26 April 2015
Rev’d Jonathan Gale
Acts 4: 5 – 12
5 The next day their 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.’
Psalm 23
The Divine Shepherd
A Psalm of David.
1 The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures;
he leads me beside still waters;*
3 he restores my soul.*
He leads me in right paths*
for his name’s sake.
4 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.
5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6 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.*
John 10: 11 – 18
11 ‘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.’
Last week I sat down to eat lunch a little later than usual as some old friends, Doug and Ruth St George (former Co-vicars of St Mary-by-the-Sea in Torbay) had popped in to see me and I was running half an hour late.
My niece (who is with us for three months) was nowhere to be seen so I switched on the TV and watched a snippet from the Jeff Probst Show. His guest was a man who had come home to find a basket of wild turkey eggs at his front door.
To cut to the chase, the man took off two years of his life to hatch and look after 12 young turkeys. The birds of course imprinted on him and were convinced he was their mother. You may have read of Konrad Lorenz, Nobel Prize winner, who first brought the concept of imprinting to us. Having once imprinted, the young birds (in his case greylag goslings) could never be persuaded that he was not their mother. He was it; before any mother goose, any mother or father anything. He was their mother. Period.
The turkey man had the same experience. He lived with the birds 24/7 and learnt to understand their vocalisations. For them he was their protector, their provider; in fact he meant everything to them. In other words he had a great affect upon them. And here’s the thing: they could get on with their lives because he was there looking after them.
But as so often happens in these circumstances there is always a two-way process. He was profoundly affected by the turkeys and their way of life.
When Jeff Probst asked him what it was he learnt from the turkeys he was very clear. His response went something like this: “You know, as human beings we’re always living in the future: after lunch I’ll be going to the grocery store, tomorrow I must finish this project, this time next week I’ll be on the Jeff Probst Show etc. The turkeys, however, live in the present. They live in the moment and they get the most out of life. That’s what I learnt from the turkeys – that no matter what was going down, there was someone looking after them and they could take life as it came and enjoy it.”
1 The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures;
I’m being looked after. I needn’t worry about the future because he cares for me. I can enjoy the moment I am in right now.
4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley,*
I fear no evil;
for you are with me;
Even if I do head into trouble, he’s with me. He accompanies me through everything. I can enjoy the moment I am in right now.
5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Even while I’m being confronted by people who oppose me, who want the worst for me; he makes sure I’m looked after. I can enjoy the moment I am in right now.
6 Surely* goodness and mercy* shall follow me
all the days of my life,
The entire future is taken care of. I can enjoy the moment I am in right now.
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
my whole life long.*
When I find myself as good as living in the same house as God does; when God and I share the same space, breathe the same air, are attuned to the same thoughts, the same sounds, the same smells, the same laughter, the same sadness – then I most certainly enjoy the moment I am in right now because there is no better place to be!
Jesus, says Peter, is the cornerstone, he’s the only person who can save us – and he’s our shepherd. More than that he describes himself as the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for us. But the really exciting thing about Jesus is that being God incarnate he has the power to take up his life again. We have a remarkable Shepherd. He doesn’t run away like the hired hand. He cares for the sheep in any and every circumstance. Because he takes care of me I can enjoy the moment I am in right now.
Jesus, in Matthew 6, goes to great pains to tell us not to worry. That is easier said than done. Have you ever tried not to worry by exercising your will power? It doesn’t work does it?
But when we imprint upon Jesus, when he becomes everything to us, our mother, our father, everything; then we will find ourselves as good as living in the same household as he does. It is then that we can live in the moment and not worry.
The benefits of being in Christ are not scooped up like the winnings in a lolly scramble. They are earned by the process of “imprinting”, as it were; by making him the dominant thought in our heads, by getting to know him in prayer, by spending time in the Word of God, by joining regularly with fellow householders in worship, by walking obediently in his footsteps, by committed discipleship.
The “imprinting” required is as profound as that exercised by any greylag gosling or young turkey. The benefits that accrue are just as real.
Living in the moment means living in Christ: Christ in us, and we in Christ.
The difference between us and young turkeys in they have no choice. They bond with the first living thing that looks like it is vaguely interested in them. We don’t.
We have, by an act of our wills, to say, “Dear God. I give myself to you entirely. Be everything to me, God, and I will give everything to you. I give myself to you wholeheartedly Lord. Take my entire being. I hold nothing back.”
Only then will we find that we have entered the sheepfold by the right gate (to change metaphors) and that we have the Good Shepherd looking after us. Only then can we fully live in the moment.
Now if you are in any doubt as to whether you have given yourself fully to God, speak to me after the service and I’ll happily make an appointment to meet with you in order to pray with you.
God bless you.
Amen.