[RCL] Acts 4:5-12; Psalm 23; 1 John 3:16-24; John 10:11-18 The word “shepherd” comes through strongly this morning. We hear the word a total of seven times, and it’s a familiar image – Jesus as a shepherd is frequently depicted in scripture and art. Psalm 23 is the most familiar psalm, with people often turning…

RCL: Acts 4:5-12; Psalm 23; 1 John 3:16-24; John 10:11-18 Every year, regardless of the lectionary cycle, we are invited to live in a rich, metaphorical world. A world where there are a whole slew of sheep and one, good, sacrificial Shepherd.  It can be a funny world to live in, since not many of…

Alleluia! Christ is risen! Today’s gospel text uses an image that may be lost on many of us, an image that we may know from childhood stories — but not firsthand experience. Jesus, living in the first century, talking to people who know livestock and agriculture in their hearts and bones, tells his disciples, his…

The Fourth Sunday of Easter is always Good Shepherd Sunday, and there are always sheep everywhere you look. This year they’re especially thick – we hear two of the most familiar and cherished portions of scripture – the 23rd Psalm and the section from John’s gospel where Jesus says “I am the good shepherd.” Over…

As is often the case, what is not included in our lessons may be of utmost importance in our hearing what is going on in these lessons. For instance, in Acts a lame man has been healed, and Peter and John have been hauled before some sort of ecclesiastical court to explain why the lame…

As is often the case, what is not included in our lessons may be of utmost importance in our hearing what is going on in these lessons. For instance, in Acts, a lame man has been healed, and Peter and John have been hauled before some sort of ecclesiastical court to explain why the lame…

Today we celebrate Jesus the Good Shepherd–and we also celebrate Mother’s Day. For me, there is an interesting coming together of images on this day: Jesus, the mother of us all, and our earthly mothers as good shepherds. Both Jesus and our mothers are anxious that we follow their lead, and I celebrate the ways…

Today is Earth Day. [Christ is Risen! Still. Easter is such a momentous joy that it takes us fifty day to unwrap and enjoy its gift. Besides being the fourth Sunday in Easter, today we also prepare to celebrate Earth Day tomorrow. Our readings point to this Easter joy, but also to the gift that…

Lots of Good Shepherd readings this Sunday — Ezekiel, the 23rd Psalm, 1 John — if we can count “children of God” as sheep, and the Gospel according to John. The analogy of God as Shepherd and human beings as sheep is one of the most persistent in scripture, both Old and New Testaments; yet…