A Sermon for the 4th Sunday of Pascha/Easter (RCL A) 5-15-2011
Offered by Nathan Ferrell for Trinity Episcopal Shared Ministry
Themes: good shepherd Sunday, breaking bread, leading out into green pastures
Today, my friends, is Good Shepherd Sunday. The 4th Sunday of the Paschal season every single year is known as Good Shepherd Sunday, and the lessons each year on this Sunday focus upon the description of our Lord Jesus Christ as the Good Shepherd who cares for his sheep.
Let us think for a moment about the role of a shepherd, and what makes a shepherd to be “good”.
Jesus said that a shepherd goes ahead of his sheep and he leads them out to where they can find pasture.
A good shepherd, then, provides for the needs of the flock, by making sure that the flock has access to food and to water. But a shepherd also protects from the thief and the bandit who come only to steal and kill and destroy. So a shepherd is good if he providing security from attacks.
Food, drink and safety – this is what a good shepherd provides.
These are the things necessary for sheep to have life. And these are the things that our Lord Jesus, Good Shepherd, provides for us so that we might have life and might have it abundantly.
From the very earliest days of the church’s existence, the followers of Christ have closely associated the care of the Good Shepherd with the sustenance that he provides for his people in the bread and wine of communion.
As we heard today from the Book of Acts, the first community of disciples who gathered after the day of Pentecost devoted themselves to the breaking of bread. These liturgies were certainly not nearly as elaborate as ours today, but they surely seem to have been understood as sacred events where Christ was present in a profound way and where he was nourishing and strengthening his sheep.
If we are to have abundant life as the Gospel says, then obviously we must have nourishment and sustenance for our souls, something that feeds us on the inside. Food, drink, safety – this is what a good shepherd provides, and this is what we need if we are truly to be the people of God.
Week by week you come to the Lord’s table to receive bread and wine which have been transformed by our prayers and by his promise into the body and blood of Christ. What do these things mean to you?
Let me invite you to consider for a moment what the body and blood of Christ have meant for all of the people of God throughout the ages, in all of the different places and situations and circumstances in which the church has existed. From hiding in catacombs and caves during the Roman persecutions, to the communion shared aboard the Apollo mission on the surface of the moon, from the grand cathedrals of Europe, to the communion liturgies in the bush among rural African tribes – everywhere humanity has been, in every circumstance that you can imagine, people have received and embraced the body and blood of Christ as true spiritual nourishment.
The Good Shepherd provides for his sheep. Even when they walk through the valley of the shadow of death, Christ is with them. Christ spreads a table for them even in the presence of their enemies.
Consider this example, my friends. Dr. Vigen Guroian tells a remarkable true story about a very special Eucharist shared by refugees during the Armenian genocide. Dr. Guroian is himself of Armenian descent, and he is now a professor of religious studies at the University of Virginia.
Around the time of the first World War, the Turkish army undertook extreme measures against the Armenian people, which resulted in the death of one-half of the 3 million Armenians.
In one instance during this genocide, the Armenian villagers from one small village escaped quickly into the countryside, fleeing from Turkish troops. The village priest had fled along with them. As they wandered, the people decided to stop and worship. I do not know whether it was the Lord’s Day, or whether they just felt that it was right to give thanks that they had escaped. But whatever the motivation, the people paused to celebrate the Holy Eucharist.
However there was a major problem: they had no bread and wine at all. They had fled the approaching army without very little time to gather many provisions. So, there in the countryside, they prayed and they celebrated and they gave thanks by blessing bowls of dirt and cups of water as the body and blood of Christ. It was all that they had. Everyone took a bit of that blessed dirt and ate it, and washed it down with a bit of that blessed water. And God was present with them. "Restoring The Senses" interview from On Being
Even in their extreme suffering and hardship, wandering as refugees, fleeing from a genocidal army, even there the Good Shepherd provided spiritual nourishment for his people.
It may not always look like what we are used to. It may sometimes be rough, a bit sloppy or unpolished. But our Good Shepherd does provide us with food and drink and safety, the only kinds of food and drink and safety which truly matter!Spiritual sustenance which brings joy and strength. Eternal security which brings peace that the world can never provide. These are the provisions for abundant life from our Lord.
Now, it is often surprising how the Good Shepherd might provide these things for us. Just consider the dirt and water communion of the Armenians. Consider also this personal story told by Julie Krause, a fellow Episcopalian. It is written in a brief poem, but with a bit of imagination, we can flush out the much larger story of her life which is told here.
Ms. Krause’s poem is titled “Homeless Angel” (from Women's Uncommon Prayers) and it speaks of a serendipitous meeting with a homeless man who points her toward the nourishment of the Lord’s Table in her time of need:
Returning from the nursing home, I feel empty.
She who nurtured me no longer knows me.
Suddenly, I need to be taken care of.
The unkempt homeless man on the steps of the church invites me in.
“The food here is good,” he says.
Trained early not to talk to strangers, I think only, “Do I look poor or hungry?
Why should he call me to me?” It’s his soup kitchen, and more his church than mine.
There is a noon Eucharist. How I’ve missed it. Communion,
And the taste of my mother’s kitchen. A meager celebration.
But the bread and wine feed my soul.
Outside, he calls to me again as I walk past.
“Did you get to eat? Did they feed you? Did you get what you needed?”
I glance back over my shoulder. He smiles.
“Yes,” my heart silently shouts.
He nods.
That’s right, my friends. The food here is good! Because it comes from the Good Shepherd who spreads out a table for us and who fills our cups to overflowing!
If we will but come to the feast; if we will join in the celebration, along with all of those around the world who know his voice and follow where he leads. Thanks be to God for the gift of abundant life which we receive through our Lord, the Good Shepherd. May each one of us always know and experience this sustaining and protecting grace which he so lavishly provides. Amen.
