Sermon on July 19, 2009
Sermon for the Episcopal Church of St John the Baptist, Capitola,
given by Rev. Steve Ellis
The Episcopal Church of Saint John the Baptist welcomes all to worship God and to share Christ's love in the world. We are a parish family committed to provide liturgy, Bible study, music, counseling, and Christian education for children, youth, and adults, and to equip all our members for life and for service to others.
0 Lord, mercifully receive the prayers of your people who call upon you, and grant that they may know end understand what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to accomplish them: through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Old Testament Lesson
Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! says the LORD. Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who shepherd my people: It is you who have scattered my flock, and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. So I will attend to you for your evil doings, says the LORD. Then I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the lands where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. I will raise up shepherds over them who will shepherd them, and they shall not fear any longer, or be dismayed, nor shall any be missing, says the LORD.
The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. And this is the name by which he will be called: "The LORD is our righteousness."
Jeremiah 23:1-6
Psalm
1 The LORD is my shepherd; *
I shall not be in want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures *
and leads me beside still waters.
3 He revives my soul *
and guides me along right pathways for his Name's sake.
4 Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I shall fear no evil; *
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
5 You spread a table before me in the presence of those
who trouble me; *
you have anointed my head with oil,
and my cup is running over.
6 Surely your goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
Psalm 23 Page 612, BCP
New Testament Lesson
Remember that at one time you Gentiles by birth, called "the uncircumcision" by those who are called "the circumcision" -- a physical circumcision made in the flesh by human hands-- remember that you were at that time without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, and might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it. So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.
Ephesians 2:11-22
Gospel
The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. He said to them, "Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while." For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.
When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored the boat. When they got out of the boat, people at once recognized him, and rushed about that whole region and began to bring the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. And wherever he went, into villages or cities or farms, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak; and all who touched it were healed.
Mark 6:30-34, 53-56
Sermon - Built Entirely of Sheep
I want you to imagine a lovely new church built entirely of sheep. The building-blocks of this church are each individual sheep. They come in all breeds, all sizes, genders, ages, colors. I’m sure some are straight and some are gay. Some are friendly and some not so much. Some are wise and some are not. But they have been made into a building, and when you see it there is a beauty about it, a beauty that is partly because it is made of such unexpected stuff. That is part of the charm. It is alive. It is cooperative. And what is most important about it is this: it is a dwelling for God. They are all together so that they can be a dwelling for God. Together in gratitude, in mutual love, in surprise that they have found God’s love for one another where they would not have looked for it.
Now, that is a silly image. I’m not saying it isn’t. But it is the image Paul uses in today’s reading and in the “living stones” passage from 1 Peter. So the silliness isn’t my fault. Though I like it.
Let me show you what I mean. Here’s a paraphrase of the passage from Ephesians: Paul writes to the secular people who have become his Christian congregation in the city of Ephesus: Many of us grew up Jewish and we had an advantage. You weren’t always Christians, and you had no Jewish inheritance to get you ready. But God has brought you near by the blood of Christ. Christ is our peace. He has removed the hostility that was a wall between us. His new covenant unites all humanity. He gave peace with God to both our peoples. He gave the Holy Spirit to both our peoples. Those who were outside are no longer strangers and aliens. You are citizens now, members of the household of God. The foundation-stones of that household are the apostles and prophets. We are all building-blocks in that holy temple. We are joined together into a dwelling-place for God – different peoples made one family by our reliance on the cornerstone, Christ Jesus himself.
It is a very mixed metaphor, but those who rest in Christ Jesus can be built together, though of many kinds and breeds and colors, into a wonderful herd, family, temple. And when they are, they attract others into that peace with God that made them lovely.
How did Jesus go about beginning all this?
As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. There were two problems,
1)they didn’t know their faith - that is, however much they knew about it, they didn’t trust its teachings, so that they would learn more and so that they would live by those teachings. This often makes people aimless or disagreeable or selfish.
2)they didn’t know their Lord – and, of course, this is the important one, but a result of the former. If you know your shepherd and trust your shepherd, you can be about your business, doing what you should be doing, and you don’t have to be watching out for the wolf and the mountain lion all the time. We hear from Jeremiah that the people did not have shepherds who guided them. And we see that they had one, just as we do, in Jesus.
Dwell with me on these affirmations. See if you believe them. Wonder what would happen in your physical being and your emotional being, if you did believe them:
We are so often overstressed, frustrated, anxious. Here are Jesus’ disciples. They had no place to rest, and they didn’t get their retreat, because the anxiety of the crowd broke Jesus’ heart. They needed a shepherd to show them how to stay in the presence, how to walk with God. And once they have that, they can rest in the presence, and be about the task of reconciliation, of making peace, of bringing others into the fold instead of running them out. They can be built up into a spiritual temple which would be incomplete without them. A temple that allows God to dwell among his people. Individual sheep cannot experience God in the fullness that comes with being part of the dwelling, and bringing others in, and seeing the love of God expand your heart to hold them, too. In being that church, together, that we learn to experience the love of God.The Lord is my shepherd.
I shall not lack what is needed.
Green pastures.
Still waters.
Restores my soul. Refresh my spirit. So many, I think, don’t even look to God for this!
Guides me. All I have to do is ask and patiently listen.
Walks with me even in evil times. I am never alone.
Sustains me in the presence of my enemies. When someone is trying to do me in, Someone greater loves me. Not necessarily sides with me. See guidance above. But loves me dearly.
Will not abandon me now or ever. God’s house is my house. La Casa del Senor es mi casa!