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“[Jesus said] If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, to be with you forever…”
+In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Today is an especially joyous day, not simply because we are gathered together to worship God and His Son Jesus Christ and receive His Body and Blood, but because we will also be welcoming Delilah Denny into the Body of Christ through the Sacrament of Baptism. Baptism is both a sign and a reminder to all of us that once we were separated from God because of our trespasses and sins. But God, in His great love and mercy, sent His Son to die on the Cross and rise from the dead, thus destroying sin and death. Baptism is the outward and visible sign of the washing away of our sins and of our entrance into the family of God. What are the characteristics of the family of God, the Church? What does it mean to live as a part of this family? Fundamentally, to be a member of the Body of Christ means to be a part of a set apart people. As St. Peter says in 1 Peter 2:9, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” What this means is that we are no longer in the world. We live in the world, but we are no longer governed by its rules and priorities. On the contrary, we belong to God, and therefore, we are called to live for Him and represent Him in the way that we live our lives. In our Gospel reading for today, Jesus is telling His disciples what their life and the life of the Church will be like after He has completed His earthly mission. After reminding the disciples that He is the Messiah, the Son of God, and proclaiming to them that He intends to continue His mission through them, Jesus then declares to them, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” Here is the first characteristic of the Church: it is made up of people who demonstrate their love for Jesus Christ by keeping His commandments. The love of Christ is not simply demonstrated in professions of love and warm feelings for Christ, but in faithful obedience to His commands. Here we have clear evidence to support the idea that Jesus does not principally regard love as a warm feeling of affection, but as an act of the will that is rooted in obedience, a lifestyle marked by faithfulness. After declaring that obedience to His commands as being the true sign of love for Him, Jesus then says to the disciples, “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, to be with you forever…” Jesus reassures His disciples that even though His earthly ministry is coming to an end, they and the Church will not be left on their own to try to figure things out and carry on Christ’s mission to the world. Jesus tells them that the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Trinity will be with them and live His life in their midst so that they will have the power and the ability to keep Christ’s commands and to be Christ’s witnesses to the ends of the earth. To put it another way, the mark and characteristic of the Church is that it is a family marked by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in its midst. And when we think about the role of the Person of the Holy Spirit in the Holy Trinity, we see that the principal role of the Holy Spirit within the Trinity is that of love or in the Greek, perichoresis. God the Father loves the God the Son, who loves God the Holy Spirit, who loves God the Father. The relationships in the Trinity are marked by intimacy and love. Jesus compares the oneness of this indwelling to the oneness of the fellowship of His Church. In John 17:21 Jesus prays, “That they all may be one, just as you, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they may also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent Me.” Thus, the principal mark of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Church is love. The Church is not simply an organization, but something much more intimate. We are a family who enjoy God’s power and presence in our midst and we enjoy a special intimacy and love with God and each other. St. John the Divine, in our Epistle lesson for today, emphasizes the Church as a community marked by love and obedience filled with the Holy Spirit. He writes, “And this is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as He has commanded us. Whoever keeps His commandments abides in God and God in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.” In just a few minutes, we will receive Delilah Denny into Christ’s One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. Through the Sacrament of Holy Baptism, Delilah will not only be cleansed from sin and raised to new life in Jesus Christ, but she will become part of a holy nation, a royal priesthood, and a holy people. Delilah will grow up in a spiritual family with a life surrounded by love, marked by obedience and faith, and filled with the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. +In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
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“[Jesus said] I am the good shepherd. I know My own and My own know me, just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father.”
+In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Just this past week there was a story that went viral on the internet about a mega church in North Carolina that hosted an event called the Stronger Men’s Conference. What the conference organizers did at the beginning of the conference was have a male stripper or pole dancer come out and do various things such as climb the pole and swallow swords. Apparently, this was supposed to be a demonstration of authentic and real masculinity. The conference’s guest speaker was Pastor Mark Discoll, a pastor who has been involved in some controversy over some of his actions as Pastor of the Mars Hill Church in Seattle. Well, Mark Driscoll comes out to speak and he immediately falls to his knees and calls out the male stripper, condemning it as idolatry and sensuality and Jezebel spirit and completely inappropriate. As the result, the pastor of the host church immediately dismissed him from the rest of the conference. This recent incident served to highlight the growing problems with contemporary American evangelical Christianity—that its leaders are too focused on entertainment, and not Christ centered worship, sound theology, sound teaching, and pastoral care. Rather than be faithful pastors, they want to be celebrities with large churches, book deals, and speaking/ preaching tours. Rather then be truly prophetic in the Biblical sense, they’d rather be edgy. Rather than challenge their congregations towards love of God and service to others, they would rather pander to the latest fad. As we wring our hands and fret about the state of Christianity in America, what a relief it is to hear our Scripture lessons for today, Good Shepherd Sunday. In John’s Gospel, we hear Jesus’ declaration, “I am the Good Shepherd.” Now you may remember that I told you that John’s Gospel is the little different than the other three. I told you that John’s Gospel is more thematic than chronological. John’s Gospel contains the Seven signs-the seven miracles that Jesus performs, and how they demonstrate His identity as the Son of God. John’s Gospel also contains Jesus’ “I am” statements, which also point to His identity as the Son of God. Jesus says “I am the good shepherd, I am the door of the sheep, I am the Way the Truth and the Life. Jesus’ use of the phase “I am” is deliberate. Do you remember what God said to Moses when Moses encountered God in the burning bush? Moses asks God His Name. And God replies, tell them that “I am who I am” has sent you. So “I am” is nothing less than the Divine Name of God Himself. Jesus declares “I am the Good Shepherd.” Not only is Jesus declaring His identity as the Son of God, but He is also illustrating for us His role and function as the Son of God. Jesus is the One who cares for His people. And Jesus proceeds to spell out what that looks like, the marks of a Good Shepherd. He uses the shepherd as a role model for two reasons: One, because people were very familiar with shepherds and how they did their work. Two, was because rulers in the ancient Middle East were often referred to as the “Shepherds” of their people. Jesus says, “The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” The first characteristic of the good shepherd is that he places the welfare of his flock over his own personal welfare. He is committed to their well-being. He does not run away at the first sign of hardship or danger, but instead stands his ground to protect and care for his flock. By contrast, Jesus says that a bad shepherd is no shepherd at all. He is a hireling. He doesn’t care about the sheep or their welfare. He's simply doing a job. When hardship or danger comes, he runs away. By going to the Cross and dying on our behalf, Jesus truly does lay down His life for the sheep. Jesus says, “I know my own and my own know Me.” The second characteristic of the good shepherd is that he is close to his flock. He knows and understands their needs. He has a relationship with them. And because he knows them and has a relationship with them, the flock knows the shepherd too. Jesus tells us that His relationship with His flock is like His relationship with the Father. Jesus and the Father have an intimate relationship. Jesus even says, “I and the Father are One.” “I only do that which I see the Father doing.” In the same way, Jesus the Good Shepherd has an intimate relationship with each of us. He knows us deep down. He knows about our needs, our hurts, our struggles, and our joys. And Jesus desires that we would be so intimate with Him that we would make His desires, His purposes, and His plans our own. That we would abide in Him and bear much fruit as it says in John 15. Jesus then says, “I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to My voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.” The third characteristic of the good shepherd is that he is always searching for the lost sheep so that he can bring them into the flock and they can find safety and pasture. Jesus here is making a reference to the Gentiles, that He has come not simply as the Savior of Israel, but as the Savior of the whole world. Jesus has come to bring His salvation to all who would hear His voice and believe in Him. Jesus desires that the whole world come to know Him, love Him, and serve Him. Jesus the Good Shepherd is always out searching for those who are lost, so that He can gather them to Himself. As Jesus is the Good Shepherd, we have relationship with Him and He gives us salvation, love, and security. As the sheep, we are those who need to be led as we tend to go astray. Isaiah 53:6 says, “all we like sheep have gone astray.” The confession in the Prayer Book says, “Almighty and most merciful Father, we have erred and strayed from your ways like lost sheep.” We need to be cared for because we are vulnerable. We are vulnerable to the attacks of the world, the flesh, and the devil. Rather than trying to make it on our own, we need to cling to the safety of the flock, the Church. How are we, as the sheep, as the flock of God supposed to live? St. John describes for us in today’s Epistle reading how we as the sheep of God are to follow our Good Shepherd: First, a good sheep purifies himself as Jesus is pure. We are to progressively rid ourselves of sin. Jesus did not die for our sins so that we can keep on sinning. Rather, Jesus died for our sins so that we might abide in Him and live His life in us. To sin is to deny the life of Jesus in us, and to defile ourselves. To sin is to choke out the seed that God has planted in our hearts. John explicitly states that the evidence for those who are the children of God and those who are not is by the way we live. He says, “Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God.” Second, John says, the one who does not love his brother also does not love God. We cannot, as Jesus says, love God whom we have not seen if we do not love our neighbor who we have seen. Therefore, if we are truly the sheep who follow the Good Shepherd, then we practice obedience to God’s commands, and we love our neighbor. To live this kind of life, we must continue to listen for the Shepherd’s voice and stay connected to the flock. The path of discipleship is not through conferences that excite us and stimulate our senses. Rather, the path of discipleship, of following the Good Shepherd is a steady one of faithfulness. It something that we practice each and every day. We pray, talking to God as a regular habit, asking for the things that we need, listening to God’s guidance and counsel, interceding on behalf of others, especially our loved ones, friends, and neighbors. We come together each Sunday to worship God, hear the Word read and taught and we receive the Body and Blood of Christ. It is this way of following the Good Shepherd that we begin to discover and experience those great truths found in Psalm 23: “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul.” +In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of life—the life was made manifest , and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us—that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us…”
+In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. You have probably heard the expression “One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.” We say it every Sunday, when we recite the Nicene Creed; “We believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.” What does that mean? Let’s break it down: “One” means that we believe that the Church is one, that we as Christians are one with Christians everywhere in the world and throughout the history of the Church since New Testament times. We believe in one Lord, one faith, one baptism. “Holy” means that the Church is holy because the Holy Spirit dwells in the Church and sanctifies its members setting them apart to God in Christ and call them to a holy and righteous life. “Catholic” means the Church is “catholic” (according to the whole) because it keeps the whole faith it received from the Lord Jesus Christ, in continuity with the whole Church in all times and places. The Church is called “apostolic” because it holds the faith of the first apostles sent by Jesus Christ. In continuity with the Apostles, the Church is likewise sent by Christ to proclaim the Gospel and to make disciples throughout the whole world. Our Gospel lesson for today from St. Luke captures for us the moment when Jesus declares to His disciples the imminent establishment of the Church and its identity and mission. Here is St. Luke’s description of the incident we read last week in John 20:19-23: Jesus appears to His disciples, and He shows them that He is not a ghost, by showing them His sacred wounds and by eating food in their presence. As we examined last week, a ghost does not have wounds, nor does a ghost eat food. Once Jesus has established for the disciples that He is truly resurrected from the dead, and present with them, He then proceeds to sum up all that He has done and what will now happen moving forward. Jesus reminds them that He is the Messiah, the Christ, and that His coming, and His earthly ministry, His teaching and His miraculous signs, culminating in His death and resurrection, was all the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy—in the first five books of Moses, in the books of the Prophets, and in the Psalms as well. Then in verse 45 Luke writes, “Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.” This tells us that since the Scriptures are spiritual and supernatural writings, the ability to understand and proclaim their meaning to others is also a spiritual and supernatural act. It does not come principally from intellectual or academic study, but it comes from God Himself through the Holy Spirit. It is also a reminder that the Church’s authority and power comes from God through the Holy Spirit: remember last week in John’s Gospel, Jesus declares to the disciples, “As the Father has sent Me, even so I am sending you...Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.” With these words, Jesus declares that He is establishing His Church, and that this Church, made of up of all those who believe in Him and who led by His Apostles, those who were eyewitnesses of His earthly ministry, and His death and resurrection, all of whom are now commissioned to go out into the world in Christ’s name. To do what? Jesus continues, declaring, “That repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.” So then, the Church is a Holy Spirit empowered institution, created and established by Christ Himself, a supernatural body empowered by Christ, entrusted with the faith first given to the Apostles, to go out into the world and to preach the Gospel to all nations. St. John the Divine, in his first letter, uses the same kind of language he used at the beginning of his Gospel, to describe Christ’s commission to him and to the other Apostles, and to the whole Church. John writes, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of life—the life was made manifest , and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us—that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us…” This is the Gospel and the Great Commission that the Church, proclaims and practices. This Gospel comes to us from the Apostles, who as St. John says, heard it from Christ, seen it with their own eyes, looked upon and touched with their hands (remember Thomas?), this life and ministry and story of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, this we proclaim to you. For what purpose? So that you (all of us) may have fellowship with us (the Church and the Apostles). This then, is what we mean when we say that we believe in and are baptized into Christ’s one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. We believe in the Apostolic faith, which was handed down to the present day from the Apostles. We can find this Apostolic faith in the Scriptures and in the teachings of the Church. We are to take this faith that we have received and teach it to our children, and proclaim it to all the nations to make disciples of them. Here at St. John the Divine Church, we come together to worship God and His Son Jesus Christ, to glory Him in all that we say and do. We take the Gospel of Jesus Christ and we believe it, teach it, and as St. John the Divine, writes, we proclaim it also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and that indeed our fellowship is with the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. +In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. “Then [Jesus] said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here, and see My hands; and put out your hand and place it in My side. Do not disbelieve but believe.’ Thomas answered Him, ‘My Lord and my God.”
+In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Today is unofficially known as Low Sunday, as it is the first Sunday after Easter Day, usually the Sunday when many Rectors let the curate preach, the Sunday when many of the church regulars are away for the weekend. But this Sunday is also known as Doubting Thomas Sunday, since it is this encounter between Jesus and Thomas the Doubting disciple that is featured on this day. Back in my Episcopal Church days, Doubting Thomas Sunday was held up as a special day, since the leadership of the Episcopal Church believed that Thomas’ “doubting” made him special, and even more spiritually virtuous than his fellow apostles who believed in Jesus’ resurrection already. It’s like that old expression, “I’m from Missouri, show me!” This expression refers to people from Missouri, who want to be shown the facts and make an informed decision. Missourians are not gullible and will not simply take your word for it. The truth about Thomas’ original doubt that Jesus had truly arisen from the dead, and his insistence on specific evidence to be convinced of Jesus’ resurrection is not remarkable or special, even if it set him apart from the other disciples. On the contrary, Thomas’ doubt is commonplace. There are many examples of individuals demanding that God meet some specific proof so that they will believe that God is real. Who wouldn’t doubt something as incredible as the Resurrection? It’s not as if being resurrected from the dead is a commonplace event—it’s never happened before! Furthermore, it can be argued that doubt is simply a form of a defense mechanism—I don’t want to believe, because I’m not prepared to accept the consequences of belief. What is remarkable in this episode is the great love that Jesus has for Thomas and all of us, and that He desires for us to be believing, not disbelieving. St. John’s account of Jesus’ encounter with Thomas and the rest of the disciples starts off with a bang: the disciples have locked themselves up in a house, fearing that the authorities will come and arrest them at any minute. Yet, despite the locked doors, Jesus comes and stands among them. Jesus didn’t kick down the doors. Nor was Jesus a ghost—John tells us that the first thing Jesus does is show the disciples His hands and His side. Ghosts don’t have flesh wounds! So if Jesus isn’t a ghost, and He didn’t kick open the door, then how did He get in the room? I think C.S. Lewis describes it best: Lewis says that Jesus was able to enter the room and not kick open the doors and not be a ghost was because the resurrected Jesus was the most real and substantial being in the entire room. Compared to Jesus, the disciples were ghosts, and the walls were like fog. Having presented Himself in the room, and having demonstrated that He was not a ghost, but has risen from the dead, Jesus then blessed the disciples and gives them their Commission to go and continue His work in the world as His ambassadors: Jesus tells them that they will have His authority to go out into the world in His Name. Surprisingly, Thomas is not with the rest of the disciples when this takes place. Does this mean that Thomas is not one of the Apostles? No. Thomas is still numbered among the Apostles-even though Thomas is not physically present, he still has the same commission and authority as the others. Why is Thomas not there? Gregory the Great says that the reason Thomas is absent when Jesus appears to the disciples is because Jesus wants to have the opportunity to address the doubt that Thomas already feels, and in so doing, address the doubt that so many throughout the centuries have had about Jesus Christ’s resurrection from the dead. John then tells us that when Thomas rejoins the other disciples, they tell him all about Jesus’ visit and what happened. Thomas is skeptical, and tells them, “Unless I see in His hands the mark of the nails, and place my hand into His side, I will never believe.” Fast forward to the following week, Jesus comes and appears to the disciples again. And what does Jesus do? The first thing Jesus does is go to Thomas and invite him to do the very thing that will convince him to believe. Jesus invites Thomas to look at His hands and see the marks of the nail. Jesus invites Thomas to put his hand in Jesus’ side. Jesus says to Thomas, “Do not disbelieve, but believe.” This is such a beautiful example of Jesus’ heart for people. Jesus knew about Thomas’ doubts, and He wanted to dispel them. Jesus wanted Thomas to believe! My friends, the same is true for you and me and for everyone who wants to believe, but doubts. Jesus wants to answer our doubts. He wants us to believe in Him! Nevertheless, I think that it is important to note that complete and perfect proof about Jesus and who He is not available to those who don’t or won’t believe. On the contrary, that’s why Jesus wants us to have faith. He wants us to believe despite our doubts and our fears. It was St. Augustine who said, “I believe, then I understand.” It is faith that unlocks belief, which then unlocks greater understanding. When Thomas encounters Jesus, and sees His hands, and places his hand in Jesus’ side, he exclaims, “My Lord and My God!” This is the response that Jesus wants from all of us, that simple declaration of faith and belief. It is this confession that makes everything else possible. We know from church history that Thomas went on to become the first missionary to India. Thomas first proclaimed the Gospel to the people there. Did you know that when the first Western missionaries arrived in India, they encountered Indians who were already Christians! When they asked these Indian Christians who first brought them the Gospel, they said it was Thomas the Apostle! That is why there is a Church in India called the Bar Thoma Church, because it is descended from those first Indians converted by Thomas himself. When Thomas makes his declaration of faith in the risen Lord, Jesus exclaims, “Have you believed because you have seen Me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Here Jesus is not necessarily rebuking Thomas and praising the other disciples. Rather, Jesus is proclaiming that all of us who come to believe in Him later, after He is no longer present on earth in the flesh, are the ones who are truly blessed. If you’re like me, you wonder to yourself, “how great would have been to be there and see Jesus in the flesh, doing all those great and wonderful things!” Yes, it would have been great to be there! But one day we, like Thomas, will see Jesus face to face, and we will say to Him, ‘My Lord and my God!” +In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. |
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