Eastertide Parish Eucharist Fourth Sunday of Easter
“My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. ”
Overview
Today is good Shepherd Sunday, the Sunday when we focus on what makes a good leader and how we too can be good leaders, nurturing those in need of our care.
The people of Israel always assumed that they were a special flock set apart from others. In our gospel reading, John 10:22-30, Jesus re-defines what it means to be the sheep who belong to God; it means responding to his voice, to listen and discern and then … to grow into being shepherds ourselves.
This week Good Shepherd Sunday falls during Christian Aid week; a good time to remind ourselves that we are not called to stay in the safety of our own flock but to follow the voice of the one who calls us to embrace and include, to nurture and feed, to seek and to find, all God’s children, that all may be gathered into one flock.
In our fist reading, Acts 9:36-43, we hear the story of Tabitha, not an apostle, not a deacon, just part of the flock whose life was spent shepherding others: providing for those on the margins, drawing the most vulnerable into the family of God.
FIRST READING
Acts 9:36-43
Now 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. At that time she became ill and died. When they had washed her, they laid her in a room upstairs. Since 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.’ So 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. Peter 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. He gave her his hand and helped her up. Then calling the saints and widows, he showed her to be alive. This became known throughout Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. Meanwhile he stayed in Joppa for some time with a certain Simon, a tanner.
GOSPEL READING
John 10:22-30
At that time the festival of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon. So 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.’ Jesus answered, ‘I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me; but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.’
