Pastor's Corner: Blue Sunday and the Good Shepherd

The fourth Sunday of the Easter season is always Good Shepherd Sunday. Some years, this church commemoration is the same day as Blue Sunday, when churches around the country and around the world pray for the safety and protection of children who are in abusive situations. It's a day when we give thanks for the many organizations and individuals who dedicate themselves to alleviating the suffering of children.

The organizers write: "April is Child Abuse Prevention Month. It began when a report about abused and neglected children caught the attention of President Ronald Reagan in1983. Sadly, since that first Child Abuse Prevention Month, the number of abused victims has grown from half a million children to over six million new reports of abuse along with 1600 child abuse related deaths annually. Blue Sunday Child Abuse Prevention is asking the faith community to pray on Sunday, April 30, 2023."

It's pretty rare that the civic calendar and the church calendar reinforce each over, but I think that on this day, Good Shepherd and Blue Sunday actually strengthen our understanding of each.

Often, we over-sentimentalize the image of Jesus as our Good Shepherd. We think of a peaceful, every-hair-in-place, dressed-in-spotless-robes Jesus surrounded by peaceful, also spotless sheep, happily grazing on a green hillside. And while that image can be comforting, it can also be as bland as a cheap greeting card. Christ as our Good Shepherd shouldn't just be a pastoral image; it should be a powerful image as well, and the overlap of Blue Sunday helps highlight that. After all, Jesus here is talking about wolves and predators, life and death, and laying down his life for his flock. Not the hallmark of a Hallmark card!

Who is part of Christ's flock? Churches keep membership rolls for the maintenance of good order, but we don't keep rolls for who is a member of Christ's flock, because Christ's flock is not definable by me or by any pastor or by any denomination. Christ alone knows them all, and knows them by name. "I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold," Jesus says. This Sunday, I believe those other sheep are the kids - and adults - who bleat in pain and confusion and helplessness. Christ's flock is wide enough to include all of those frightened kids, whatever their age. Whether or not they know the name of the Good Shepherd. Christ alone knows every whimper and cry, every tear and broken heart that this Blue Sunday commemorates.

This combination of Blue Sunday and Good Shepherd Sunday reminds us that there are still wolves prowling about. It reminds us that there are still hired hands, people who have been entrusted with protecting and preserving, yet who fail to live up to their charge. It reminds us that we are all in need of a good shepherd, who guards us and guides us and knows us. This overlap of these two Sundays reminds us that life is not just green pastures and still waters, but that the valley of the shadow of death is real and present.

On Blue Sunday, we face the facts of this particular valley:

• "One in four girls and one in six boys will be sexually abused before their 18th birthday.

• "Most child abuse incidents are drug and alcohol related.

• "Within one year of aging out of the foster care system, 66% of victims will be homeless, in jail or dead.

• "There are over 100,000 children waiting for adoption in the United States."

The Blue Sunday organizers ask us to pray:

• "Pray they will be rescued

• "Pray they are placed with caring people

• "Pray their minds and bodies can heal

• "Pray they find hope

• "Pray for those who rescue them."

In 1 John, we hear the exhortation: "Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action." Let us pray, and let us act. Let us trust in the Good Shepherd, and let us join Him in this holy and necessary work.

We have been found, now let us go find those who are lost.

--

Pastor Megan Hoewisch

First Lutheran Church