“Gathered In Christ”
Good Shepherd Sunday, Easter 4A
John 10:1-10, Acts 2:42-47 and Psalm 23
Rev. Patricia D. Barth
April 17, 2005
Each of our readings we have heard today is about Christian community. Coming from the annual Takoma Park Presbyterian Women’s Retreat at Rising Phoenix, I’m struck with what a great community the women created while they were there. Of course, some of them have been retreating together, in the same place, for a number of years. Theirs is also community that exists outside the retreat, nurtured by serving together on committees, perhaps harmonized by singing in the choir. But women new to the group, like me, are welcomed and drawn into the circle of belonging, connecting and reconnecting to each other through the media of music, food and drink; talk, writing and prayer; but most importantly, they are gathered together in Christ.
In this community of women, leadership is mutual. One provides the overall vision; another the nitty gritty details of accommodations; but the priestly function that enables women to connect to God is passed around the circle.
Leadership in the Presbyterian Church as a whole is also mutual. Unlike the hierarchical churches that suppose people cannot approach the divine without an intermediary, the Presbyterian way of being church is joint and cooperative. Sacramental duties and well as practical decisions are shared between pastor and elder, and pastor and deacon.
It’s more than Presbyterian polity that holds Takoma Park Presbyterian Church together, however, or the chance to sing in the choir or work on the many committees. What makes this a community is not even being neighbors and fellow Takoma Parkians, because not everyone here lives in Takoma Park. Some of you drive great distances to get here every Sunday. No, this community is held together by our common head, the Good Shepherd. Pastor, elder and people all unite under one leader, Jesus Christ. He walks with us through the valley of the shadow of death when it seems we can barely put one foot in front of the other. When the turmoil of the world threatens to consume us, Jesus leads us to still waters so we can find our peaceful center. He sets a table before us, not just food to sustain our bodies, but the symbol of hospitality and spiritual and communal renewal; and he does this not in private, but in the very presence of our enemies.
Jesus the Good Shepherd calls us by name and leads us out. We are his people and the sheep of his pasture. A long time ago a preacher was touring the Middle East, and he chanced upon a shepherd taking care of a flock of sheep. Since there was no fenced area, the preacher asked how the shepherd took care of the sheep by night. He explained that he built a rough corral, with only one opening. When asked, “What about a gate?” the shepherd answered, “I am the gate. If a wolf tries to attack the sheep, he must go through me. If a lamb wants to wonder, he must cross my body. I am the gate.”
Jesus Christ said, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep.” [John 10:7] Jesus keeps the gate for us, sacrificing himself for us. How different he is from us! As humans, we see the word “gatekeeper” and immediately see our chance to keep someone out.
Once a family went camping and decided to attend church on Sunday. They showed up at the door of X Presbyterian Church, only to be told: “I’m sorry—our contemporary service was at 10AM.” Too much of a church’s time is often spent trying to keep people out of full participation in the church—gay or straight, male or female, black or white. Lest we only think of churches who restrict gays and lesbians as gatekeepers, ask yourselves whether people who vote Republican feel welcome at Takoma Park Presbyterian, or feel comfortable revealing for whom they voted! We humans are fond of our gatekeeper roles, but instead we should see “the gate” not as a chance to restrict entrance, but as a chance to sacrifice ourselves in hospitality to the other as Jesus would have us.
Did you notice the community described in Acts? The early church gathered in the Temple every Saturday, keeping their part in the Jewish community; and then they gathered in each other’s homes to share weekly communion. Yes, weekly—not quarterly or monthly! They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, held all property in common, and ate their bread with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number. A perfect Christian community—we don’t know for sure if they in fact did achieve such perfection, but the early church as described in Acts is a model for us to strive for.
On the retreat I happened to pick up the latest copy of Weavings, and read an article by Elizabeth J. Canham, “A Circle of Belonging .” Canham defines community as a place where there is genuine welcome and deep hospitality. As she traveled the world, she found true community most often in places where there is a passion for living the gospel in a radical way without over concern for doctrinal or cultural conformity. She seems to be describing Takoma Park Presbyterian! But then she goes on to add, these places of true community also possess a sense of abundance that flows from people in love with Christ, who are also determined to share in practical ways the good news of the gospel. I wonder if we also qualify as being in love with Jesus, and determined to share the gospel.
She closes her article with a discussion of my favorite icon of the Trinity, the one by Rublev which depicts God in the person of Abraham’s three visitors. The three figures form a circle, with a space that seems to include the viewer. Canham describes this icon as a circle of belonging, where singleness and community merge. Henry Nouwen, writing about this same icon, said that all engagements with the world only bear fruit when they take place within this divine circle of the Trinity.
This love that flows back and forth between the three holy ones is the love that must be present before there is Christian community. We must be founded and rooted in love, but also practice in love. Love is the core of the deep hospitality that a church must share amongst each other but, more importantly, with visitors and those who seek healing. Love must be the measure of all our dealings; whether in the operations of session, work of the deacons, the relationship of session and pastor together, in congregational meetings, in mission or in our worship. Our Good Shepherd leads us in right paths for his name’s sake; in other words, he leads us in love. If we keep our eyes fixed on him, and follow close behind, goodness and mercy will follow us all the days of our lives, and we will dwell in love with him forevermore. Amen.
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