The Fourth Sunday of Easter, 11 May 2014
Acts 2:42-47
Psalm 23
I Peter 2:19-25
St. John 10:1-10
Background: Shepherds
The images we encounter in the psalm for this
day and in the Gospel for today are so entrenched in our religious psyche that
it almost requires us to take some time at look at the details and decode the
profession. It is, and there is no
intended smirk here, one of the oldest professions in the world, dating from
around 3,000 BCE. Originating in Asia
and then moving into Europe, it becomes one of the most foundational parts of
nomadic culture especially in the hill country of Palestine. The story of Cain and Able (Genesis 4), although guised as a story/discourse on the way to make a proper
sacrifice, is really an age-old story about the rancher and the farmer, a story
told in our own culture in the West. But
there is more here, at least in the Cain and Able story and that is another
pattern of the younger son replacing the eldest, but I digress.
In nomadic and other shepherding cultures,
usually the person least able to contribute to the family economy in a real way
was the one sent to be the shepherd (the youngest, the oldest, the most frail,
the most limited) and it is here that the use of the shepherd as a religious symbol
both in Judaism and in Christianity is so interesting. David is a shepherd (again the young
supplanting the old), and Jesus is guised as a shepherd. Perhaps it is this living “outside of
society” that aids the association with Jesus.
For David, it may be something completely different, perhaps identification
with the root culture of Israel.
Regardless, it is so firmly placed that doing an exegesis of the usage
and symbol is useful and helpful. That,
today, is the work of the readings.
Acts 2:42-47
Those who had been
baptized devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the
breaking of bread and the prayers.
Awe came upon everyone,
because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. All who
believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their
possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day
by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at
home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having
the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number
those who were being saved.
We have been benefiting from an on-going reading from Acts during this
Eastertide, and here we have a summary about Christian community life. It follows immediately after Peter’s sermon
and its unbelievable results, “and about
three thousand persons were baptized.” The
next few sentences (our pericope for today) describe what was in store for
those who had been baptized. We have the
benefit of Luke looking back over time to see what had developed in the early
Christian community. First, there are “many signs and wonders being done by the
apostles.” I have mentioned in
earlier blog posts how Luke has both Peter and then Paul participate in the
kind of presence and miracles that Jesus performed. Here it is not limited to them in particular,
but generously extended to all of “the
apostles.” There is a discussion
about common life, and the continued culture of Temple and of the Breaking of
the Bread. Whether Luke intends this as
a Eucharistic reference is not clear. It
is interesting that my Roman Catholic commentators all agree that it is, and my
more Protestant commentators see it as a sign of hospitality. Can it not be both? Such provisions for daily prayer, active
ritual life, and the common meal were signs to others that this particular
community had something to offer.
Breaking open Acts:
- What behaviors and actions would distinguish your congregation?
- Are they evident to the community that lives around you?
- Do they add to your numbers?
Why not?
Psalm 23 Dominus regit me
The LORD is my
shepherd; *
I shall not be in want.
He makes me lie down in
green pastures *
and leads me beside
still waters.
He revives my soul *
and guides me along
right pathways for his Name's sake.
Though I walk through
the valley of the shadow of death,
I shall fear no evil; *
for you are with me;
your rod and your
staff, they comfort me.
You spread a table
before me in the presence of those
who trouble me; *
you have anointed my
head with oil,
and my cup is running
over.
Surely your goodness
and mercy shall follow me all the days
of my life, *
and I will dwell in the
house of the LORD for ever.
Usually I go to Robert Alter to help me decipher the Psalms, but today I
am going to listen to what Rolf A. Jacobson of Luther Seminary has to say. His interests are the royal nature of the
psalm, and its movement from the shepherd metaphor to that of the host. You might want to look up I Kings 22:17-18 to see what the royal
connection is. This should not surprise
us. David was a shepherd, and David was
the quintessence of kingship. The other
connection that is clear is that of hospitality which was more than just a
nicety it the Ancient Near East. Amongst
nomads it was life itself. It was that
necessary dependence upon one another that is hinted at in Luke’s description
of the early Church in Acts. Here it is
described as the result of what one would expect from the shepherding of the
king, the care given to the sheep – Israel.
While these scenes appeal to a sweetness that we would like to see, I
suspect both shepherding and kingship were difficult tasks. It might be interesting to connect the
difficulty of hospitality, kingship, shepherding, and life itself to what the
Christians were living out in Acts.
Breaking open Psalm 23:
- What surprises you about this psalm?
- Have you learned anything new about this psalm? What?
- What role does hospitality play in your church?
1 Peter 2:19-25
It is a credit to you
if, being aware of God, you endure pain while suffering unjustly. If you endure
when you are beaten for doing wrong, what credit is that? But if you endure
when you do right and suffer for it, you have God's approval. For to this you
have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example,
so that you should follow in his steps.
"He committed no
sin,
and no deceit was found
in his mouth."
When he was abused, he
did not return abuse; when he suffered, he did not threaten; but he entrusted
himself to the one who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on
the cross, so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness; by his
wounds you have been healed. For you were going astray like sheep, but now you
have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.
Readers and preachers would do well to read these verses in their whole
context – a context that the framers of the Lectionary seemed to find
embarrassing. The verse that precedes
our pericope makes sense of what follows, “Slaves, be subject to your masters
with all reverence, not only to those who are good and equitable but also to
those who are perverse.” The
author’s purpose is not to discuss the institution of slavery, and neither is
it Paul’s purpose in other contexts.
However, it needs mentioning here, because it serves as a stark reminder
of the Christ who also suffered, and, I suspect, a Christian community that was
beginning to suffer in an increasingly hostile setting. So, our suffering must be like Christ’s –
silent. Many in our culture and in our
churches would find that to be a difficult if not impossible dictum to
follow. People striving for freedom
suffer – yes, but they continue to strive for freedom, sometimes noisily.
The quote from the Suffering Servant (see Isaiah 53:4-12) makes a
poignant connection between the suffering community, the suffering of slaves,
and the suffering of Jesus. This
suffering seems to serve as the subject of a (perhaps) hymn that is quoted in
the closing verses of the pericope. They
form a statement of faith for those in the community who which to follow the
experience of Jesus.
Breaking open I Peter:
- How are you a slave?
- How have you made others suffering slaves?
- How is your suffering like that of Jesus?
St. John 10:1-10
Jesus said, "Very
truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but
climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. The one who enters by the
gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and
the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep
follow him because they know his voice. They will not follow a stranger, but
they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers."
Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he
was saying to them.
So again Jesus said to
them, "Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came
before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. I am
the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and
find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that
they may have life, and have it abundantly."
Here John continues to place Jesus at the significant festivals of
Judaism, and in that context comment on what it is that Jesus is offering. The preceding pericope is the Man Born Blind,
in which Jesus not only heals, but in which we see the difficulties placed on
this man by the religious authorities.
With that thought in mind, Jesus begins his discourse on the Good
Shepherd. In our own minds we need to be
mindful, as perhaps Jesus was, of the excoriation that Ezekiel gives to the
“Shepherds of Israel”, the priests who had ignored YHWH, (see Ezekiel 34:2ff.) In the
readings from John, Jesus wants us to see at least two different sides of the
difference he makes. Jesus is the good
shepherd because of a mutual knowledge of both sheep and shepherd – the voice,
the word, is shared between them. Other
voices they do not follow. The second
comparison is the gate of the sheepfold itself.
Here Jesus is protection and in that protection gives life. When the Christian community forgets about
the life of its members and the community in which it thrives (see Acts, above)
then it has forgotten its model in Jesus.
This is hard stuff for those who would lead the church of Christ.
Breaking open the Gospel:
- Does Jesus know your voice – do you know his?
- What does his voice say to you?
- What is your response?
After breaking open the
Word, you might want to pray the Collect for Sunday:
O God, whose Son Jesus is the good shepherd of your people: Grant that
when we hear his voice we may know him who calls us each by name, and follow
where he leads; who, with you and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God,
for ever and ever. Amen.
Questions and comments copyright © 2014, Michael
T. Hiller
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