Fourth Sunday of Easter: Risen Christ, Shepherd Us

Today's Scripture Readings

Acts 9:36-43 (NRSV)

Now in Joppa there was a disciple whose name was Tabitha, which in Greek is Dorcas. She was devoted to good works and acts of charity. At that time she became ill and died. When they had washed her, they laid her in a room upstairs. Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, who heard that Peter was there, sent two men to him with the request, "Please come to us without delay." So Peter got up and went with them; and when he arrived, they took him to the room upstairs. All the widows stood beside him, weeping and showing tunics and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was with them. Peter put all of them outside, and then he knelt down and prayed. He turned to the body and said, "Tabitha, get up." Then she opened her eyes, and seeing Peter, she sat up. He gave her his hand and helped her up. Then calling the saints and widows, he showed her to be alive. This became known throughout Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. Meanwhile he stayed in Joppa for some time with a certain Simon, a tanner.

Psalm 23 (BCP., p.612)


Revelation 7:9-17 (NRSV)

I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a loud voice, saying, 

“Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, singing,

“Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom

and thanksgiving and honor

and power and might

be to our God forever and ever!
Amen.”

Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, "Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?" I said to him, "Sir, you are the one that knows." Then he said to me, "These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

For this reason they are before the throne of God,
and worship him day and night within his temple,
and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them.

They will hunger no more, and thirst no more;
the sun will not strike them,
nor any scorching heat;

for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd,

John 10:22-30 (NRSV)

At that time the festival of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly." Jesus answered, "I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name testify to me; but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father's hand. The Father and I are one."

Blog Reflection

This is one of my favorite Sundays in the Easter Season.  After three full Sundays of celebrating the Risen Christ; here we get to meditate on a very beautiful way to think of Jesus.  

The image of Jesus being the Good Shepherd in a beautiful hill country such as what we see in the image above, fills us with a sense of peace and tranquility.  The green pastures with only sheep and shepherd, beautiful mountains and trees fill us with a sense of wonder.  In these days as events around us seem so ugly with no end in sight; thinking of Jesus as The Good Shepherd feels like the relief we need.

The pastures in which Christians find ourselves are anything but peaceful and serene.  Our Christian Faith continues to be mocked and damaged in the form of "bathroom bills" and bills promoting discrimination against LGBTQ people on a fast track.  Yet, the programs that could help the poor, homeless, disabled and unemployed get their funds depleted and given to military defense programs.  Federal and State legislation that could be used to protect innocent people from the excessive gun violence that plagues our neighborhoods, schools and churches are denied a fair hearing because of lobbyists with very deep pockets.  These and many more issues in our society are being promoted by those who claim that this is what Jesus died to "save us from" on the Cross.  In so doing, our Lord Jesus the Good Shepherd becomes nothing more than a picture on the wall and a story told.  There is nothing more to the story, when our stories are no longer heard.

I want to tell you all a story of what someone I care about very much experienced this past week.

He is thirty-five years old.  Less than two years ago, his husband/partner died of cancer.  A year ago he was rushed to the hospital where he was diagnosed with massive congestive heart failure.  His heart works now, but only at about 46% .  He has to take Nitro for occasional chest pains.  He gets headaches form the Nitro after he takes it.  He also experiences dizzy spells due to vertigo.  He has asthma.  He is obviously unable to work because of his health condition.  He is able to get on a local health care program through Medicaid, but he can only go to certain doctors.  He has applied for disability and has an eighteen month wait for an answer.  He is very fortunate to be in the care of his late husband's family.  He has applied for food assistance, but has recently lost the assistance because of a law that requires him to take classes about how to get employed.  In his health condition, no employer would hire him.  He is too much of a liability if anything happens to him on the job.  

It troubles me deeply that as a society we have come to this point, where helping this unhealthy young man is too much to ask of our political and religious institutions.  As Christians we are called to follow the example of our Shepherd who is Jesus Christ, to seek out the lost and to be an inclusive people who welcome and embrace others.  Other "sheep" may not be in the same pasture with us Christians, but, they are still God's people nonetheless.  As recipients of God's love and salvation through the mystery of Christ's Passion, Death and Resurrection; we are empowered by the gifts of the Holy Spirit to challenge the status quo with the true Gospel of Christ by which the marginalized and broken find a place for healing and reconciliation.  

As we meditate on Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd today, may we spend sometime in holy silence to listen to our Shepherd call us to be His prophetic witnesses.  May we pray for the power of the Holy Spirit that we may welcome all people so that they may find in Christians a safe place to cool their burning feet, wash the sweat off their brows and find some rest in the One who's yoke is easy and burden light.  After all, the Pasture is not only a beautiful place to be.  It is God's atmosphere of limitless possibilities.

Amen.


Prayers

O God, whose Son Jesus is the good shepherd of your people;
Grant that when we hear his voice we may know him who
calls us each by name, and follow where he leads; who, with
you and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, for ever
and ever. Amen. (The Book of Common Prayer, p. 225).

O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us
through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole
human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which
infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us;
unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and
confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in
your good time, all nations and races may serve you in
harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ
our Lord. Amen.  (The Book of Common Prayer, p. 815).

Grant, O God, that your holy and life-giving Spirit may so
move every human heart [and especially the hearts of the
people of this land], that barriers which divide us may
crumble, suspicions disappear, and hatreds cease; that our
divisions being healed, we may live in justice and peace;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.  (The Book of Common Prayer, p.823).