Easter 4b-The Shepherd Image that Comforts and Challenges - Us the Church

“Moses said to YHWH, “But, never in my life have I been a man of eloquence,either before or since you have spoken to your servant.” Ex 4:10  

Easter 4B: The Shepherd Image that Comforts and Challenges - Us the Church.

The early Christians tried to make sense of the "why" of Jesus' life, his terrible death, and his glorious resurrection, by using many images (see 1st image below from 2nd century catacombs) to describe the one whose love was so great that he laid down his life for them. The image of the "good shepherd" became a favourite. The sentimentality of this image (image 4), is dispelled by a close reading of the context of this gospel passage (John 10:11-18). The setting is not a rural hillside, but the temple during the Feast of the Dedication of the Temple (Hanukkah). The religious leaders question Jesus' authority to do miracles and teach. Jesus describes shepherds who act like hired hands and thieves and robbers who quickly abandon their sheep (after all it's just a job) possibly alluding to the religious authorities. What strikes me, is the close relationship between the shepherd who knows the sheep and is known by the sheep. The flock respond to the sound of his voice and not to the voices of strangers. The "good shepherd" will die for the sheep (image 2), which helps us, like the early Christians, to understand who Jesus is, and how he loves and knows us.

In this gospel analogy, we are the sheep. Some object to the image saying; 'we modern people are not like dumb animals'. Apart from some impressive technical advances, we humans don't seem to be all that bright. We think we can solve problems by war, hoarding and consuming more goods and food than is healthy. We seem fixated on social climbing, status, prestige and developing a culture of competition that creates a society of winners and losers. We are always slipping into our wolf shadow side, hiding in the dark of rationalisation. However, our shadow side is part of who we are. We are our shadow wolves at our own throats. But, the focus of the gospel text is not on us the sheep but on the shepherd. This is an examples where the New Testament says of Jesus what the Old Testament would say only of God. Jesus proclaims; "I AM the good shepherd." His care was so deep that he was prepared to lay down his life, his whole self for us his sheep. God accepts our dark wolfish side because he loves the whole of us. God even uses our shadow or sinful self to liberate us from our suffering that we bring on ourselves. There is no holiness without suffering and God through the risen Christ takes our weakness and turns it into a holy strength. Indeed we can affirm: “My God /Jesus is shepherding me; I shall not want.” (Psalm 23:1) He wisely meets all our needs not our desires.

So the gospel proclaims that Jesus the "good shepherd" has a deep, total, personal commitment to us. Henri Nouwen says; "we are not loved by God because we are precious, but we are precious because we are loved by God?" As we become more in touch with ourselves, we come to experience his gift of Easter peace of mind and heart. Jean Vanier in his book, Drawn into the Mystery of Jesus through the Gospel of John, when reflecting on this passage says: “To become a good shepherd is to come out of the shell of selfishness in order to be attentive to those for whom we are responsible so as to reveal to them their fundamental beauty and value and help them to grow and become fully alive.” Archbishop Oscar Romero, (Champion Shepherd of the poor and prophet for peace and justice in El Salvador) was fatally shot on March 24, 1980, while celebrating the Eucharist. He had just read from John's Gospel (12:23-26): "Unless the grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains only a grain. But if it dies, it bears much fruit". He commented; “A church that doesn't provoke any crises, a gospel that doesn't unsettle, a word of God that doesn't get under anyone's skin, a word of God that doesn't touch the real sin of the society in which it is being proclaimed - what gospel is that?” We are called to lay down our lives for each other, to know each other, to grow into unity with each other. In the Middle Ages, the Franciscans and other spiritual movements warned that the church was obscuring the gospel with its pomp and power, so becoming more the church of Constantine than of the apostles. St. Bernard wrote to Pope Eugenius III saying: "All this, as well as the claims to prestige and riches, goes back to Constantine, not to Peter." My prayer this day is that all of us, who are nourished by the Good Shepherd at the Eucharist, may hear again God's call to be "good shepherds" like Christ (image 3) willing to give our lives for those given into our care.

Fourth Sunday of Easter B - Br Andrew

Andre-Rublev's Saviour

   Homily preached by Br. Andrew at Blaxland on Sunday 26th April 2015:

Fourth Sunday of Easter B

Readings

First :  Acts. 4:5-12
Second: 1 John 3:16-24
Gospel:  John 10:11-18

"Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture says the LORD” (Jeremiah 23:1 NIV)

Jesus begins by identifying himself as the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep. Straight away we can determine that there are bad shepherds who don't lay down their Iives’  for the flock in their charge; their names are mentioned in our first reading, they were Annas, the  High Priest Caiaphas, John, Alexander and the rest of the high priest's family. They knew no one's name nor even whether there were any other converts waiting anywhere for guidance.

Politics and history aside, Spiritually the Jewish church had been entrusted into the care of the  tribe of Levi and the House of Aaron since the time of Moses until the Messiah should come. Here now, clerics hired  by God were allowing the Flock of Israel to be fed to the wolves of Rome for the sake of Mammon, and for political security, had put aside any pretenses of looking or acting like shepherds. When the master himself returned they had him crucified and the small flock scattered. Note, Jesus says that he laid down his life and he took it up again.

 Daemons and men can do whatever they will to work out their wickedness but God's will over rides everything. This was a special love between the Father and son that Jesus could willingly lay down his life because it was his to give for us.
Having given and received his life Jesus returned to his disciples where he told them to stay in Jerusalem until power from on high should come upon them. And that Power will be the Holy Spirit whose coming we celebrate at Pentecost.

Our first reading is a prime example of how true disciples of Christ, shepherds in their own right behave with compassion toward those in their care. I find Peters words hilarious "If we are being held to account today for an act of kindness to a cripple" How many of us have been in trouble with church authorities for an act kindness?

For Peter and John it proved to be a prime opportunity to witness to the Sanhedrin and to try once again to Drill truth into concrete skulls it is in the name of Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit that this man walks. You rejected Him, you crucified him and he rose from the dead and it is through His Name that is the only way under heaven by which you can be saved. Did they care at all or just at another type of sheep rustling?

I am here in this Parish because of hireling’s clerics who even breed their own wolves to keep all the sacrilege and injustice in the family, so to speak. Many of us might say that the church of today, hasn’t moved far away, in principles from the Jewish church that money and power and status, fear and prejudice all serve to caste out the weakest sheep and the weakest shepherds.    Where is the light?
The light lives in the love of Jesus, and when we feel this love we see the light that the darkness cannot extinguish. In his Epistle John speaks of this love.   Love with a capital L is that Christ laid down his life for us and that we ought to do likewise. How scary is this, I wanted light and love not self-sacrifice.

John speaks here not of the ultimate self-sacrifice of Maximilian Kolbe but of the loving-kindness and concern for Christians and non-Christians alike. Fulfilling one another's needs and discovering that the Love of Christ makes all things possible!
John continues by reminding us to exercise our Christian conscience, whenever in doubt, and to remember the two great commandments.

It sounds a little simplistic and perhaps unreal when we overlay the Gospel and Epistles over the events of today's world but we need to remember that the Scriptures were given to us in a vacuum excluding the reality of the times, they are intended to be spiritual guidance to be adapted to every Era. Scripture is not complex but does have context, a little exploration of the world beyond the Scriptures helps us to find our own context.
Come to Bible Study.