St. Barnabas Church , Linslade, Leighton Buzzard
01525 371802
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​3rd, May 2020
St Barnabas 08:00 &10:00
Readings:- Genesis 7, Acts 2:42-end,
John 10:1-10

Sermon by Ian Woodward
​ 
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be now and always acceptable in your sight, our Lord and our strength   and our redeemer. Amen.
 
  To follow Jesus. This is what the disciples are being encouraged to do in this reading. Once they had worked out what Jesus was telling them, what He meant by saying “I am the shepherd!” All the talk about sheep and thieves etc was to get them to focus on something they would have known well, sheep and shepherds.
 
   But their view of shepherds was of a group of no goods, drop outs and/or untrustworthy souls. And yet who were the first to hear the news of the birth of Jesus? Who left their flocks to go and see the Christ Child? And having seen him “they went away rejoicing”. 
 
  The job of the shepherds, in those far off days and in that far of land, was to lead the sheep, going ahead of them and call them to follow him. At night they would corral the sheep and sleep across the gate way. This prevented the sheep from straying and thieves from getting in. This shows us what Jesus is saying in verse one anyone who does not enter by the gate is a thief or a bandit. 
 
   Flocks of sheep were not too large so that the shepherd could know his sheep individually. “He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.” I find it a great reassurance in verse three that He calls his sheep by name. He knows my name, He knows your name and we are called to follow Jesus.
   Psalm 139 takes it a little further in that He knew us in our Mother’s womb so why would he not know our names now? He knows our names and we know His voice. The sheep of his day would run from stranger, they did not know their voice. Jesus was preparing the disciples for a time when others voices would try to influence them. Other voices would try to get them to turn away from Jesus. But at this time they did not understand.
  
   In Jesus’ time sheep were all over the place. It was a good example to use. Sheep and shepherds could be seen on hill sides, in valleys as small group or in larger flocks. And the analogy of we being sheep is not too far from the truth.
 
  There were many at that time who had come forward to say that they were the Messiah and they gathered a following, so eager were the people to rid themselves of the Roman yoke. But as soon as the imposters were exposed their followers scattered, like sheep.
 
  Jesus lumps the “pretend messiahs” together in the phrase, “All who came before me are thieves and bandits.” He plays down His shepherd like role early on when He tells people not to spread the news of His deeds. But when talking to His disciples He does not play down His role, “I am the Gate for the sheep”. “I am the Gate for the sheep”.
 
  “I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture.” In these troubled times it is worth saying that again, “I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture.”  V9
 
   If you have seen any of the “Springtime” programmes that have been on television recently you must have seen how happy the sheep and lambs are to get out into a field. Instead of being fed indoors they have a field of green grass to munch on whenever they like. Coming in and going out and finding pasture.
 
  At the moment we are reduced to the simple life, going out for a walk, coming home and regular meals. But do we not also praise God for the fact that we can do that. Praise God for the people that we meet and share a greeting with (and there are more of those). Praise God for the skill and dedication of those on the “front line”. Praise God for the services we share on a Sunday. Praise God for the final sentence in our Gospel reading today where Jesus tells them.
 
“I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”
 
    In the spare time that we have, Sarah, my wife, and I remember the places that we have been and the people that we have met, the activities that we have helped out at and we feel that our lives have been filled to abundance.
 
  I believe that this event took place early in the disciples training as they clearly did not understand what Jesus was saying. How long was it, I wonder, before they realised He was the one to follow? It was His voice that they should listen to and that He was the gate, the way in to be saved. How long before they knew that He gave them life and that more abundantly.
 
So like them we too need To Follow Jesus. Amen.
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