April 22, 2018
Stetson Memorial UMC
1John
3:16-18 The Voice
John
10:14-18 MSG
Psalm
23 MSG
“In
The Name Of Jesus…”
The Lord be with you…
And also with you…
Let us pray…
Pray
that the words spoken are not my own but God’s Words…
A
reading from the gospel of according to John chapter 10, verses 14-18. Listen
to and for a Word from God to His resurrected people…
Good Morning…
Jesus used metaphors, parables, when He spoke.
It would change each time He was talking to a different group of people. Jesus
really wanted the people to understand about the Kingdom of God an all that it
holds or humanity.
On this particular day, He spoke of Himself as
being a shepherd, the Good Shepherd to be exact. Now the scripture doesn’t tell
us if He was talking to a bunch of shepherds in the field, or maybe the owners
of herds of sheep wo had others look after them. But one thing was or sure, He
wanted them to know about how God, the Father, wants all to be included in the
sheepfold. He was giving them an example
of how they should live their lives on the line as they tended the sheep and
also bring the others in… (I wonder if they ever understood about the love that
was shown for the sheep)
He even spoke of His death and resurrection in
this scripture…in metaphor of course.
Even though He was talking their language, I don’t think they really
understood.
Funny thing about those shepherds. In the
evening they would bring the sheep into a pen area that had only one gate.
After they had gathered them all they would lay down in the opening so that
nothing would get through to attack the sheep. They would be the first thing
that the predator had to deal with before getting to their prey. The really did
lay their lives down for the sheep.
But those sheep that were watched over by
someone hired to watch them would not stand a chance. These hired hands would
not risk their lives or these animals that didn’t even belong to them. The
shepherds loved their sheep. As a matter of fact, they were like family to
them. They were going to fight tooth and nail to save their four-legged family.
The interesting thing in this scripture is that
Jesus talked about other sheep. Now shepherds may rest their flocks at night
together, but they were interested in their own sheep, the ones that they oversaw.
Jesus was talking about a radical love of others. Jesus was talking about not
only being concerned with the shepherd’s own sheep but of others that were out
there without a shepherd to watch over them.
Jesus was not only talking to the audience before
Him but also to the audience that were after them…the audience that would over
2,000 years later would hear the metaphor. Jesus was talking to the church…you
and I who are the church. We are to be more like a shepherd than the hired
hand. We should be concerned with those who are not part of the flock.
So, my question to you is this. Do you think
that the church is more like the hired hand or the shepherd? Give time to answer. Why? Give time to answer. Don’t get me wrong,
I know all churches are not the same and I know there are many churches out
there that are being concerned with and loving the other sheep. Probably more than not actually.
1 John 3:16-18 tells us gives us instructions, a
guideline so to speak, that tells us how to live as shepherds instead of being
more like the hired hand…
1
John 3:16-18 The Voice (VOICE)
16 We know what true love looks like because
of Jesus. He gave His life for us, and He calls us to give our lives for our
brothers and sisters.
17 If a person owns the kinds of things we
need to make it in the world but refuses to share with those in need, is it
even possible that God’s love lives in him? 18 My
little children, don’t just talk about love as an idea or a theory. Make it
your true way of life, and live in the
pattern of gracious love.
When we reach out to others and give of our
time…our life…we are being the image of the Good Shepherd. When we decide that
others don’t belong with us and treat them as outsiders…even to the point of
metaphorically running away from them we are like to hired hand. When we decide
that this or that group of people are not worth us sharing our …fill in the blank…with we are no longer
shepherds but have become hired hands. When we decide that our bank accounts
are more important than reaching out to our community, we are not being a
shepherd but a hired hand.
Some
of you may have heard me say that I am not only appointed to this church but
also to this community. In being such, I am concerned for all of you here, but
I am even more concerned with those out there who are not a part of the
sheepfold, Now I am not talking about just our sheepfold. I am talking about
the sheepfold of the Good Shepherd. You all are part of a sheepfold and are
safe behind the gate area. You have a shepherd that would fight off any
bad…fill in the blank…for you. But they are out there all alone with no one to
sit in the gate area and keep them safe.
Church, we, as Christ followers, cannot give
this whole “loving others thing” just lip service. We need to give it life
service. Jesus gave us the example of how to love others with a radical kind of
love. We are called to be the image of Jesus in the world and that also
includes showing His love and compassion. We are the small “s” Shepherd for the
BIG “S” Shepherd. The One who loved humanity to the point of His own death to
save it. People…Love is not just a word…it’s a noun and a verb and we need to
not be hiding it because that would be absurd… my word.
Amen…
==============
May 6, 2018
April 29, 2018
no longer shepherds
April 29, 2018
more like a shepherd
April 29, 2018
without a shepherd
April 29, 2018
a radical love of others
April 29, 2018
his own sheep
April 29, 2018
in the gap, the doorway, the gate
April 29, 2018
the
shepherd loves the sheep
April 27, 2018
when their eyes are opened
edited/merged April 27, 2018
they would understand later – v2
April 27, 2018
their eyes had not yet been opened
April 27, 2018
they really didn’t understand
April 27, 2018
they would understand later
April 27, 2018
Speaking right to them
&
April 27, 2018
I
give you control - 2
Pastor Ruth’s prayer before the sermon
&
edited April
24, 2018
they all have
been born after Columbine – v2
edited April
23, 2018
they all have
been born after Columbine
April 22, 2018
born after
Columbine
written during
prayer time
about 19th
anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting
April 20, 2018
&
April 22, 2018
I’m
all good, at peace
April 22, 2018
Fourth Sunday of Easter
1 John 3:16-24 (The Voice)
John 10:14-18 (The Message)
Psalm 23 (The Message)
and sermon: “In the Name of Jesus”
video
text
by Pastor Ruth
Foss
sermon blog
8AM Live
meditation
blog
“God’s Whisper” blog
Children’s Message
by Pastor Ruth Foss
Stetson
Memorial United Methodist Church
Patten,
ME
April 22, 2018
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2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018. All rights are
reserved. Contact me at Ray Foss (raymondafoss@gmail.com) for
usage. See all 46,880 of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.
Christ, Faith, God, Spirit,
love, grace, prayer, faith, Pastor Ruth Foss, Stetson Memorial United Methodist
Church, poem, healing, Psalm
23, shepherd, Good Shepherd, sheep, John 10, 1 John 3,
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