Preacher: Thea Oliver
Readings:
Acts 2, 14a, 42-47
1 Peter 2, 19-25
John 10, 1-10
Jesus often referred to us as his sheep and in
our Gospel reading today he describes himself as the gate of the sheepfold.
You may be thinking: why did Jesus describe himself as a gate? And
why warn us about thieves and robbers? In Jesus day sheep followed their ‘own’
shepherd, sometimes the fold or pen would be shared by the village & house
a number of different flocks of sheep, and these sheepfolds had no gate. The
shepherd himself formed the gate by lying across the opening at night. So if
wild beasts came to attack the sheep, they would have to get past the shepherd.
He protected his sheep by literally offering his life for them. Thieves and
robbers would be unable to get into the fold via the gate, for fear of the
shepherd. So the only way for them to get at the sheep was by the devious
means of climbing the wall.
Given that the thieves and robbers were identified by Jesus as the
religious rulers of the day, who are today's thieves and robbers and how can we
identify them? Perhaps today's thieves and robbers are those who attempt to
steal our souls from us. Those who marginalise spirituality, those who teach us
to worship material things and the money that can buy them, those who erode our
principles until anything sleazy is OK as long as it's fun. And those who make
all this sound as though it's good and right. This doesn’t mean that we can’t
have fun & enjoy ourselves, but perhaps it reminds us to check our
motivation. If you haven’t read the article in this month’s parish magazine
entitled ‘The stranger’ please do; it illustrates exactly what I’m trying to
say.
Protection is the first task of the shepherd because sheep by
nature are followers. A story is told of a young woman who wanted to go to
university, but her heart sank when she read one question on the application
form that asked, ‘Are you a leader?’ Being both honest and conscientious, she
wrote, ‘No’ and returned the application, expecting the worst. To her surprise,
she received this reply from the college: ‘Dear Applicant: A study of the
application forms reveals that this year our University will have 1,452 new
leaders. We are accepting you because we feel it is imperative that they have
at least one follower’
Most of us do not like to think of ourselves as followers. We
style ourselves as leaders but in reality the vast majority of us are not.
Other than parenthood we are rarely given positions of ultimate care over
others. But Jesus recognizes that we are by nature followers, that we need to
be cared for. Sheep are followers. In Jesus day sheep were taught to follow the
voice of the one they knew, of the one they recognized. But they would not
follow the voice of a stranger.
We know that like sheep we are usually happier in a group of like
minded people, and our reading from Acts today highlights how important this
fellowship was for the early Christians.
It
is a challenge for any preacher to know how to talk about today's reading from
Acts, especially the part about "they would sell their property and
possessions and divide them among all according to each one's need." There
is idealism in the text that at first sounds wonderful … what would it be like
to be part of such a vibrant, devoted, fair and compassionate community? But then we wonder whether it could spell out
trouble.
This
text is very radical. It is about a fundamental re-ordering of life for the
disciples: they were being made into new household. Remember, that in Greek
culture of the time, life centred around ‘the household’. It was often a
collective of families, slaves, and others who were cared for, controlled, and
owned by ‘the Father’. Business and family life operated out of the household
for the benefit of the household … or more likely, the head family of the
household. There would have been a pecking order, the higher up you were, the
more you got.
But
this is a new type of household. One where the ‘Father’ is in heaven, the head
of the household is ‘the spirit of Jesus Christ’ and the purpose is not just
the well-being of the household and its survival, but for the whole community. We
are told that there was awe, wonder, and joy, everyone worshiping & eating
together as equals; that the expression of what God was doing added to the
number of believers.
Sounds good, so why don't we all live
communally?
If I was a betting woman I’d wager that, some,
perhaps most of us are thinking, ‘I don't think I'd like to live in a commune’
Living together communally has positive &
negative aspects. I think that in His ideal world God would like everyone to
live communally. In fact, individualism and Christianity are incompatible. Ours
is essentially a religion of community. But in case you’re worried, I don't
think this means we should all set up a commune here in Draycott & Rodney
Stoke!
But
if this passage is to speak to us today we must see it as more than just
nostalgia for the experience of the early church.
Over the centuries, these verses have proved to
be extremely challenging in their practical application, especially when they
have been interpreted as a complete ban on Christians owning anything, whether
property or material possessions. It is true that God does call some people to
a life of total, voluntary poverty (as he called his disciples; the rich young
man; Francis of Assisi, Mother Theresa etc) We know that there are Christians
today who do live communally and hold things in common: and the evidence
suggests, that for them life is good, healthy and meaningful.
But
what isn’t right is to treat it as a universal calling for all Christians. We
see this in verse 46, which tells us that they broke bread in their homes – so,
we can be sure that many still had their own homes.
This
is also a very challenging passage to those of us who are comfortably off, we
who live in an age which values free market capitalism. Sociologists describe
the master trend of our age being not just individualism, but ‘Hyper-individualism.’
The ethos of the age, ‘Narcissistic Hedonism’ … in other words ‘What feels good
to me must be good for me.’ A culture where God is reduced to an
expletive if mentioned at all & religion is reduced to a hobby.
What
this passage does teach us is that as Christians we should be generous in the
way we use what we have. When we see a need and know that we can help, we
should act – because this is what loving our neighbour is all about – this is
what being a loving church is all about. What is important to grasp is that God
calls each one of us to give as we are able to give. Karl Marx had the basic
concept right: from each according to his ability to each according to his need,
I wonder where he got that from?
We
are told that every day they continued to meet together. In the excitement of
their newfound faith, these new believers wanted to worship God together –to
praise Him and thank Him. They met in both the Temple Courts and in their
homes, and this is significant. They describe the early church model of larger
corporate, more formalised gatherings and the smaller, more personal and
informal get-togethers two different kinds of gatherings, serving different purposes,
meeting different needs, but both united in enabling people to worship
together.
Now, it’s true to say that generally speaking,
we don’t meet together every day (perhaps that’s a good thing, you might think
– or perhaps you would like to?).
We come here to St Peter’s/St Leonard’s for our
Sunday services and in our benefice there are mid-week meetings for prayer
& Bible study. Both help us to worship God and to grow in our Christian
life. So, can I encourage everyone here to take advantage of these different
opportunities – The morning prayer meeting at St Peter’s is an excellent
opportunity for quiet reflection in the hustle & bustle of everyday life.
And if you’re never been to Bible study at Chris
& Nikki’s home, please try it out I promise it isn’t threatening, the
coffee & company is good & there is no pressure.
Many of us have joined in Lent study groups and
have really benefited from these: especially the ecumenical ones. Perhaps such
small groups from different Churches will be the way forward as we move into
our larger united benefice with Cheddar?
Wherever we meet we are following the voice of our shepherd. Just like
a 1st century shepherd Jesus shows us a picture of himself not only
protecting his flock but leading them to greener pastures, rather than
following behind with a stick and a dog. It was the clear and audible voice of
the shepherd which the sheep followed behind. Now in the 21st
Century you and I are called to be the voice of Christ, whether as leaders or
vocal encouraging followers, and we must be clear in our presentation of his
message so that others may be able to hear and follow. If our words or
commitment is uncertain then who will follow? And so we must commit ourselves
to be true to the Good news which has been entrusted to us. We must be prepared
to stand up for our faith, to challenge that which is untrue and to lead people
to the green pastures that have been promised to us all.
Amen