4 Easter: Good Shepherd Sunday @ St Philip’s Episcopal Church, Wrangell, Alaska
April 30, 2023
Acts 2:42-47; Psalm 23; John 10:1-10
Collect of the Day: O God, whose Son Jesus is the good shepherd of your people: Grant that when we hear his voice, we may know him who calls us each by name, and follow where he leads; who, with you and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
I love Sundays that offer us scriptures like we heard today…ones that are full of familiarity and images that ultimately stir up some good thoughts, and meaningful memories. Psalm 23 is probably well-known to most of us sitting here this morning…And we probably have a favorite version that we go to whenever we want to pray with the words of psalm 23…
As comforting and reassuring as familiarity can be, it can also work against us at times. Sometimes, when we hear something over and over again, we start to hear what is being said, but then realize we heard it before, and then we stop listening, our brain goes on to something else.
That can present a real challenge when it comes to the reading of scripture, and how it can shape us and guide us throughout our lives. We do want to become familiar with the scriptures, but we need our understanding of them to go deeper, than “just words”. We need to spend time with them in ways that will open our hearts, minds, and spirits to wonder aloud and discern the voice of the Lord speaking to us now…and to hear the voice of the Lord, anew, every time we listen to or meditate on the scriptures…
The Episcopal Church teachings generally invite us to approach the reading of the scriptures as the “living word of God”. That is to say, that they still speak to us today, just as they did to those during the biblical times of the scripture writings. They are not just a collection of stories about something that happened long ago, for us to respond with… “oh, that’s a nice story…or, those people sure knew how to get into trouble, they sure were stubborn, they never seemed to have faith in God, no matter how many times he rescued them and blessed them beyond measure…”
The scriptures are the living and breathing words spoken for all people, for all times…which means God is still speaking to us in a very personal way right now…He is calling us each by name…and inviting us now…and throughout our lives, to trust him and follow him where-ever he leads us…
We are reminded that we are called by name, at the time of our baptisms and our renewal of our baptismal covenant throughout the years…
That is where we begin a lifetime relationship with our shepherd…The Lord IS my shepherd…The Lord knows us and calls each one of us by name…
Our vision of Jesus as the good shepherd who leads us and guides us, obviously changes throughout the years. As a very young child, we probably got caught up in the cute sheep and the cotton ball projects, and maybe even memorized a few lines from the psalm; perhaps as we grew into our teenage years, the good shepherd was someone to support us through the confusing times often associated with those changing, disorienting years of adolescence….As we began our adult lives, perhaps Jesus as our good shepherd took on the form of a shepherd who watched over our families…As one moves towards the last years of their earthly life, perhaps we once again, find new layers of meaning added to who Jesus, the good shepherd is for us… one we associate with abundant and unconditional love…and an ever-flowing stream of mercy and compassion and comfort and goodness…One, as we look back over lives, has never given up on us, and continues to call us each by name, even now…
The Lord IS my shepherd.
What does that mean to you today?
What do you believe about the One we call the good shepherd?
What do we, as the body of Christ, believe about Jesus, as the One we call the good shepherd?
And…how is the good shepherd calling you, and us, as the body of Christ, to live now?
In all the ups and downs, the joys and sorrows, the twists and turns, and in all the uncertainties that will surely come up in our daily lives….it is good to know and to trust that:
Jesus Christ IS our shepherd, He IS Risen. He IS the good shepherd who calls each one of us by name …and is inviting us today…to trust him and follow him where-ever he leads us…to green pastures, beside still waters, to a place where our souls are revived, on a walk through the valley of the shadow of death where we will know without a doubt, that the Lord is present with us…In his presence, our hearts will be full and overflowing…and the shepherd will lead us home to dwell in the loving embrace of God, and with those who have gone on before us…forever.
I invite you to take some time in the coming weeks, to sit down with someone and share with one another, your favorite version of psalm 23 and some of your most meaningful memories associated with the beloved psalm… I encourage you to spend time in the coming days with your favorite version of psalm 23, and explore some new versions (spoken and musical settings)…use it as a daily prayer…morning and evening…listen for the voice of the Lord…calling your name… trust him and follow him…for he knows the way that leads to a hope-filled, love-filled, joy-filled, peace-filled abundant life…for everyone!
Rev Julie Platson
Closing prayer/Hymn: (LEVS II) 104 - The Lord is my Shepherd
1 The Lord is my Shepherd, no want shall I know;
I feed in green pastures, safe-folded I rest;
He leadeth my soul where the still waters flow,
Restores me when wand’ring, redeems when oppressed.
2 Through the valley and shadow my death though I stray,
Since thou art my guardian, no evil I fear;
Thy rod shall defend me, thy staff be my stay;
No harm can befall, with my comforter near.
3 In the midst of affliction my table is spread;
With blessings unmeasured my cup runneth o’er;
With perfume and oil thou anointest my head;
O what shall I ask of thy providence more?
4 Let goodness and mercy, my bountiful God,
Still follow my steps till I meet Thee above;
I seek by the path which my ancestors trod,
Through the land of their sojourn, thy kingdom of love.
****Image: Kelly Latimore Icon