A brief sermon/reflection for 4th Sunday of Easter – Year A – 2020
The readings for today are the following:
- Acts 2. 42-end
- Psalm 23
- 1 Peter 2. 19-end
- John 10.1-10
You might like to visit https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/ and enter any of the above readings and selecting the NRSV anglicized version or any other version.
Prayer
Loving Heavenly Father, we thank you for the words you have given us today. We know that your words are words of life and salvation. Open our hearts Father, touch our souls, forgive us our sins, our lack of faith, help us to respond to your word. Help us to know that you are our Shepherd who leads us to green pastures, and may we experience in our hearts how we are loved and saved by you. .
Amen.
Introduction
To start with: Any story of your walk with Christ in the previous week? (Pause…)
In the sermon last Sunday I said that Jesus is walking with you in the journey of your life, that we can recognise Jesus in the Word of God (Bible) and in the Sacrament of the Eucharist, that the result of meeting (recognising) the Lord is conversion of heart and testifying to the Risen Lord in your life.
Today, the Word of God is teaching us again; the theme of today’s sermon is– Belonging to Christ and Belonging to his Church. A Christian belongs to the Risen Christ and to His Church, The Kingdom of God.
1. Belonging to Christ.
The key verses for this first theme are from the gospel reading of today, John chapter 10: verses 7 to 10. Let us read these verses again: 7 Therefore Jesus said again, I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life and have it to the full. I think the key verses here are verse 7 “I am the gate of the sheep” and verse 10 “I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.”
We often sing the hymn “The Lord is my Shepherd” and that is the psalm for today usually read after the first reading. But, in this verse, “I am the gate of the sheep”, Jesus is saying that he is not only the “shepherd” of the sheep, but also “the gate of the sheep.” (verse 10.7) Those who approach the sheep any other way other than through the gate, namely, Jesus, are suspects and not really interested in the good of the sheep as much as their own interests. We remember the words of Jesus, “Not all who cry to me ‘Lord’, ‘Lord’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven but only those who does the will of my Father in heaven.”
New Age movements and all sorts of esoteric and spiritualist groups are rampant today. While they may be useful and good for your life on earth in many ways, they do not necessarily guarantee certainty nor security about your eternal life, your true life that goes far beyond this earthly life. That is why Jesus’ words are significant “I am the gate of the sheep.” (10.7) We are also so familiar with the words of Jesus, “I am the way, the truth and the life” (John 14.6) In another place Jesus declares, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life (John 8.12) Again we hear his words, “He who is not with me is against me.”(Luke 11.23) Jesus confirms the absoluteness of his statements in verse 10 when he declares that I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
Switching on the TV or reading a newspaper, aren’t we bombarded with all sorts of blandishments and temptations? While most of them are good and useful, aren’t there many that are merely confounding us, confusing us, bewildering us and weakening our resolves to walk on the true life with God? That is why, as Christians, we cannot have any other gate to happiness or fullness of life than Jesus Christ himself as he himself tells us today, I am the gate for the sheep 8 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. 9 (10.8-9)
2. Belonging to His Church
What does it mean to belong to his Church? The evangelist Luke explains it well in the first reading that we heard from the Acts of the Apostles 2. 42-47. In this reading we are given one of the best narratives of how the early Church lived as a Christian community or Church. They describe the witness of the early Church, how they lived their following of Christ as individuals and as a group. These characteristics of the early Church should be the foundation of any true church fellowship today. Let us briefly look at these verses.
2.1 The Apostles’ Teaching (Word of God)- 42 They devoted themselves to
the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
The NT was being formed and was not yet a book as we have today. The apostles had first-hand knowledge of the life of Jesus, his ministry, death and resurrection and they would narrate these events of salvation again and again. The apostles who were simple men had been filled with the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and they had truly become teachers to the growing community as we also see in acts chapter 4, verse 33 – 33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all.
2.2 Fellowship (verse 42)
We also read in Acts chapter 4 verse 32 that 32 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No-one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. There was a real unity of heart and mind in the early Church, a quality often lacking in our Churches today. The bond of unity and fellowship was Jesus Christ and faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus.
2.3 The Breaking of Bread (Sacrament) and The Prayers (verse 42)
Like the disciples of Emmaus who recognised Jesus at the breaking of the bread, the early Church gave a huge importance to “the breaking of the bread” which has developed into the Holy Eucharist that we celebrate today in memory of the mysteries of Christ. Further qualities of the first Christian community are given below and challenge Church life at all times, even today.
2.4 There was a sense of awe and signs and wonders (verse 43) – 43 Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles.
2.5 They shared everything in common (verse 44)- 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common.
2.6 They gave to anyone in need (verse 45 – reaching out to the needy in community) 45 Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.
2.7 They met in temple (verse 46) – 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts.They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts,
2.8 They praised God and witnessed to people (verse 47 – God centred life) – 47 praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people.
2.9 The Church grew with new converts on a daily basis (verse 47)- And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
Conclusion
True growth happens in a Church only when we passionately belong to the Risen Christ and when we belong to each other for the service of God’s people!
It is very significant to look at verse 47 the last verse of today’s reading: 47 praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. Nowadays, we are doing all sorts of things so as to attract people to Church. All types of schemes, plans, projects and methods are constantly being used but there is no better way than a believing, witnessing Church, ‘united in heart and soul’(4.32) committed to God and to each other. That is why the basic theme of today “Belonging to Christ, Belonging to His Church” is so very relevant for us.
A Prayer you can say now:
Lord Jesus, I believe you are the Son of God. Thank you for coming to us at Christmas. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. Thank you for rising from the dead to give me hope. Please forgive my sins and give me the gift of eternal life. I ask you into heart and my life to be my Lord and Saviour. I want to serve you always. Amen.
Amen.
[ST Mattapally]
Some Prayers/ Intercessions for the Fourth Sunday after Easter
“Prayer is a plant, the seed of which is sown in the heart of every Christian.
If it is well cultivated and nourished it will produce fruit, but if it is neglected,
it will wither and die.”
Jesus is alive. Love has won the victory over sin and death.
A Christian belongs to the Risen Christ who offers him the fullness of life.
As we continue to celebrate the risen Christ in this Eastertide, on this fourth Sunday after Easter, we thank God for the hope and power the Risen Jesus gives us;
We bring all our concerns, worries and burdens us to the Lord
especially the fear for a loved one or for friends
as we turn our hearts to the Risen Jesus “the way, and the truth, and the life”
and the one who give us true and deep peace,
that we may follow Jesus the Good Shepherd
who knows and cares for us his sheep, his followers,
and who has told us “I have come that you may have life and life in all its fullness.”
Silence …
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
Let us pray for all nations and peoples of the earth,
and for those in authority among them;
for the Church of God,
for all who serve God’s people as Bishops, ministers and volunteers;
for Her Majesty the Queen, the Government,
the Houses of Parliament and the Supreme Court,
for the Members and Representatives of the United Nations
and for all who serve the common good,
that by God’s help they may seek justice and truth, and live in peace and concord;
and that in tranquillity your kingdom may grow,
until the earth is filled with the knowledge of your love.
Silence
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
In these dramatic and tragic times we pray for all those who are affected by the coronavirus pandemic and also all the hundreds and thousands of volunteers and carers
who sacrifice their time and money to bring help and comfort
to the lonely, the self-isolating and the sick.
Silence
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
That God will bless our homes and families, our places of work and leisure,
With new life and the hope of new possibilities
touching the ordinary with beauty, love and joy.
that all who feel trapped or imprisoned – physically, mentally or spiritually –
may feel the stones rolled away and new light pouring into their lives;
that those who have died to this earthly life may find the fullness of God’s eternity,
flooded with the light of his love;
that we may live each moment thankfully, assured of God’s company and mercy.
Silence …
Father,
we feel loved,
we feel forgiven,
we feel saved.
Thank you for Jesus Christ your Son
who died for us on the cross
and rose again from the dead
and who offers us
true peace and true hope.
Help us to hold on to him
and to follow him
the way, the truth and the life.
Amen.
[ST Mattapally]