Pastoral Letter 163
Dear Members of St. Andrew’s Uniting Church, Friends and Adherents,
Grace and Peace to you all.
Next Sunday7 May 2023 at 12:00noon after church service and Morning Tea, we are having our Mother’s Day Fellowship Lunch, which has been our tradition for the last several years. We will sit at the tables, enjoy the lunch and spend some time together. As always, we will have something to give to the mothers to appreciate them saying thank you for all they do and find out who will be the lucky mother of 2023. If you haven’t put your name down on the list, this will be your last chance. We need to have the final numbers for catering purposes. Please let me know if you wish to join. Just send a note latest by Tuesday evening.
If you will not be able to be with us tomorrow morning, please light a candle and join following the attached Order of Service.
Be safe and well, continue to pray, remembering those who need care, support and love. Please let me know if you or anyone else has prayer points.
Here are some prayer points for this week:
- Pray and remember our ancestors, who paid a high price, so we can live in peace.
- Pray for the people of Ukraine, Armenia and Artsakh.
- Pray for the poor, the sick, the vulnerable, the struggling and the stressed.
- Pray for those who are unwell and struggling with different kinds of medical issues.
- Pray for those who are facing natural disasters causing death, loss and pain.
- Pray for world peace and ask for God’s blessings.
- Pray for those who are away on trips or visiting families.
Please let me know if you or anyone else has prayer points.
Best Regards,
Krikor
MESSAGE
The Good Shepherd
John 10:1-21 and 1 Peter 2:21-25
There are many images that Jesus identifies Himself with in the New Testament. But the one that brings comfort and relief to many is that of the shepherd.
Many stained-glass windows in church sanctuaries portray Jesus as the Good Shepherd, often surrounded by children. The 23rd Psalm, the Shepherd’s Psalm, has been used by countless pastors to provide comfort to families, who have lost loved ones, as the Good Shepherd offers a safe refuge from a world filled with thieves, robbers and wolves, who are trying to destroy people. The Great and the Good Shepherd is our constant protector, always on guard and who does not sleep (Psalm 91:1-4; Psalm 121:1-4).
We live in a world which, on so many levels, thinks in a negative way. One of the main reasons for suicide today, is not that people want to die, but that they cannot find a reason to live. In the midst of this negative attitude, God gives us the picture of our Good Shepherd, who tells us that we will not be in want, but we will have the best of pastures and water and be restored in our souls. We have the peace that He is our guide because He loves us and will not leave us. There is the certainty that this shepherd walks with us all of our lives, and that when we breathe our last breath in this world, He is there to walk with us, and we will be with Him forever. He will anoint our heads with oil and promise us that we will dwell in His house forever.
In our gospel reading, Jesus is teaching His disciples the type of relationship that He desires to have with Christians, His followers and with us.
We read in the previous chapter that Jesus is in the midst of a controversy with the Pharisees over healing a blind man on the Sabbath. Strangely enough the controversy is initiated by His own disciples, as they asked Jesus who had sinned in order that this man was born blind. According to the culture it was felt that previous sin in the person’s family was the cause for the condition, in this case blindness. Jesus answered them by saying that the man was blind not by the power of someone’s sin, but rather to show the healing power of God, and thus He heals the blind man.
Later the man was brought to the Pharisees to investigate the healing. The Pharisees were hoping to find something against Jesus. The issue thus became an matter of healing on the Sabbath. The healed man was eventually thrown out of the synagogue for defending Jesus.
Jesus then comes to his aid again. First, He leads the healed man to have personal faith in Him, and then He turns His attention to the Pharisees. The account here in chapter 10 is all part of Jesus’ dialogue with the Pharisees.
Let’s reflect on Jesus’ words in our Gospel reading this morning when He said: “I am the Good Shepherd.”
What a strange metaphor to use, but I think very appropriate in some ways. So, what are the reasons for Jesus to call Himself the Shepherd and us the sheep?
1. Because we have some similarities to sheep.
When we look at society today, we can see three characteristics of sheep that we see in people around us and in ourselves too.
a. Sheep follow the crowd and do not think of the consequences.
That’s what happens when you are out somewhere in the midst of crowds, who, maybe, are out for a demonstration or to make a statement. You follow them and do what the others are doing. This is true in the case of sheep too. They follow each other.
b. Sheep can be pretty stubborn.
The shepherd tries to lead them in a certain direction, but the sheep stubbornly go in another direction. There is not much difference with people.
c. But when a sheep trusts someone, it follows without thinking.
It is therefore essential that we find the Good Shepherd who will care for us, the sheep – not exploit us.
2. Jesus’ love and concern for us is similar to that of a shepherd for his sheep.
What characteristics of the Shepherd can we see in Jesus?
There are some wonderful characteristics that first century Jewish Shepherds had.
a. The Good Shepherd knows his sheep and cares for them individually.
We see that beautifully illustrated in the parable of the Lost Sheep. A shepherd had 100 sheep and found that one of them was missing. What did he do?
Did he write that sheep off as a slight economic loss? No, he left the other 99 safely grazing and went off to find the one that was lost. And we read that when he found it, he put it on his shoulders and came home rejoicing! What a beautiful picture of the caring Good Shepherd.
b. Shepherds protect their sheep.
Let us look to King David. David was a Shepherd before he became King. It was as a shepherd that he killed Goliath. He said this to King Saul as he went out to battle with Goliath in 1 Samuel 17:34: “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.“
The Good Shepherd protects his sheep from all dangers. He does everything to protect and safely bring the sheep home. He cares that much for His sheep.
c. The shepherd wants the best for their sheep.
Jesus said this in John 10:10: “I come that they may have life and have it in abundance (to the full).”
The Good Shepherd wants the best for his sheep. God wants our very best. He wants us to have a rich and full life. We can spend eternity with Him.
Easter reminds us that Christ the Good Shepherd laid down His life for the sheep. Jesus loves us so much that he wants us to have a rich and full life. He is not going to give us up to the enemy. But to be safe, like sheep we need to stay close to the shepherd.
In Psalm 23 we see He provides for His sheep. The psalmist says: He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside still (quiet) waters, he restores my soul.
Did you know that sheep will only drink by still water and not by running water?
It is when we come to a quiet place that God will restore our souls. Jesus often pulled away from the crowd to be with the Father. So, shouldn’t we do the same?
3. Thirdly because the Church should be like the sheepfold.
According to the first century Jewish culture, a sheep pen or enclosure was where sheep have shelter. A sheep pen was a place which had high walls to protect the sheep, but no roof or door. The shepherd often lay across the entrance to act as the door. When Jesus said: “I am the door of the Sheepfold”, this is exactly what he was referring to. It was the Shepherd who regulated who came in and who went out. There is safety in the sheep pen, when the Shepherd acted as the door.
The Church should be like the sheep pen – a place of safety – with the Lord as its keeper. When Jesus said: I am the Good Shepherd, He was telling us that it is only when we are in the presence of Christ – allowing Him to be the door that regulates our lives – then we can be safe.
We can be safe because He died for us on the cross, while we were supposed to die for our sins. But we are safe, because we are the sheep of His pasture.
Jesus, our Lord, the Head of the church is the Good Shepherd, who loves and cares for His sheep. He cares for us and gives what we need because He knows us and loves. And most of all He is the Shepherd who protects us and is ready to sacrifice Himself for our salvation.
What a joy and relief to know that He is the Good Shepherd, and we are the sheep of His pasture. We do not need anything more than this, as long as we are in the care of the Good Shepherd, our Lord and Saviour.
Amen!