Sunday May 12th 2019 4th
Sunday of Easter (Cycle C)
The Shepherding Lamb
The tie in between
today’s readings: No sheepish sheep
Every church goer is
familiar with the wonderfully comforting idea of the Lord being their shepherd.
Who doesn’t love the image of us sheep grazing on a beautiful hillside lying
down in green pastures, drinking from still waters? Our Lord, Jesus watches
over us and tends to the whole flock. All the while, He is caring for each of
us individually as well, even to the point of leaving the ninety and nine in
order to retrieve the lost one. He reassures us with the promise in John 10
that no one could ever snatch us away from Him or the Father. We feel peace and
security from a loving God who laid His life down for His sheep. But you can’t
graze the hillside forever, No! Our Good Shepherd also sends us through the
dark valleys, where we are sheep among wolves. We go because there are others
of His/our fold to reach. Let’s look at our reading in Acts 13, for example.
Paul and Barnabas
are in Pisidian Antioch (not Syrian Antioch in Acts 11). It’s their second
Sabbath at the synagogue. Like the Blues Brothers, they were on a mission from
God to get the band back together, only this band was the whole Jewish and
Gentile world! Not two weeks there and almost the whole city came out this day
to hear them. Things were going good for the gospel messengers...too good. They
aroused the ire and jealousy of the synagogue shepherds: the hirelings, thieves
and robbers that were afraid of losing
their flock. Our faithful witnesses could handle the heckling and
contradictions, but when the Jews ramped it up to blasphemy, Paul and Barnabas
cut it off. With a strong rebuke, they left the synagogue and focused their
message to the Gentiles. Those among them that were appointed to eternal life,
that is the true sheep of the Lord’s flock, believed and were saved. In the
days to follow, the gospel spread throughout the whole region. Enough! Using
their political muscle the Jews persecuted and expelled Paul and Barnabas! The
brothers moved on, but not before establishing Pisidian Antioch as the first
fully Gentile Christian church. They went to Iconium, where they were driven
out again and then to Lystra where they almost died. In spite of hardships,
they kept on going to other cities.
Apparently, there was nothing sheepish about these missionary sheep.
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Let’s not forget,
one of the reasons for maintaining a flock is the killing of the animals. We
serve His purposes. The sheep, if needs be, will be slaughtered. We’ve seen
martyrdom throughout history and even more in our world today. The blood of the
martyrs is still the seed of the church. In our reading in Revelation 7, multitudes
that were killed in the great tribulation stand and worship before the throne
of Jesus, the Lamb who shed His blood for them. This scene in heaven loops back
where we started today, only better. Jesus, our shepherd is on His throne
forever. We will never hunger or thirst again, and God, Himself, will wipe away
every tear from our eyes. Will you be ready to die for Christ if the time
comes? It’s hard to say, isn’t it? We believe that to live is Christ and to die
is gain (Philippians 1:21). We pray that God will give us the strength for that
hour. The thing is, would we dare die for our shepherd at that time, if we are
reluctant to live for Him now? Maybe we
need to examine ourselves at this point first.
Our reading in Psalm 100 ends everything on a high note.
2 Worship the Lord with
gladness;
come before him
with joyful songs.
3 Know that the Lord is
God.
It is he who made
us, and we are his;
we are his
people, the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with
thanksgiving
and his courts
with praise;
give thanks to
him and praise his name.
5 For the Lord is good
and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness
continues through all generations.
You can be one of
the sheep of his pasture. Receive Jesus as the Lamb of God who can take away
your sins and be your Savior. He has left the other ninety-nine. He is looking
for you and calling to you. Answer Him. He accepts everyone into the fold who
comes to Him. No one will be chased out. No one will be lost. Be in that number
when we enter his gates with thanksgiving as the saints goes marching in.
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