Here is the gospel reading given us by mother church for next Sunday.

John 10.11-18

Jesus said to the Pharisees: 11‘I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12The 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. 13The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. 14I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. 16I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. 18No 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.’

 

We all know the image of the shepherd in the bible and the favourite psalm of so many, "The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want". There are also evil shepherds mentioned in the prophet Ezekiel who tended the flock of Israel - or rather tended to themselves. It is against this background that Jesus says, "I am the Good Shepherd". This is as strong a statement of divinity as any. For the people of Israel, God is their shepherd and now Jesus calls himself the Good Shepherd.

 

What God promised is now embodied in Jesus. But what makes him 'good'? First, the good shepherd is willing to lay down his life for his sheep. He is not like a hired shepherd who runs away when danger comes. He is willing to die. Although, thinking about it, would we really expect even the owner of the sheep to die? A tall order! Yes, of course he would do all he could to fend off the wolf or wolves. Stay and fight them off. But we would all understand if things got to the point where his own life was in danger, if he let the wolves have the sheep. A good man or woman would be willing to lay down their life for their country or family. But sheep? What an odd image!

 

If we think of the ontological difference between humans and sheep and then multiply that infinitely we get the difference between God and humans. What a beautiful reminder from mother church. That God was willing to die for us. That was not a common image in the ancient world. Ideas if benevolence gods who smile upon humanity were common but not gods who die for them. All the distinctiveness, all the radicality of Christianity is in that claim.

 

In Ezekiel chapter 34 we read how the prophet chastises the rulers of Israel because they have been evil shepherds, neglecting the people of Israel.

" 'Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD : 8 As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, because my flock lacks a shepherd and so has been plundered and has become food for all the wild animals, and because my shepherds did not search for my flock but cared for themselves rather than for my flock, 9 therefore, O shepherds, hear the word of the LORD : 10 This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them.
11 " 'For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. 12 As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep.


God is revealing himself as a great gatherer of the lost and the oppressed at the hands of evil shepherds and rulers. This text gives us a most important clue as to the image of the shepherd in the bible. It is much more than a sentimental image. Diabolos in Greek is the one who scatters. Sin always has a scattering quality. That's what God is against. He is a gathering God and the people of Israel will by their magnetic qualities attract all the tribes of the world.


The tribes of Israel had been scattered but they had also become a divided community. In this great passage from Ezekiel God promises that he will himself come and gather Israel and then all the peoples of the world. And so with that text in mind the people of Israel waited for God to act on his promise. Five hundred years went by and then a new prophet appears who claims to be the Good Shepherd. Jesus, as the embodiment of Yahweh, goes out to the marginalized, the rejected, the sick, the poor. He is the embodiment of God the shepherd.


He claims to be the Good Shepherd they have been waiting for who is able to identify the sheep. A good shepherd is the owner of the sheep, not just a hired hand and the sheep recognise his voice when they hear it. This is a fascinating point. What is it which leads people to accept Jesus Christ? Is it background or luck? Or is it that they simply are the sheep who belong to the good shepherd? They cannot help responding to their shepherds searching voice. Wonderful indeed!

The real shepherd was born to his task. He was sent out with his flock as soon as he was old enough to go and he grew up into the calling of being a shepherd. The sheep became his companions and his friends and it became second nature for him to think of them before he thought of himself.

But the false shepherd came into the job, not as a calling but as a way of making money. He was in it solely and completely for the pay he could get out of it and he was merely a hireling. When the wolves attacked , the hireling shepherd forgot everything but the saving of his own life and ran away. The owner of the sheep, the true shepherd, loves the sheep and may even be willing to sacrifice his life for them.

There are two further points to note. Jesus describes himself as the good shepherd. In Greek there a two words for 'good'. there is the word 'agathos' which simply describes the moral quality of a thing; then there is the word 'kalos' which means that a person or a thing is not only good; but in the goodness there is a quality of loveliness and attractiveness which makes it a lovely thing. When Jesus is described as the good shepherd the word used is 'kalos'. In Jesus there is more than efficiency and faithfulness, there is a certain loveliness. William Barclay describes it in terms of people in a village talking of 'the good doctor'. When they speak like that they are not only speaking on the doctor's skill as a physician but also of his kindness, empathy and so on. In the picture of Jesus as the Good Shepherd there is a loveliness as well as strength and power.

The second point is this. In the parable the flock is the church of Christ. And the flock suffers from a double danger. It is liable to attack from the outside but there is also danger from inside - from the false shepherd who wishes to exploit the flock for his own benefit. The flock often suffers from the effects of bad leadership. Our leadership should always be based on the leadership and example of Jesus Christ.

 

Mark

Psalm 23 (NRSV)

The Divine Shepherd

A Psalm of David.
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. 
   He makes me lie down in green pastures;
he leads me beside still waters; 
   he restores my soul.
He leads me in right paths
   for his name’s sake. 

Even though I walk through the darkest valley,
   I fear no evil;
for you are with me;
   your rod and your staff—
   they comfort me. 

You prepare a table before me
   in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
   my cup overflows. 
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
   all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
   my whole life long.

Brother,

This is the Psalm appointed for next Sunday and so I thought I would do something different for this week.

The most prized gifts normally come in small packages! What I want to share with you is the smallest of words in the Psalm, but one that brings the most amazing blessing. It is the word ‘my’ … “The Lord is my shepherd …” It is not even a whole word in Hebrew, it is only a suffix.

As a philosophy teacher, I spend all my time asking the Big Questions. This week, in  lessons we will be thinking about the meaning of life! In the process, we also often look at the Universe, its existence and its being and we are often drawn back to the thought that it simply could not have happened by chance. Even the most ardent of sceptics, like Richard Dawkins, has had to acknowledge the possibility of a deity that kicked things off (Deism). We Theists hold to the idea of a personal God, because contingent things – those things that exist that do not have to exist, i.e. everything – must have been a result of a decision having been made, and deciding is a personal attribute. Christians refer to this creator God (in the Psalmist’s words) as a shepherd in the way that he relates to His creation. Most of the time, this image is used when speaking of the covenant relationship God has with His people and the image was also meant to be a type for the way kings ought to relate to the people.

Here the Psalmist introduced a notion that is as radical as it is beautiful: this great creator God is my shepherd.

God cares for me; he cares for those that I love. I can bring my everyday needs before him, I do not need to feel that I have no right to do so, because God has given me the right through His Son Jesus, to bring all our needs before him.

The Psalmist continues: “I shall not lack any thing that the Shepherd knows that I need.”

Oriental shepherds find green pastures for their sheep. This is difficult to find but he perseveres. He leads them besides waters of rest and through this rest and life-giving water he restores the sheep’s life (soul).

Arnold Rhodes comments:

“As God’s people we have our green pastures and still waters: the daily bread, family prayers and Bible Study, worship in the sanctuary, service in the market place, in fact, all the blessings of God. God’s blessings, material and spiritual – bring renewed vitality for the tasks ahead. He leads each of us in paths of righteousness.”

G A F Knight reminds us of an oft-told story coming from the last century. Two ministers went on holiday walking through the Welsh hills. High on the moors they met a shepherd lad and stopped to speak with him. They discovered that this boy had never been to school and knew nothing of the Christian faith. They explained things to him as best they could and then shared the 23^rd Psalm with him. To help him discover this personal faith, they got him to repeat the words “The Lord is my shepherd”. The following year they returned to the hills. They called in at a cottage to purchase a drink of milk. The lady of the house noticed them looking at a picture on the mantelpiece. “Yes,” she said, “that was my son. He died last winter in a snow storm while tending his sheep. But there was a curious thing about him, his right hand was clutching the fourth finger of his left hand.”

The ministers explained: “We met your boy last year. In fact, since he was a shepherd boy, we taught him to repeat the first line of the 23^rd Psalm to himself, to pause at the fourth word, and think ‘This Psalm was meant for me.’”

This Psalm was meant for me too … and you …

Be blessed,

As ever,

David

1 John 3:1-7 (NRSV)

¹See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. ²Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he^* is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. ³And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure. 4 Everyone who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. ⁵You know that he was revealed to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. ⁶No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him. ⁷Little children, let no one deceive you. Everyone who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.

This Epistle is a favourite among us Methodists as John’s spectacles tend to have fitted our founder so well. We are a holiness movement, committed to the proclamation of the Gospel and living it. In a sense we are Protestant’s Dominicans – the Order of Preachers - and this passage gives us a great deal to say.

We are not only called God’s children we ‘are’ God’s children. By nature we are not, we are mere creatures of God – created by Him – but by God’s grace – we are adopted as his children. Barclay makes the distinction between ‘paternity’ and ‘fatherhood’: paternity refers to our genes, our physical existence; fatherhood describes an intimate, loving relationship. In the sense of paternity, all people are children of God, but in the sense of fatherhood we are God’s children when He ‘… makes his gracious approach to people and they respond …’

We have the great honour of being called children of God which means that Christians have a unique relationship with God made possible by Jesus. This is part of the image of being born of God. This status is possible because the Spirit of God enables Christians to live in a different way – in the ways of God rather than the ways of the world. Because we have the gift of God’s Spirit within us, it is possible for us to live lives that are not dominated by sin. But this refers to the ideal and is not completed in our present experience.

It seems so important to stress this in today’s world: the mere sexual act that leads to conception and physical birth is just a tiny part of the situation; what is needed for any child are not parents, but a mother and a father. Some of my students have asked: “When is one ready for a sexual relationship?” My response is always, when you are ready to be a mother and father with all the commitment that this involves. Sadly, I believe we live in a world where there are parents and children but there are not enough mothers and fathers!

One of the ways where we see this is in the glorious gift of adoption; something sadly frowned upon in today’s world. Most girls say that they would prefer to have an abortion than give up a child for adoption. I have to say that I find this very difficult. There is a waiting list miles long, of couples who would do almost anything to adopt a child, any child; we even have people going overseas. Some young people think that they would hate to know that they were adopted, because they would feel unwanted. Nothing could be further from the truth – in my view. A mother taking her pregnancy to full term to give life to her child and then being willing to give the child to another mother and father who will give the child everything they need, must be both the most difficult thing and the most loving thing any mother could do. Adopted children ought to feel most special of all.

And this is a reason why I feel so special as an ‘adopted’ child of God.

Previously, the relationship between God and humanity was one of covenant, sealed by complex laws that need fulfilment. Now Jesus has given us a new way – a deliberate act of God – inviting us to become part of a new family.

Christian experience is as much about present reality as it is about future hope. We are called children of God now because this is real now – we are children of God already. By nature we are creatures of God, by God’s grace we become children of God. We don’t need to wait for the next world to find out what this means, we know it now. As children feel completely at home with their parents “... so we feel if we recognise God as truly our Father. ... We are content that we shall see him as he is” (verse 2b).

It is lovely to see young people’s pride when they are afforded a place at Oxbridge or at Sandhurst as a precursor to entering a fine regiment, or when invited into a large prestigious firm of lawyers or accountants. I think you understand what I mean. They brace up and feel that they need to behave accordingly – it is what Barclay calls ‘… inspiration for fine living …’ to make oneself worthy of the institution that they are part of. Well, Christians are members of the family of God and so part of the greatest ‘thing’ possible. Our adoption into this family ought to inspire us to lives of holiness.

And here we come to our Methodist heritage and its emphasis on both free choice and willing obedience. We are all children because we owe our existence to God; but we become part of God family by accepting the gift of grace.

But being children has certain responsibilities. Verse 3 reminds us that we have a need to purify ourselves. We all know that we are declared right with God by His grace taking the initiative and doing everything for us. The Reformers spoke of the wonderful doctrine of “Justification by Faith” apart from the works of the Law, lest anyone should boast. Being declared right with God is the most wonderfully liberating understanding. I remember when it first dawned on me: I was able to accept myself for the first time ever, because I knew I was forgiven. But for so long, many of us thought that this was it – this is the Gospel - and it is, but only part of it. God gives us His Spirit so that we can be made into what we have being declared to be. We do not have to be satisfied with our lives as they are, we can change, and we do change, when we allow God to work his miracle of purification within our lives. But, as always, there is a need for us to take some of the responsibility. We also need to make a conscious and deliberate decision of the will to “purify ourselves” following the example of our Lord – we need to abide in Christ.

When we abide in Christ – we do not sin. John implies that sin is a deliberate breaking of the law and to obey oneself instead of God. Sin undoes the work of Christ because Jesus came to take away sin. To sin is to bring back what Jesus came to abolish. Sin results from failing to abide in Christ. Barclay then makes a wonderful comment:

“… so long as we remember the continual presence of Jesus, we will not sin; it is when we forget that presence that we sin …”

These verses have been much debated: some cry ‘impossible!’ others have devoted themselves to perfectionism and separated themselves to try to achieve it. In order to understand what the author is saying here, it is important to remember the paradigm he has established when he introduced the theme way back in chapter 1:8. He cannot be claiming a sinless perfection because he has clearly stated that to make this claim is self-deceit and an insult to God (making him out to be a liar). We also need to look forward to chapter 5:16-17 where he makes a distinction between sins that are mortal and those that are not (mortal sins are those that are deliberate). This gives us an important clue to the thinking of the author: there are two types of children – those of God and those of the devil. Children of the devil find sin natural.

This is our challenge: How comfortable are we with our sin? God is able to keep us from mortal sin, so when we don’t sin, it is because of God’s grace; and so there is no place for pride or feelings of superiority. When we see others fall where we have not, we should say with the greatest sincerity and gratitude: “There but for the grace of God go I!”

Being children of God means living in love. Price Love explains: “To be children of God means to live rightly and to love truly.” The opposite is the way of Cain, who failed to love his brother because his own deeds were evil and those of his brother were good. Lack of love is the consequence of bad living, because bad living produces the jealousy that grows into the worst sins of hate and murder. Not to love is to remain in death, but when we love we gain the assurance that we have already passed from death to life.

.

John 20.19-end (NRSV)

Jesus Appears to the Disciples

19 When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ ²⁰After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. ²¹Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’²²When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’

Jesus and Thomas

24 But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. ²⁵So the other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord.’ But he said to them, ‘Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.’

26 A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ ²⁷Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.’ ²⁸Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ ²⁹Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.’

The Purpose of This Book

30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. ³¹But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name. 

Brother,

Thank you for holding the fort for the past two weeks. The last week of term culminated in services in four different venues for over 2000 students and staff – all ending with pure exhaustion – and then a week in Perthshire, Scotland, only to succumb to a hacking cough that had been kept at bay by the adrenalin of busyness! But I am back and can offer the following thoughts on the Gospel for next Sunday. (I am aided in this reflection from the work of A M Hunter).

Ten disciples were present and locked together in the room on that first Easter evening when Jesus came and stood among them. Something had happened; Jesus had not just been returned to the live he previously had and this new life freed him from normal bodily restrictions. Jesus appeared to the disciples to prove to them that he was alive, albeit in a different way. But his body still had some similarities; it was still the same body that had hung on the Cross, because he showed them his hands and side.

Jesus then set about commissioning his disciples: Just as the Father sent me, so I send you ... At the Last Supper the Disciples had represented to 12 tribes of Israel in a new way; now there were only 10 present. Jesus breathed on them and said: Receive the Holy Spirit ... These words recall Genesis 2.7 where God breathed into the nostrils and imparted life. This is therefore the beginning of a new creation, because in Jesus, God gives to men the saving breath of new life, which is the Holy Spirit.

This has perplexed many people. If the Disciples received the Holy Spirit on this first Easter day, why was the day of Pentecost necessary? Hunter sees no difficulty with this, as this first experience was a time of preparation – ‘... a time when the Spirit worked among the Apostles, like yeast in dough, until it burst forth on the Day of Pentecost in a mighty release of divine power.’

As Jesus breathes on his Disciples, he imparts to them divine power to represent him when dealing with sinners – if you forgive ... they are forgiven. They are given the authority to pardon, or not to pardon – but only if being guided by the Holy Spirit.

And so we turn to Thomas. It was not that Thomas was an out-and- out doubter; it is clear that he was completely loyal to Jesus, as John 11.16 and 14.5 testify. His problem was that he was ‘literal minded’ and demanded certainty before he could commit himself; He wanted to believe – but he needed absolute proof.

A week later – again on a Sunday evening his moment came. Jesus appeared again and used the words Thomas had used in order to minister to him. We are not told if Thomas actually touched Jesus, but we do know that his faith was profound – My Lord and my God.

Hunter concludes: “True faith in the risen Lord is not really based on the evidence of physical eye or ear but on experience, attested by thousands upon thousands down the centuries, of those who have testified.”

Maundy Thursday

Dear Brother,

We come now to the end of Lent. Martin Kähler, the Theologian from the 20th century used to say that the gospels are Passion narratives with long introductions. The gospels are essentially about the death and resurrection of Jesus. And in all these narratives, Jesus is portrayed as journeying into sin - into the land of sin - in order to undo it from within. In order to swallow it up with the divine compassion that he alone embodies. I have used this before but it is the image in Tolkien's story where Frodo journeys into the dark land.

And the gospel writers seem to make the point that as Jesus suffers through these days he is confronted by human evil and sin in all it's various guises. First there is betrayal. Judas turns Jesus is and undermines all he has tried to do for a handful of coins. We humans always react badly to betrayal - especially the betrayal of a friend! Dante in his writings puts traitors at the bottom of the pit of hell - Cassius, Brutus who turned on Caesar - and Judas.

Then Jesus encounters sloth - spiritual laziness. Remember how in the garden he prays and he sweats great drops of blood. Although this medical condition is relatively rare, according to Dr. Frederick Zugibe (Chief Medical Examiner of Rockland County, New York) it is well-known, and there have been many cases of it. The clinical term is “hematohidrosis.” “Around the sweat glands, there are multiple blood vessels in a net-like form.” Under the pressure of great stress the vessels constrict. Then as the anxiety passes “the blood vessels dilate to the point of rupture. The blood goes into the sweat glands.” As the sweat glands are producing a lot of sweat, it pushes the blood to the surface - coming out as droplets of blood mixed with sweat. So Jesus asks his disciples to 'watch and pray' but, when he needs them most, they fall asleep. This is meant to remind us of our spiritual sloth.

Next Jesus encounters violence. He flushes out of it's hiding place this most destructive of human sins. Peter reacts in fear and anger and cuts off the ear of the High Priest's servant with his sword and Jesus utters those immortal words, "Put away your sword! Those who live by the sword will die by the sword." By the way, you might find this article on the fall and rise of human violence interesting.

Mark