The Fourth Sunday of Easter

25^th April 2010 9:00am Sung Eucharist

Preacher: The Revd Hugh Phillipson

Readings: Genesis 7:1-5, 11-18, Acts 9:36-43, John 10:22-30

JOHN 10: 22-30

Today I would like to talk about Noah; then about Jesus claim ‘The Father and I are one’ and how that ties in with our faith and our lives.

Now and again it’s good to be reminded of Noah and that powerful Old Testament story. It captivated us in our childhood – the Ark, the flood, all those animals! These days we worry about global warming and the threat of increasingly nasty storms and floods. We worry about various wild animals dying out. So Noah seems increasingly relevant. Now if you really want to get totally into the story of Noah, you must go and visit Hong Kong’s own Noah’s Ark. It’s on Ma Wan Island. . It’s very big: built to the size described in Genesis. Inside you’ll find all sorts of fascinating exhibits. Go and see for yourself.

We admire Noah because of his single minded determination to build the Ark, He did this with great faith and courage. During that long construction period, everyone must have laughed at this weirdo building a huge boat on dry land, hundreds of miles from the sea. But he was right to trust in God. Because he built the Ark the story tells us how he saved the human race and all the different animals.

Moving on to our Gospel story. The setting is winter in Jerusalem at the time of the festival of Hannukah. This was and still is the Jewish Festival of Lights. There were great illuminations in the Temple and every house had lights in its windows. How appropriate that Jesus the ‘The Light of the World’ should answer the key question of the day: “If you are the Christ tell us plainly.” He explained to that largely sceptical audience his relationship to God and his role as the Good Shepherd to his flock. He then courageously concluded with the punch line. “The Father and I are one” The listeners were so furious at this blasphemy from this trouble making upstart, that they picked up stones to kill him.

“The Father and I are one” That for many of us is the essence, the very heart of our Christian faith. It is our core belief. Everything else flows naturally on from that. And yet the people that day could just not see it. It was as if they were blind and deaf not to see and hear God in human form amongst them – our precious Lord - Jesus Christ. But what if we had been there, would we have been any less blind or deaf?

Here’s a true story. On a cold January morning in USA, in Washington DC Metro Station, a street musician was playing his violin. He played for 45 minutes. During that time two thousand people went through the station, most on their way to work. A middle aged man slowed his pace stopped for a few seconds and moved on. A woman threw a coin into his hat without stopping. A few children tried to stop and listen but were hustled along by their parents. 20 people gave a few coins as they passed by.. When he finished, there was no applause or recognition. So what - you might be thinking. But this was no ordinary violinist. It was the international star Joshua Bell. He had been playing very challenging pieces by Bach from memory on a violin worth 25 million Hong Kong dollars! Two days before, he had played to a packed concert hall in Boston where seats averaged 800 dollars.

What does the story say to us? Well perhaps that we shouldn’t be surprised the people listening to Jesus didn’t recognize him for what he really was? Wouldn’t we also have been shocked when he said ’the Father and I are one”?

The story also leaves us with another reflection. Would we be any better than those Washington commuters at recognizing truth and beauty in an ordinary place at an inappropriate hour? And linked to that, in our encounters with other people, do we tend to focus on their qualities which we don’t like, or which offend or upset us? Or are we able to see beyond - to good and beautiful qualities they have? Well Jesus was able to do just that. Remember the corrupt tax collector, the prostitute, the lepers, the officer in the hated occupying army? He treated them all with caring love and respect and by doing so shocked his contemporaries.

Now a completely different question. What is God like? Modern science shows us that the universe is teaming with billions of galaxies and stars, mysterious dark matter, masses of energy. On this planet and probably on millions more, there is abundant life, of dizzying complexity and beauty. So for most people it is self evident that there must be a creative force responsible for this. That’s God for us. But how are we to know what God is like?

On one side we see the beauty of a flower or a humming bird, on the other we see the violent destructive killing power of an earthquake such as the one in Qinghai last week. With such contradictory aspects of God’s creation, How are we supposed to understand creator God’s nature?

But if we believe in Jesus we have our answer. Jesus showed us what God was like in so many ways: by the way he lived his life, the way he died, the miracle of his resurrection, by what he did to heal, to help and to serve others, by what he said to his close friends, by what he said to the world.

Yes - we have our answer. Jesus, who is one with the Father, loves and cares for us like a Good Shepherd looks after his sheep. ‘The Father and I are one’ Therefore the nature of God is also Love, and love and care for each one of us.

The Good Shepherd image occurs many times in Jesus teaching.

But when did you last have a close encounter with a sheep? Probably the nearest has been delicious roast rack of New Zealand lamb, or a tasty lamb curry! Sheep and shepherds are not part of our city background.

So I’ve been trying with the help of friends in the Choir, to think of a modern equivalent of the Good shepherd, What would Jesus have used if he lived in HK today? Various ideas have come up: the Good Choirmaster, the Good Air Traffic Controller, the Good Airline Pilot, or more down to earth the Good KMB Bus Driver , the Good Teacher Perhaps the best is the image of the Good Mother who always loves, cares for supports and helps her children no matter what. But even that doesn’t quite seem to match the image of the Good Shepherd – So perhaps we had better stick with that.

Historically that Old Testament Hero King David started life as a shepherd. Then there is the 23 psalm ‘The Lord is my Shepherd’ Good Shepherds really did look after their sheep. They led them from the front calling them along, taking them to new feeding grounds– not Western style driving them from behind with snappy aggressive sheep dogs. The Good Shepherd knew each of his sheep by name and sight and spent cold nights out doors guarding them, always willing to risk his own safety defending or rescuing any sheep in trouble.

What the image of the Good Shepherd tells us is this. Jesus is with us to lead us and help us on our life’s journey: this earthly life, then through death into new life with him in Heaven. If we follow him, whatever happens to us, whatever we do, as the good shepherd he continues to love and care for us and will lead us back into the safety of the fold, or on to green pastures. Through Jesus we know the loving nature of our God. We can have absolute trust and confidence in the love and care of our Good Shepherd as we journey on to our goal. And with Jesus, both our God and our friend to lead us, we can be courageous in our faith whatever life throws at us.

Jesus said: ‘The Father and I are one’

Amen