Alleluia! Christ is risen.
He is risen indeed. Alleluia!
Collect (today is sometimes called “Good Shepherd Sunday”)
Risen Christ, faithful Shepherd of your Father's sheep: teach us to hear your voice and to follow your command, that all your people may be gathered into one flock, to the glory of God the Father. Amen.
Confession
Jesus the Good Shepherd calls us back to himself. Let us reflect on our need of his guiding hand and healing touch, and confess our sins to God.
Forgive us, Lord, when we stray from your way. Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Forgive us, Lord, when we fail to respond to your call. Christ, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Help us to follow in faith, and to support and guide each other. Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
May almighty God, who sent his Son into the world to seek and save the lost, bring us his pardon and peace, now and always. Amen.
Readings - Acts, chapter 4, verses 5 to 12 :-
Next day the Jewish rulers, elders, and scribes met in Jerusalem. There were present Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. They brought the apostles before the court and began to interrogate them. ‘By what power’, they asked, ‘or by what name have such men as you done this?’ Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, answered, ‘Rulers of the people and elders, if it is about help given to a sick man that we are being questioned today, and the means by which he was cured, this is our answer to all of you and to all the people of Israel: it was by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, and whom God raised from the dead; through him this man stands here before you fit and well. This Jesus is the stone, rejected by you the builders, which has become the corner-stone. There is no salvation through anyone else; in all the world no other name has been granted to mankind by which we can be saved.’
John, chapter 10, verses 11 to 18
Jesus said, ‘I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired man, when he sees the wolf coming, abandons the sheep and runs away, because he is not the shepherd and the sheep are not his. Then the wolf harries the flock and scatters the sheep. The man runs away because he is a hired man and cares nothing for the sheep.
‘I am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me, as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. But there are other sheep of mine, not belonging to this fold; I must lead them as well, and they too will listen to my voice. There will then be one flock, one shepherd. The Father loves me because I lay down my life, to receive it back again. No one takes it away from me; I am laying it down of my own free will. I have the right to lay it down, and I have the right to receive it back again; this charge I have received from my Father.’
Thanks be to God, for this his holy word. Amen.
A Reflection on the Reading
Our first reading today, from the Acts of the Apostles, begins with the words “Next day”. Next day after what, you might be wanting to ask. The next day after the events in last week’s reading, is the answer - Peter and John have healed a crippled beggar at the gateway to the temple, and event which has caused quite a stir. And now the religious authorities have called them in to answer for their actions.
And in response, Peter tells the high priests much the same thing as he told the crowd that gathered in last week’s reading, that what they have done they’ve done in the name of Jesus of Nazareth, the same man that they had sent to be crucified. But God has raised him from the dead, says Peter, and if you want proof of that, look at this man who is standing before you fit and well. And then Peter borrows an image from Old Testament scripture when he describes Jesus as the rejected stone which has now become the corner stone, the stone on which everything else is built.
Another powerful image from scripture is that of the good shepherd, and this is an image which Jesus often used when speaking of himself. This Fourth Sunday of Easter is often called Good Shepherd Sunday, and we use as our Gospel one of those places where Jesus explicitly calls himself “The Good Shepherd”. “The Lord is my shepherd” writes David in the 23rd Psalm. “I myself will tend the flock,” says God through the prophetic words of Ezekiel. In calling himself the Good Shepherd, Jesus is claiming as his own the power and authority of God.
The prophets spoke of the false shepherds, those who, having been entrusted with the care and leadership of the people, instead exploit them, neglect them, and expose them to danger. And in today’s Gospel Jesus speaks of the hired man who, when the going gets tough, looks only after himself - he runs off and abandons the sheep to whatever dangers are confronting them.
And here we are reminded of something absolutely central to the Gospels, and to the faith we share: that what makes Jesus so special, what makes him unique, is that we the sheep are more precious to this Good Shepherd even than his own life. For any shepherd, danger and risk were part of the deal. Good shepherds looked after their sheep on those dangerous hillsides; and they saw them as more than just a commodity to be used and exploited. Elsewhere, Jesus refers to himself as “the door of the sheepfold.” The image there is of the shepherd lying through the night across the entrance to the fold where the sheep are penned - so any wolf, lion or robber would have to contend with him first.
In the verse before our second reading started, John chapter 10 verse 10, Jesus says, “I have come that they might have life, life in all its fullness.” So it seems to me that one simple test of whether I’m on the right track as a minister is to ask myself from time to time whether what I’m doing is helping people to have “life in all its fullness.” Am I adding value, is what I preach adding value, to the lives of those I preach to, work with, serve? For I’m called to follow and to imitate the one who calls himself the Good Shepherd, and who reminds us that the Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
Because being a faithful sheep is one thing. Fair enough, let’s be good sheep, following the shepherd, not straying off. But, looking at sheep as I often do when out walking in these parts, mostly they don’t seem to be doing very much. So Jesus as shepherd, us as sheep, could be a recipe for a quietist Church that’s very nice and peaceful and obedient, but isn’t really doing an awful lot.
The fact is though, that Jesus calls us not only to be faithful sheep, but also faithful shepherds - all of us, not just vicars, which is why Peter writes that we are “a kingdom of priests”. The medieval writer Thomas a Kempis called this “the imitation of Christ” - doing our best to be like Jesus in the practical and prayerful living of our lives. That will include looking out for one another, having a special care for those who are weak and vulnerable, having as Jesus did the mind of a servant, and challenging what damages others or exploits them. And it includes regularly seeking the presence of Christ in our lives, through prayer and study and reading the scriptures. For our Good Shepherd is also our chief corner stone - and on him alone we build.
Statement of Faith
We believe in God the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named. We believe in God the Son, who lives in our hearts through faith, and fills us with his love. We believe in God the Holy Spirit, who strengthens us with power from on high. We believe in one God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Prayers - Pray that the Church everywhere may be inspired by the example of service and sacrifice we see in Jesus the Good Shepherd. Pray especially today for the Anglican Church in Japan, and within our own Diocese for ministry development and training, and for Fiona Gibson, collated today as the new Archdeacon of Ludlow.
Pray for peace, understanding and cooperation among nations in the big issues of the day - Covid, climate change, the gulf between rich and poor, the rise of extremist groups. Also, on world Malaria Day, pray too for the control of this deadly disease, impacting especially on the young.
Pray for all in need today, and for all in hospital or other places of care. Pray for their healing, and for the safety and support of those who care for them. Pray also for all who are affected by workplace accidents and industrial diseases.
Pray for our own communities and for our families and friends. May we be faithful not only as sheep but also as shepherds, looking out for one another and offering care. Pray for all involved in the election campaigns for local government and in the devolved nations.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Prayer for today and Blessing
May the light of Christ, rising in glory, banish all darkness from our hearts and minds. Amen.
May God our Father, by whose glory Christ was raised from the dead, strengthen us to walk with him in his risen life. And may almighty God bless us, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, now and for ever. Amen.
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