Rev’d Jonathan Gale
Acts 9: 36 – 43
Peter in Lydda and Joppa
36Now in Joppa there was a disciple whose name was Tabitha, which in Greek is Dorcas.* She was devoted to good works and acts of charity. 37At that time she became ill and died. When they had washed her, they laid her in a room upstairs. 38Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, who heard that Peter was there, sent two men to him with the request, ‘Please come to us without delay.’ 39So Peter got up and went with them; and when he arrived, they took him to the room upstairs. All the widows stood beside him, weeping and showing tunics and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was with them. 40Peter put all of them outside, and then he knelt down and prayed. He turned to the body and said, ‘Tabitha, get up.’ Then she opened her eyes, and seeing Peter, she sat up. 41He gave her his hand and helped her up. Then calling the saints and widows, he showed her to be alive. 42This became known throughout Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. 43Meanwhile he stayed in Joppa for some time with a certain Simon, a tanner.
Revelation 7: 9 – 17
The Multitude from Every Nation
9 After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. 10They cried out in a loud voice, saying,
‘Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!’
11And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshipped God, 12singing,
‘Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom
and thanksgiving and honour
and power and might
be to our God for ever and ever! Amen.’
13 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, ‘Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?’ 14I said to him, ‘Sir, you are the one that knows.’ Then he said to me, ‘These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
15 For this reason they are before the throne of God,
and worship him day and night within his temple,
and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them.
16 They will hunger no more, and thirst no more;
the sun will not strike them,
nor any scorching heat;
17 for the Lamb at the centre of the throne will be their shepherd,
and he will guide them to springs of the water of life,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’
John 10: 22 – 30
Jesus Is Rejected by the Jews
22 At that time the festival of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter, 23and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon. 24So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, ‘How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah,* tell us plainly.’ 25Jesus answered, ‘I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me; 26but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. 27My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. 28I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. 29What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father’s hand.* 30The Father and I are one.’
17 for the Lamb at the centre of the throne will be their shepherd,
and he will guide them to springs of the water of life,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’
I have just re-read a wonderful biography of C.S. Lewis by Oxford academic, Alister McGrath. McGrath points out that in his early Christian days Lewis was an active apologist for the faith, highly rational and somewhat Socratic in his approach to arguing the truthfulness and benefits of Christianity.
As he got older Lewis lost his appetite for debate and switched tactics. Typified in his seven children’s books – the Narnia series – Lewis began story-telling in order to convey a vision of what a godly society and its dynamics would look like. These are stories that feed the imagination – the faith-filled imagination.
We see glimpses of this in the Scriptures in what is known as Apocalyptic literature, and the Revelation of John is an apocalyptic book. John is shown visions of heaven and what it will be like. These too are stories that feed – that cause faith and joy to rise in those who hear them.
In today’s reading from Revelation Jesus is revealed as a shepherd: 17 for the Lamb at the centre of the throne will be their shepherd,
Jesus is a shepherd who will:
- Shelter his sheep
- Protect them from hunger, thirst and the scorching sun
- He will guide them to springs of the water of life,
and - God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.
In our Gospel reading from John Jesus outlines some of the characteristics of his relationship with his sheep – and here he is contrasting his sheep (i.e. those who follow him) with the Jewish religious authorities of his day.
- His sheep hear his voice
- He knows them
- They follow him
- He gives them eternal life, they will never perish and no one will snatch them out of his hand
Last Sunday we saw Jesus handing over the job of Shepherd-in-Residence to Peter. Jesus asks Peter three times whether he loves him or not, each time Peter affirms that he does, and each time Jesus says, “Feed my sheep.”
You can do all sorts of things to sheep. They’re pretty robust. But the one thing you absolutely have to do is provide them with sustenance. Sheep need to feed.
You can
- shelter them from the elements,
- dose and dip them against parasites and disease,
- protect them from wolves and wipe away their tears
but it is to no avail if they are dying of starvation and thirst. You can tell everyone all about the wonderful wool they make, the healthy lambs they can produce, but if they have no nutrition you are wasting your time. They will die.
So what is a healthy diet for a Christian sheep?
- Well you can ensure that you have an active personal prayer and bible study habit
- You can attend church and worship, pray, hear the word and share communion
- You can fellowship – get involved in all sorts of activities with other Christians
- You can also ensure that you don’t poison your mind with inappropriate material
These things are all good and we should engage in them with vigour.
But there is one thing that we should all make sure of, and that is that we maintain and grow a positive vision of what a godly society and its dynamics should look like, a vision of what it is like (for us – not for the guy next door) of what following the Good Shepherd is like.
What I’m talking about here is the world of the mind. It is the world of story – story that feeds the imagination of faith. We need to see ourselves as the authors of our stories working out what it means to follow Jesus, what adventures we might have, how we might relate to him (and others in the flock) as we do.
You see when the Jews asked Jesus if he was the Messiah or not, he started talking about his sheep. Jesus had a story in his head of what Messiahship meant to him. For him it was the story of shepherding, of him knowing the sheep, of them hearing his voice and following him, of feeding the sheep, of sheltering them.
We would expect him to respond to the Jewish authorities with the obvious: “You don’t know me, do you?” But he was saying, “Do I know you?” “27My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me.” “Clearly you’re not part of this flock.”
In fact he’s pretty blunt. The works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me; 26but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep.
“I have a very clear narrative in my head about who I am, who is with me in it, and I don’t see you there.” Boom!
“My sheep have a clear narrative in their heads too” My sheep hear my voice and they follow me Boom!
I think the questions we should all hear this morning are:
- What is the narrative that you are building in your mind now about who and what is important to you and where you are going, both in this life and the next?
- What pictures do you develop on a constant basis that form the way you think about life now and in the future?
- What is deepest desire for your life and the lives of your family?
- What stories of imaginative faith do you tell yourself?
Because when these pictures cast a vision that is pleasant, wholesome, beautiful, noble, good, generous, worshipful – and at the centre of it all is Jesus – then we have the sustenance that will maintain us through thick and thin.
And if Peter were here he’d say, “Yes, Lord! These sheep are feeding!”
When Peter was called to the home of Tabitha, who was lying before him dead, we read: All the widows stood beside him, weeping and showing tunics and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was with them.
These women were casting a vision, telling the story of Tabitha and how she lived out the principles of the Kingdom of God.
Peter’s faith rose to the surface in response and in the next verse we read 40Peter put all of them outside, and then he knelt down and prayed. He turned to the body and said, ‘Tabitha, get up.’ Then she opened her eyes, and seeing Peter, she sat up.
Our stories do more than affect ourselves. They affect others too. Here a group of small town widows tell a story that feeds the person Jesus had made the Shepherd of the sheep and in doing so enable him to carry out his work of feeding the sheep.
I’d like to conclude with the words of Moses to Israel in Deuteronomy 6: 6 – 8. “These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. “You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead.
Faith and joy don’t come out of the blue. They come from the dominant thought patterns of our minds, the stories of imaginative vision that we feed ourselves.
Let them be:
- On your heart
- On your lips
- To children
- In your house
- In the way
- Lying down
- Rising up
- A sign on your hand
- A frontal on your forehead
Amen.