Sunday 11th May – Family Service led by Canon Richard Osborn
For Richard, coming from the Church of England, this Sunday was called Good Shepherd Sunday. The Good Shepherd was one of the most treasured ways of thinking about Jesus; the image of Jesus, with a sheep by his side, perhaps holding a crook, or a sheep around his shoulders, was one of the most familiar in religious art. It was also called Vocation Sunday. And Richard talked to us about vocation.
Vocation came the Latin word vocare, meaning to call. And whilst we tended to think of professions like teaching, medicine, or nursing, it also included ministry in Christ’s Church. Church ministers and lay preachers had a vocation to share the good news of the gospel by word and deed, and to build up the kingdom of God here and now. But Richard reminded us that all church members had that vocation as well.
In getting to the meat of the reading from John 10, Richard told us of a concert 30 years ago in a synagogue – just opposite his other spiritual home, Lords Cricket Ground – which had remained in his mind – Handel’s Oratorio, Judas Maccabeus. It had been timed to coincide with the Jewish festival of Hanukkah. In our reading from John, we’d heard that it was winter and the festival of the dedication of the Temple was being celebrated in Jerusalem. This was the festival of Hanukkah, which recalled events almost exactly 2 centuries before Jesus’s time when the Jews, led by Judas Maccabeus defeated the army of the Syrian king Antiochus and recaptured Jerusalem.
So when the Jews gathered around, Jesus said to him, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense?” they were actually inquiring whether he was the new Judas Maccabeus, a Messiah. And the answer Jesus had given them, was indirect, for to have said a definite yes would have aroused wrong expectations. To acknowledge Jesus as leader was not to enrol in a fighting army. It was to listen to His teachings, follow his example of ministry and prayer, promote the values of His kingdom and to share in his obedience to God the Father so that we, and he, and the Father might be one, and eternally secure.
So we were encouraged to think of Jesus as a shepherd, an idea that had often been interpreted sentimentally, but in Biblical times the lot of a shepherd was a dangerous one. They were expected to live out in the open with their sheep. The countryside was rocky, with numerous crevices and dangerous ravines that sheep could fall into, and grass was scarce. The shepherd had to establish a close relationship with his flock, leading the sheep where the path was the smoothest to the grass that was the greenest, and protecting them wolves and other sources of danger. And yes, the shepherds would lead their flocks, walking ahead of them. And when they called them, the sheep would recognise the voice.
So, being a shepherd in those times needed courage, bravery and self-sacrifice. And this was the lifestyle of Jesus, that we were called to emulate as Christians today.
John’s gospel had been written to answer the question, “Who is Christ?” and the truth had been delivered in the famous opening chapter. The word was in the world, and though God made the world, yet the world did not recognize Him. The word became a human being, lived among us full of grace and truth.
The Jewish people of that time had strong hopes for a Messiah who would lead them like another Judas Maccabeus but Jesus would not allow them to push him into such a role. His reply, “The father and I are one” was blasphemy to those who were there. They had been so incensed by what he said that they had taken up stones to stone him. The truth was that our God had defeated our greatest enemies not with a sword like a mighty army. He was amongst us, he was in Jesus. God, the Father and Jesus were one. Jesus’s victory was not just a moment in history. The victory of Jesus lasted forever for all time. That’s what we celebrated at Easter, throughout the Easter season, every Sunday when we gathered for worship – and every day.
Potters Bar United Reformed Church 