Patrick Comerford
Next Sunday, 3 May 2020, is the Fourth Sunday of Easter.
The Readings in the Revised Common Lectionary, as adapted for use in the Church of Ireland, are:
The Readings: Acts 2: 42-47 or Nehemiah 9: 6-15; Psalm 23; I Peter 2: 19-25; John 10: 1-10.
There is a link to the readings HERE.
Introducing the readings:
A great conductor was once asked which instrument he thought the most difficult to play in the orchestra.
‘Second fiddle,’ he replied without hesitation.
He was a leader who knew how important ever individual player is, but how important it is to provide appropriate leadership so that all can play together and to their full potential.
Do you ever wonder which is more difficult: to be a leader or to be a follower?
Being a good shepherd is not an easy task. It means taking care of difficult and often dirty animals, that can be wayward and wilful, that are easy prey and that often fail to reach their potential value.
There is a paradox in Christ being both the Lamb of God and the Good Shepherd. He understands what it is to lead, yet he is obedient to his Father.
In following in his paths faithfully, the Psalm promises, we shall find that goodness and loving mercy shall follow us all the days of our lives, and dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
But what is it to dwell in the house of the Lord for ever? The reading from the Acts of the Apostles provides an image of how the Early Church tried to live this out in sacrament, word and in deed, in their prayer life and in their lifestyle.
Acts 2: 42-47:
On the first Pentecost morning, the disciples were at first full of fear and hiding, when suddenly, a sound came from heaven like a rushing wind, tongues of fire appeared, one on each one of Apostles, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2: 1-4). When the people in Jerusalem heard this and came to hear the Apostles speaking, each in their own language (Acts 2: 5-6), some even thought the Apostles were drunk (Acts 2: 7-13). But on that day, about 3,000 people were baptised.
Now, the story goes on to tell us, the newly-baptised continued daily to hear the Apostles’ teaching, joining in fellowship, the breaking of bread, and for prayer – just as we do at the Eucharist.
They live out that shared belief in their daily lives, sharing all things in common, and distributing their surplus wealth to all who are needy, ‘with glad and generous hearts.’ And the Lord added to new members to the Church each day.
Nehemiah 9: 6-15:
This is portion of solemn and impressive prayer, in which the people make a public confession of their sins, and ask not be judged for the transgressions of their ancestors. They begin with a profound adoration of God, whose supreme majesty and omnipotence is acknowledged in the creation, preservation, and government of all. This was then shown to them in the mercies and favours God showed to them as a nation, from the call of Abraham, through their deliverance from slavery in Egypt, which was a collective and not an individual experience, their miraculous crossing of the Red Sea, their triumphs over their enemies, and their settlement in the Promised Land.
All these blessings brought worldly prosperity and religious privilege, for they were favoured with God’s guidance and goodness.
Now, they confess their many acts of disobedience, which they see as causing their loss of independence and their long captivity in Babylon. They throw themselves on God’s mercy, and pledge themselves to obedience in the future.
Psalm 23:
The most obvious and most likely connections to be made between the readings on Sunday is that between the Gospel reading and the Psalm (Psalm 23).
In the ancient Near East, the king was seen as shepherd (verse 1-4) and as host (verses 5-6). God faithfully provides for, and constantly cares for, his sheep. He revives our very lives, the ‘soul’ (verse 3), and guides us in godly ways or ‘right paths.’
Even when we are beset by evil or find ourselves in the ‘darkest valley’ (verse 4), we have nothing to fear. God’s ‘rod,’ the shepherd’s defence against wolves and lions, protects us. His ‘staff’ (verse 4), used for rescuing sheep from thickets, guides us.
The feast (verse 5) is even more impressive, for it is laid out for us, the table is set for us, in the presence of his foes. Kings were plenteously anointed with oil, a symbol of power and dedication to a holy purpose.
The psalmist trusts that God’s ‘goodness and mercy’ and God’s steadfast love (verse 6) will follow or pursue him, as do his enemies, throughout his life. He will continue to worship in the Temple or ‘dwell in the house of the Lord,’ as long as he lives.
I Peter 2: 19-25:
The first Christians were often seen as socially inferior by their pagan neighbours, and they suffered regularly for their beliefs and how they put those beliefs into practice.
Yet, in their isolation, as they endured their sufferings, God notices them and cares for them in their endurances. The writer of this Epistle compares the sufferings of these early Christians with the sufferings of Christ, and he quotes from the ‘Servant Songs’ of Isaiah as predicting the events in Christ’s life.
Isaiah 53: 5-9, part of the fourth Servant Song, is quoted in part in verses 22-25. When he was abused, as he faced suffering and death, he entrusted himself to God, ‘the one who judges justly.’
The image of the Good Shepherd, found in Isaiah's Suffering Servant songs and in the Psalm and in the Gospel reading, is cited here too. Even though we have gone astray, we have returned to the Good Shepherd, the guardian of our souls.
John 10: 1-10:
Most of us warm to this Gospel reading as we hear it and as we think about Christ as the Good Shepherd.
The image of Christ as the Good Shepherd is a popular image. So popular, perhaps, that this is one of the most popular images in stained-glass windows in churches of every tradition.
But sometimes I have problems with our cosy, comfortable image of the Good Shepherd. Christ is so often portrayed in clean, spick-and-span, neatly tailored, nicely dry-cleaned, red and white robes, complete with a golden clasp to hold all those robes together.
And the lost sheep is a huggable, lovable, white fluffy Little Lamb, a little pet, so like the Little Lamb that Mary might have had and that would follow her to school each day.
But shepherds and sheep, in real life, are not like that.
When I was a child on my grandmother’s farm in Cappoquin, Co Waterford, all the summer days, it now seems, were filled with sunshine, and there was endless time to go fishing in the brooks, and walking through the meadows.
But there were two tasks I hated.
One was trying to milk the cows: the adults seemed to think it was funny in some way that only adults understood to send us out to herd the cattle in at evening time for milking.
Inevitably, I ended up covered in something more odious than milk – and never even liked the smell of milk anyway.
The other task was one that came around, it seemed, every time I was around – the great sheep dip.
My city friends and cousins joked at the time about television ads about liver fluke and sheep dipping. But I knew all about it – and it was no joking matter.
Oh sheep are easy to call together, that was not the problem. And no, I did not have to milk them.
But, oh, the smell of the sheep dip! – now that smell was only surpassed by the smells I associate with milking the cows.
It was pungent … and there was always some fresh-faced younger uncle who thought it funny, seeing my face, to ensure that I ended up in the dipping area too.
So, when Jesus says he is the Good Shepherd and the Gate for the sheep, he has no romantic city delusions.
Lost sheep get torn by brambles, lose their wool, end up bleeding and messy. Any shepherd going down after lost sheep gets torn by brambles, covered in sheep droppings, slips on rocks, risks his life.
City people – removed from rural life by two or generations – have little idea of what it is to be a shepherd, to look after sheep, to keep them in a sheepfold, how sheep follow the voice of their shepherds, but also how easy it is to lead them astray.
The good news of the incarnation first came, not to kings in their bright palaces, nor to Roman governors surrounded by power and might, but to hard-working, humble shepherds in the middle of the night.
Yet they were among the poor, the exploited and the marginalised of their day. They had a hard life. They had to stay out at night in the cold and the dark, on the hostile hills as they herded their sheep. They faced all the dangers and difficulties the sheep faced, and were just as vulnerable. They shared the heat of the day, and they slept with their flocks at night, sharing the dangers of cold weather and threats of preying wolves.
They were poor and had no prospects as husbands or fathers – and their work meant they left their families alone and vulnerable at night too.
But that is the kind of life Christ lives for us and with us. And that is why it is worth working through all the tedium, and the reports, and the finance and the figures at General Synods and Select Vestries and school board annual general meetings each year. So that people can find Christ who journeys with the most vulnerable, and who takes on all our vulnerability. ‘The Lord is my shepherd … he guides me in the paths … for his name’s sake’ (Psalm 23: 3).
Christ knows what it is like to be out in the cold. He knows what he is asking when he calls on people to leave their homes and villages, and even their families, since he has done the same himself. As the appointed Psalm says, ‘The Lord is my shepherd … I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever’ (Psalm 23: 6).
He knows what it is to be homeless, helpless and hungry. The Lord is my shepherd … ‘he spreads a table before me in the presence of those who trouble me’ (Psalm 23: 5).
Christ knows the risks and hardships of life. The Lord is my shepherd … ‘though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil’ (Psalm 23: 4).
Christ, against all the prevailing wisdom, identifies with those who are lost, those who are socially on the margins, who are smelly and dirty, injured and broken, regarded by everyone else as worthless, as simply not worth the bother.
God sees us – all of us – in our human condition, with all our collective and individual faults and failings, and in Christ God totally identifies with us. He is the shepherd and the guardian of our souls (I Peter 2: 25).
And so, even though we get it wrong so often, we keep on trying, because we know it is worth it, and because Christ knows we – all of us, everyone – are worth it.
John 10: 1-10 (NRSVA):
[Jesus said:] 1 ‘Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. 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 hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.’ 6 Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.
7 So again Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.’
Liturgical Resources:
Liturgical Colour: White
The Greeting (from Easter Day until Pentecost):
Christ is risen!
The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia!
Penitential Kyries:
Lord God,
you raised your Son from the dead.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord Jesus,
through you we are more than conquerors.
Christ, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Holy Spirit,
you help us in our weakness.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
The Collect of the Day:
Almighty God,
whose Son Jesus Christ is the resurrection and the life:
Raise us, who trust in him,
from the death of sin to the life of righteousness,
that we may seek those things which are above,
where he reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
The Collect of the Word:
God of all power,
you called from death our Lord Jesus,
the great shepherd of the sheep:
send us as shepherds to rescue the lost, to heal the injured,
and to feed one another with understanding;
through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Introduction to the Peace:
The risen Christ came and stood among his disciples and said,
Peace be with you.
Then were they glad when they saw the Lord. (John 20: 19, 20).
Preface:
Above all we praise you
for the glorious resurrection of your Son
Jesus Christ our Lord,
the true paschal lamb who was sacrificed for us;
by dying he destroyed our death;
by rising he restored our life:
The Post-Communion Prayer:
Merciful Father,
you gave your Son Jesus Christ to be the good shepherd,
and in his love for us to lay down his life and rise again.
Keep us always under his protection,
and give us grace to follow in his steps;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Blessing:
The God of peace,
who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus
that great shepherd of the sheep,
through the blood of the eternal covenant,
make you perfect in every good work to do his will,
working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight:
or:
God the Father,
by whose glory Christ was raised from the dead,
raise you up to walk with him in the newness of his risen life:
Dismissal: (from Easter Day to Pentecost):
Go in the peace of the Risen Christ. Alleluia! Alleluia!
Thanks be to God. Alleluia! Alleluia!
Suggested Hymns:
Acts 2: 42-47:
397, Alleluia! Alleluia! Opening our hearts to him
519, Come, all who look to Christ today
522, In Christ there is no east or west
336, Jesus, where’er thy people meet
301, Let every Christian pray
306, O Spirit of the living God
309, When God the Spirit came
Nehemiah 9: 6-15:
262, Come, ye faithful, raise the strain
353, Give to our God immortal praise
581, I, the Lord of sea and sky
6, Immortal, invisible, God only wise
Psalm 23:
644, Faithful Shepherd, feed me
645, Father, hear the prayer we offer
466, Here from all nations, all tongues, and all peoples
467, How bright those glorious spirits shine
655, Loving Shepherd of your sheep
433, My God, your table here is spread
235, O sacred head, sore wounded
365, Praise to the Lord, the almighty, the King of creation
20, The King of love my shepherd is
21, The Lord’s my shepherd; I’ll not want
448, The trumpets sound, the angels sing
I Peter 2: 19-25:
630, Blessed are the pure in heart
417, He gave his life in selfless love
224, How deep the Father’s love for us
229, My God, I love thee; not because
436, Now let us from this table rise
673, O Christ, our hope, our heart’s desire
593, O Jesus, I have promised
234, O Love divine, what hast thou done
235, O sacred head, sore wounded
239, See, Christ was wounded for our sake
241, Sing, my tongue, the glorious battle
285, The head that once was crowned with thorns
244, There is a green hill far away
9, There’s a wideness in God’s mercy
248, We sing the praise of him who died
John 10: 1-10:
215, Ah, holy Jesu, how hast thou offended
683, All people that on earth do dwell
690, Come, worship God who is worthy of honour
644, Faithful Shepherd, feed me
496, For the healing of the nations
330, God is here! As we his people
614, Great Shepherd of your people, hear
649, Happy are they, they that love God
92, How sweet the name of Jesus sounds
456, Lord, you give the great commission
655, Loving Shepherd of your sheep
438, O thou, who at thy Eucharist didst pray
244, There is a green hill far away
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org
Material from the Book of Common Prayer is copyright © 2004, Representative Body of the Church of Ireland.
The hymn suggestions are provided in Sing to the Word (2000), edited by Bishop Edward Darling. The hymn numbers refer to the Church of Ireland’s Church Hymnal (5th edition, Oxford: OUP, 2000).
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