The Church of St.
Paul and Incarnation, Jersey City NJ
May 3, 2020
Year A: The Fourth
Sunday of Easter
Acts 2:42-47
Psalm 23
1 Peter 2:19-25
John 10:1-10
Love and Abundance
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!
You
know, we humans are pretty remarkable creatures.
At our best, we
are capable of amazing compassion and creativity and, unfortunately, at our
worst we are also able to unleash terrible hatred and destruction.
We
are remarkable creatures but, whether we like it or not, we do have our limits.
As we’ve been painfully
reminded during the current crisis, there are some things we just can’t do, or at
least can’t do as quickly as we might like.
Sometimes
those limits lead to sadness and frustration, like what we’re all feeling these
days when we can’t live our lives the way we did before, can’t be together here
in person this morning.
And sometimes
those limits even lead to anger as we have seen in certain parts of the country
where some misguided people have put on their camouflage outfits and armed
themselves and marched on – and in at least one case, into - state capitols, loudly
and dangerously protesting the restrictions placed on us by the government in
an attempt to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
No
matter how sad, frustrated, or even angry we may get, no matter how much we may
not like it, the hard truth is that we are limited when it comes to dealing
with a deadly pandemic.
And,
we’re also limited when it comes to understanding and describing God.
God
is beyond space and time and yet somehow also present with us right here and
now.
God
is beyond our imagination and yet somehow also known to us.
The best we can do
is come up with images to describe what God is like.
Throughout
the centuries people have looked at the world around them and come up with so
many different ways of describing God, descriptions that made sense for people
in different times and places - and may or may not work so well for us today:
So,
God is like a Lord, a Father, a Mother, a King, a Rock, a Mighty Fortress, a Potter,
a Master, a Warrior… and on and on.
And then there’s
the very popular image we’re focusing on today – God is like… a Shepherd.
As the psalmist
wrote long ago, using words that are familiar even to people who haven’t been
in church for a long time, the traditional words often remembered by people even
if their memories have been largely erased by dementia:
The Lord is my
shepherd, I shall not want.
Throughout the
Hebrew Scriptures, God is described as a shepherd, guiding and protecting the
flock.
And, in the New
Testament, Jesus describes himself as the Good Shepherd.
In today’s lesson
from the Gospel of John, there’s an additional image. Not only is Jesus the
shepherd who knows his sheep - and who is known by his sheep - but Jesus is
also the sheep gate – the gate the sheep pass through to find pasture, where
the sheep are fed and kept safe.
Now, normally in
my sermon on Good Shepherd Sunday, I mention how I’m a city guy who doesn’t
really know anything about sheep or shepherds. I have never seen a shepherd in
real life and I’ve only encountered sheep in petting zoos, and I usually go on
about how I’m not sure if this old sheep and shepherd image still works for me
or for most of us.
But, you know,
this year is different.
And, the idea of
Jesus as a shepherd watching over us, knowing each of us by name, looking at us
not just as a flock but recognizing each of us as a unique individual, as
someone who really matters, knowing each of us by name – this image is really
touching my heart.
Because these days
we really need the Good Shepherd, don’t we?
We need the
shepherd - and, we also need the pasture – the place of safety and abundance –
the place where we shall not want.
As Jesus says, “I
came that they” that would be the sheep – you and me “may have life and have it
abundantly.”
We have many
images of God and some work better for us than others.
But, God is always about love.
And, God always offers abundance – the
abundance of a beautiful pasture, the abundance of baskets overflowing with
bread and fish, the abundance that is all around us, even in our time of
trouble.
You know, one of
the unfortunate parts of human nature is that we tend to not appreciate what we
have. Often we can’t see the good stuff that’s right in front of our face.
I don’t know if
it’s too soon to talk about the good that may come out of our present crisis,
but it’s possible that we’ll be able to see more clearly how God has blessed us
with so much – abundance that we may often take for granted, and abundance that
is somehow always provided in our moments of need.
In the early weeks
of the pandemic it was so disorienting and even frightening to walk up and down
the supermarket aisles and see all of the empty shelves – no bottled water, no
pasta, no canned soup, no milk, no eggs, …no toilet paper.
We’ve had this
experience before, of course, especially in the run-up to a hurricane or a blizzard,
but this time has been different because it has gone on for weeks – a powerful
reminder of the usual abundance we usually don’t even notice – I mean, there
are supposed to be a hundred different types of salad dressing, right?
And, if we’re being extra mindful these days, we’ve
also been given a taste of how so many people - here in our own community and
around the world - live all the time, not because God is stingy or plays
favorites but because we live in a system that makes life much harder, so much
less abundant, than what God intends for all of us.
Jesus says, “I
came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”
We have many
images of God but God is always about love and God always offers
abundance.
And, sure enough,
throughout this crisis, we have been blessed with so much love and abundance.
In my weekly email
a couple of weeks ago, I wrote about driving down Montgomery Street near Ferris
High School, a couple of blocks from the Jersey City Medical Center.
In front of the
school, there was a long line of out-of-state ambulances parked, each painted
in different colors and bearing unfamiliar names.
In a way that I
hadn’t expected I was deeply moved to see all of that equipment. It made me
stop and think about the many EMTs and doctors and nurses who had traveled long
distances to be with us here, sharing their skill and training, trying to save
the lives of people they didn’t know, people the world might dismiss as
strangers and really not their problem but who are, in fact, beloved sisters
and brothers.
God is like a long
line of out-of-state ambulances and brave EMTs, working alongside our own
talented doctors and nurses, risking their lives to offer us caring and
healing.
Love and
abundance.
And then there is
Triangle Park.
I know I keep
talking about it but I’m so grateful and proud that our community center has
remained open throughout this crisis, providing a safe haven – yes, with
appropriate social distancing – distributing diapers and formula and food, lots
and lots of food – including this past Thursday when 270 people from all across
Hudson County lined up around the block and each received a big box of food and
so many talked about how hungry they were, how grateful they were.
God is like a
community center in a neighborhood long neglected, considered beyond hope, a community
center where all are welcome and all are fed.
Love and
abundance.
And then there is
our own beautiful community.
As many of you
know, our beloved parishioner Jean had major surgery on Thursday.
In the days
leading up to her operation, Jean kept calling into our daily phone prayer
services, first from home and then even from the hospital. She spoke very openly
about what she was facing and about her trust in God – and she was blanketed
with so much love and concern, so many prayers from people who have known Jean
for years, and some people who are not exactly sure who she is, and even people
who have definitely never met her.
I know Jean was
lifted up by all of those prayers and in those moments I think all of us on the
call could feel our bonds growing even tighter, drawing us closer together even
over phone lines and through the air.
God is like a
church, required to keep apart and yet still very much together, holding on to
each other, especially the sick and vulnerable.
Love and
abundance.
So, we amazing but
limited humans have come up with many images of God, and some work better for
us than others.
But, God is always
about love.
And, God always
offers abundance – the abundance of a beautiful pasture, the abundance of
baskets overflowing with bread and fish, the abundance of people risking their
lives for strangers, the abundance of a community center where so many are fed,
the abundance of brothers and sisters who hold on tight to each another, even
if it’s over the phone.
The Lord is our
shepherd and we shall not want.
Love and
abundance.
Alleluia! Christ
is risen!
The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!
Amen.
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