Easter
4 Homily By The Rev. Marcia McRae
St.
John’s Episcopal Church, Bainbridge, GA, 17 April 2016
RCL
Year C: Acts 9:36-43; Psalm 23; Revelation 7:9-17; John 10:22-30
Jesus
says: “My
sheep hear my voice.
I know them, & they follow me.” Following
Jesus is a way of life.1
It's our way of life.
Notice
the great
multitude
of Jesus' sheep in Revelation, this great multitude of our Brothers &
Sisters in Christ no one can count, wearing white,
carrying palm branches, “symbols
of joy & victory”2.
Jesus
gives his sheep eternal life. He says they will never perish, &
“No one will snatch them out of my hand.” Jesus says this not
just about the great saints, not just about life after we die.
Jesus'
guarantee covers all
his sheep, including you & me.3
How do we live into this Good News – this unmatchable guarantee, as
Sermons4Kids calls it,4
this
great, assurance active now
This
great guarantee reaches beyond the larger life we will have after our
bodily deaths. You are safe in Jesus's care now. You/we can live in Resurrection joy on this side of life. As
Brother Mark Brown
of the Society of St. John the Evangelist says in
his “Empty
Tomb” sermon posted for the April 14 daily meditation,5
Jesus invites us, saying:
“'Join
me in the Resurrection...Even now, even today – don’t wait 'til
you’re dead.' Come out of the small, dark, confining places of life
into the broad & bright places...”6
Our
scriptures today are full of broad & bright places, full of
descriptions of “our way of life” – the way of life with Jesus,
our self-sacrificing shepherd.
- Notice the way of life, the brightness that shines from Peter in our 1st reading when he responds immediately to a call for help.
- Notice the way of life Tabitha/Dorcas shows devoted to good works of charity to brighten darkened lives. Like the light-footed gazelle which her name means, Dorcas holds material possessions lightly like Jesus does.7
- Psalm 23 says this about our way of life: our Shepherd guides us along right pathways & comforts us.
- Revelation reminds us the Lamb who shepherds us guides us to the water of life. We drink the water of life, God's grace that flows from Jesus, as the Catholic Bible notes.8
We
share this flowing grace in many ways, including at Holy Communion,
during which we mix a bit of water into our wine to remind us of the
grace that flows from Jesus, his blood & water that flow from his
side when he is pierced by a spear as he hangs on the cross, where he
died so that we can live in the Light of God's Love now & always.
Jesus dies & the Holy Spirit comes to guide us in our way of life
that trusts God's Love.
Even
in the shadow of death, as
Psalm 23 says,
we do not fear. We walk in the Light of God's Love.
Notice the light
we see in today's Gospel. Jesus' encounter is during the
festival of the Dedication, that's
Hanukkah9,
the
8-day festival of lights that celebrates the temple's reconcecration
& rededication of its altar in 164 B.C.10
Here's Jesus in
Jerusalem for this December11
event, walking
in the portico of Solomon, which faces east
[from
which comes morning light],
Our Gospel shines the Light of Jesus' Love for his sheep in a
location that looks ahead, foreshadows a darker future event in
Gethsemane.
Jesus faces this darker time & embraces it
so that
you & I can walk in the Light of God's Love.
This is our Way of
life. This is our calling: to shine the Light that shines in our
hearts so our brothers & sisters living in darkness can see
clearly & live in the Light, too.
We can enlighten
them with the Good News: God Loves You. [And you, Beloved Brothers &
Sisters know what to say, so say it with me:]
God
Loves You.
No
exceptions.
All
are welcome.
God's
Love, God's Light make you, make THIS a happening community where we
live God's Love.
In
the Jesus' good, strong, nail-scarred hands,
we sheep are safe &
secure
no matter what life throws at us.
No matter what changes life
brings,
nothing separates us from God's Love
that Jesus gives us.
What a gift!
It guides us now. It never fails.
It is ours now &
always.
You
have this gift of eternal life now. You know this!
What
sheep do you know who needs to know
what you know?!
Who
needs to hear you share the Good News of
new life Jesus offers?
Who
needs to hear the assurance of this forever guarantee
that is
available now & not just after death?
Forever
guarantee:
Why
wait until you're dead to start
living the Resurrection Life?
Who
is the child of God you know
who needs to hear from you
– in word
or by deed –
that they will never be lost
from God's Love?
Brown,
Brother
Mark. “The Message”.
http://ssje.org/ssje/2011/10/04/the-message-br-mark-brown/.
Accessed: 04/14/2016.
Harper’s
Bible Commentary.
General Ed.: Jams. L. Mays. San Francisco: Harper & Row
Publishers, 1988.
Harper’s
Bible Dictionary.
General Ed.: Paul J. Achtemeier. San Francisco: Harper & Row
Publishers. 1985.
The
New American Bible for Catholics.
South Bend: Greenlawn Press. 1986.
“Who’s
Counting?” Accessed: 16 April 2016/
http://www.proclaimsermons.com/viewSermon.asp?title=Who%26rsquo%3Bs%20Counting%3F.
1
Idea from
“Who’s
Counting?”
http://www.proclaimsermons.com/viewSermon.asp?title=Who%26rsquo%3Bs%20Counting%3F.
4
Ibid.
6
Ibid. Brown.
11
Ibid. Harper's.
12
Ibid.
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