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St. Charles Episcopal Church - Saint Charles, IL

The Fourth Sunday of Easter - Easter 4 RCL – Year C

Sunday, April 25, 2010                                                                                                                                                                                  

Acts 9:36-43 – Psalm 23 – Revelation 7:9-17 – John 10:22-30

Rev. William R. Nesbit, Jr.

In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.

“These are they who have come out of the great ordeal;

they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb....

the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd,

and he will guide them to springs of the water of life.”

“My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me.”

Our readings today are filled with shepherds and lambs. As I prepared for my sermon this morning, I was reminded of a trip the family took a few of years ago to a near by farm. It was lambing time and we took the opportunity to introduce our boys to... well, real lambs. While I was standing in that field looking at all those new lambs a story came to mind. It is a story told by Jeff Smith, the “Frugal Gourmet.” He was traveling through Washington state and was in a remote area when he came across a flock of sheep crossing the road. He stopped his car to wait and soon the shepherd of the flock came by on horseback. Jeff Smith is an ordained minister and had a question for the shepherd. He asked: “What do you think when you hear the expression ‘Lamb of God?’” The answer was more than he could have expected. The old shepherd told this story. He began: “Springtime is a tough time for sheep and shepherds. It is lambing time. It is a time of tragedy. When many ewes are giving birth, the shepherd must often deal with problems. Sometimes a lamb dies at birth, sometimes a ewe dies giving birth. And here is the scene. Over here is a mother sheep who has lost her baby at birth. Over there is a lamb that has lost his mother in the process of being given life. But sheep are difficult animals. A sheep will not take and nurse a lamb that is not its own. And so we have the case of a mother sheep full of the milk that will nourish her baby and no baby to feed. And we have a lamb, hungry for life-giving nourishment and no milk to drink. Soon the motherless baby will starve to death. It is a scene of abundance and scarcity all at once. And this is what the good shepherd must do. Now this is going to be a bit graphic but it is the truth. To reconcile this moment of tragedy, the shepherd takes the lamb that has died and slits its throat. Then the good shepherd washes the living lamb in the blood of the lamb who died. Out of death comes life. The lamb who died gives life to the lamb that is motherless. Now the mother sheep will accept this new baby, this baby washed in the blood of her own lamb.” The shepherd then said, “That is what I know about the Lamb of God and the Good Shepherd as well.”

Every time I remember this story I am struck by its power. It energizes the symbols of Good Shepherd and Lamb of God in a way that is both powerful and unsettling. For those who hang out around sheep all the time, this is no revelation, but for a suburban boy like me it is startling. The dynamics of faith operate on this same sort of dual reality as well. When we believe, there are many things that are so very patently obvious to us which completely escape the attention of those without faith. It makes it very difficult, indeed for all practical purposes impossible, to convince someone to believe. This is what Jesus is saying to the Jews who have gathered in the portico of Solomon. They say, “Prove it to us,” and Jesus replies, “I have, but you do not believe!” Whenever we enter the realm of faith we enter the realm of the visible and invisible. How ironic, and wonderfully Johannine, that their blindness happens to the Jews in the midst of the Feast of Dedication, Hanukkah, their festival of illumination. I have no doubt that it is a warning to us as well of the blindness of literal thinking. As Jesus stands there in the temple and proclaims that, “The Father and I are one,” the literal mind rebels, jumping straight from, “How can this be?” to “This is blasphemy!” Immediately after this story in our Gospel, they try to arrest Jesus, but he escapes. It is in this whole encounter that we see Jesus begin to invite the Jews, those who do not yet believe, into faith. It is not a conversion it is an invitation, an invitation to see the world in a whole new light. Notice that no miracle is done to aid his invitation, unless perhaps it is his miraculous escape; there is no attempt at coercion.

Every week at every service, and before every Vestry meeting, and at every staff meeting, we pray a special prayer for the growth and mission of St. Charles Episcopal Church. You know the prayer, it starts out, “Gracious and loving God, prosper with your blessing the mission of St. Charles Episcopal Church.”It is a prayer to remind us of the work we have ever before us. In the work of growing this church, both physically and spiritually, we must remember to be inviting and not coercive. Inviting to the people, and inviting to the Spirit. Inviting to the Spirit, to be open to God’s grace working through us, and inviting to the people, to be open to their reality, and loving and supportive of their needs. It is a daunting task, but it is not beyond us. If we do it right, we will be one with God, and if we don’t, the Good Shepherd will be there to guide us back. As with all tasks daunting or no, it is best to begin in prayer. As with all prayers that we pray often, it is easy to take them for granted; to say the prayer from memory and not from the heart. As I now pray the prayer for St. Charles, I invite you to hear the words afresh and let them echo in the depth your heart. And the next time you pray them for yourself, let those words rise from the depth of your soul.

Let us pray.

Gracious and loving God, prosper with your blessing the mission of Saint Charles Episcopal Church. Deepen, we pray, our love for your Son, and strengthen our fellowship with each other, that we will have the strength to do our part in the building up of your church. Send your Holy Spirit to fill us with love for those outside the church and deepen our understanding of their needs. Help us to be a true light in our community, that in this place all people may be drawn into your fellowship and transformed by your love. All this we ask in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, who died and rose for us, that we all might grow into the full stature of Christ. Amen. Again I say, Amen!