The Gospel: ​John 15:9-17
Jesus said to his disciples, “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.”

Prayer: Lord, you have promised that when two or three gather in your name you will be present with them. We depend on that promise today and pray that you will move among us. Lord, we pray that have you inspired Mike's preparation, that you will enliven his presentation and that you will empower our application.  Amen

The Message: ​For those of you who follow the liturgical calendar, you will know that we celebrated Monica, the Mother of Augustine of Hippo on Tuesday. Monica is also known as the patron saint of all mothers. Monica's story is an interesting one, she lived a life that had much to celebrate. She married a Roman, but through her life and witness was able to lead him to faith in Jesus. She is also celebrated because it was her determined communication with her son Augustine that led him to become Ordained. Both of these things no doubt could be seen as testimony to her faith and conviction. Of course, if you go one and read more and study more about Monica it soon becomes clear that she must have been a person with a strong and vibrant personality. Augustine writes about Monica in his great work "The Confessions." It soon becomes obvious from reading what he says there that they must have had a somewhat volatile relationship. So, perhaps, it is fitting, that she should be the patron saint of mothers. Her family relationships were less than perfect and she was what we might describe these days as a "personality." A force to be reckoned with.

Today is Mother's Day. Today we take the time to acknowledge the mothers among us in the community. We want to thank them and recognize the task and role of being a mother. But I have to say that, like so many other things in our world and our society these days, this celebration was much simpler several years ago. Back then it was simply a matter of saying thank you and taking a few moments to recognize the mothers in our circle and community.

Today as we talk about mothers we have to acknowledge that motherhood is not a given. We have become aware of the need to minister to the needs and disappointments of those who have not had the opportunity to be mothers.

We have to stop and acknowledge that there are among us people who did not have good role models as mothers. Or perhaps, there are those, who have found that they were not good role models to their children. There may be some families, or some family members here today, who are all too aware that their family relationships are fractured. They are very aware that there are areas of unforgiveness and hostility in their family relationships.

We need to pray for the blessing and the challenge of motherhood. Perhaps that is why Monica is such a good choice for being the patron saint of motherhood. From all that I read she certainly would understand the issues, we are talking about this morning. She was no stranger to strife and disappointment. Her disappointment in the life choices that Augustine made in his early adulthood is very clear. Her mother's heart must have ached watching his lifestyle choices.

It seems to me that Monica had a choice to make and in many ways, it seems to me we have a similar decision to make. When Augustine was wandering in the wilderness of his lifestyle choices Monica could have given up on the hopes that she had for him. In a similar way, we could give up on celebrating motherhood - celebrating Mother's Day, because there are so many challenges and so many hurts associated with this particular celebration. It seems, the ideal we are striving for is alluding us, and perhaps we should give up. Perhaps we should stop focusing on that. 

As I consider giving up, I am very glad for the weekly celebration of our coming together. I am very glad for the opportunity to recalibrate my life with Scripture and liturgy. It seems very clear to me that the Gospel for this morning is so applicable to our celebration of motherhood. I am encouraged that Jesus has faith in us that we can actually do what he suggests. Despite our struggle to meet the ideal Jesus continues to hold the truth up before us and asks us to join in the opportunity of continuing in faith.

I have to say that I also believe it is helpful in dealing with the divisive and contentious world in which we are living.

The message from John's Gospel this week is clear. Love one another. Abide in my love. As I have loved you, so you should love others. Lay down your life for others as I lay down my life for you.

The message is right there for us all to see and hear, but perhaps it is more difficult to implement than we would like it to be. I don't know how many conversations I have had with folks who feel convicted that they should love others, but they just don't know how to go about it. Their thoughts might best be summed up this way: "That is a great theory, I am all for it, loving one another is central to all I know and understand about Christianity. There are just some people that I can't do it with."

Jesus in the Gospel this morning has laid out an ideal which if we are honest with ourselves and each other we will admit that we are not often able to achieve. There are a couple of points I would like to make about these passages.

It is important to know that this section of John's Gospel is part of what is known as Jesus' Farwell discourse. In other words, this is part of the final words and thoughts that Jesus' shared with his disciples. Jesus is leaving. He is passing on his desires and his hopes to his disciples. This is his time to lay out for them the best way that they can represent him once he is gone. He wants them to be like him. He wants them to behave and act like him. If his legacy is to live on they must come to understand and respond as he would have.

So, for the mother's here this morning I want to ask you a question. The rest of us can answer it as well. I know that the fathers will relate. Perhaps if you have ever trained a group at one time and have had to leave them you might relate as well.

"Have you ever gone out for an evening or gone on vacation and left one of your elder children in a position of responsibility and care of others? Perhaps for their younger siblings?

"What things did you want to be sure they knew? How did you hope they would behave? When they were speaking to their siblings and guiding the behavior of the group what did you hope would be central in their behavior and actions towards one another?

"On the other side of the coin. What did you not want to hear when you came back? What did you not want to happen between the siblings while you were gone?"

How did you prepare them? Not just in the moment as you were talking to them. What were you are depending on from the past? What were you hoping they had seen and heard from you up in the past?

As we read the passage from the Gospel of John I believe we can hear and see many of Jesus' hopes and desires for the disciples in what he says to them.

It seems to me that when we ask someone to care for and safeguard others whom we love we are asking them to reflect on what we have instilled in them, what we have taught them. We are depending on them being the  "best self" that they can be. We want them to be kind and gentle, warm and affectionate with their siblings. We want them to be strong but caring with their brothers and sisters.

Now the first time we try to pass the responsibility of care to someone else they may not achieve all that we hope for. We then need to choose to allow them to try again. We have to plan to out and hand the responsibility to the one we have trained and allow them to grow into all that we hope they might become.

Perhaps we need to apply that same willingness to our relationships in the body of Christ. To seek, as Jesus did, to train and equip and then to allow those around us to exercise the gifting we are hoping is developing in them. If someone doesn't quite meet up to our expectations and hopes do we give up on them or do we entrust them with another opportunity? Maybe we can draw encouragement from Monica?

I would like to end this morning by reading from Romans 15.
"We who are strong ought to put up with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Each of us must please our neighbor for the good purpose of building up the neighbor. For Christ did not please himself; but, as it is written, “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.” For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope. May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of the truth of God in order that he might confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, “Therefore I will confess you among the Gentiles, and sing praises to your name”; and again he says, “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people”; and again, “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples praise him”; and again Isaiah says, “The root of Jesse shall come, the one who rises to rule the Gentiles; in him the Gentiles shall hope.”

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

As we celebrate this Mother's Day, as we remember the example of Monica and seek to implement Jesus' words from the Gospel of John may we be gracious to one another and remember that Jesus' is confident we can do this.

The Gospel:  John 10:11-18
Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”

Prayer: Lord, you have promised that when two or three gather in your name you will be present with them. We depend on that promise today and pray that you will move among us. Lord, we pray that have you inspired Mike's preparation, that you will enliven his presentation and that you will empower our application.  Amen

Message: Today is Good Shepherd Sunday. Our Scriptures this morning are all interconnected with the imagery of "the Good Shepherd. They each refer to or consider, the difference between the role and purpose of the Good Shepherd and all other shepherds.

So, that raises an interesting question for us as we hear these very familiar passages again this morning. After all, these are not new passages are they? If we have spent any time at all in church in our lifetime we certainly have heard these Scriptures. We certainly know that Jesus is the Good Shepherd. Jesus is the one who is willing to lay down his life for or on behalf of those the Father has given him. I believe that most of us are more than happy to accept and believe that Jesus is our Good Shepherd.

So, you may be wondering what is the question that we need to consider? Well, one possible question is: "if Jesus is the Good Shepherd then who are the sheep?"

It may seem easy for us to answer that question. Because we all know that we are supposed to recognize that we are the sheep right? That we understand our relationship with Jesus as one of caring shepherd and that we are members of the flock of Christ. That he has come to gather us unto himself and to guard against all the evil that seeks to harm or devour us.

There is such comfort and security in that image isn't there? If we hold on to that image we can link it to other concepts and images that encourage us in our walk with Christ.

I think one of the best examples of that imagery is the poem or prayer that many of us are familiar with. The Footprints in the Sand poem or prayer goes something like this. 

The Footprints Prayer:
One night I had a dream…
I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord, and
Across the sky flashed scenes from my life. For each scene I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand; One belonged to me, and the other to the Lord. When the last scene of my life flashed before us, I looked back at the footprints in the sand. I noticed that many times along the path of my life, There was only one set of footprints.
I also noticed that it happened at the very lowest
and saddest times in my life
This really bothered me, and I questioned the Lord about it.
“Lord, you said that once I decided to follow you,
You would walk with me all the way;
But I have noticed that during the
most troublesome times in my life,
There is only one set of footprints.
I don’t understand why in times when I
needed you the most, you should leave me.
The Lord replied, “My precious, precious
child. I love you, and I would never,
never leave you during your times of
trial and suffering.
When you saw only one set of footprints,
It was then that I carried you.
 
Knowing that Jesus wants to be engaged in our lives and to walk with us through our adversities and challenges is certainly a wonderful concept. We are truly blessed if we see our relationship with Christ as one where he sits with us and listens to us and counsels us in our struggles.

I certainly don't want to tarnish that image for any of us this morning. I want you to hold on to that understanding. I want you to seek to develop your conversation and interaction with the Lord. It will bring rich and powerful results in your life if you bring all your questions, doubts, and struggles to him.
But I would remiss in my role as a shepherd this morning if I were to leave us seeing that as the only question that we may need to deal with in these passages.

So I have a second question for us to wrestle with this morning. If we see Jesus as the Good Shepherd and we are the sheep then what does that tell us about our nature and character? Now, I have to admit that I am not too keen to examine this question too deeply.

I can't say that I have had a lot to do with sheep in my life. But I have read about them and they are not the best example of intelligence and cooperation.

Sheep, have a tendency, to wander off, they constantly need to be watched, they don't seem to have a great capacity for memory. They will go ahead and do something they have done before even when it put them in danger. They often get tangled up in briars and bushes. They are just as likely to walk off the edge of a cliff and fall into ravines. They have no way to protect themselves from predators. They are just as likely to follow another sheep into danger or into a situation that will threaten their well-being. Often they will fight against the shepherd when they have got themselves into difficulty. They will stubbornly ignore or fight against the directions of those who can see danger or a threat that they are unaware of.

All in all, sheep are one of the best illustrations of the meaning of the word recalcitrant. I looked that up in the dictionary and this is what it said: as an adjective: "having an obstinately uncooperative attitude toward authority or discipline." Or as a noun: "a person with an obstinately uncooperative attitude."

Have you noticed how much of the New Testament is written about people that we might well describe as recalcitrant? Why does the author of our reading from 1 John this morning need to address the community he is writing to about love the way he does? "We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us-- and we ought to lay down our lives for one another. How does God's love abide in anyone who has the world's goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?

Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action." "And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us."

I would suggest that left to their own devices and their own understanding of right the people in the community that is addressed in 1 John would not necessarily put the needs of others before their own. Now I am not saying that they were purposefully obstinate, they just needed to be reminded of where their attitude should be focused.

Now, how do you think the people responded to what is written to them? I would guess or suggest that perhaps they were not pleased to have their attitudes and actions questioned in a public way. Perhaps they reacted in anger, perhaps they got defensive.

Of course, we are not likely to act that way, are we? When we have things brought to attention that we need to correct or work on we are always ready to hear and to correct our behavior aren't we!

"You will remember I began my Sermon last week by saying "there is it that familiar phrase: "Peace be with you."

Jesus is seeking to reassure and encourage the disciples. I went on to say that I believe that Jesus was and is seeking to reassure and encourage us.

Because we may be faced with the same issue as the disciples, or the people in the community that 1 John is written to.

Perhaps Jesus is faced with the same issue with us as he was with the disciples. Before Jesus can get to the point with us he has to deal with our attitudes. He has to help us deal with what we are upset about. He has to help us deal with our emotions.

Jesus understands this about us. Jesus understands that until we are calm we will not hear. Until we are at peace we will not understand. Until we have dealt with our anxiety we will not accept what he has to say. Until we have put aside our doubt we will not be able to do what he needs us to do.

Jesus needed the disciples to be witnesses, he also needs us to be witnesses. Last week, I talked about how a witness speaks to the "truth of what they know." They are called on to proclaim, in deed and action, what they know and what they believe. Perhaps this week we need to think about how we are allowing the Good Shepherd to be our shepherd. How can we be a little less sheep-like this week? How can we be a little less recalcitrant?

Last week I encouraged us all, as we move through this "Season of Easter" in 2021, to consider what you know and what you believe? Are we be willing to say to the Lord: "I want to know what the disciples knew, I want to believe what the disciples believed." Lord open my mind and help me put aside my selfishness and my angry reactions and to accept your word.

Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.