that this platform was not scribbled on a cocktail napkin. It was a 7-page document. House representatives were considering joining it! This was not some accidental leak of a “draft of a draft.” It has a logo-like image on the first page.
Blusterous language purports that the America First Caucus is dedicated to ensuring the best for “all” Americans, but these “hired hands” do not care for the widow, the orphan, the poor, and the foreigner according to the teachings of Jesus and the Torah.
The wolf has been sent back to its lair — let’s keep it there
The strong rejection by various Republican shepherds in the House gives pause for hope and instruction. These GOP members gave a strong message that Green and Gosar’s brain-child is a disaster.
I’m not naive enough to think the GOP has pure altruistic motives in rejecting this scarily cloaked fascist diatribe. Political motivations influenced them. But they did stand up to the “wolf in sheep’s clothing” — that is, the America First Caucus. They silenced its awful, unconstitutional, and unloving ideology for now. The wolf has been sent back to its lair — let’s keep it there.
If our respective elected officials are not reacting in similar fashion, then they need to hear from us. They need to hear from us because we hear the voice of the shepherd — the shepherd that models protecting the vulnerable from dangerous ideologies like the “America First” Caucus, or more aptly, the “White People First and Only Caucus.”
Jim Crow no more
We’ve endured that kind of systematic segregation already, and it was struck down. It was called Jim Crow, an embarrassing chapter in our racist history. (This is the link for the Jim Crow Museum at Ferris State University in Michigan. Its holdings will disgust you that such memorabilia could be so blatantly racist and insulting. Change usually happens when we get disgusted.)
We are not going backwards. We’re going to listen to the voice of the Good Shepherd and follow him into new life.
Blessings on your Easteride journey.+
