Good Shepherd Sunday

Dear Friends:  Over the generations, the Universal Church has called this upcoming Sunday "Good Shepherd Sunday"; the Gospel passage is John 10:11-16.  This is the passage where Jesus calls Himself the Good Shepherd.  He is the one who takes care of the sheep, guides them, feeds them, gets them out of trouble, heals their illnesses, and watches over them.  Several times in the Old Testament, God is called the Shepherd over Israel, and Jesus expands on that theme in John.  But Jesus expands on this theme, saying that He will even die for the sheep!!  Obviously a reference to the Crucifixion and Resurrection.  And Jesus contrasts Himself as the Good Shepherd with the "hireling"; the bad shepherd doesn't command the loyalty of the sheep, and doesn't have their interests at heart.  Jesus, the Good Shepherd, does.

 

One could glean a lot from this passage.  First of all, it is a passage on leadership in the Church.  If we are to lead like Jesus, that means we have to be servant leaders.  We have to love and tend to God's people.  Like Jesus, we have to sacrificially serve the needs of the local and greater Church.  And, of course, we have to fend off "wolves", or bad teachings that can lead believers astray.

 

But perhaps the direction I would like to go in is to suggest that the sheep have a responsibility to be sheep, just as the Good Shepherd has a responsibility to be a Good Shepherd.  If we are a sheep in God's flock (and we all are!), then we have the responsibility to try to stay close to the shepherd.  Oh sure, we can wonder way off, in search of grass that seems tastier than that which the Good Shepherd gives us.  We can seek after broader horizons and tempting possibilities.  But these lead us out of sight of the Good Shepherd, and into the domain of the Wolf, that is, the Devil.  So our responsibility as sheep is to stay close to the Shepherd, under His watchful eye, and in the joy that only Christ can give.

 

This Sunday we're going to talk about that.  And hopefully, after we study this passage a little more closely, we'll actually be glad that we are sheep in the Lord's pasture!

Luke's version of Jesus' Resurrection

Dear Friends:  This Sunday we will be looking at Luke's version of Jesus' Resurrection appearance to that same group of doubting and disspirited disciples that we found last week in John's Gospel.  You might want to check out Luke 24:36b-48 before we get together for worship at 10 am!!

 

The difference here is that Thomas, or anyone else for that matter, is singled out for special attention.  They all receive Jesus with "joy and disbelief".  They all think they are seeing a ghost.  Jesus eats a piece of fish in front of all of them, so they might believe that it is He, and that He is alive and well and with them.  And Jesus opens all their minds to the transforming power of Scripture, which explains God's wonderful plan of salvation for all people through Jesus Christ.

 

But here, there is no Pentecost, no action by Jesus to "breathe" on the disciples, so they might receive the Holy Spirit.  No, for Luke, the disciples spend forty days with the Master, learning what they need to know for their future ministry.  In Luke, Jesus ascends into the clouds, to go back to Heaven to be with the Father.  And in Luke, volume II, also known as Acts, we find the gift of the Holy Spirit given to the disciples on Pentecost.  It is the Spirit who equips them, transforms them, and sends them out to evangelize the world.

 

Now for my money, I suspect that Luke's account is more historically accurate.  But this doesn't make John's account inaccurate.  Just different.  John had a different point to make.  And in the long run, the message is the same.  Jesus has given us of His Spirit, who gives us spiritual gifts to use in ministry, and He has given us mission to fulfill in His Name, with the constant presence and aid of the Holy Spirit.

 

You know, the message of the Gospel is the same, even if the way of telling the story is different.  For different people respond positively to the message when it is delivered in different ways.

 

This Sunday we will celebrate the "bridging" of our children from one grade to another.  And so the sermon will be directed especially to them, through the words of C.S. Lewis.  I am going to share a passage from vol. 6, "The Silver Chair".  It is perhaps one of the best telling of the story of the Resurrection I have ever heard.  It stars Aslan the lion, who as we all know represented God/Jesus in the Chronicles.  But adults, don't worry -- you're going to find much in this story that speaks to our situation today as well!  See you Sunday!!