Fourth Sunday of Easter—2002

Homily at Thornbury Methodist Church

In our tradition this Sunday is known as Good Shepherd Sunday and we keep it as a special day of prayer for vocations to the priesthood. Like yourselves who use the Revised Common Lectionary on the Third Sunday after Easter we always have a section of John’s great Chapter 10 on the Good Shepherd.

This year we have the first part of that chapter in which Jesus says I am the gate of the sheepfold. Jesus presents himself not only as the gatekeeper of heaven but as the very gate itself. No one can enter without going through Jesus. All others are thieves and brigands and the true sheep of the flock will take no notice of them.

We might be tempted to think that this is a bit exclusive and not very much in line with our modern way of thinking. We might not be entirely comfortable with the thought that Jesus parks himself firmly at gates of heaven—even insisting that he is the very gate itself.

Nowadays we tend to think that any good person deserves to enter heaven even if he is not led by Christ but perhaps by Buddha, Mohammed or the Hindu pantheon of Gods. We have no problem imagining that a good pagan could enter heaven by the front door—even someone who expressly denied Christ as long as they lived a moral life.

This is in fact quite a recent development in our way of thinking. After all, it is only in the last few years that our two Churches could contemplate exchanging pulpits. Forty or fifty years ago most Catholics couldn’t imagine meeting a Methodist in heaven! Where it was you went we weren’t quite sure, but certainly not to a Catholic heaven! And I suppose it was just the same vice versa.

We have come a long way and thank God for that—but we must be cautious and not go too far; certainly not so far that we violate the very teaching of Christ. We must be careful not to regard all religions whatever their theology are of equal status.

As Christians we believe that God has revealed himself definitively in the person of Jesus Christ. As far as we are concerned Jesus is the revelation of the Father.

Now, while there are many good and wise spiritual guides none of these can compare with Christ. There are many shepherds but only one Good Shepherd.

Actually a better translation for the word Good in this context would be ideal or model. Christ is the ideal shepherd, he is the model shepherd, he is the shepherd and all other shepherds, good though they might be in all sorts of ways, are not to be compared with him.

Of course, the others who try to lead the flock and whom in our text today are referred to by Jesus as thieves and brigands are the particular Jewish leaders of the time. They don’t have the interest of the flock at heart; they merely wish to satisfy their own thirst for power. Such people are to be found in every age.

Christ’s true interest is the flock, as he says: I have come that they may have life and have it to the full. And this greatest of all shepherds is willing to give his own life for the sheep. Indeed it is from his death that they draw salvation and will in due time rise to everlasting life.

The way we look at other world religions today is not to consider them as rivals or enemies but also as mediums by which God gradually reveals himself to the world. What we have in common is our basic humanity which at its root necessarily includes the thirst for God. As Augustine says: Our hearts are restless till they rest in thee.

Every single person in one way or another is groping for a more complete knowledge and experience of God. The specifically Christian belief is that this is to be found fully in the person of Jesus, God’s only Son. All other religions therefore implicitly lead us to Christ insofar as they embrace those values which he taught and insofar as they are directed towards the good.

So we do not regard other world faiths as the thieves and brigands referred to by Jesus at least not as long as they aim towards that which is good and true. Marginal sects and other groups whose chief concern is to control and exploit the vulnerable are another matter entirely.

But to look to our situation here among the Christian Denominations of Thornbury we recognise that we are particularly fortunate, especially in terms of the quality of the relationships between the various Churches. There are so many initiatives coming from Thornbury Churches Together such as the Good Friday Walk, the Bookshop, the Joint Christmas Card, Carol Concerts, Thornbury Music Ministry, etc.

We are committed to sharing our faith whenever and wherever we can without trampling on one another’s specific identity. This is a cause of great joy and something we must be sure never to lose.

I mentioned before that in our Church on this particular Sunday we pray for vocations to the priesthood. We pray that many more good men will be called to ministry in our Church and we pray for those priests who are in difficulty and falling short in their calling. With the drastic decline in numbers of practicing Christians in the Western World and the many stresses and strains of modern society these are very relevant needs.

On this Sunday we look to Christ as the true shepherd on whom all those who are called to ministry should model themselves. He is, of course, the only one who can care for his flock and we priests and other ministers in the Churches are merely carrying out his wishes—acting as his delegates, of you like.

You might already be feeling uncomfortable when I referred only to men as priests and be saying to yourself—well if you Catholics are short of priests why don’t you ordain women?

It is a good question and one not yet definitively answered. We have the experience of working with the other Christian Denominations including yourselves who have women in high positions in the ordained ministry. I myself work very closely with an Anglican woman priest in Eastwood Park Prison—so it is not something we are afraid of or think is bad.

I think that we Catholics are just a bit cautious and want to think long and hard before we throw over 2000 years of tradition. We don’t want to be pushed by other ideologies and we are very concerned not to diverge from the actions of Christ and the practice and customs of the Church of the Apostles.

When and if we ever do move on this one (and that is a very big if) we would certainly want our whole worldwide Church to be able to move together and neither would we want to leave the Orthodox Church behind. So this isn’t something that we are likely to do in a hurry, if at all.

But as you Methodists have so clearly shown us ministry is not something reserved to the ordained. We have learned from you and from the other Free Churches and lay ministry now has a very high priority within our Church. Although the missionary activity of the Catholic Church has been very strong especially over the last two hundred years it would have been much stronger if we had involved lay people as you have done and not left our foreign missionary work just to priests and nuns.

The Good Shepherd is not merely a model for the clergy; he is the model for us all. It is to him that we must look as the pattern for all ministry. He knows his sheep and he cares for them and they follow him and he gives his own life for their salvation.

They follow him because they recognise his goodness and his kindness. They know that he will keep them from danger and lead them in the true path.

Each one of us carries our share of responsibility for ministry in our various churches and in our own families and in the wider community. We can do no better than this: to imitate the Good Shepherd, to do as he would do, to speak as he would speak, to love as he would love and when and if necessary to give our lives for our sheep.

Thank you for your attention and for your kind invitation to worship with you and may God bless each and every one of you. Amen. I’ll see you in heaven!