Eastertide
April 25, 2015
Scripture Reading: John 10:11-16
‘I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep.—John 10:11-15
The confidence and comfort in knowing that God through Jesus Christ, knows me and loves me completely, just as I am and as I am becoming through his love, enables everything that I do in Jesus’ name. To be known completely by God is a gift of grace that allows me to instantly come to God in prayer and be reformed. That is a gift we need to share with others but we must meet them where they are to share that gift.
Do sheep all look the same to you? Could you readily tell one from another if you walked through a meadow where they were grazing? What about their personalities: do you know the leaders, the aggressive ones, the sick ones? We should all be able to tell the black ones from white ones or spotted ones. Most I think could figure out which were males and which were females. A good shepherd would know all of these things and more.
Does it make a difference to you when you know someone when a prayer request is made for them as opposed to a stranger? I do pray for those whom I do not know, but when I hear a request for prayer for someone I do know, but did not know they were in trouble or ill, my concern level increases. I make the extra effort to inquire further, learn more, and perhaps offer assistance.
It is possible to live in a city and have one’s life tucked neatly into silos of isolation where we move and have our being among our home, work, church, and school, and never interact in any meaningful way with the multitudes we pass but about whom we know nothing. We are called to love these—love them enough to make sure they know the Good Shepherd, too.
Prayer: Lord, open opportunities for me to meet others who need to know you love them. Amen.
All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.