Good Shepherd Sunday

 Good Shepherd Sunday.   John 10 ; I Peter 2  Thoughts 

  I remember one Sunday in the Army Chaplaincy helping out in Anglican services and the higher ranking Chaplain , Major, Bill, asked me, " You have not heard of Good Shepherd Sunday?" I said, " no" .  He couldn't believe I had not.  But I came from an older group that did not have that.  Now I am glad I have been adopted by it.  

" 11I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. 12But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. 13The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. 14I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. 15As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd."  John 10:11-16

What can be more beautiful than the Good Shepherd , our Lord Christ ?  Vanessa and I used to worship in a little Church in the Philly suburbs ST. Matthew's Reformed Episcopal in Havertown, and behind the Table was a lovely stained glass window of the Christ as Good Shepherd with the sheep He was herding.  ( I know the discussions about the images issues ....but I find myself rather on either side of it.)

  We usually discuss this Gospel on this Sunday , Good Shepherd , and there are many delightful words in there for us to ponder.  Jesus is the Door to the Sheepfold for example .  The others are not to be allowed.  Sheep follow the Shepherd.  He calls them by their name.  ( That part is rather wonderful to me for my love of all the animals--I have named my cats outside for ex.  that are basically strays, but live outside on our porch)  

   I was rather directed to the Epistle reading this Sunday.  Peter applies the Good Shepherd of the Gospel to us.  And then I asked ," What are Shepherds supposed to be doing?"  In other words, what are we supposed to be doing as God's Shepherds, undershepherds and followers or disciples of the Lord Christ?  

   I follow this under the part that says," Follow His steps" ( I Peter 2:21).  Ooops a challenge we may not always meet very well. That can be hard if we are not doing it as a goal.  But the good thing is that we can by God's grace be picked up and go on the path of Jesus and walk in His steps as His followers.  There is reconciliation.  There is redemption.  There is healing.  WE have been healed by His stripes on the Cross and now look to righteousness, not ill will and evil speaking.  

---Revile not when we are reviled. v. 23  What does that revile mean? Here is is:" loidoréō(from  /loídoros, "a reviler") – properly, to say harsh things (make verbal assaults); to revile; to spue bitter (tasteless) statements, using mean-spirited, insulting words to demoralize (humiliate)."  Biblehub.com I Peter 2:23

I find that very hard to do.  It seems this is not natural to us.  For Christians, we may need to work on this one.  Perhaps as we learned in a youth meeting about bullying, " Take a time Out" or " Ignore it"  Our ex. is the Lord Christ and He did not revile when reviled.  " Follow His Steps"

---He committed Himself to the One that Judges righteously.  Who is that?  God alone can take it and bring good out of evil. This reminds me of the woman in John 8.  Jesus said, " Neither do I condemn you"  She probably never heard that before.

Can this be a way to talk to unbelievers?  They are used to condemnation for their ways.  We may think of starting with a bridge to God by loving and being nice.  Is that possible?  Of course it is.  You have to start where people are.

I used to go religiously to the motorpool to visit with my vehicle to see if it was needing something.  The real reason I went was that the Army Soldiers would see me and I had many opportunities to chat with them.

Silas Robertson, affectionately known as “Uncle Si” to “Duck Dynasty” viewers, sometimes writes down John 3:16 and 17 when giving his autograph. Si said in an interview, “Most people can tell you what 16 says, OK. ‘For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son; but they don’t know nothin’ about 17. It says Jesus didn’t come to condemn us. If anybody had a right to condemn someone, it would be the Son of God. If He didn’t do it, then hey, we definitely are not qualified to do it.” from preaching.comillustrations

I have mentioned this story several times to others  that the SFC ( Sergeant First Class-- a  senior enlisted Soldier) that felt surprised by my ashes on the forehead on Ash WED,  but then came into my office , the closet  we called it literally, it was,...,then after the comment,  in the Army Chemical School ---we had a good chat . He opened up to me about why he didn't care about religion, and I got to listen, and talked with him about God.  What a lovely time that was!  WE parted better friends.  And we always seemed to have something in common to talk about after that.

 ---Finally, the whole passage of I Peter 2 is about our behavior as Christians based upon what Christ has done for us, v. 24. " He bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we being dead to sin , should live unto righteousness...."

Our whole lives long we should be asking, " What does this look like?  and what can I continue to do as a Christian to be there?"  

V. 25 reminds us that we were as sheep going astray but now are returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop or our souls.

"Christ's way – ultimately, his way of redemption – leads through suffering. Christ knew suffering. He knew anguish. He knew fear. Yes, even suffering has a meaning. That is why it is such a blessing to have faith, to know there is a God who has created you and loves you, and who has a plan for you beyond this temporal existence of ours. To know you have an immortal soul, and to respect it as such, is a true blessing. Respect your soul, and respect the souls of those around you. Then your life will have lasting meaning."  Alice von Hildebrand, a Catholic philosopher and known for her opposition to the Nazis, died in 2002.

Amen.

 David D. Mc Millan ,  Pastor, & Chaplain (Major) US Army, ret.