Sermon 19th June 2011

Today, one of our Lay Readers, Trevor Tayleur, preaches based on the reading from John 11: 17-27

I Am the Resurrection and the Life

The Fountain of Youth. The Philosopher’s Stone. The Holy Grail. What do they have in common? According to legend and to some well-known films and books, the power to grant immortality. In Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, the Nazis and various other villains search for the Holy Grail, because anyone who drinks out of it will obtain immortality. In Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, the evil wizard Lord Voldemort wants to get hold of the Philosopher’s Stone, because it will extend the life of anyone who consumes it. And in Pirates of the Caribbean – On Stranger Tides, Captain Jack Sparrow is in a race to be the first to get to the Fountain of Youth, a legendary spring that restores the youth of anyone who drinks its water.

In Pirates of the Caribbean, Jack faces many dangers and fights many battles in his quest for the Fountain of Youth. These films are very entertaining, but for me they raise the question – why do so many characters risk so much in their quest for these legendary sources of eternal life? Underlying these searches is surely the fear of death. Woody Allen has said some witty things about death. One of them is: “I don't want to achieve immortality through my work... I want to achieve it through not dying.”

But as the cliché goes, there are only two things that are certain in life: - death and taxes. If you can afford a good accountant, you can cut your tax bill. But you can’t do that with death. There is no magic formula, no fountain of youth that is going to save us. So where can we find eternal life? Captain Jack Sparrow went on dangerous adventures looking for it, but perhaps there’s a simpler way of finding it. For Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.”

Of course going on a quest for the Fountain of Youth is the stuff of fiction. In real life people actually have to face up to death. There are various ways in our society for coping with death. One strategy is denial. With all the debate about the recent Terry Pratchett documentary on assisted suicide, denial is a bit harder at the moment. Nevertheless, I believe it’s an approach many people take. Let’s not talk about it. Death is obscene; death is not something we’re going to talk about. Many people never get around to writing a will because they think it’s bad luck. If you ignore your mortality, then maybe it will go away. In the long run, denial doesn’t work as a coping strategy. The problem with denial is that until you accept that there's a problem, there’s no way to find a solution or to move forward.

A second strategy for coping with death is to sentimentalise it. Denial doesn’t work, and so there’s this second approach for getting around the problem of death, sentimentalising it. Let’s face death, and let’s say death is our friend. Death is a natural thing; it’s just the final stage of life. Now, that actually does sound a more healthy approach than denial, but sentimentalising death isn’t going to work either. The Bible tells us that death is an enemy. In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul calls it ‘the last enemy’. No, death is not a friend.

A third approach taken by some people is anger. Dylan Thomas, the famous Welsh poet, wrote as his father died:
“Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”

But rage and anger on their own can’t solve the problem of death. Something more is needed. So let’s now turn to Jesus’ attitude to death. Jesus himself was indignant about death. If we look at what happens in the verses after today’s Gospel reading, we see that is the case. Jesus arrived at Lazarus’s tomb, and verse 33 tells that when he “saw [Mary, Lazarus’s sister] weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled”.

The Greek word for “deeply moved” means to snort as an expression of anger, to be moved with the deepest emotion. It’s rather like seeing a horse neigh and snort with fury, as it stamps its feet. The Greek word expresses a sense of anger, outrage and emotional indignation.

This is more than empathy. It’s not just that Jesus was entering into the grief and desolation of the two sisters, Martha and Mary, as they mourned their brother. At funeral services, particularly for someone who has died young, we experience a sense of desolation, but here Jesus’ soul was filled with rage. That’s very important. Why did he weep like this with such anger? Why did he snort? After all, he was about to bring Lazarus back to life. It’s not just that his dear friend Lazarus had died. Jesus was going to sort that out. It wasn’t just that his dear friends Martha and Mary were so deeply distressed. No, there’s a deeper reason that Jesus was angry here. It’s because for Jesus death is an intrusion into God’s world – an unwelcome intruder which causes terrible agony. And one of the greatest agonies is that it severs loving relationships; that is why it’s so painful. Here the sisters had lost the brother they love. No one could replace for these sisters their brother. Their love for Lazarus was special, and now he was gone, separated from them. And Jesus snorted with anger at the intruder who should bring such pain.

Death is an intruder, an enemy. But the good news that Jesus brings is that death is a defeated enemy. Jesus was not just indignant at death; he showed his power over death. We see in verses 38-44 that Jesus told the people to move the stone away from Lazarus’ tomb, and he told Lazarus himself to come out. And that’s what happened. The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.

Jesus demonstrated his absolute power over death. Yet although this was a great miracle, Lazarus isn’t alive today. Lazarus was to die again. The stories in John’s Gospel are signs; they are signs that point to a greater truth. And this miracle points forward to the end of the Gospel where Jesus Christ himself was crucified and raised from the dead. He wasn’t brought back to life so he would die again. No, his resurrection is permanent; his resurrection is everlasting. Jesus has smashed death. He’s been there and re-emerged. It’s as if there’s a door marked death and one day each of us will have to go through it. But Jesus has been through it. He has come back and says to us: “I will get you through death.”

And the proof is this - that he has died and has risen again. This is tremendously good news for us as we reflect on our own mortality. None of us know exactly how long we have. Many of us may well live to a ripe old age, but we also know that life can be tragically cut short at an early age. But whatever the case, Jesus has demonstrated that he has power over death. Jesus Christ has smashed through death. CS Lewis, the writer of the Narnia books, put it as follows: “[Jesus] has met, fought, and beaten the King of Death. Everything is different because He has done so. This is the beginning of the New Creation: a new chapter in cosmic history has opened.”

Yes, Jesus has smashed death. But why did he have to smash death in the first place? Death is an enemy, an intruder. So how did it get into the world? Physical death is a symptom of a second kind of death, a far more subtle kind of death, and this second kind of death is the root cause of physical death and all its misery. And the second type of death is called spiritual death. Spiritual death separates us from God, and the root cause of this separation is sin. It’s sin that separates us from God. And all the suffering and all the pain of death comes back to that little word sin. All the desperate suffering we see ultimately comes back to sin. Sin is the problem. It’s a word that’s much misunderstood today. Sin isn’t just a spot of grown up naughtiness. There’s nothing naughty but nice about sin; it’s not a bit of fun on the side.

Our sin has separated us from God. That is the message of the Bible. So Jesus, the Son of God, came into the world, snorting at physical death at the tomb of a friend. But more importantly he came to deal with spiritual death which makes physical death such a tragedy. We know that Jesus, after he raised Lazarus, went to physical death himself – an excruciating physical death by crucifixion. Why did Jesus die on the cross? He died to deal with the separation that our sin brings between us and God. And without Jesus’ death we would face physical death and spiritual death alone. The apostle Peter subsequently wrote: “He himself bore our sins in his body on the [cross], so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.” (1 Peter 2:24)

Many people are anxious, even desperate, about death. They want the comfort of knowing that death is not the end, and Jesus can offer that comfort. But if I stopped there I would be missing out something crucial. Yes, Jesus can sort out our death. He declared, “I am the resurrection and the life.” But it’s vital to look at the rest of verses 25-26 as well. Jesus continued: “He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.”

We need to believe him. We need him to sort out the sin which causes spiritual death. We must accept the cross as well as the resurrection. We need to confess our sin, and to have our sin dealt with, so that our spiritual death can be dealt with.

Death is an enemy, but a defeated enemy. Through his resurrection, Jesus has defeated death. And if we’re willing to turn to him in repentance, we have the assurance that he will get us through physical and spiritual death.

Resurrection, though, isn’t just about what happens when we die. Resurrection isn’t just a doctrine. It isn’t just something that happens in the future. Resurrection is a person, a person who stood in front of Martha, and said, “I am the resurrection and the life.”

Jesus brings the future hope of resurrection into the present. Eternal life, resurrection life isn’t something that starts at some stage in the future. God’s future has broken into the present, and so resurrection life, eternal life can start now. Life on this earth, as Rick Warren reminded us, is a temporary assignment, but eternal life can start in this life. The Holy Spirit comes into our lives when we believe in Jesus; the Holy Spirit renews and changes us. The resurrection is not a future possibility, it is a present certainty. Wherever Jesus is, there is life, resurrection life.

In his letter to the Corinthians, the apostle Paul was able to declare, “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:55) Paul felt able to tease death, to taunt it, to stick his tongue out at it. How did he have the audacity to do that? Because Jesus has broken the power of death; death could not hold him. Paul was also able to say, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” (Philippians 1:20) Paul was able to say with confidence that the worst thing that could happen to him, death, was actually the best.

Personally I find it difficult to be as bold as Paul in the face of death. I feel very much that I’m preaching this sermon to myself, because I also have so much to learn. But I find it helpful to reflect on these truths. Jesus died so that we don’t have to pay for our sin. Jesus has defeated death. He’s risen to be our living Saviour. If we hold fast to these truths, then it will be possible to talk about death and have peace of mind. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life.” With these words, he’s asking, “Will you trust me not only with your life but also your death? Will you trust me? I’ve risen from death myself. I will take you through.”

Lord Jesus, thank you so much for the wonderful assurance that we need not fear death, that we can be at peace about our death because you have risen from death, and we want to put our hands in your hands now. Amen.

Sermon 12th June 2011

Today, one of our Lay Readers, Adjoa Andoh Cunnell, preaches based on the reading from John 10: 11-18.

In 1780 George Alfred Ripley of Skipwith farm, nr Selbey in Vale of York entered the annual local agricultural show for best flock, and won a solid silver sheep cup. The cup was inscribed with the initials GA Ripley and silver marked ‘1780’.
7 generations of the Ripley Family raised sheep at Skipwith farm and every eldest son thereafter was named George A Ripley, So honoured were they to have won that cup.
By the start of the 20th century the Ripley’s had fallen on hard times and were now tenant farmers in Shaklefield . As the Depression dragged on George Albert Ripley was forced to sell up what stock remained and leave the farm. With his wife and young daughter Lizzie, George walked from Yorkshire to Lincolnshire ,all the family belongings piled onto a handcart with little Lizzie on top. In a hamlet called Somersby, George got work as a farm labourer. When she grew up Lizzie probably worked in service locally, later daughters, Agnes and Dorothy at 14 went away to work in service. George, the youngest and the only boy, ran away to sea to avoid becoming a farm labourer. He worked in Liverpool as a valet , but Young George wanted to better himself and went to night school to study marine engineering, eventually getting his ticket and working his way up to become chief engineer on the QE2.
But back in1947, with Young George now at sea, his wife and young daughter went to Somersby to visit Grandad George. He wanted to give the cup to the wife to pass on to his only son. He had remained a labourer all his life and had nothing else to give. During the war when George senior had feared the Germans were going to invade, the only thing of value in the house was the sheep cup so he buried it in the garden and there it remained until this visit in 1947.
The soil was still clinging to it, it was battered, discoloured and had no base, just the cup. The wife dutifully took the battered thing back to Liverpool thinking what’s the fuss?, had it beaten out back into shape and every week the little girl had to polish the cup.
Why do I start with that story? - Because the little girl Jacqueline whose job it was, as she puts it, “to polish that blessed cup week!”, was my mum. Believe it or not I come from a long line of Shepherds!
But what touched me so much about this story, was the family’s pride in their flock and their care of that flock and their feeling so honoured at how well regarded they were by their sheep farming peers. That’s what the Cup meant to them.
So much that they honoured the meaning of the cup by the naming of every first born son after the cupwinning George A Ripley of 1780, right up to my seafaring granddad George Alwyn.
Even when hard times fell and they were no longer farm owners they still held the sheep cup in high regard for what it represented of their past skills, duties and constancy.
As I wrote this on last thunderous Friday evening, a huge rainbow has appeared in the sky, I know there is a meteorological explanation, but the rainbow, the visible reminder of God’s constancy through all the storms of life from Noah till today and beyond, brings fresh comfort each time it appears.
Something of that constancy I see in the Ripley sheep cup, buried in that Lincolnshire back garden during the war for safe keeping, never to be sold not even when the family were in direst poverty, a solid silver cup, but prized for a value beyond money.
The last George in our family was my Uncle Andrew who will have died a year ago this Friday. But we still have the sheep cup of which Uncle Andrew like the rest of the family remained incredibly proud, for what it says of family, care and constancy down the ages
When we think on this morning’s passage Jesus speaks of that care and constancy to be found in a Good Shepherd.
“I am the Good Shepherd” he says.
What image is conjured by the word Shepherd?
Sun filled skies?
Neat green fields?
Fluffy lambs?
Perhaps a ruddy-faced shepherd in a smock, pipe in mouth, crook in hand, trusty black and white sheep dog moving amongst the flock alert to his master’s every command….?
Well actually on some days, in some places, that image may still hold true,
but there are shepherds and flocks on rocky outcrops in hot dry places all over the world, a bit like the Palestine of Jesus’ day.
And in New Zealand the shepherd is most likely to be found on a motorbike, with huge flocks roaming vast areas of land.

The life of the shepherd remains a physically demanding and at times incredibly dangerous one, the vulnerability of numerous sheep has not changed, wolves, sheep rustlers, dangerous terrain, disease,….. none of that has changed since the time of the Gospels.
I went online (as you do) and there are so many diseases to look out for in sheep!!
Footrot, Sore mouth, Scrapie or Wasting disease, Pneumonia, muscular dystrophy, Bacterial meningitis, Rabies, Tetanus, and Lamb Starvation. To name but a few.
Lamb starvation, the number one killer of lambs, is often is associated with a lack of shepherding.
It takes a good shepherd to be on the alert, ready and willing to defend their sheep against all comers.
In Biblical times the bucolic nostalgic image of that benevolent besmocked shepherd, beloved of Sunday evening costume drama, would have seemed bizarre.
For many at that time a shepherd was regarded as about as trustworthy as todays used car salesman, or should that be banker or politician.
Shepherds might either own their flock, be the longterm employee of the flock’s owner or short termers travelling from place to place picking up work where they could. There were good shepherds but there were also bad shepherds.
In v 12 when Jesus talks about the hired hand who sees the wolf coming and abandons the flock, he is perhaps thinking of those short term workers. The bad Shepherds. They are not in it for the long haul, they have no relationship with the sheep or the owner, theirs is not a lifelong commitment.
They are not the ‘Good’ Shepherd’.
Jesus says I am the Good shepherd.
‘I know my sheep and my sheep know me’, he says.

When you hear of something dreadful or wonderful happening, doesn’t that event take on a special meaning when you know someone involved, doesn’t it change the attention you pay to that event?
One of my best friends was awarded an OBE, I now always pay more attention to the announcements. I’ve seen the photos of her in her big hat meeting the queen and the daughter of communist parents, who were very proud!
I have another friend who was in Sri Lanka with her 2 young daughters when the Tsunami hit and barely escaped with their lives from their beach guest house. They were all traumatised. I watched events unfold with especial horror.

Jesus the Good Shepherd, knows his sheep intimately: as well as God the father knows him and he knows God the father.
There is no closer knowledge than that and that is how closely, Jesus knows all the corners of our hearts, all the events of our lives.
And that is how keenly interested in us, he is, how deeply connected to us he is.
(He is)The shepherd who cares so much for his flock, who is so alert to the dangers which may beset them, who loves that flock so dearly that he would die for them, for us.
Jesus is in it for the longest term with us, for eternity.
In John 5:24 he tells us
Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.

When he is the Good Shepherd of our lives no wolf can overcome us.

Jesus talks of having ‘other sheep’ who belong to him who must be brought into the same sheep pen as the first.
If we are the first sheep spoken of , who are these other sheep??
Well of course when Jesus was speaking to his disciples, they would have been the first sheep and we gentiles, non Jews across the globe, the other sheep.
Now as we listen to Jesus’ words in 2011, in a world where his message has reached our shores and our hearing, perhaps we also see ourselves as the first sheep, we who have heard the call to give our hearts and lives to Jesus,
And so perhaps we see the other sheep as those who have not yet given their lives to Christ ,
Or those who have no interest in giving their lives to Christ,
Who once did but have since wandered out of the pen
Or maybe those who feel they are not worth any shepherd bothering about their welfare..

We may have the comfort and encouragement of knowing that against the wolves that enter our lives we will be defended by the mightiest and most loving of shepherds,
yet beyond this comfort, if we are followers of Christ , then it is also his lead, his example that we must follow in the living of our lives.
If he is the Good Shepherd to all the sheep,
the we and the other,
then so must we be!

I was speaking at the Hay On Wye fringe festival – how the light gets in- last Saturday evening on the theme of altruism and charity.
One of the other panelists was a super smart, young very likable professor of Philisophy at the LSE. We were discussing the notion of the selfless deed and I spoke about the concept of a world family, for me out of a faith conviction that we are all God’s creation, therefore I would have a concern for my brothers and sisters globally. He argued that it is indeed a lovely idea, but was not convinced I meant it, since as a man of empirical evidence only, not faith, he argued that human beings really only care about kith and kin, family and friends but faraway people…? They are less likely to engage our interest or concern.
I can of course see why he would believe that and perhaps left to love the world as Jesus loves, under our own steam, that would be a much harder task,
but it is of huge encouragement and makes everything possible for us to attempt what Jesus asks of us,
when we remember on this Pentecost Sunday, that we are not required by Jesus to be Good Shepherds under our own steam at all!
We have the power of the Holy Spirit, the genuine power and inspiration left to us by Christ to support all our efforts.
Just as God the Father loves Jesus, just as Jesus loves we sheep,( loves us so much that he has willingly died to protect us from the wolfish conseqeunces of lives lived in the absence of God,) so we are called to love all of his sheep, those we consider in the pen with us and those we consider outside, for none of us are outside the love of Christ,
for all of us Jesus willingly died.

I come back to the comfort we have in knowing that we are defended by the mightiest of shepherds. Where we read at verses 17-18

GOOD NEWS:
“The Father loves me because I am willing to give up my life, in order that I may receive it back again. 18 No one takes my life away from me. I give it up of my own free will. I have the right to give it up, and I have the right to take it back. This is what my father has commanded me to do.”

NIV:
The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”
The outcome of the struggle between the Good Shepherd and the wolves that torment and threaten our lives is not in doubt, Jesus tells us he lays down his life, but he will take that life back. He is mightier than death. He does so willingly with the authority of the creator and in obedience to this creator Father God. That he lays down and takes up his life again is a manifestation of the power of the creator in whom we put our trust. That Jesus submits himself to the protracted agonies involved in laying down his life is the measure of his love for us and the measure of his understanding of how we suffer.
Our comfort is then in the deep power, deep love and deep understanding of our Shepherd, our defender, our protector and our guide. The one who walks the steepest mountain track of our lives alongside us.
Yet it is also our Shepherd who gives us the commission to continue his work.
In John 21:15-17 later in this Gospel at the last supper Jesus commands Peter

Take care of my lambs
Take care of my sheep.
Take care of my sheep.

(GNT)

NIV “Feed my lambs.”
“Take care of my sheep
“Feed my sheep

Eventually Peter takes up this commission, laying down his own life in Christ’s service and urges us, we read at
1 Peter 5:2
Good News Translation (GNT)
to be shepherds of the flock that God gave you and to take care of it willingly, as God wants you to, and not unwillingly.
1 Peter 5:2
New International Version (NIV)
Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be;
In our Good Shepherding we look to Jesus’ instruction, we look to his Holy Spirit for support and we look to the Kingdom of God as our goal for his world.
The American theologian Rob Bell writes about God’s Kingdom of Heaven in his book “Love Wins”:
‘Taking Heaven seriously, then,’ he says, ‘means taking suffering seriously, now….because we have great confidence that God has not abandoned human history and is actively at work within it, taking it somewhere. Around a billion people in the world today do not have access to clean water. People will have access to clean water in the age to come (‘Heaven’), and so working for clean-water access for all is participating in the life of the age to come. That’s what happens when the future is dragged into the present.’
As we think about how Jesus the Good Shepherd laid down his life, poured out his life for us, I would ask that we look into our hearts this morning…

Are we bringing Christ’s Gospel to his Sheep?
Are we bringing God’s Kingdom to his world?
Are we taking up the commission given us to take care of Christ’s sheep?
In our dark times do we remember that we are all worthy of the Good Shepherd’s care?
Are we using the strength and support available to us through the gift of the Holy Spirit?
Do we remember that the Good Shepherd laid down his life willingly,knowing he would take it up again, because there is no wolf in our lives more powerful to hurt us,
than the Good Shepherd is powerful to heal us.

Our commission is a demanding one - feed my sheep

Our defender is a mighty one - I am the Good Shepherd Christ tells us,
And the Outcome is a wonderful One because in Christ LOVE ALWAYS WINS.
Amen

Sermon 5th June 2011

Today, Ben Hughes preaches, based on the reading from John 10 - verses 1-10.

Today’s passage is about sheep and Jesus being the door to the sheep pen. A sheep pen being where sheep are kept over night, usually covered over, nearly always a compound or fenced in area safe from thieves and wild animals.

Now I don’t want to be ‘woolly’ about my theology in this one , or ‘sheepish’ regarding our approach to the subject…hopefully you can ‘baaah’ some of the things that I might say…even though it might appear simply as mutton dressed as lamb, or dressed as a wolf in a sheep’s clothing, but the ‘shear’ weight of this parable and the way it ‘rams’ truth home never leaves us with a sense of being ‘fleeced’ and I am in ‘ewe’ of the story – this parable of Jesus the attendant of the sheep fold door and good shepherds John tells us is the ‘horn of plenty’ and carries ‘grazing truth’ of God’s love for us…

Ok enough of that…

It is probably very offensive to call people sheep!
Offensive to sheep as well!!

And it is an insult that’s been around some time. It is an ancient and historical insult.
There are ancient hieroglyphics alluding to the enemies of the pharaohs doing unmentionable things with sheep…but that is not our story…because this passage is not really about sheep. The passage is about Jesus’ authority as the son of God.

However before we look at that it might be useful to put this parable in the context of the general Biblical sheep metaphor because to do so helps us better understand the very important issues that we can learn from this passage today…

Sheep are very significant in the Bible, but most people think that they are simply used to illustrate our human collective cowardice, naive stupidity and neediness… but that is not the true and full picture. Sheep are used to describe our need for total dependence on God in everything and all we do, think and say. The simple sheep analogy puts God back to where He belongs in all our lives…as the number one commandment tells us: Honour your God with all your heart, soul and mind. Like a sheep without a shepherd is us without God.

So sheep are used throughout the Bible to illustrate human dependence on the Almighty. And there are many references to this within the Old Testament - which are very useful for a better understanding of who and what and why Jesus came. Isaiah, when he is calling back Israel to repentance, describes God’s people ‘as like sheep that have gone astray’…. Job pleads with the almighty for a once and for all sacrificial lamb that can permanently remove the suffering and groans of all creation…Psalm 23, the true shepherd’s psalm reflects …the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want he lays me down in pastures green and by still waters he leadeth me for thou art with me thy rod and thy staff…etc. and who is the Lord in the Psalm that David is referring to? It is the shepherd… I believe that it is the very same Lord that we know and love today…


But is it still fair then to describe us as sheep? We could easily say that being called sheep is not only an insult but irrelevant image for us today … most of us have very little to do with the dirt and muck of farming and industrial food production. Sheep are the cute like little white fluffy clouds.

You see, I like to think of myself as independent and a free thinking educated individual…I am no sheep, I need no sheep pen, do I really need a shepherd? I am an individual….I am the modern man, concrete is my earth, food comes in a plastic package…I wear sports acrylics!!! And, you might further say…fair enough, Jesus was relating this story to those in his day…an agrarian society not like ours. It is simply not relevant to me…sheep. Not today…

But that is not right…this story has enormous relevance for us in many ways, believer and non believer alike…and more so now than ever before perhaps… because of these same modern ideas of independence, and the modern acceptance of everyone’s view being of equal value…this story is really important as it is saying that there is only one way….Jesus!!

Jesus is very clear in this story…I am the attendant, I am the door, all those that do not and have not come through me…are thieves and bandits. And how do you know that? …you know because my sheep – you the Christian believer with faith - Jesus says, recognise my voice.

So what does it mean to be then a ‘Jesus sheep’?

Most importantly, as mentioned already….being a ‘Jesus sheep’ means being totally dependent on God. We as humans need looking after… like sheep we can be pretty mindless and certainly at times fearful and afraid. I know that I am…We do follow one another down ruts and paths and can do so, even to our own destruction. I know that I do…plenty of ruts and habits in my life…

Like sheep without a good shepherd, we can and do pollute our own fresh water supply if left without proper guidance. As habitual sinners, who can say that they are not full of tics and disease? So we need a good periodic washing and de-lousing. That is what happens when we repent….God is removing the impurities and containments that if left as in sheep, get worse and become fatal.

Like sheep we get distracted by our desire to feed…we cannot help ourselves and we get lost following our basic desires, forgetting where we are, following the devices and desires of our hearts the prayer book tells us, then suddenly we look up and its ‘where am I’…’what am I doing here’ ‘….help me God!!’. And then like all the wealth and possessions that we cling to and think that we need so much, a sheep’s fleece gets heavy and it weighs it down and if by unfortunate accident, a sheep in a heavy fleece falls into water, it will drown. Also a heavy fleece gets caught on fences and briars….ensnaring a sheep making it easy prey for bandits and wild beasts. Heavy fleece needs stripping back regularly.

And these thieves, bandits and wild beasts…what do they represent in the illustration?… I like to understand them as the three ‘T’ s temptation, trial and the terror of evil if you like. Like sheep, we have all gone astray as to each one his and her own way…then we are left vulnerable and alone… prey to forces more powerful than ourselves.

That is why we are like sheep and that is why we need the good shepherd.

But is there even more to this story than doors and shepherds?

Jesus is being quite funny with this story….he is being very cryptic and having a bit of a laugh at the expense of the poor old Pharisees. He is, in telling this story, doing a Samson and bringing down the whole crumbling edifice of pharisaic religious law crashing down…and whilst doing so, Jesus is packing this metaphor of him being the door and good shepherd with enormous and significant theology about His own claims and his divine purpose.

This passage is a direct move on everything that the Pharisees taught and stood for….That is why it is very useful for us….especially if we are involved in evangelism and wanting to set a good Christian example to others.

Jesus is saying to the sanctimonious and elitist Pharisee …‘no more of this!’ No more complex rules and complex laws…no more temple, temple sacrifice, temple taxes, infinite debate of tiny aspects and ruminations regarding the rights and wrongs of levitical law. No more showing off and demonstrating holiness in front of others…no more long faced fasting…po – faced prayers…no more pious giving, be like the widow, or the forgiven whore, the broken innkeeper, the repentant tax payer, the failed fishermen, be real to me and real to yourself…enough of the farce, the fake faces…’stop it do you hear stop it now!’ …’your game is up’ Jesus shouts!…and his message is that simple to them and to us…….I am the good shepherd, I am the door, I now manage the transaction between God and mankind…I know who should come in and who should not, I am the keeper, the watcher, the counter, the lover, the judge, the protector, I am the good shepherd, I am the way the truth and the light, I am your temple itself, I am the door into eternal life…I am your sacrifice, your king, Lord, ruler and friend next door, I am your true neighbour, the bread of life. I am the one and only, I am the shepherd…

Your job…you scribe, Priest and Pharisee is over. From now onwards it all goes through and by me and if it doesn’t come through me…it is – like lies and deceit. Nobody enters unless it is through me…all else is like a thief. I walk on water…I command the wind and the waves…I have evil and chaos under my feet.

And woe betide anyone or anything that attempts to go around me…so be careful how you conduct yourselves…if you know my voice, you are one with me…if not you are a thief and bandit.

And as with all Jesus parables, all the sayings and ‘I ams’ …they are multi layered, deeply systematic and so they keep going on and on - delving deep into the Old Testament and into the very beginnings of creation. Before Abraham I am, in my opinion the most seminal ‘I am’ of them all…. John’s Gospel chapter 8 verse 57. And the ‘I ams’ also work the other way- through forward time as well, on into our modern world and into the lives and hearts of all men and women, they challenge us and are so relevant today. That is why the words of Jesus will never go away…because they are the very words of God sown at the very beginning of time. And Jesus tells us that he is the good shepherd at the door of the sheep fold he is saying to those like you and me that have become his disciples and followers…that you can be in no better hands and no better care… and that is so reassuring.

Jesus the door to the sheep fold works for me on a very personal level as well because I am independent! …it helps me in my own walk with God…Jesus the good shepherd reassures me that I am alright…and God loves me for who and what I am…. the idea of Jesus heading up a search for the one lost sheep. That describes mine and many others calling and conversion. I also like the idea… that the outcast, the sheep that is different to all the others…the one that stands out, the black sheep of the family is the one that Jesus acknowledges and accepts…it helps me when I feel rejected by people and the world that Jesus does not reject any of us…and it reminds to do the same with others…never to reject anyone, especially those so different to us…. ….it also tells me to be reassured that nothing, no sin or terrible thing that anyone has done or will do is ever so bad. Jesus will forgive seven times seventy seven and we are expected to do the same …I also love the idea that Jesus knows his sheep by name…I know its hard to believe in a world of 6.92 billion people, but everyone is known intimately by God, no favourites, everyone equal all loved for who they are. And I love the fact that sheep is both plural and singular…we are one with one another…part of a world wide flock!

And Jesus knows his flock intimately, he knows us by name, each one being counted in and counted out. There is Ben, there is Mark, ok there goes Cameron, Dave, Claire, Esther, Rachel, Gary, Bernadette, Richard and so on he knows us by name and knew us in our mother’s womb. (Psalm 139), and I think its great that Jesus will defend us when we are attacked…we pray to be delivered from evil as in the Lord’s prayer….we often think nothing of it …but behind the scenes is a real battle going on, around and over us…Jesus is doing the business here and now….as his angels do all the time on our behalf…Jesus the door and the good shepherd works for me on every level.

Finally, I have this book called a shepherd looks at Psalm 23…a brilliant book. The refrain that he returns to throughout the book is very simple: when the shepherd is good, then so is the flock is good…the fences and fields are secure and the boundaries safe, the sheep are healthy and clean, the sheep feel safe and they know him and he them. When it is necessary, and the time is right, the good shepherd… leads his sheep along new paths to fresh still waters, to new pastures, the sheep know his voice and only trust that voice and so they follow him. The good shepherd prepares a path for us and will lead us to fresh pastures, even if it means going through the tough times, Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I fear no evil for thou art with me they rod and thy staff they comfort me….and the good shepherd will lead us home safely…you can be assured despite all those terrible and frightening things that assail us on the way. Sheep, this shepherd concluded, when happy and safe, are carefree, fun loving, very amusing and very trusting…they are animals that are deeply loyal to one another and to their shepherd, and will follow their shepherd wherever he leads them.

I am very happy to be a ‘Jesus sheep’ - are you…

Dear Lord help us to live and know you more. Thank you for calling us, thank you that we have answered that call and know your voice…thank you for who you are. Bless us all…Amen.