RonBlog

Sunday 29th April, 2012 Fourth Sunday of Easter Sentence ‘I am the Good Shepherd,’ says the Lord. ‘I know My own and My own know Me.’ John 10:14 Collect God of peace, Who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant make us complete in every good work to do Your will, and work in us that which is pleasing in Your sight; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen First Lesson Acts 4: 5 – 12 The next day their rulers, elders, and scribes assembled in Jerusalem, with Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. When they had made the prisoners stand in their midst, they inquired, "By what power or by what name did you do this?" Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, "Rulers of the people and elders, if we are questioned today because of a good deed done to someone who was sick and are asked how this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that this man is standing before you in good health by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead. This Jesus is 'the stone that was rejected by you, the builders; it has become the cornerstone.' There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved." Psalm 23 The Lord is my shepherd: therefore can I lack nothing. He will make me lie down in green pastures: and lead me beside still waters. He will refresh my soul: and guide me in right pathways for His Name’s sake. Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for You are with me, Your rod and Your staff comfort me. You spread a table before me in the face of those who trouble me: You have anointed my head with oil and my cup shall be full. Surely Your goodness and loving-kindness will follow me all the days of my life: and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. Epistle 1 John 3: 16 – 24 We know love by this that He laid down His life for us--and we ought to lay down our lives for one another. How does God's love abide in anyone who has the world's goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help? Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. And by this we will know that we are from the truth and will reassure our hearts before him whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before God; and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him. And this is his commandment that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. All who obey his commandments abide in him, and he abides in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit that he has given us. GOSPEL John 10: 11 – 18 Jesus said "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 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. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them lso, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. 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." © New Revised Standard Version of the Bible Copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, and used by permission. All rights reserved NOTES ON THE READINGS First Lesson There is little doubt that at this early stage in the spread of the Infant Church, the Apostles were delightfully unafraid of the powers-that-be in Israel. The outburst from Peter in today’s passage shows clearly the outspokenness of the Eleven. Mind you, little of it went down very well with the authorities as you might expect, still smarting as they were from the tales of Jesus having been raised from the dead. Peter’s outburst blaming the Jewish authorities for Jesus’ execution would not have won a lot of authoritarian hearts either. But good on him! It was a pity in a way that the outspokenness was not all that regular as time went by. Psalm I doubt if I could add very much to your perception of this psalm, although it has to be said that having spent most of my ministry in rural and outback areas, my view of sheep does not stretch to the touchy-feely thing that seems to appeal to city dwellers. They tend to miss most of the point: and the story goes that when missionaries began their work in PNG, they had to make a rapid switch from sheep to pigs ..... which does not have the same sort of ring, does it! Epistle Dear old John; small wonder that he was held in such high esteem in the Early Church. This simple and direct material parallels rather well, I reckon, with the profundity of his Revelation. That latter was, of course the outcome of very extended ponderings as he observed life in the Empire, which was rarely a pretty sight. GOSPEL Never, never take this ovine imagery lightly. It was never any fun being shepherd, let me tell you. That is not from personal experience but from reading reports of early shepherding in this country back a century or more. One need only to look at the Gospels and remind ourselves of the difficulties and contrary pressure Jesus experienced to realize that while the Gospel is tremendous, so is the human capacity to make an absolute mess of whatever we touch! NOTES FOR A SERMON After half a century of priesthood and preaching – and living! – it remains such a disappointment to me that remarkably few of those in congregations seem to have much of a clue about the Faith, what it is there for and what benefit, if any, comes of following in Jesus’ footsteps. There is so much vague nonsense abroad; one is left wondering why anyone bothers to respond. In reality, the value and purpose of this Faith is stunning, and sooner or later, many more people will need to see, understand and follow this Lord of ours, unless of course, they choose chaos – which is the only alternative option. Back to the imagery of the readings. Shepherds. And the Good Shepherd. After many of those years mentioned above having been in outback, remote and rural areas, I am often bemused at the sight of urban people longing for the peace of the country. Recent TV programmes underline this movement, and further back, I was party to the sight of people moving north from Adelaide into rural areas where houses were (once-upon-a-time) cheap and affordable. In one of the towns in the parish where I was working, that exodus of city people, sadly most of them disadvantaged, was creating quite a crisis for the locals. Crime rates began to soar, and locals needed to find a way to try and be alongside those folk. Occasionally, that support was appreciated, but mostly it was not, as the newcomers were certain that all others hated them, and wished only to see their backs. Actually the sad reality was that the problems tended to be solved only as the newcomers realised for themselves that their dream of peace and quiet was unreal, and that they needed to put in quite some effort if the experiment was to succeed. In other words, there was the scenario that underlines the possibilities and problems of those trying to be shepherds. There is not a lot of difference between sheep and humans! Read that with a smile on my face, but do observe the truth of some of it, You will need to do so if you are to embrace much of the point and purpose of Jesus as Shepherd. It is no easy task being shepherd, for humans or for animals, as it bears the same images and reality of small reward for huge effort, and distinct chance of rejection from the ungrateful public. This imagery of shepherd goes back, Biblically speaking, to David about a thousand years before Christ. Later, prophets like Ezekiel took up the imagery which the Psalms had reflected already. In that rural and pastoral community, the image was familiar and was not overtaken by emotional and unreal expectations. Shepherding is an onerous and very demanding task, which the intervention of fencing and such has reduced to far less demanding proportion. On the other hand, dare to ask today’s pastoralist whether looking after sheep is all beer and skittles, and I suggest that you stand back a way when the reply comes. Now begin to place some of the material you have gained alongside this image of the Good Shepherd. See, honestly if you dare, the enormous load and strain Jesus took upon Himself in His ministry, life, death and resurrection. Notice how few people actually responded positively to the message, to the truth of all He had to offer. Not even those among His Twelve could really be counted upon, until after the Resurrection. Put yourself in His shoes and ask yourself if you would continue faithful and true with such opposition from those who should have been most aware of the Faith, and most likely to have delighted to follow. I suspect you might be getting the picture, and whilst I am not trying to tweak your guilt button, I am asking you to see that this ‘Good Shepherd’ business is not about being cosy and warm and fed and watered, but rather is all about responding with transparent truth to whatever challenge you are facing.