21st April 2024
Shepherd and Sheep
I learnt two things about sheep this week. First, from On Your Farm (which is what's on Radio 4 on Sunday mornings early), I learnt that sheep are not native to this country; in fact they arrived here a mere 6000 years ago from Mesopotamia. Second, from Sue T, I learnt that you can go and visit baby lambs at a farm in Shooters Hill!
The lectionary gospel, which we are following at our 8am service (the reason I listen to On Your Farm!), for this Sunday is John 10, where Jesus takes a familiar scriptural image of God as his people's shepherd and powerfully applies it to himself in a new way - as the Good Shepherd. This Sunday is therefore sometimes referred to in church circles as Good Shepherd Sunday and, because of the emphasis on calling in John 10, is also often a Sunday where we think about our vocation or calling as Christians.
What does it mean to be called? People sometimes ask me how or when I knew I was called to be a priest. But if we think of calling only in terms of being a vicar, or even only in terms of our service within church, we are only seeing a fraction of the whole. For in John 10, calling is inextricably linked with hearing the voice of the Good Shepherd, of responding to his invitation to us, that invitation that heads our Vision Statement, the invitation to "life in all its fulness" (v10).
Calling therefore affects our whole life. And, because the Good shepherd calls his sheep by name (v3), our calling is individual to each of us. Our vocation includes our family situation - as spouses or parents or grandparents or godparents or single people. Our vocation includes our daily work - paid or unpaid - that which we do in the home or outside. And our vocation includes our life as church, our calling as individuals to serve within church, and our calling as a church to particular forms of service and mission within our community.
A good question for us to consider as we head towards our church APCM is: how am I hearing the voice of the Good Shepherd calling me? Am I experiencing the life in all its fulness that Jesus offers me? Or do I sense that there is something more, something different that he might be calling me to move into?
A note of caution - how we respond to these questions may be life-changing! And yet, safe under the guidance of our Good Shepherd, we will find that it is also life-giving.
Vicars love talking to people about vocation! If you sense that the Good Shepherd may be calling you, please do come and talk to me or to Ray about it. We'd love to listen to you and to pray with you as you discern his invitation to life in all its fulness.
