Easter V  April 13th, AD 2008

Meadowvale Lutheran Church

Mississauga Pastor Peter Lisinski

 

“CR0SS PURPOSES”

 

 

The opening words of Psalm 23 are so familiar to most of us that I wonder whether we can even imagine the truth they proclaim: “The Lord is my shepherd..."!  The sovereign creator -- whose throne is heaven, whose footstool is earth, and whose divine majesty holds together everything that exists within the vast limits of an infinite universe -- loves you as if you were the only person in the whole wide world8

 

In the midst of an anxious, stressful -- sometimes fearful, often confusing -- world in which death's shadow always looms, it is easy to forget that we are all God's precious children and, therefore, tempted to doubt God's love and providence -- if not God's very existence -- God has come to be with us in Jesus Christ, to lead us into the fulfillment of our humanity within a community that reflects the image of the divine community of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit bound together in the mutual self-giving of their love for one another!

 

But, as glorious a vision as Psalm 23 presents, it is also pain­fully aware of the presence of evil forces in the world opposed to God's will.  And although all human beings are under their influence to some degree, the New Testament speaks of God's enemies as "principalities and powers" that exploit our basic human instinct for survival, and manipulate our natural human fear of those who seem to threaten our survival, so effectively that even our social institutions of government, military, law, and religion established to protect our survival have been in­filtrated and corrupted by them.

 

The conflict between God's vision of the world and the vision of the powers and principalities opposed to God is most profoundly reflected in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ!  The social institutions of government, military, law, and religion joined forces to put an end to the very public challenge to their authority Jesus issues in today's Gospel:  "I am the good shep­herd.  The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep."

 

In the Bible that title 'shepherd' was reserved for Israel's kings!  So by claiming the title for himself Jesus publicly claimed -- and, as the inscription of the charge Pilate had nailed to his cross affirms, Jesus was publicly crucified for his claim -- to be the King of the Jews (John 19:22).  And it is precisely at the cross of Jesus -- in the presence, and through the proclamation of Christ crucified -- that the church discovers its own public identity as the body of Christ in the world!  As our Holy Communion liturgy says, "For as often as we eat of this bread and drink from this cup we proclaim the Lord's death until he comes" (I Corinthians 11:26).


So today, as we gather around, and every day as we live under the cross of Jesus Christ we are becoming the people of God we are called to be in our baptism into his death and resurrection.  In contrast to the exclusive communities in the world around us, defined by national borders, ethnic heritage, economic status, sexual orientation, or political persuasion, you and I are called to be an inclusive community that transcends all barriers of cul­ture, creed, or colour, in which no one is a stranger, outcast, or enemy.

 

Like the proverbial Irish family that always has room for one more around its dinner table, the crucified and risen Jesus has made room in the communion of God for you.  Your presence in God's house, around God's table gives God's family a fullness it would not have without you!  And the word of God's love and wel­come you and I have heard in Jesus Christ is the same word of God's love and welcome he sends us to speak to each and every person in the world who needs the abundant life our good shepherd has come to give.

 

What greater purpose could we hope to serve in our community? And what worthier vision could we need to guide us through the next fifteen months and into God's promised future?