Pentecost 7

And so we continue with the homegrown parables. The writers of Matthew had obviously never seen a tobacco seed so fine a tablespoon can plant three acres. We continue our study of Romans and the parables in Matthew. The alternate OT Lesson is the story of how Laban tricked Jacob into working a total of 14 years to obtain the bride he favoured. We won't confront the issue of polygamy which was acceptable in a time when many woman died in childbirth.

In 1 Kings the dream in which God grants Solomon his wish for wisdom is told. Interestingly the pericope omits verses 13 and 14:

1Ki 3:13  I will also give you what you have not asked for: all your life you will have wealth and honor, more than that of any other king.
1Ki 3:14  And if you obey me and keep my laws and commands, as your father David did, I will give you a long life."

The passage excerpted from Psalm 119 glories in the Lord's teaching, wisdom, and laws. Wise are those who follow them.

Rom 8:28  We know that in all things God works for good with those who love him, those whom he has called according to his purpose.

And so to the parables. The mustard seed tells us that though our efforts may seem small a pebble dropped in a pond makes waves that spread beyond the initial contact. We should think globally but act locally and not despair as to the eventual outcome which is in God's hands.

The leaven disappears within the flour just as our efforts seem to have little effect but the affect of yeast is to leaven the whole. We should not discount our efforts or become discouraged.

The parable of the treasure and the pearl involve “discoveries (that) disrupt normal daily life and priorities; they require risk and sacrifice”.  So too does our investment in the Kingdom of Heaven, it is worth everything.

Finally the Kingdom of Heaven is compared to fisherman emptying their nets of by-catch. We should be mindful of our commitments lest we be found wanting and thrown out with the garbage.

The theme of the day then seems to be that of taking care that we make wise choices, our eternal life rests upon those decisions.

Pentecost 6

The agricultural model is again used to tell a truth about the proclamation of the Gospel. Homilies regarding last week's texts usually revolve around the receptivity of those who hear the Good News to receiving and acting upon it. The ability to have faith is a gift of the Holy Spirit to which some are not open. This week's lessons are about the temptations of this world that distract the hearers and cause them to reject or abandon the cause. Whether or not you want to posit an animate force such as Satan at work here is a matter of choice. In the end the hearer is given free choice and although some of the distractions may be evil and hurtful to the individual and those around him the distractions can just as easily be positive choices that become an obsession and in their pursuit the hearer loses sight of the Good News. Addictions to gambling, alcohol and drugs are obvious evils. The pursuit of pleasure and wealth are less obvious. It is not a sin to have financial security; it is to make it one's sole goal in life to the exclusion of charity and social interaction and welfare.

And so to the lessons which tend to clarify today's theme.

Exo 20:2  I am the Lord your God who took you out of the land of Egypt, out of the prison-house.
Exo 20:3  You are to have no other gods but me.

Exo 34:14  "Do not worship any other god, because I, the LORD, tolerate no rivals.

Or as today's text puts it:

Isa 44:6  The LORD, who rules and protects Israel, the LORD Almighty, has this to say: "I am the first, the last, the only God; there is no other god but me.

Today's alternate OT Text has the story of Jacob's Ladder at Bethel. In it the God of Abraham and Isaac renews his covenant with Jacob.

Psalm 86 is a  prayer asking God's guidance that the petitioner's actions may further God's will and that his way not be distracted by the temptations of this world and that he be impervious to those who would revile him and place temptations before him.

We continue our study of Romans with a passage that counsels us to resist our human natures that would lead us into sinful acts but to cultivate the Holy Spirit in our lives. We should not look upon the Spirit's workings as a constraint upon our lives but as a force for good that brings us the Peace of God and a place in the Kingdom of Heaven.

And so to the parable of the Kingdom of Heaven. The closest most of us come to understanding this allegory would be to think of the lawns surrounding our homes. We plant good seed but dandelions from the neighbourhood get planted there as well. We could spray herbicides that poison our environment, we could start over, or we could spend hours spading out the weeds but the best policy is to provide optimum conditions for the growth of grass so that the weeds not have an opportunity to get a foothold. Or we could enjoy the fruits of an unpolluted environment and make dandelion greens and wine.

Most of the remaining interpretation is straight forward. The Son of Man or his body the church are the sowers and the World is their field. The good seed are those who are receptive to the Word and the Weeds are those who fail to hear or more actively work to subvert the message. Whether or not you conceive of a Satanic Force in opposition to the Word is a matter of choice. The field of eschatology, end times, is quite another matter. The writers of Matthew conceived of a final judgement which would have included resurrection of the body and rewards for the faithful and the casting into the fiery pit of unrepentant sinners. The Bible has numerous apocalyptic passages that purport to describe these end times which usually include a final judgement. Early Christians lived in the expectation of this second coming within their lifetimes. It followed upon their Jewish traditions.

Volumes have been written and could be written on the subject. In brief I believe that Jesus taught that in his baptism we are endowed with the Holy Spirit and become eternal members of the Kingdom of Heaven. The Kingdom of Heaven is an eternal spiritual realm outside of human time, space, and experience. Our spirits reside permanently in this realm in common with the saints of every time and place. As members of his body the church we share in the Communion of Saints that ensures our security no matter what should happen.

Pentecost 5, 2014

Joh 1:14  The Word became a human being and, full of grace and truth, lived among us. We saw his glory, the glory which he received as the Father's only Son.

This verse takes us back to Christmas Day. At Christmas God, the creative force of the world, entered time and space as a man, the Word made Flesh. The religious leaders of the day felt their authority threatened and had that man crucified leaving it to the priesthood of believers, His body the Church to carry on his ministry of teaching, healing, and spreading the Gospel. Word and Witness.

In a world where food is increasingly equated with a 'Happy Meal' that is pulled out of disposable containers or a frozen dinner popped into the microwave agricultural references have lost a great deal of their impact. Even for those of us who still insist on making our meals from scratch the ingredients magically appear on grocery store shelves and increasingly have been so processed before we buy them that the original source is often hard to identify. Most food we eat has been processed and warehoused and traveled hundreds and thousands of miles before it reaches our tables if we actually sit down to a family meal.

In Isaiah a group of community leaders who have endured Babylonian Captivity are assured that if they return to faithfulness in the God of their Salvation they will be returned to Israel and the Land itself will respond in joy to their return.

The Psalm affirms that those who are faithful to their God and turn from their sinful ways, who rejoice in the Lord and give Him thanks will experience the Lord's bounty:

Psa 65:9  You show your care for the land by sending rain; you make it rich and fertile. You fill the streams with water; you provide the earth with crops. This is how you do it:
Psa 65:10  you send abundant rain on the plowed fields and soak them with water; you soften the soil with showers and cause the young plants to grow.

The alternate OT text is the story of Esau, the hunter selling his birthright to Jacob, the farmer for a bowl of soup. Is the moral of this story the fact that we too often take God's gifts too lightly, for granted?

Our Epistle continues following the letter to the Romans. Jesus, the Word made Flesh supplanted the Law of the Old Testament with the Gospel of the Forgiveness of Sins. Those who repent of their sins enter the spiritual realm, they are given new life by the Holy Spirit.

And so we come to the parable of the Sower. Jesus the Word Made Flesh is both the sower and the seed. His Word is planted in our flesh and it is we who bring forth the fruits of that planting. In turn it is our duty to see to it that the Word is spread and new seed take root.

Pentecost 4

Mat 3:9  And do not presume to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father,' for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.

There is a feeling of housekeeping about our recent lessons. The Gospels and Epistles are following in a roughly sequential order. Church attendance is not to be considered as the equivalent of a good back rub. It is not a feel good experience to be sat through out of a sense of routine. Our lives as Christians should not fall into a quotidian rut.

A speech-writer supplied John Kennedy with this famous line: "Ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country." As Christians we should not become complacent in our sense of entitlement.

We have been set free not solely to enjoy the fruits of our good fortune. Our God may be:

Psa 145:8  The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

We have an obligation and a duty:

1Ch 16:34  Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!

That duty includes the sharing of our good fortune and the propagation of the Gospel. We must also be ever vigilant in examining our actions to ensure that they serve to further God's work on earth and not hinder it.

You will recognize another passage used in Handel's Messiah in Matthew. Yes, our God is our refuge and strength but this is not to be a pie in the sky by and by kind of theology. We did not become members of Christ's body on earth, the Kingdom of God to escape hell fire and damnation. We responded to God's Love expressed in his Grace to repent from our sinful natures and live lives dedicated to furthering God's purpose on earth.

God's Grace is not a comfortable rocking chair in which to rest our weary bones, but a balm that brings joy which is to be shared. Our confidence in the rock of our salvation should free us from sin, guilt, and earthly worries to live lives dedicated to His Service here on earth.

Do you love me? Feed my Sheep. That food should nourish body, mind, and spirit. God the creator, redeemer and spirit be with us all.

Pentecost 3

Today's lessons are continuations of the texts we studied last Sunday. We continue the theme of Christian responsibility. Indeed the alternate OT Lesson is the passage that has God testing Abraham by requiring that he sacrifice his only first-born son, a custom not that unusual among his neighbours at that time. A rather dramatic test of obedience.

In Jeremiah we have a spat between two prophets. The Babylonian Captivity was seen as God's Judgement on his people Israel for their unfaithfulness. Jeremiah is saying that his rival's prophesy of hope is premature. Only a return to Godly living will redeem Israel.

Psa 89:14  Your kingdom is founded on righteousness and justice; love and faithfulness are shown in all you do.
Psa 89:15  How happy are the people who worship you with songs, who live in the light of your kindness!
Psa 89:16  Because of you they rejoice all day long, and they praise you for your goodness.
Psa 89:17  You give us great victories; in your love you make us triumphant.

The Epistle continues the theme begun last week. We may be justified by faith, but we are sanctified to live lives free from sin. It ends with the famous:

Rom 6:23  For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The passage in Matthew is part of a chapter that begins with the calling of the Disciples. The remainder of the chapter constitutes instructions on how to behave and what to expect when they are sent out as missionaries to spread the Gospel. One can infer that we as Christians also have a responsibility to witness to our Christian Faith.

Pentecost 2

And so we come to the long season of Pentecost, Sundays in ordinary time
shortened considerably this year by the lateness of Easter.
Traditionally a time of reflection on the true nature of the Christian
Life and Mission.

With the passage of the Easter Season we return to Lessons from the Old
Testament.

And so we begin the season with a discussion of the true nature of
Discipleship.

Many on the Conservative Christian Right preach a Gospel highlighting
the rewards of righteous living. Being a Christian does not confer on
one earthly rewards such as financial security, a successful career, a
happy marriage, or good health. Jeremiah complains that preaching the
message God has given him has made him a pariah among his peers.

The tune Lilies to which Psalm 69 was to be sung appears to be lost to
posterity. The Psalmist feels abandoned by God and beset by his enemies.

In Romans we get a lecture that many may not find comforting. Conversion
does not lead to a happily ever after fairytale existence. Repentance
means turning away from sin and leads to a life-long struggle against
our baser instincts. It is not a one-time act that allows us to revert
to business as usual.

And so to the Gospel which strictly speaking is not Good News:

Mat 10:34 "Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the world.
No, I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.
Mat 10:35 I came to set sons against their fathers, daughters against
their mothers, daughters-in-law against their mothers-in-law;
Mat 10:36 your worst enemies will be the members of your own family.
Mat 10:37 "Those who love their father or mother more than me are not
fit to be my disciples; those who love their son or daughter more than
me are not fit to be my disciples.
Mat 10:38 Those who do not take up their cross and follow in my steps
are not fit to be my disciples.
Mat 10:39 Those who try to gain their own life will lose it; but those
who lose their life for my sake will gain it.

Once more we are told that living the Christian Life is not a popularity
contest. There are costs. We may not face the kind of persecution that
early Christians suffered but there may be a price to pay for making
right decisions rather than taking the easy way out. The right decision
may not always be the popular choice and may pit us against our friends,
neighbours, and even our families.

All in all not a feel good message. What does come through in all cases
is that our God will always be there to guide, keep, and protect us even
amid out doubts. Ours is a God of infinite strength who can be
challenged, doubted, face blame, rejection, and guilt without suffering
harm or meting out recriminations. He is a God of Love. Nothing can
separate us from the Love of God.

Trinity Sunday 2014

The Holy Trinity

So we still observe this Sunday, though the season that follows is now
termed Pentecost. With the exception of the Old Testament which gives us
the Priestly story of creation our lessons are all rather short today.

2Co 13:14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and
the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all.

God in Three Persons, Blessed Trinity.

The Old Testament Lesson tells of God the Father, the Creator. He spoke
the Word, and it had the power of creation.

Psa 8:1 O LORD, our Lord, your greatness is seen in all the world! Your
praise reaches up to the heavens;

Psa 8:3 When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon
and the stars, which thou hast ordained;
Psa 8:4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man,
that thou visitest him?
Psa 8:5 For thou hast made him but little lower than God, and crownest
him with glory and honour.
Psa 8:6 Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands;
thou hast put all things under his feet:

Through the Holy Spirit we are one with All the Saints according to the
writer in the Epistle.

And so we come to the Great Commission:

Mat 28:18 Jesus came to them and said: I have been given all authority
in heaven and on earth!
Mat 28:19 Go to the people of all nations and make them my disciples.
Baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
Mat 28:20 and teach them to do everything I have told you. I will be
with you always, even until the end of the world.

Jesus claims his position in the triune godhead and in doing so passes
the torch to his Disciples and thus to us by default as members of his
body the church.

The Holy Trinity is a rather arcane Theological Precept and rather a
snooze-worthy topic for a Sunday Morning Sermon. I'm not certain how
this set of lessons relates.

Many congregations will sing

Hymn # 413 Cherry Hymnal

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty

How well it will be understood is quite another matter. It too speaks of
creation, praise, the communion of saints, and mystery, God who has
been, is, and ever shall be. Somehow the version we have today is
probably missing a few of the original verses.

Pentecost 2014

Pentecost

Psa 104:34  May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the LORD.

The exigencies of pairing 150 Psalms with a pericope involving 180 odd sets of lessons makes for some interesting couplings. Like the schoolboy who looks for the unexpurgated version of a racy novel to see the naughty bits dropped from a school text I take delight in looking to see just what has been dropped in forming our lessons. Today is no exception. And just what that great leviathan which the Lord made for the sport of it has to do with Pentecost I'm not certain.

The Epistle for the day often has little to do with the other lessons. Today a talk on the gifts of the spirit accompanies lessons addressing the coming of the Holy Ghost, the Comforter. (Odd terms those.)

The first lesson finds the Disciples hiding behind locked doors for fear of the Jews who had just recently seen to the crucifixion of their beloved rabbi. Whatever happened there turned a group of shy, frightened, simple men into public orators who spoke in tongues and inspired thousands to repent and be baptized on the spot. Being the cynic I am I wonder how many of those instant converts remained faithful in the long term.

Today's Gospel backtracks to that same group of Disciples immediately following the crucifixion. They are in shock. Their world has been turned upside down. Their teacher whom many believed to be the Messiah, Great King David's Successor had been dispatched in the most ignominious way possible. One of their own had betrayed him and then committed suicide.  [It's quite another matter that great King David in his day could not possibly have lived up to his own storied reputation.] Their emotions ran the gamut of mourning, denial, grief and loss. They'd lost their purpose in life. In their instinct for survival they had abandoned their Lord so they also suffered from acute embarrassment. They were probably mortified to even look each other in the eye.

To make matters worse Mary Magdalene, a most non-credible source, has just arrived with a wild tale about having seen Jesus alive. Into this bewildered cringing gathering Jesus suddenly appeared saying, "Peace be unto you."

Next comes John's version of the Great Commission:

Joh 20:21  Jesus therefore said to them again, Peace be unto you: as the Father hath sent me, even so send I you.
Joh 20:22  And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:
Joh 20:23  whose soever sins ye forgive, they are forgiven unto them; whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.

Somehow John's version seems much more realistic than Luke's which appears to have become augmented considerably in the telling.

Easter Seven

If Jesus is the Answer; then What is the Question?

On this the last Sunday in Easter we Sum up the entire Christian Message and the question is Why?

Even at this late date Jesus' Disciples are still caught in the Jewish quest for a Messiah that would rescue the people Israel from their worldly oppressors. They ask this question even as Jesus is lifted up into his Heavenly Kingdom.

Everyone who has used a search engine knows that to get the results you want you have to ask the right questions. I dislike forced answer polls because I find that those who formulate them ask questions that will receive the answers they were looking for in the first place.

In today's Gospel we have the answers, what we need to establish is what was the question.

The synoptic Gospels supply various accounts of the details of Christ's life but it is John who from the beginning struggles with the WHY?

Joh 1:1  In the beginning the Word already existed; the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Joh 3:16  "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Joh 3:17  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

Joh 8:7  And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her."

Joh 8:31  So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples,
Joh 8:32  and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

Joh 12:26  If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.

Joh 12:35  So Jesus said to them, "The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going.
Joh 12:36  While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light."

Joh 12:44  And Jesus cried out and said, "Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me.
Joh 12:45  And whoever sees me sees him who sent me.
Joh 12:46  I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.

Joh 14:1  "Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.

Joh 14:7  If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him."

Joh 15:12  "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

Joh 17:3  And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

Joh 21:17  He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, "Do you love me?" and he said to him, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep.

Psa 34:8  O taste and see how gracious God is: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.

God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one and eternal. They have always existed without beginning or ending. God's saving grace has always been available, it was not won for us by a single act at any given time and place. Jesus did not become man to redeem the world, he came to make manifest God's love that knowing him we might know God. To know God is to Love God and feel the assurance of his Love as expressed through Jesus Christ. To experience God's love is to feel the need to share it in loving our fellow man.

Knowing God goes beyond Knowledge, Emotion and Experience to a sense of oneness of being. To know God is to have eternal life. We were imbued with this sense of indwelling at our baptism. We refer to it as receiving the Holy Spirit. We are in the world but we are not of the world. As members of the Kingdom of Heaven, Jesus' body on earth, the church, we have already entered eternity and with that assurance we can face the vicissitudes of life with equanimity, patience, and fortitude.

If God be for us, who can be against us.

This is not a magic amulet that protects us from the evils of this world; it is the assurance that whatsoever betide us God is always our refuge and strength, a very present help in time of trouble. Therefore will not we fear.

Though others may slander, make sport of us or attempt to demean us we need not reply in kind because we live in the eternal assurance of God's Love. We make manifest God's Love in our loving response to those around us. God's work, our hands. While we live on earth we experience God's love first hand through the support of the priesthood of all believers, his body, the church.

Mat 28:19  Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost:
Mat 28:20  teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you: and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.

Easter Six 2014

If a man love me, he will keep my word, he will keep my word.
And my Father will love him, and my Father will love him, and He will come to him, and make his home with him, and make his home with him.

To an unknown God.

Our lessons are a continuation of those for last Sunday.

Paul is preaching in Athens as we continue to take our first lessons from Acts. Even today Religion plays an important part in people's lives because we still feel the need to find means to make sense of our world and the inexplicable. Organized religion just doesn't seem to be meeting people's needs and church attendance reflects this dramatically.

Act 17:24  The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man,

The Psalm asks that we praise this God.

The Epistle asks that even when we endure prejudice we act gently to reprove those who would slander us so that even our endurance be a witness to the respect we hold for all people.

God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are one. If we keep the commandments Jesus taught then we gain entrance to the Kingdom of Heaven and oneness with God who will embue us with the Holy Spirit. As members of that Kingdom we will be about God's work here on earth and need not concern ourselves with things that are eternal as we have already entered the eternal realm.

Easter Five 2014

Once more the first lesson is from Acts and once more shows the necessity of more background than the brief excerpt provides. The martyr is not identified until the second last verse. Saul who later became Paul of the epistles is identified as officiating at this stoning. One comes to understand why he chose to leave Jerusalem and minister to Gentiles who did not know him by his former reputation. Stephen's Saint's Day is observed as the day after Christmas in Western Christendom.

Psalm 31 is a prayer for deliverance from persecution.

The Epistle Lesson continues readings from First Peter 2 quoting old Testament Scripture to establish Jesus credibility as the rock of our salvation. Just as the Jews saw themselves as a people set apart the writer sees those who believe as a royal priesthood. Not sure I cotton to this elitism.

And so we return to John chapter 14 today. Many choirs will sing an anthem based on the first four verses today.

Joh 14:1  Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
Joh 14:2  In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
Joh 14:3  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
Joh 14:4  And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.

Whether or not Jesus spoke these lines they are the basis for a great deal of conservative Christian Theology.

Joh 14:6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Joh 14:7  If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.

In this passage Jesus makes his most bald claim to godhood. To know me is to know God for I and the Father are one.

One must place today's lessons in the context of a fledgeling society of Christians who faced persecution for their faith. To know Jesus is to know God and to keep the faith is to ensure union with Christ in the hereafter.

Bad things happen to good people even today but we must keep faith that the God of our Salvation means every good thing to come to us in our lives. Jesus' epiphany and incarnation made manifest God's Love for his creation. We cannot comprehend the depth of this Love but we can have faith in the Grace that will sustain us in life and death to eternity.

Easter Four: Good Shepherd Sunday 2014

And so we come to Good Shepherd Sunday. Ironically the pericope stops before it gets to the Good Shepherd declaration. First of all a word on sheep. I grew up with them. Sheep are not the dumb critters they are made out to be. Sheep possess a gland between their toes that leaves a scent behind that can be followed back to their starting point, should they choose to follow it so a sheep cannot get truly lost. Any self-respecting sheep always 'knows' that the grass over there is better than that here whether it be across the fence, over the hill or over the valley so they wander but they do travel in flocks. Sheep crop grass below the soil level pulling it out by the roots making them the disdain of cattle ranchers even in Australia. To call the pair in Brokeback Mountain Ranchers is a supreme insult. Sheep are very self-sufficient and can be left on islands to fend for themselves. Experienced farmers take advantage of a donkey's inborn antipathy to wolves and coyotes to run one or two with their sheep. Sheep can survive on marginal land where cattle would have trouble and supply milk, wool, sheepskin, and the meat on their bones. Baby lambs are adorable.

As Jesse's youngest David was relegated to minding his Father's Sheep and there he was found when Samuel came calling; therefore he became known as the Shepherd King. It was his experience defending his flock with a sling shot that enabled him to defeat Goliath and gave him the courage to do so having fended off lions and wolves. In the day the shepherd lay across the entrance to the sheepfold as trees were scarce in that environment thus becoming both the gate-keeper and the gate. And it was to shepherds in the fields keeping watch over their flocks by night that the angels came. The keeping of sheep and goats was common in the Middle East so many metaphors derive from them. In Song of Songs Solomon compares a woman's hair to the sight of goats gamboling over a hill.

Son 4:1  He: Behold, you are beautiful, my love, behold, you are beautiful! Your eyes are doves behind your veil. Your hair is like a flock of goats leaping down the slopes of Gilead.
Son 4:2  Your teeth are like a flock of shorn ewes that have come up from the washing, all of which bear twins, and not one among them has lost its young.

Don't try that one on your girlfriend or wife.

Today's first lesson describes the communal living of the members of the early church in and around Jerusalem. They cared for one another in expectation of the soon to come second coming. Two thousand years on our perspectives have changed. We are to be good stewards of our resources. Experience has shown that communal living does not work for most people. We should work to make the world a better place for our fellowman but bankrupting ourselves to do so is probably not wise. It is not a sin to be well off, it is to make the collection of wealth our principal goal.

Little I can add to what has already been written about Psalm 23. You probably heard it at the last funeral you attended.

The epistle is straight up scape goat theology.

1Pe 2:25  For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

Given the verses chosen for our Gospel Lesson the text would appear to be a warning against false prophets. I find it dangerous to emphasize this passage in isolation from the chapter that goes before it and the remainder of John 10. This is John we're talking about. Jesus is the Light of the World. He brings sight to the blind and in Chapter 9 he does that literally but figuratively he brings insight to those who hear and believe. The Pharisees on the other hand are blinded and perceive only a threat to their authority. In this context they are the thieves in Chapter 10 who cast out those who have been given sight.