Grace and peace to you brothers and sisters in Christ, from our risen Lord Jesus. To start with lets take time to reflect on the Hymn of the day for the Fourth Sunday of Easter: “The King of Love My Shepherd is” This hymn reminds us that Jesus is our shepherd through this wilderness of disrupted routines and disrupted worship.
The
King of love my shepherd is, whose goodness faileth never.
I nothing lack if I am his, and he is mine forever.
2
Where streams of living water flow, my ransomed soul he leadeth;
and where the verdant pastures grow, with food celestial feedeth.
3
Perverse and foolish, oft I strayed, but yet in love he sought me;
and on his shoulder gently laid, and home, rejoicing, brought me.
4
In death’s dark vale I fear no ill, with thee, dear Lord, beside me;
thy rod and staff my comfort still, thy cross before to guide me.
5
Thou spreadst a table in my sight; thy unction grace bestoweth;
and oh, what transport of delight from thy pure chalice floweth!
6
And so through all the length of days, thy goodness faileth never;
Good Shepherd, may I sing thy praise within thy house forever.
This past week I notice I am starting to miss some of those things I and my family would not normally do every week, but more time to time, such as eating out at a restaurant or going to a park. It is not a surprise that I am feeling a sense of what is lacking during this time where the details of reopening aspects of society are discussed in the news- and the outlook seems to be more slow and painful in change than we would like. “I nothing lack if I am his, and he is mine forever.” In Jesus we have everything. It is not going out to a restaurant that I truly need and long for, it is the ‘verdant pastures’ that Jesus provides for me that I need.
Jesus is our Good Shepherd just as much in times of joy and in times of sorrow. Let us pray in repentance for those times when we have felt like sheep without a shepherd this past week, for those times when we have failed to listen to His voice- forgive us Lord when our dissatisfaction with the difficulty we are in overtakes our thoughts and focus with fear and discontentment. Forgive us when we have lost sight of His promise to us that through length of days His goodness never fails.
Lord we are thankful that you have warned us that those who do not enter by the door are thieves and robbers- they carry a message that is outside of Your truth. You have given us the Holy Scriptures so that we may recognize who comes in by the door in your righteousness and who comes in another way. By Your Holy Spirit fill us with Your truth, that we may have ears only for our Savior’s guidance and see the liturgy of worry and fear of this world as something we gladly leave behind. Comfort us this hour with the truth that You Lord Jesus are the king of love.
Now that we have looked at a hymn with the theme of Jesus as our shepherd, I want to focus on the historical account of the first days of the church, where the King of Love led and guided the disciples to proclaim His love with courage and boldness.
The serial readings from Acts are part of the season of Easter. The joy of new beginnings we feel on Easter Sunday is matched with the First reading of worship (in place of Old Testament reading) describing the beginnings of the early church and how the Risen Lord breathed life into the new church with the Holy Spirit. This season of Easter, as we have been forced on the sidelines to home worship, the readings from Acts perhaps are more in the background than ever. This morning I would like to bring them to the fore front, even as we also celebrate the Good Shepherd Sunday in our readings on the 4th Sunday of Easter
Acts 2:42-47
They devoted themselves to the apostle’s teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people, and the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
We have heard from our governor last Friday about a timetable for return to normalcy in our civic routines including worship service attendance timetables. These have been far less than ideal circumstances for us to live as a church community. In contrast the reading from Acts gives us a picture of ideal circumstances. Gathering for worship and caring for the needs of the body of Christ were at the forefront. This first church lived in awe at the wonders and signs being done through the apostles. Evidence of the power of Jesus’ Word was all around them, in their own actions and in the signs that were shown to the world.
How far of a contrast this is compared to the difficult circumstances we face as a church during a pandemic. How joyful it sounds to be able to devote ourselves fully to the teachings of the Holy Scripture, to fellowship with one another and to worship. This is the complete opposite of social distancing, where Jesus has brought those who were far off and living their own lives into one family in Christ. We have not had opportunity to celebrate the Lord’s Supper for 6 weeks now. We can pray together through online connections- but we cannot break bread together- we cannot be joined to the mystical union with our Savior in the fellowship of his table while sitting in our living rooms watching an internet service. Short of living somewhere half way around the world as a prisoner on account of persecution, I never imagined I would be facing such want and lack of the celestial food our Good Shepherd brings to us. May the Lord grant us relief from this burden soon!
As ideal as the fist church sounds, we must remember that they lived their lives with many of the same frustrations over the consequences of sin in the world as we do. The Lord’s Supper they received was no more special and salvific than what we receive in our own time. Sure it sounds pretty amazing to think of receiving the Lord’s Supper from the Apostle Peter or John or James, or any other disciple- but the Lord’s Supper is not about a distinguished and rich atmosphere, but only about the body and blood of Jesus given for us.
Our life of worship is not about the fulfillment or excitement we get through who we worship with- it is about Jesus. No matter how many we long to see and worship with, we all have the same common identity of sinners in need of the living water Jesus provides. And most importantly we all receive the same gifts of our Lord.
Even as we are scattered right now, we will soon have a date to return to worship. Acts 2:42 illustrates how the church works, whether it is the early church, our modern time, or the future with CDC regulations to account for as we return to worship. “And they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.”
To devote ourselves to the apostles teaching and fellowship is simply to devote ourselves to the identity we have as God’s children by the waters of baptism. It is to repent of our sins daily and walk in the new life we have in Christ each day. This new identity brings us together in fellowship, a fellowship of love and compassion and kindness grounded in the joy of our Savior living in us. This is specifically lived out in our ‘breaking of bread and prayers’ our worship life, in receiving the gift of the Lord’s Supper and in the order of liturgy in our worship service.
We will get through the obstacles of life “post Covid 19” and as a church devote ourselves to worship through meeting weekly, and grounding our lives in the Lord’s Supper and the liturgy of our worship. My prayer is that when we are able to meet we will all take worship for granted less, that many in our congregation and in our nation would attend weekly as opposed to one Sunday here and there. I pray that the concerns about infection do not move us from a reduced celebration of the Lord’s Supper, but instead through careful practices that we receive the Lord’s Supper most of the times when we gather in accordance with the teachings of the apostles.
Getting back to the Good Shepherd theme, the more we hear God’s Word together as one body, the more we recognize that our Shepherd’s voice is not just theories and ideals to live by, the more we will see that the way of Christ purpose and joy of our life itself.
Jesus taught the disciples: “If anyone who comes in through me, he will be saved and go in and find pasture.”
Pasture provided by God is the greenest of all pasture. Pasture is room to grow and thrive as God intended for us! Green pasture leads to fulfillment, contentment, joy!
Jesus described how he is the only door to this pasture. To enter the sheepfold of His kingdom is the most important thing we can ever do in life. Our faith is more than something that we learn the basics in Sunday school and confirmation class. There is more than learning how it is that we are saved through faith and thinking ‘I will leave it at that.’
Once we enter the door through our Savior we have green pastures to mature and thrive in. This is our “Great Shepherd’s” gift to the church at all times, room to grow and abound spiritually whether in times of hardship or in times of plenty. May we know this comfort today. Amen.
