“FEED MY
SHEEP”
[A sermon for Racial Justice Sunday
on the commissioning of Rev Samuel Ho as Korean pastor at the Mint]
|
A sermon preached at Readings: Isaiah
52:7-10, Luke 15:1-10 |
Feed my sheep (John
21:17)
Sometimes it seems impossible
to avoid talking about disaster and crises
–
not because every sermon should be about these things,
but because that just seems to be where the world is at.
This week we have received news of the
Christian Church in Beslan
and the work it is doing to comfort the bereaved.
We have sent the Churches there our greetings and prayers.
We are asked to remember the pastors of Breslan -
Pastor Ludmila, Pastor Murat and Pastor Tai Murad.
Pastor Tai Murat had a 13 year old daughter in the
school siege –
Thankfully she came out alive.
She was the only one of his children to survive –
the other five were all killed.
We remember him and all who grieve.
And of course
yesterday was 11th September –
and at Ground Zero the names of 2,479 victims of 9/11 were read out.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg told those present that
"We will never forget that each person was someone's son or daughter."
These of course just the tip of an iceberg of human suffering.
It is absolutely right that we recall the dead of 9/11 and
of Beslan –
truly horrific disasters of senseless and brutal carnage of innocent life.
And yet on the anniversary of 9/11
we should also remember the unremembered –
those who die of AIDS in Africa,
of water born diseases in the Indian subcontinent,
of malnutrition in the Sudan,….
And so we could go on.
As many die from the preventable effects of poverty
each and every single day of the year
as died in the twin towers.
A daily horrific disaster of senseless and brutal carnage of
human life.
Let us never forget that each person was someone’s son or daughter……
This
is a hard world we live in – and we need hope – not shallow optimism.
Once again we need real hope that can tackle the biggest disasters.
What we need is a hope which says
“Yea though I walk in the valley of the shadow of death, yet shall I fear no
evil”
What we need is a hope which
says –
yes when every other soul has been saved and brought safe home,
when I only I am left out in the cold lost and frightened
and grieving like a lost sheep on the wintery crag –
then, when all hope is gone,
and I am ready to die for all I love has died –
then, then at that darkest darkest moment,
I see coming to me the Good Shepherd –
and as I lie cold and lost he reaches down and lifts me up
and places me on his shoulders and carries me home.
I suspect we all have our favourite Scripture
passages.
It is one of the good things about the lectionary
that it stops us preachers only reading our favourite verses.
But this week the lectionary has given us the one parable which of me says it
all.
When I look back to the darkest days of failure and despair in my life,
it is the story of that 100th sheep that I have clung to -
what a profound word of hope -
that whoever I am, whatever I do,
God still persistently and relentlessly loves me and seeks me out.
I may long ago have given up on him,
but he never gives up on me.
“Jesus
is seeking the wanderer yet -
Why do they roam?
Love only waits to forgive and forget -
Home, weary wanderer home”.
This
is the Good News of the Good Shepherd
But God also calls us to be shepherds.
Today
is a special day in the life of the Mint Methodist Church.
Today
we welcome and commission Samuel Ho as our Korean Pastor.
And
pastor of course means “Shepherd”.
Ho
– it is our joy to welcome you.
Speaking personally,
it
is a real joy to be sharing in ministry with you,
and
to have the friendship of you and Sarah and John.
And on behalf of all of us here – Korean and English speaking –
we rejoice that you are now part of our Church Community.
And
you come as a Pastor –
You are called to be a shepherd in Christ’s name –
there is no higher calling, no more frightening calling, no more blessed
calling.
And
you are called to minister not to some of the flock but to all the flock –
and
especially to that 100th sheep –
the
one furthest from safety,
and love them back to God.
In John Wesley’s famous words,
“Go not to those who need you, but to those who need you most”.
And
as a pastor you stand in the footsteps of those all the way back to St Peter –
to
whom Jesus said “Feed my sheep”.
And
as we rejoice in your calling amongst us,
we ask God’s blessing on you, your family, and your work with us.
Today
is also Racial Justice Sunday,
A day when we celebrate the one family of all nations and races, equal
in the sight of God.
What
a good day for us to gather,
English speaking and Korean speaking sisters and brothers,
to recognize our common place in God’s family.
As we have sung, “In Christ there is no east or West”
And
if they have their equivalent of the Last Night of the Proms in Heaven
(and I know Andrew Green amongst others profoundly hopes they do),
then surely alongside the Union Jack will be waved the flag of every nation
under the sun
each offered to the King of Kings.
Please take the Racial Justice Sunday prayer leaflet home with you
and use it during the coming week.
You will see on the front of the leaflet a picture –
a round table representing the feast of life to which all God’s children are
invited.
The table is round, representing human equality.
It contains examples of staple foods from around the world –
beans, bread, lentils, maize, pasta, rice, yams –
showing that people from all nations and cultures
are invited to share in the feast of the kingdom.
It reminds us that when Christ says “Feed my sheep”,
he means every sheep, every child of God, even the 100th sheep,
wherever they come from, whatever their race or culture or language.
Strangely at the centre of the table is a piece of paper.
It contains a set of questions which form an agenda for action –
Questions like these -
·
How do we make sure that everyone in the world has what they need?
·
How do we overcome racism?
·
How do we make sure that our Church & our society are welcoming?
The
message is clear –
if we as a Church are to provide a foretaste of the heavenly banquet,
a symbol of the coming Kingdom,
then not only will all kinds of people be present,
but all prejudices and injustices will have come to an end.
After the service today we have lunch.
It is a BYO lunch –
but if you see someone next to you who has not brought their own,
please share things around –
there are less than 5000 of us, and God is good –
there will be enough to share I am sure.
And I am specially delighted that our Korean
members
have brought Korean snacks to share around after the service.
So please sample Korean food.
Not only because it is good, but because it is a symbol – a symbol of our unity
–
sharing food around the one table.
Like the Communion itself,
it is in a small way another foretaste of the Heavenly banquet.
So
on this special day,
let us remember again how the Risen Christ
stood in the morning light on the Galilean shore.
and smiled on Peter and said “Feed my sheep”.
And
now today you, Ho, stand again where Peter stood.
And
I, and everyone in this Church,
We
all stand where Peter stood so long ago.
And
the Risen Lord speaks to each of us
and says “Feed my sheep”.
Let us together in his name
create such a feast
of love and peace and justice
that all God’s children may be fed!