The Fourth Sunday of Easter
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Prelude, Welcome, and Information n Hymn #619 I Know that My
Redeemer Lives |
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The grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you
all. And also with
you. Christ is risen! He
is risen indeed! Psalm 23 The Lord is
my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me
lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul. He leads me
in right paths for his name’s sake. Even though
I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff— they comfort
me. You prepare
a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup
overflows. Surely
goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the
Lord my whole life long. This is
the feast of victory for our God.
Alleluia. Power, riches, wisdom and strength, Sing with all the people of God For the Lamb who was slain This is the feast of victory for our God, |
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The Lord be with you. And
also with you. Let us pray together. O Lord Christ, good shepherd of
the sheep, you seek the lost and guide us into your fold. Feed us, and we
shall be satisfied; heal us and we shall be whole. Make us one with you, for
you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and
forever. Amen. |
Reading:
Acts 4:5-12
A reading from the book of the Act of the Apostles
The next day [the] rulers, elders, and scribes assembled in
Jerusalem, 6with Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and
Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. 7When
they had made the prisoners stand in their midst, they inquired, “By what power
or by what name did you do this?” 8Then Peter, filled with the
Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, 9if
we are questioned today because of a good deed done to someone who was sick and
are asked how this man has been healed, 10let it be known to
all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that this man is standing before
you in good health by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified,
whom God raised from the dead. 11This Jesus is ‘the stone that
was rejected by you, the builders; it has become the cornerstone.’ 12There
is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given
among mortals by which we must be saved.”
The Word of the Lord
Reading:
1 John 3:16-24
A reading from the first letter of John
We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us—and we ought to
lay down our lives for one another. 17How does God’s love abide
in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and
yet refuses help? 18Little children, let us love, not in word
or speech, but in truth and action. 19And by this we will know
that we are from the truth and will reassure our hearts before him
20whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and
he knows everything. 21Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn
us, we have boldness before God; 22and we receive from him
whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him.
23And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his
Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. 24All
who obey his commandments abide in him, and he abides in them. And by this we
know that he abides in us, by the Spirit that he has given us.
The Word of the Lord.
Gospel
Verse:
Alleluia! Jesus said: I am
the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me. Alleluia! (John
10:14)
Gospel Reading: John 10:11-18
A reading from the Gospel of John
[Jesus said] “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his
life for the sheep. 12The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not
own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the
wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13The hired hand runs away because a
hired hand does not care for the sheep. 14I am the good shepherd. I know
my own and my own know me, 15just as the Father knows me and I know the
Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. 16I have other sheep that do
not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my
voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17For this reason the
Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up
again. 18No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I
have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have
received this command from my Father.”
This is the Gospel of the Lord.
Sermon
(added at the end of the document)
n Hymn #502 The
King of Love My Shepherd Is
Thanks and Offertory
Prayers
of the Church:
n Alive in the risen Christ by the power of the Holy
Spirit, we bring our prayers before God who promises to hear us and answer in
steadfast love.
n [Short pause]
n Loving Shepherd, strengthen your church for witness. Hear us, O God. Your mercy is great.
n Gracious Shepherd, you are generous with your gifts.
Restore your creation to wholeness. Hear
us, O God. Your mercy is great.
n Hope-giving Shepherd, the nations are your heritage.
Lift up the lowly. Hear us, O God. Your
mercy is great.
n Abiding Shepherd, your love flows as we reach out to
those around us. Help us love one another in truth and action. Hear us, O God. Your
mercy is great.
n Saving Shepherd, you restore wholeness. Full us anew with your Holy Spirit. [Silence for prayer) Hear us, O God. Your mercy is great.
n Fill our bishops, Susan and Michael, with your
wisdom. Bless as well the Synod staff of the Eastern Synod. Hear us, O God. Your
mercy is great.
n Eternal Shepherd, we remember our love ones who have
died in you. Hear us, O God. Your
mercy is great.
n In the hope of new life in Christ, we raise our prayers to you, trusting in your never-ending goodness and mercy, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
n
Hymn
#484 You Satisfy the Hungry Heart
The
Lord’s Prayer
Finally let us pray for all things as
our Lord would have us ask:
Our
Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done, on earth as it is in
heaven.
Give
us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against
us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For
thine is the kingdom, and the power,
and the
glory, forever and ever. Amen.
n #536 God Be
with You Til We Meet Again
Benediction and Sending
The God of hope, who brought again from the dead
that great shepherd of the sheep, Jesus Christ,
fill us with all joy and peace in believing!
Amen.
Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!
Go in peace. Serve the Lord. Thanks
be to God!
I
am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. …
I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the
Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep.
·
The image of
the Good Shepherd is a favourite one for many people. It is comforting and
traditional and often comforting because
it is traditional. The image of Jesus as a good shepherd has been found in the
ancient catacombs of Rome and it continues to be with us in church art and
architecture. Psalm 23 is a favourite of many, many people. There is even a
hint of rebellion and spite in it: You
prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; it almost
taunts the unnamed enemies.
·
The fact
remains that few of us have ever seen a shepherd. I haven’t, although I know a
man who raises sheep on his farm. Maybe some of you have seen or known real
shepherds of sheep. (Yes, my title is “pastor” or “Pfarrer”, but what I do is
often more akin to herding cats than sheep.)
·
Even today,
we need a shepherd. It is a dangerous world with “wolves” all around us. The
image we have of a shepherd is a wise, thoughtful, insightful, and tough
person, willing to go into personal danger to fight off wolves or willing to
wade into the flock and use the shepherd’s crook to re-direct the flock. (The
ancient symbol of a Christian bishop is the shepherd’s staff with the crook on
the end.)
·
Even if we
have no direct experience of shepherds, we still see and understand that Jesus
is the Good Shepherd. He calls himself that. It is on him that we rely for
protection and direction, remembering that shepherds sometimes direct the flock
with a whack from the staff. That’s not done out of anger or nastiness, but
simply because the sheep are very easily distracted.
·
What might
distract us? Every one of us watching or speaking during this video thing could
make a list many pages long. Anger, sickness, selfishness, ignorance, tunnel
vision, or the many hungers that humans have, both good and bad, are among the
list I can come up with off the top of my head. I’m sure you could add to it
easily. We all need protection and direction with regard to any of those. The
Good Shepherd is there to lead us through those muddy and rocky paths within us
and around us. There are so many things we don’t understand and possibly can’t
even conceive of in modern life. In the face of things like technologies,
global politics, and medical advancements, we turn to our shepherd for guidance
and for protection of our spirits and hearts. During this pandemic time, I’m
sure we’ve turned to Jesus Christ to pray for health for our families and
friends and even for ourselves. We pray for the grace to see the right
decisions to make in any number of areas and for the grace to keep our tempers
in the face of injustice, provocation, and foolishness. (Did I actually say
that? Yes, I did.)
·
There is an
interesting thing to note about our Good Shepherd. When Jesus identifies
himself as the Good Shepherd, he says I
am the good shepherd. To us that is a common enough sentence. We
identify ourselves in that way all the time. However for Jesus, as an observant
Jewish person, to say I am
identifies himself with God. The name of God is identical to the words ‘I am’,
and no observant Jewish person would use those words, let alone use them to
identify him-or-herself. When Jesus to says I am the good shepherd, he is making that title of his a
title for God, identifying himself with his Father. This is a theme in the
Gospel of John right from the first words of the Gospel: In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God.
·
There is no
mistaking it now and no need for argument. The Lord is our shepherd and the
good shepherd has laid down his life for the sheep… and he knows his own.
I
am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. … I
am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father
knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep.
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