The Good Shepherd

And so we come to Good Shepherd Sunday.

Few earn their living these days in an agrarian society and very few farmers are shepherds in the sense that is invoked in today's lessons. Some may have watched Brokeback Mountain. We can remember that in his youth King David was found as his father's youngest tending sheep in the wild. Indeed when he faced Goliath he used his skill with a sling shot honed in defense of his flock as his only weapon. It is also instructive to remember that at Jesus' birth it is reported that the heavenly host overwhelmed with joy appeared to shepherds keeping watch in the field by night.

Less idyllic is the life these men led. In a world where few people bathed regularly these men lived rough sleeping outside in all weather as do the homeless today. They were in constant contact with their flocks and the dogs who helped mind them and as has been related many times in the past the shepherd slept in the entrance to the surround in which the sheep were kept secure at night. The sheep needed protection from native carnivores but sheep are not as dumb as the authors depict. Sheep have a scent gland between their toes that leaves a scent path wherever they wander so no sheep could get truly lost. They may not have a sense of direction but they can certainly follow their winding path home again. Truly they have a habit of wandering that patch of grass over there always seeming more inviting than the one in front of them. Since sheep crop grass up by the roots they must constantly be moved to new pasture lest they destroy the sod upon which they feed.

Once more we return to Acts for our first lesson. We need to back up to learn that the Apostles are on trial for healing a lame man and for declaring that that troublemaker Jesus whom the Sanhedrin had had the Romans put to death has somehow reappeared to cause them more head aches.

Act 4:10  then you should all know, and all the people of Israel should know, that this man stands here before you completely well through the power of the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth---whom you crucified and whom God raised from death.
Act 4:11  Jesus is the one of whom the scripture says, 'The stone that you the builders despised turned out to be the most important of all.'
Act 4:12  Salvation is to be found through him alone; in all the world there is no one else whom God has given who can save us."

Lives there a Christian of a certain age who cannot recite Psalm 23 from memory? After the Lord's Prayer the most popular memory work followed by the Ten Commandments. Just last week I was reminded that it forms part of the burial rite at every funeral service.

Psa 46:1  God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
Psa 46:2  Therefore will not we fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,

Psa 23:4  Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me: thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.

In our permissive society the chastening rod is not seen as comforting but in the Old Testament context the Law was seen as something to be cherished and those who transgressed it expected to be punished appropriately. The was cherished because it kept us in a right relationship with God and man.

In the end this is a Psalm of David who was chosen over all his brothers to be anointed with Holy Oil and crowned to shepherd his people Israel in what came to be seen as their nation's golden age.

First John is a sermon about the nature of God's love and our response to that love:

1Jn 3:18  My children, our love should not be just words and talk; it must be true love, which shows itself in action.

The Gospel today is rather hard on hired men. The word used in the King James Version is hireling meant in a derogatory  sense.

Joh 10:17  "The Father loves me because I am willing to give up my life, in order that I may receive it back again.

Joh 10:14  "I am the shepherd who cares for the sheep. I know my sheep just as the Father knows me. And my sheep know me just as I know the Father. I give my life for these sheep.
Joh 10:16  I have other sheep too. They are not in this flock here. I must lead them also. They will listen to my voice. In the future there will be one flock and one shepherd.

This last verse is seen as meaning that the Good News is meant also for the Gentiles. Jesus and his followers remained throughout their lifetimes devout Jews. Jesus came to fulfill the law, not replace it.

Easter III

Today's theme is God's love and caring for our well-being.

Once more we are offered God's Peace this time in Luke and in Psalms. The Hebrew word is Shalom which is freighted with far deeper meaning than our simple concept of peace. It encompasses outward and inward freedom from disturbance, well-being in general including health and prosperity, and a sense of right relationship with man and God. All this from a single word.

Our first lesson from Acts quotes events that occurred after the coming of the Holy Spirit--Pentecost. Imbued with the Holy Spirit these illiterate fishermen were empowered to overcome stage freight and fear of the authorities to speak powerfully and charismatically to thousands. Seemingly people from many nations understood them in their own tongue--as has been asserted before in an opposite effect from the confusion of tongues at the Tower of Babel. The Holy Ghost or Spirit has also been termed the Comforter for it gives the gift of faith that empowers a sense of Shalom in the believer.

Psalm 4 asserts that those who are faithful to the Lord will lie down in perfect peace. The idea that one should resist worldly injustice but be aware that we are not personally responsible for saving the entire world is made plain.

The Epistle tells us that our lives should reflect the love that was given us and in so doing reflect he from whom it was given.

So we come to Luke and another passage in which the Resurrected Jesus appears to his gathered followers.

How to persuade a group of rather simple literal-minded peasant fishermen that he really is present among them? He invokes the most elemental of human needs and asks for food. He could have gone for a whizz but there were women present.

The important stuff comes next.

Luk 24:45  Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,

First  he has to put their minds at ease so they can be receptive to the message that follows. Opening their minds is an act of the Holy Spirit. It hardly seems plausible that Jesus reviewed the entire Old Testament and his Gospel in one session but having convinced the gathering of his resurrection he freed their minds to move on.

Luk 24:48  You are witnesses of these things.

Understanding the Good News is only the first step, once internalized it is meaningless unless it be shared.

Easter II

And so, after the joyful celebration of the resurrection we are left wondering, what now. We enter the seven week period of pondering after the highs of Easter as we await with the apostles the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Just as Easter was set to eclipse the Jewish Paschal Festival of Passover, Pentecost coming 50 days after replaces the Jewish Feast of Weeks which came 7 weeks later. Jesus came up to Jerusalem and was betrayed and crucified. Three days later the women discovered his open and empty tomb and Jesus' followers, disciples are in hiding lest they suffer a similar fate. With crowds coming to attend a high Jewish Festival it would seem an appropriate time to 'come out' and proclaim the Gospel but seven weeks is a long time to huddle in secret in fear and anticipation of what was to come.

Once more the first lesson is from Acts and paints a rather utopian picture of early Christians. It sounds rather like a group expecting the imminent second coming or eschaton. We now know this did not happen in their lifetimes and is not likely to occur in ours. Psalm 133 continues in a similar vein.

The Epistle summarizes the Gospel and the hope that is ours in Jesus Christ.

A great deal is happening in today's Gospel from John. The disciples are in hiding behind locked doors.  Jesus appears to them:

Joh 20:21  Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you."
Joh 20:22  And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit.
Joh 20:23  If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld."

A great many sermons have been preached on the topic of Doubting Thomas which follows because the three verses above slip by so quickly it is easy to miss their significance.

First God's Peace is proffered twice, no small matter. The next line goes further than the Great Commissioning in Mat_28:18-20 making it clear that we are sent to spread the Gospel just as Jesus incarnation revealed God's Word to the world. Next here without waiting for Pentecost Jesus breathes on them giving them the Holy Spirit. Finally John's version of the giving of the Keys of the Kingdom which forms part of the ordination of every pastor.

Once more we see that each Gospel writer presents the Good News from a different perspective placing emphases where he feels the need.

The next eight verses address the question, how are we who have not been in Jesus' presence to believe? A question that was probably real even for the writer of this Gospel.

Festival of Easter

Today the first lesson is from Acts, not the OT. This being the Festival Sunday of Easter this text  seems out of place at first glance. As is so often the case the verses appointed to be read lose significance when torn from their context so read the entire chapter, not just the appointed lesson. The story is of the Roman Captain Cornelius and today's text is Peter's reply when he enters the captain's house. The essential message here is that Jesus' Good News was brought not just for the House of Isreal but for all people. To be a Christian one is not required to observe Jewish dietary laws and other traditions. In today's context our call is to serve all people despising and disdaining noone because of their ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, economic status or health.

Psalm 118 affirms God's steadfast love and contains the oft quoted:

Psa 118:22  The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.
Psa 118:23  This is the LORD's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.
Psa 118:24  This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

The Epistle affirms the Resurrection. We preach God's love and saving grace as embodied by our risen Lord. Then as now we boast not in our own strength but in the love of God who redeems us by grace through faith.

Today is a day of rejoicing at the Feast Day of Easter. A day on which the Feast of the Passover is eclipsed in our observance by Resurrection signified by the finding of an empty tomb. It is not a day for delving deeply into theological discussions but for rejoicing in the Good News that God has made known to us in Christ.