A third Easter blog - green pastures

This Sunday has us thinking about sheep and shepherds. I love this time of year, not least because you don’t have to go far to see little new born lambs excitedly exploring new surroundings. I was at a meeting last week with Mark from Ellington chapel. I noticed he was looking at his phone under the table. He had a live stream from his farm and was watching lambs being born one by one. It was maybe more interesting than the meeting! 

 

Sheep can be stubborn and they do what they like. I sometimes am late when I go to the service up at Dallowgill. They sit on the road. They say when I get to the chapel “were it sheep?” Also sheep are not easy to train. They are simple, gentle spirits who scare easily. They love to rub their bodies against the sides of fences when they are shedding, leaving clumps of wool behind. There are often a few internal leaders in a herd – but the majority of sheep are happy to follow. They often have to rely on someone showing them the way through a gate. Most of the time they’re quiet, with a few contented bleats – but if you’ve caught them, and they don’t want to be caught, they scream. Maybe you’ve heard that once or twice in your life. If you haven’t, rest assured that the volume is surprising! Thank God we have a Good Shepherd in Jesus who cares for us his sheep so much he lays down his life for us, to protect us and nurture us. Thank God we have a God who leads us into green pastures. Mark told me when I led worship at Ellington last Sunday that he soon gets the lambs out of the barn and into the field. That might be an adventure but it might be a bit scary. I was at Christ the Consoler church at Newby Hall on Thursday interring some ashes in a torrential downpour. There were two little lambs and their mother on the path by the church. I noticed wherever the little lambs went the mother followed, they weren’t ever out of her sight, and mother looked very protective if I got too near to her offspring. 

 

This reminds me of the importance of pastoral care. We offer to people a Jesus who cares and finds people when they get lost in the maze of a complicated world or they can’t find their way home in the wet. I have a card at home which has a sheep in the middle of a storm and it says above the picture “Lost? I’m not lost. I know where I am, I’m right here!”

 

Psalm 23 is the most popular and probably the most read Psalm of all. It brings comfort and encouragement to all who read it.

A Psalm written by David, who from days spent looking after the family's flocks, became, as king, the shepherd of his people. As David sought to guide the nation he looked to God to be his guide.

 

“Right here” isn’t easy for many in our community at the moment. Ministers have a reputation nowadays we don’t visit people. I do visit and I’d love to do more. It’s a privilege to meet people where they are, in homes and in care homes and in hospital or at coffee morning. I try and give direction when people are lost.

 

In a society that is bemusing, we need to lead people to safety and new life. That’s what our churches are for. We need to lead people through dark valleys. We need to let them know there is a God who meets us and is my shepherd. The old evangelist D L Moody of Moody and Sankey hymnody used to say “ you may talk about the shepherd but when you get into the dark valley you will talk to him.”

 

John Wesley said “go to those who need you most” thinking about the priorities of Methodist outreach. One of the ordination charges is “seek the lost.” We can, and must, all do that. So we mustn’t spend all our time in church buildings. There are conversations to be had. I was at a meeting the other Saturday addressed by Matt Finch from the Connexional Evangelism and Growth Team. He had been at a meeting with the Head of Music at Radio 1. He was told surely the churches are on a roll at the moment as young people are full of questions about spirituality and the nature of God or his absence or irrelevance to them. He encouraged pastoral engagement. I suggest this also needs to happen with older people. Start conversations, they often begin at coffee mornings. They can happen when you least expect. Like when your shopping is going along the conveyor belt in Asda. “Are you a vicar?” said the girl on the till. “I’m an agnostic. I can’t believe a God would allow so much suffering in the world. It isn’t fair.” We went to have a theological discussion on God in the darkness and uncertainty. The shepherd doesn’t in the end let us stay in the valley of the shadow of death - he leads us to a banquet of eternal loveliness. And before that? And God is into good shepherding.

 Phillip Keller is a man who studied agriculture. He was a lay pastor and for a time he owned and cared for his own flock of sheep. And he wrote down several devotional books based on his experiences as a shepherd – A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23.

In one of those books, he tells a story about one of his sheep in particular that would always be out by the fence looking, searching always for a hole, trying to get on the other side of the fence. And this one sheep would go outside and it would graze on this narrow plot of land that was, it really did not have much grass. And it was right on the cliffs overlooking the sea. It was a very dangerous place for that sheep to graze while there was plenty of grass inside the fence. The biggest problem came in that the other sheep would see that sheep wandering off and they would follow and the whole flock was in danger. The point is, sheep need a shepherd. We know that, don’t we? We know that sheep need a shepherd. And as we think about that, doesn’t it conjure up in our minds a sort of sentimental association of the shepherd and the sheep?

But you see, in Jesus' day, the job of a shepherd was not a noble or a prestigious occupation. Shepherds were lonely. They were dirty. It was exhausting work. And by the time of Jesus shepherds had required a very bad reputation in 1st century Palestine. They were among the lowest classes of society. They were despised and considered untrustworthy. Their testimony was not admitted in court. There was one rabbi who said, he said this, that “parents should not teach their son to be a donkey driver, a camel driver, a pot maker, a sailor, a storekeeper, or a shepherd.” Shepherds were not a prestigious or a noteworthy occupation. The reason the rabbi didn’t want the children to become shepherds was because these were the trades of robbers. They would oftentimes let their sheep graze in other people’s pastures and so they were considered to be thieves. Sometimes we think of shepherds as innocent and quaint – these figures that were living in peace and quiet pastures. That’s not at all what Jesus is up against in His day. In reality, the shepherds were lowly and unimpressive figures. That’s why it was so surprising that when Jesus was born, who were the first people that His birth was announced to? It was to shepherds. These misfits. They were overlooked. Who would believe their account of Jesus’ birth and of what the angels announced to them? God therefore has confidence in us. He comes to us to find him in unexpected places.

We are guided through hard times to find peace. And we shall lack nothing.

I shall not want - In this verse “want” is a synonym for “lack.” God’s people do not lack any good thing. Whatever is good, whatever is beneficial, He will provide it for us.

Psalm 34:10 – The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger, but those who seek the LORD shall not lack any good thing.

Our God in heaven is the Creator of the entire universe. Everything belongs to Him. The world came into existence by the force of His spoken word. Nothing is too difficult for Him to give to you. If He has not given it to you, it is because you do not need it.

A vicar wrote this: I sometimes have the opportunity to share with new believers about prayer. And I ask them a question, “If you pray for a new car, will God give it to you?” Many of them immediately answer, “No.” Perhaps they think that such a prayer is selfish or unrealistic. Perhaps they think that God cannot move in tangible ways like giving a car, but instead only acts to give us peace or comfort.

What do you think, if you pray for a new car will God give you one?

The answer is: If it is good for you, if you need it, God will give it to you. Probably all of us have been around wanters, people who always want more and more things no matter how much they have. Most cultures in the world are like this today. Materialism breeds greed and discontent. Companies constantly market the need to upgrade perfectly usable products or electronics to the latest and greatest “must have.” Once someone asked Rockefeller, the richest person in the world at that time, “How much money is enough?” He said, “A little more.” And he lived that way.

Some people go through their life being discontent. They wish away their present while dreaming of the greener grass on the other side of wherever they are now. God in this Psalm gives us enough to get through and then a great party in heaven.

Walter Brueggemann writes, “It is almost pretentious to comment on this psalm.  The grip it has on biblical spirituality is deep and genuine. 

It is such a simple statement that it can bear its own witness without comment.”

So let me end like this. From the Feasting on the Word series, in his advice for how to preach this passage, pastor David Burns writes,

 “One way to approach preaching Psalm 23 is not to preach it.  Just read it slowly—preferably in the King James Version—and then sit down.”

Over the next few days, why not find a quiet place and do that. What does this ancient prayer do to you? 

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:

He leadeth me beside the still waters.

He restoreth my soul:

He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil; for thou art with me:

Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:

Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. 

May God who is present in sunrise and nightfall and in the crossing of the sea guide our feet as we go. May God who is with us when we sit and when we stand encompass us with love and lead us by the hand. May God who knows our path and the places where we rest, be with us in our waiting, be our good news for sharing and lead us in the way that is everlasting."

(Shane Claiborne from "Common Prayer”)

A second Easter blog: locked doors.

What peace is there for tarnished lives,

when love is challenged, hate survives?

What peace for Peter who denied

his friend who hung, his friend who died?

What peace for those who slept away,

while Jesus sweated blood to pray?

What peace for Thomas full of doubt,

with questions hedging all about?

What peace for those who fled away,

when darkness covered brightest day?

What peace when we have let God down,

denied God’s call and made God frown?

Andrew Pratt’s hymn brings the trauma of that upper room where we are led to be by the lectionary today alive. Imagine you are Peter in that room. Do you sit and dwell on your denying Jesus? Do you now wish you’d supported him? A few months earlier you’d been the rock on which he would build his church. What about those who couldn’t watch with him in the garden and fell asleep? Imagine you nodded off when he needed you. Do you now feel guilty? And what of Thomas? 

John 20: 19 – 31 is always the passage on the second Sunday of Easter. I’ve preached about Thomas so often. How do you feel if you are him? Full of doubts and questions. Remember his loyalty to Jesus. When the others panicked about going to Jerusalem and an inevitable clash with the authorities he said “let us also go with him that we might die with him.” Where was he when they locked the door? He wasn’t there. Did the others get fed up with his questions all the time? I love that bit in John where Jesus says “you know where I am going.” And he says “no I flipping don’t. I’ve no idea where you are going. How can I know the way?” 

Maybe with his honesty and his commitment it was all just too much and maybe he didn’t want to be with the others to grieve on his own. Was he terrified and trying to hide by himself, not wanting to be found by the Romans right in the middle of a pack of ringleaders of Jesus’ rebellion? Was he instead full of stoic courage, the only one brave enough to venture out and bring back food to his friends? Where do you think he was when Jesus came the first time that Easter evening. A spoof Anglican Facebook group about a fictional diocese says he had a hankering for all things Indian (we believe he ended up there later in life) so he’d go out to collect a take away curry!! 

This is brilliant! 

THE SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER

Low Sunday.

The Gospel

John 20: 19-31 

19. Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, (let the reader understand that this is still the Day of Resurrection even though the narrative is confusing), when the doors, windows, and even the cat flap were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Sanhedrin [1] and because the night air was cold, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Hello! It’s a bit chilly out there. Peace be unto you. 

20. And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side, for he was still dressed in only the gardener’s clothes which hath openings in sundry places. Then were the disciples super-glad when they saw the Lord, and Peter did offer him his warm cloak. 

21. Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. And the disciples did raise their collective eyebrows and cast questioning glances at each other, for this was surely high theology. 

22. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and there was a scent of garlic and hyssop. And he saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: 

23. Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained. And James did question what he meant when he saith Whose soever for it was not yet common parlance. And Jesus did raise his eyes unto heaven, and did explain this and other things to him, such as the absence of tongues like unto fire in this instance. (Although there was a plenitude of wind already in the room.) 

24. But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came, for he had been sent to fetch food for the twelve and had gone to the nearby curry house for he had a longing to visit India. And Jesus left before he returned with the lamb bhuna, rice, papadums, unleavened bread and divers pickles. There was also a container of unidentifiable curry which was clearly a mistake. 

25. And when he arrived with the meals the other disciples said unto him, We have seen the Lord, and Where’s the mango chutney. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, I will not believe. And James did wrinkle his nose and declare that to be excessive, but Thomas was adamant and saith, I will also needs to thrust my hand into his side to be convinced. Now who ordered the Bombay duck? 

26. And after eight days again, which makes for an interesting timeline, his disciples were within, and this time Thomas with them for they had already eaten: then came Jesus, the doors once again being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, What ho! Peace be unto you. And there was much rejoicing though this unexpected appearance did cause some to suffer indigestion. 

27. Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. Come on. Just do it. 

28. And Thomas answered and said unto him, Let’s just take it as read, shall we? I have no need of that for my eyes are opened, my Lord and my God. I mean, wow! 

29. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. And he did ask, Is there any curry tonight? 

30. And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book, for I must needs keep some back for the planned sequels which thanks to Thomas may contain a small collection of Punjabi recipes. 

31. But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name. And I recommend the lamb bhuna. 

NOTES: [1] This is commonly rendered as “for fear of the Jews”, but the translators of the Great Wenchoster Bible understood this as being one of John’s casual anti-Semitic comments. Their rendering restores the focus of the disciples’ fear to the powerful Council that had contrived the crucifixion of Jesus. Unfortunately, later translators failed to recognise this distinction, until a certain bishop Thomas Wright came along. But that is another editorial.

Whatever, he just cannot believe and he’s in a mental and emotional state. Almost saying “don’t wind me up!” Wind ups can be cruel. Three words sum up his pain “unless I see.”

“Unless I see.” People ask, “where is the good news of resurrection you talk about.” 

 

They look at the world and say, “unless I see peace, unless I see justice, unless I see respect, I will not believe.” Sydney Carter the hymn writer once wrote “your holy hearsay is not evidence, give me good news in the present tense.” 

In a climate where you just don’t know who to trust, our faith story needs to be credible and when we interact with people we need to show them we aren’t weird! 

 

I wrote some of this in the cafe at Harrogate hospital on Thursday. A couple asked to sit with me as it was busy. They grimaced it was a vicar type sitting here. But then we started chatting and laughing and we formed a relationship for five minutes. Part of what I enjoy doing after nearly four years with you is to walk about my six communities and be seen and engage in chat. People might not be coming to formal church like they were but when they need church to be there, they need to know we are accessible. I remember a hairdresser saying to me after she’d got to know me over several haircuts in Worthing, “you are quite normal really, aren’t you?!”

 

Thomas is a fabulously honest disciple. Maybe in 2024 he’s the patron saint of good questions and a discerning mind. Remember after all his searching he says out loud the first creed of the post Easter church: “My Lord and my God!” The philosopher Paul Tillich said : “Doubt isn’t the opposite of faith; it is an element of faith.”   

And Rabbi Jonathan Sachs said once: “Faith is not a certainty.  Faith is the courage to live with uncertainty”.

I’m suggesting that rather than criticising Thomas we are much more likely to share his experience and be better off standing with him and having the courage to ask questions.  To ask questions as a fundamental expression of our faith is a sign of maturity in that faith.

What peace? It’s a gift given to those disciples one by one. 

Here’s something else to imagine and get our heads round today. How in shattered ness and bereavement and feeling rough physically and mentally and everything hurting, and your world turned upside down with no hope and no future do you react when Jesus comes through the locked door and stands there among you? Shock? Are you hallucinating?  I think you think “what is he going to say to us?” Remember you’ve let him down. He’s bound to have a go at you, tell you you are a waste of space, ask where were you then? 

 

Now that he is alive, what would Jesus think of his friend Peter, who denied that he knew Jesus – not just one time, but three times – after Jesus was arrested? And what about the other disciples – Jesus’ closest friends who had been travelling with him for three years? How could they face Jesus after he had cared for and invested in them for so long, and yet the minute he was arrested, they bailed on him: they fled and left him to fend for himself in his most excruciating moments as he was spat on, ridiculed, and beaten, nailed to a cross, and hung from it until he took his final breath? 

Would Jesus be so infuriated with them that he would give up on them? Would he deny, betray, and even condemn them because they had denied and betrayed him? Would they no longer have a place in the Kingdom of God? A sermon from the American Episcopal Church website has this helpful paragraph in it:

“The friend they had betrayed, denied, abandoned, the one they had left to die alone and then even after death had distanced themselves from was now alive, walking around, and might possibly be coming to see them. This may have sounded more like alarming news than good news.

And so they are hiding away, behind closed doors; fearful, anxious, no doubt concerned about what Jesus may say or do to them, when suddenly he is in their midst, he is standing among them.

It appears he understands their anxiety, their shame and fear, for the first words out of his mouth are, “Peace be with you.” Jesus initial reaction is to reassure them. Don’t worry, he says, in effect. I’m not angry, upset with you. It’s all right. I’m not holding a grudge.

It’s a critical moment for them, and for us, because of course each of us is all too aware of the ways we have failed God, all of the countless ways we have denied, abandoned, betrayed our faith.

It often feels hard to come before God, to pray to Jesus, because we are painfully aware of how wavering and inconstant our faith is. In a way we are like the disciples, hiding away from God behind locked doors, unwilling or unable to come out from behind the locked doors and walls of our guilt and approach God.

It is easy to pray when we feel good about ourselves, when we feel faithful, compassionate, loving and good. It is much harder to pray when we have blown it and we know it.” 

Today I want you to quietly celebrate where Easter begins. The first words of the risen Jesus are these “peace be with you.” Peace. Peace for tarnished lives where love is challenged, hate survives. 

Peace for those who deny God’s call and make God frown, peace not blame for the denier, the doubter, those who flee to save face and not get involved. Peace. 

I dare to suggest to you this is where the Church begins. It begins with forgiveness and a new call, it begins with healing, it begins with Jesus just meeting us, and it begins with a gentle quiet breathing into us of the Holy Spirit. 

Easter is a pastoral act, it’s intimate and restorative. Jesus isn’t interested in the past, but the future. He doesn’t give up on us. He quietly and gently encourages us to start again. He doesn’t ridicule our trauma and our brokenness, he starts his work in us dealing with those things. Peace be with you. Receive the Holy Spirit. 

Here’s the fab thing about the Gospel for today. Jesus just shows up to those disciples – in the midst of their fears and failures – and immediately and freely offers them the peace, love, and grace of God – before they even have the chance to open their mouths to explain their actions or to ask him for forgiveness. 

 

Jesus just shows up to them in that small room where they were hiding from and avoiding him – because Jesus wanted them to know that no matter what, they are claimed as God’s beloved children and are cherished and loved by God unconditionally.

 

And here’s another fab thing this is what the Church is for. Offering peace and enabling people to go out to be people of resurrection. Celebrate today that week in and week out that’s what the Church does. We were in Durham Cathedral yesterday for Evensong. Worship has been offered there for over 1000 years. This morning we meet in the church in Aldborough and we know Christian worship has been offered there since the 12th century or even earlier. This afternoon our Methodist chapel at Sawley begins to celebrate its centenary year. It opened in May 2024, 100 years of peace sharing and equipping many who’ve come through its doors to live good faithful lives. In the end it’s about Jesus meeting people where they are, standing among them and doing his stuff. 

 

Are you Peter or Thomas or one of the others today? 

 

Even in our times of fear, doubts, and questioning – and even when we choose to deny, flee, and hide behind closed and locked doors – Jesus has and will show up. And when he does, he claims us as God’s beloved children – no matter our failures or actions against him – and he offers us his peace and grace before we can even ask for forgiveness or even acknowledge our wrongs.

 

And even if we, like Thomas, miss the first or second or third time Jesus shows up and even if we shut our eyes, turn the other way, Jesus will keep on lovingly and patiently returning to us over and over and over again until we are ready to open our eyes to see him, reach out our hands to touch him, and accept the peace, forgiveness, and unconditional love he offers us.  

 

And now it’s time to big up the Vicar. Karen and I are having our last hurrah this morning. I know in the benefice Karen has enabled you to find peace, find Jesus and be more confident through her worship and creativity and friendship and most of all her passion that the church with a capital C should be totally inclusive.

And that inclusiveness has included working with our Methodist community and ecumenical work has deepened over the last four years of our partnership together. Methodist ministers will tell you life is so much nicer if you and the vicar get on! 

Karen the folk of Boroughbridge Methodist Church wish you every blessing in these weeks and then in Runcorn. 

 

What peace is there? Well, hear this: Do you feel afraid? Jesus says ‘peace be with you’ Do you feel you’ve let God down? Jesus says ‘peace be with you’ and you know what it’s there that peace when we’re feeling grotty or disillusioned or doubtful or disbelieving or depressed… In his collection of essays A Grief Observed, C.S. Lewis wrote:

“You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death to you. It is easy to say you believe a rope to be strong and sound as long as you are merely using it to cord a box. But suppose that you had to hang by that rope over a precipice. Wouldn’t you then first discover how much you really trusted it?”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer who the church remembers on 9 April, the day he lost his life, well he could have preached a far better sermon than me today.

In a letter in 1940 he wrote this: remember there was little peace going on around him. “We know that God has not abandoned the earth, but has reconquered it, has given it a new future, a new promise. The same earth that God created bore God’s Son and his cross, and on this earth the resurrected appeared to his disciples, and to this earth Christ will return on the last day. Whoever affirms Christ’s resurrection in faith can no longer flee the world, but neither can they fall prey to the world, for in the midst of the old they have recognised God’s new creation.”

What peace is there for tarnished lives,
when love is challenged, hate survives?
Remember in that Upper Room,
Christ came and offered peace. Alleluia!