Reading Plan Text for April 23: John 10:7-18
I jumped the gun a little yesterday. I used the Easter IV Reading rather than the reading from the Lambeth Reading Plan. So yesterday's reading was actually the "I am the door" passage, and today's is the the Good Shepherd. That means I can use another of Lois' quotes from a different sermon: "Little Bo Peep is not the Good Shepherd." At first it seems a silly comparison. Of course, Little Bo Peep isn't Jesus. We know that. However, she is a familiar image in our culture.
Maybe the comparison should be between Little Bo Beep and today's churches rather than her and Jesus. How many times have we heard people lament the state of the church today. "Remember when..." is a common refrain. When the pews were full. When the classrooms were overflowing. When there was a surplus after the bills were paid. Those days are gone. Those people are gone. That culture is gone. It will never be 1955 again. Yet these same people sit and wait for the "lost sheep" to come home.
News flash: They aren't coming home.
The world no longer comes to us. We must go out into the world. We must rethink our idea of what it means to be church. Jesus tells his listeners, "I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also..." (10:16)
Who are the other sheep I should be seeking out? How can I be a shepherd to them? How might they be a shepherd to me?
Peace,
Jeffri
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