Good Shepherd Sunday

It is always good for us to be reminded of Christ, our Good Shepherd. We easily look to our pastor as our shepherd, forgetting he/she is undershepherd to the THE GOOD SHEPHERD. Here is the text of today's gospel.

4/29/2007
4th Sunday of Easter
John 10:22-30 (NRSV)

Jesus promises life to his sheep

At that time the festival of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly." Jesus answered, "I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name testify to me; but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father's hand. The Father and I are one."

We are comforted by the Lord's promise to us of his faithful shepherding. When we are disappointed in the undershepherd, let's remember who ultimately is truly our shepherd.

Welcoming Fr. Joseph to the Blogosphere

A hearty welcome to Fr. Joseph Menna, AIHM, who has started a blog, A Restless Heart. He joins fellow ICCC bloggers Fr. Chris Tessone (Even the Devils Believe), Mother Laura Grimes (Junia's Daughter), and Mark Hoemmen (The Nerdiest of the Nerds).

I hope his blog follows their examples and not mine!

Shepherding

I had the privilege of preaching on Sunday. The gospel was from John where Jesus asks Peter three times, "Do you love me more than these?" He then charges him to feed my lambs etc. On the heels of that, Sunday night we got word that our pastor was resigning and taking a call in CT. Then Mon. morning I read this post, written by Henri Nouwen which seems so timely.

Laying Down Your Life for Your Friends

Good Shepherds are willing to lay down their lives for their sheep (see John 10:11). As spiritual leaders walking in the footsteps of Jesus, we are called to lay down our lives for our people. This laying down might in special circumstances mean dying for others. But it means first of all making our own lives - our sorrows and joys, our despair and hope, our loneliness and experience of intimacy - available to others as sources of new life.

One of the greatest gifts we can give others is ourselves. We offer consolation and comfort, especially in moments of crisis, when we say: "Do not be afraid, I know what you are living and I am living it with you. You are not alone." Thus we become Christ-like shepherds.

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More about Mother Laura

For more information about Mother Laura, visit her wonderful blog Junia's Daughter.

Just to correct one inaccuracy in a recent post about me -- while it is true that my refrigerator has nothing but Dr Pepper in it, in fact the freezer does have more than Lean Cuisine's -- I do have icetrays to produce icecubes for the Dr Pepper. ;-) (And the kitchen cabinets are not empty -- I still have a few books that I haven't gotten around to shelving . . .)

Christ is Risen!

People are starting to bug me about the fact that the top entry on my blog says "Holy Week Announcement" -- so I will post this.

First, our parish Holy Week and Easter celebrations were magnificent. Michael Shirk, our seminarian from Missouri, visited, and his lovely chanting voice was a huge asset to our celebrations, and I had the privilege of tonsuring him as a cleric at our Maundy Thursday Eucharist. Fr. Joseph did a wonderful job planning the liturgies. I especially enjoyed chanting the Exsultet and the blessing of the font, and the high point was certainly baptizing Kim, one of our parishioners.

This weekend was also great -- Mother Laura Grimes was in town for the Order of St. Michael retreat, and she stayed with me both before and after the retreat. Thursday night, or should I say Friday morning, we were up until 3 talking. Sunday night, she celebrated and preached at the parish, which was a wonderful experience for all. I am very pleased that she has decided to incardinate with the Independent Catholic Christian Church -- she will be a real asset to us, with her exhaustive knowledge of theology. And it is good to have a female priest -- we have been very committed to the full inclusion of women from the beginning of our jurisdiction (2002), but until recently, no women had applied -- now, Carol Nickolai is preparing for ordination as a seminarian (she was tonsured in February), and Laura is our first female priest.

The other part of the weekend that was wonderful was doing nothing on Saturday -- I had not had a full day off in a month, and it was beginning to wear on me. One of the problems for all clergy, but especially for "tentmakers", is the necessity of taking time for personal rest and renewal even in the midst of many demands. And the day convinced me that I must be more proactive about scheduling time for rest into my schedule.

Annotation of ChristianityToday.com on suffering.

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Take off the mask

Unholy Sinners

The grace of the gospel, which is so hard for the pious to comprehend, confronts us with the truth. It
says to us, you are a sinner, a great, unholy sinner. Now come, as the sinner that you are, to your God
who loves you. For God wants you as you are, not desiring anything from you - a sacrifice, a good deed
- but rather desiring you alone. "My child, give me your heart" (Prov. 23:26). God has come to you to
make the sinner blessed. Rejoice! This message is liberation through truth. You cannot hide from God.
The mask you wear in the presence of other people won't get you anywhere in the presence of God.
God wants to see you as you are, wants to be gracious to you. You do not have to go on lying to
yourself and to other Christians as if you were without sin. You are allowed to be a sinner. Thank God
for that.

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer -
from Life Together 108
from A Year with Dietrich Bonhoeffer Carla Barnhill, Ed., HarperSan Francisco, 2005

This says it all

We don't know what to do or say in the midst of what seems like a world gone mad. As friends, neighbors and co-workers ask the question, "What is going on in our world,?" this statement by Bishop Hanson states it eloquently.

April 16, 2007
ELCA Presiding Bishop's Statement on Virginia Tech Tragedy
With the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
(Virginia Tech) community and the nation, we mourn, we pray, and
with the Psalmist we plead: "Out of the depths, I cry to you, O
Lord. Lord, hear my voice!" (Psalm 130:1) As family and
friends grieve the deaths and injuries of loved ones, we claim
the promise of Christ's Resurrection.
Campus ministries, congregations and leaders of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America are offering support and spiritual
care to the local community. Through the deep wounds of this
tragedy, let us renew our resolve to live together in peace.
"Holy One, you do not distance yourself from the pain of your
people, but in Jesus you bear that pain with all who suffer at
others' hands. With your cleansing love bring healing and
strength to the Virginia Tech community; and by your justice,
lift them up, that in body, mind, and spirit, they may again
rejoice. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen." (Evangelical Lutheran
Worship, p. 84)
The Rev. Mark S. Hanson
Presiding Bishop
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Chicago

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Reading for growth

Henri Nouwen hit the nail on the head when he wrote this:

Reading Spiritually About Spiritual Things

Reading often means gathering information, acquiring new insight and knowledge, and mastering a
new field. It can lead us to degrees, diplomas, and certificates. Spiritual reading, however, is different.
It means not simply reading about spiritual things but also reading about spiritual things in a spiritual
way. That requires a willingness not just to read but to be read, not just to master but to be mastered by
words. As long as we read the Bible or a spiritual book simply to acquire knowledge, our reading does
not help us in our spiritual lives. We can become very knowledgeable about spiritual matters without
becoming truly spiritual people.
As we read spiritually about spiritual things, we open our hearts to God's voice. Sometimes we must be
willing to put down the book we are reading and just listen to what God is saying to us through its
words.



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Easter continues

Easter is not just one day for the Christian or the church. In the Lutheran tradition, Easter is 50 days, until Pentecost. He is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Take a look at this meditation from Bonhoeffer. This is how we live the life, realizing we are all simultaneously saints and sinners.

The Pious Community

"Confess your sins to one another" (James 5:16). Those who remain alone with their evil are left utterly
alone. It is possible that Christians may remain lonely in spite of daily worship together, prayer
together, and all their community through service - that the final breakthrough to community does not
occur precisely because they enjoy community with one another as pious believers, but not with one
another as those lacking piety, as sinners. For the pious community permits no one to be a sinner.
Hence all have to conceal their sins from themselves and from the community. We are not allowed to
be sinners. Many Christians would be unimaginably horrified if a real sinner were suddenly to turn up
among the pious. So we remain alone with our sin, trapped in lies and hypocrisy, for we are in fact
sinners.

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer -
from Life Together 108
from A Year with Dietrich Bonhoeffer Carla Barnhill, Ed., HarperSan Francisco, 2005

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!

It was a marvelous Easter celebration this past Sunday. It was one of the wonderful times where everything comes together just right: the music, the word, the worship and fellowship. Throughout the day Ray and I kept marveling at what a special day it had been.
But when all is said and done, borrowing a phrase from Pastor Paul's sermon, I must ask, "So what!" It's not just about the warm fuzzies of family, music and worship. What we celebrated Sunday is the linchpin of our Christian faith. "And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins" (I Cor 15:17).
The same power that raised Christ from the dead is available to us in our daily lives. It's no myth. It's reality. As Peter wrote, "We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty" (2 Pet 1:16).
Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

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This is worth reading. See what you think.

Good Friday thoughts

This says it all...

God in Our Midst

Now in Jesus Christ this is just what has happened. The image of God has entered our midst, in the
form of our fallen life, in the likeness of sinful flesh. In the teaching and acts of Christ, in his life and
death, the image of God is revealed. In him the divine image has been re-created on earth. The
Incarnation, the words and acts of Jesus, his death on the cross, are all indispensable parts of that
image. But it is not the same image as Adam bore in the primal glory of paradise. Rather, it is the image
of one who enters a world of sin and death, who takes upon himself all the sorrows of humanity, who
meekly bears God's wrath and judgment against sinners, and obeys God's will with unswerving
devotion in suffering and death, the man born to poverty, the friend of publicans and sinners, the man
of sorrows, rejected by people and forsaken of God. Here is God made human, here is the human in the
new image of God.

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer -
from A Testament to Freedom 320-321
from A Year with Dietrich Bonhoeffer Carla Barnhill, Ed., HarperSan Francisco, 2005

All you need is...

Many of us remember the Beatles' song "All You Need is Love." The Bonhoeffer devotional today offers a slightly different view: all you need is God in Christ. Enjoy.

BONHOEFFER for TUESDAY

April 3, 2007


God in Christ

All that we may rightly expect from God, and ask God for, is to be found in Jesus Christ. The God of Jesus Christ has nothing to do with what God, as we imagine God, could do and ought to do. If we are to learn what God promises, and what God fulfills, we must persevere in quiet meditation on the life, sayings, deeds, sufferings, and death of Jesus. It is certain that we may always live close to God and in the light of God's presence, and that such living is an entirely new life for us; that nothing is then impossible for us, because all things are possible with God; that no earthly power can touch us without God's will, and that danger and distress can only drive us closer to God. It is certain that we can claim nothing for ourselves, and may yet pray for everything; it is certain that our joy is hidden in suffering, and our life in death; it is certain that in all this we are in a fellowship that sustains us. In Jesus God has said Yes and Amen to it all, and that Yes and Amen is the firm ground on which we stand.

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer -


from Letters and Papers from Prison 206-207
from A Year with Dietrich Bonhoeffer Carla Barnhill, Ed., HarperSan Francisco, 2005

Check the Gifted for Leadership link

I just finished reading "Recalibrate Your Life." As we continue our Lenten journey into Holy Week, this post really hits home. You will find this on the right hand side of the blog under "Gifted for Leadership." I trust you're as challenged as I was.