| Sermon - The Good Shepherd | Full parish service - 3 May 2020 |
You can download the order of service here, and a printable version of these readings, sermon and prayers can be downloaded here.
Sunday
3rd May 2020
Fourth
Sunday of Easter
This Sunday is Good Shepherd Sunday.
Every year we hear a passage using sheep and shepherds to describe
Jesus’ relationship with his people. In Biblical times the analogy of
shepherding was used to describe rulers and leaders. Today it gives us an
opportunity to think about trust and belonging.
In pram service (8am) this week we will have stories
of sheep: thirsty sheep, hungry sheep, smelly sheep, naughty sheep, scared
sheep … you get the idea. We’ll have some songs and prayers and will make
sheep together. If you’d like to join in the craft please download the
sheep template and print on card (click here). You will need some cotton wool and glue
to make the sheep look properly sheep-like. Here's the link to pram service.:
In Sunday school (9:30am) Bring drawing materials to the table, or the floor whichever suits best. After opening with hellos we'll start with a hymn - the Lord is my Shepherd - where we are silenced as a group so can sing our hearts out at home along to the version I share. What you'll need: white paint, white fluffy stuff, paint and glue, pens, pencils, paper. I'm guessing that......no, you work it out! Here's the link to Sunday school. There is a password in the newsletter (if you would like to receive the newsletter please give your details here).
Readings
Acts 2:42-47
The
Fellowship of the Believers
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’
teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to
prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many
wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All
the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They
sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every
day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke
bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising
God and enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their
number daily those who were being saved.
John
10: 1-10
The
Good Shepherd and His Sheep
10 “Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen
by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2 The
one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The
gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He
calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When
he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow
him because they know his voice. 5 But they will
never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do
not recognise a stranger’s voice.” 6 Jesus used
this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was
telling them.
7 Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell
you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All
who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have
not listened to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever
enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find
pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill
and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
Sermon
Jesus is on about sheep again. He talks about
sheep a lot, maybe too much because “when Jesus used this figure of speech with
them”, we’re told, “they did not understand what he was saying…”
Every year, three weeks after Easter, we get sheep,
shepherds, sheepfolds, and I’m still not sure that we understand what Jesus is
saying…
This year’s bit of sheep wisdom talks starts off with
who the sheep listen to. Apparently the sheep will follow the voice of
the shepherd but not of the thieves and bandits. Well, I’m not sure
that’s true. Sheep like people get distracted by all kinds of things and
wander off following the promise of this or that without paying the least
attention to any shepherd good or not so good.
So Jesus tries again: this time he explains that he is
not the shepherd he’s the sheep gate. The gate. For real.
I’m not sure that this clears things up any but let’s
go with it.
Gates, they open and close right? They can be about
security: they can keep things out and keep things in. They can be
about opportunity: they can let things out and they can let things in.
We are used to this language of open and closed.
Whether we as a nation are open for business or closed to immigrants.
We tend to prefer a gate locked tight when we are
under threat – mainly from violence (open gates might let in terrorist) or
economic insecurity (open gates might let in masses who will use up homes, jobs
and social security budgets).
Currently we have a dilemma: if our gates are shut we
will keep out the virus that threatens our physical survival but we hear the
voices of many arguing that if we don’t open them soon our economic survival
will also be under threat.
So we get the gate metaphor. But here’s the
thing. Jesus’s gate seems to be pretty much permanently wedged open: the
sheep move in and out they seem to have both security and opportunity.
I suspect that this might be the point. Jesus is
not a king like other kings, he is not a shepherd like other shepherds and so
it should come as no surprise that he is a gate not like other gates.
The whole sheep, shepherd, gate conversation begins
just after Jesus has healed the man born blind. The point about being
blind was that it excluded you from the community. Jesus heals the man
and in doing so he heals the community because they should now all be gathered
together without some left outside. However, the community find another
reason to exclude the formerly blind man this time because he was healed on the
Sabbath. So, having been brought in from outside because he has regained
his sight, he is thrown out again.
The thing about Jesus, the striking thing about Jesus,
is that Jesus never throws anyone out. No one. Ever. Not the rich young man who
can’t bring himself to give away his riches, not Judas whom he knew would
betray him, not the condemned man being crucified next to him, not the soldiers
who executed him. No one gets shut out. Ever.
This is a hard thing for human beings to cope
with. Our security rests on us being able to know who is in and who is
out. We want to be able to keep out those we disagree with, those we feel
threatened by, those who might challenge us.
And the church is often a terrible example of this:
arguing constantly over keeping out gays and women and people who are suspected
of thinking and believing differently. Yet at the same time
churches have always been a place of sanctuary. The church is one of the
few places in society where anyone, anyone at all, can pole up and be a part of
us. Church at its best is the most radically open of places.
We will always find this teaching hard, we will always
struggle to accept homophobes as well LGBT people, perpetrators as well as
victims yet it is what Jesus asks us to do.
Thank God then that WE are NOT the gate or
gatekeeper. We are the sheep. We are always the included never the
includer.
We don’t get to judge who comes in and who goes out,
that is Christ’s job.
We get to experience the discomfort and the
excitement, the challenge and the change, the abundant life that will
inevitably flow from keeping the gate wide open.
Prayers
Mighty God,
in whom we know the power of redemption,
you stand among us in the shadows of our time.
As we move through every sorrow and trial of this life,
uphold us with knowledge of the final morning
when, in the glorious presence of your risen Son,
we will share in his resurrection,
redeemed and restored to the fullness of life
and forever freed to be your people. Amen.
Prayers of Intercessions
Lord, grant us the stillness and calm of your Spirit
that we might concentrate on these few minutes of prayer together.
Lord of all nations on earth, we ask you to give
guidance to the leaders of all countries, who have the heavy responsibility of
shaping policies to do what is best for their people – your people. May they make wise decisions and now more
than ever be prepared to work together for the greater good in the current
situation.
Lord, in your mercy – Hear our prayer
We pray for your Church throughout the world that it
might come together in unity and we ask for your blessing on all the clergy who
are working tirelessly to maintain the ministry of your word and pastoral care
in these difficult circumstances. We
think particularly of our own parish.
Lord, as you taught us to love our neighbours as ourselves, give us
courage that we might do what each of us can to help those in need, to comfort
those in distress, to offer practical help and assure the isolated of your
love.
Lord, in your mercy – Hear our prayer
We pray for doctors, nurses and medical staff who are
caring for the sick and those working in care homes. Strengthen them with your love and keep them
safe. Give them skill, sympathy and
resilience to carry on. Give your wisdom
to all those throughout the world who are searching for a cure.
Lord, in your mercy – Hear our prayer
We pray for our local community in Clapham, our
families, some of whom may be far-flung and we cannot see at present, our
friends, our neighbours, the elderly, the isolated, the anxious, those who are
struggling financially, the hungry and the homeless. Lord, lift up all those who are brought low
and keep them in your love and mercy at this time of uncertainty and distress.
Lord, in your mercy – Hear our prayer
We bring before you the sick and the suffering and
entrust them to your tender care.
Comfort them that they might be restored to health and strength and may
your everlasting arms be there to hold them safe. We ask in particular for your blessing on
Jane Bell, Heidi Bell, Albert Bell, Sara Carter, Ruby Mitchell, Bernard
Maciejko, Jane Taylor, Linda Parker, Christine Harris, Shirley Dobson, Jane
Roberts and Damien Harte, and in a moment of silence we remember any others
close to us or known to us ………..
Lord, in your mercy – Hear our prayer
We pray for the souls of those who have recently died,
including Gillian Davies, and we pray for Jo Ross and her family, and also Enzo
Saunt, and we pray for his family, Rosie, Ant and Maria. We think of all those who are mourning a
recent bereavement. May they know your
comfort and support and be surrounded with your love.
Lord, in your mercy – Hear our prayer
On this ‘Good Shepherd’ Sunday may we think of
ourselves as your flock, Lord, safely garnered into your sheepfold, so that we
might increasingly trust in you, dedicate our lives to you and grow in your
Spirit knowing that nothing can separate us from your love.
Merciful Father –
Accept these prayers for the sake of your
Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.
