2026 04 26 Easter 4 A
Acts 2:42-47 Psalm 23 1 Peter 2:1-10 John 10:1-10
In the time of Jesus
there were many voices. Many ideas about
how life works and how the spiritual world works. The Romans had different gods, as did the
Greeks….. and every other nation around.
Into this world came Jesus, who died and
rose from the dead, and it seemed that there was another “voice” in the
wilderness. But this voice was different
– Not just a voice – but eye-witnesses that he had risen from the dead. And then there were the numerous signs and
wonders that followed his apostles.
These all gave testimony to the authority of this voice – this way –
this truth.
During this time between Resurrection Sunday
and the Day of Pentecost, instead of having an Old Testament reading, we have
readings from the Book of Acts. Notably,
Acts chapter 2 verses 1-4, tell the story of the coming of the Holy Spirit, but
our reading begins at verse 42, meaning that we are reading about the impact of
the Holy Spirit on the community of believers – the church. We are given a snapshot of the aspects of the
life of the church, and we are told that day by day the Lord added to their
number those who were being saved.
Note the incredible
things about that early church, and that those things are because of the impact
of the Holy Spirit. I have been harping
on a bit – and I make no apology – about how the plan of God was not complete
at the day of resurrection. It was only
completed on the day of Pentecost. We
have these readings from Acts to draw attention to the working of the Holy
Spirit and to prepare us to celebrate the day of Pentecost. So, it stands to reason that we should
explore this impact of the Holy Spirit.
Our reading from Acts
paints the picture of a vibrant and united group. This is the kind of community that we become
when we allow the Holy Spirit to impact our church and us as members of the
church. Vibrant and united! Generous, loving and genuinely dedicated to
learning about God and growing in spirituality!
There were many wonders and signs being done through the apostles also. How great is that? That is what we’d love all our churches to
look like. That is this kind of
community that will impact the world around them, and it is this kind of
community that will grow - and we are told, day by day the LORD added to their
numbers those who are being saved. Consider;
With that same Holy Spirit working through our Church, we can look the same!
An important aspect
of this, is that it is the LORD who adds the numbers. It is God’s Holy Spirit that does this. God wants our church to grow. But absolutely NOT so that we can justify our
existence by having bottoms on seats. On
this ANZAC weekend it is pertinent that we see the Church as the Army of
God. The place of learning and training
and most importantly, of being an active Army – here is where we mobilize the
forces to be God’s body on earth. It is
God’s desire that the church should grow, and the reason is that God, in his
love and mercy, wants people to be saved.
“Saved” is a word that we don’t use a lot. The name “Jesus” means “God Saves”. We are saved by Jesus. We are saved from the consequence of our sin
– which is death. Not natural death –
but spiritual death. We need to know
that this “being saved” is vital. We
also need to be clear that we are ONLY saved by Jesus.
We don’t like to talk
in exclusive ways when it comes to our faith.
It doesn’t feel very politically correct or “NICE” and we know that
God’s love is INCLUSIVE – God loves everyone and wants everyone to be
saved. But there is only one way
to be saved – JESUS – who is God, is who saves us. In our Gospel reading Jesus explains that he
is the gate. This is Jesus making a
statement about how it is only through him that we can be saved. He is the only legitimate way to God and
eternal life. Any other form of
spiritual life is from a thief or liar.
It sounds harsh and
definite, and that is because it is! But I’m only saying what Jesus said, and
Jesus said this because it is important. Surely, we know that there are other ideas
about connecting with God and the spiritual world. It is all around us. It is in the shows that we watch, and on the
lips of people talking about life. We need
to know that there are spiritual thieves and liars. I
don’t say this to put anyone down, but I say this because it comes from Jesus –
who, surely has proved, is the authority.
These “other ways” to god and spirituality, will offer a form of
spirituality which seems true and legitimate, but it is a deceptive lie that
leads to death. God loves everyone and
wants all to be saved, but we can only, according to Jesus, come in through him. Do we trust Jesus or not. Do we agree with Jesus or not. Jesus who died to bring us life says that he
is the gate – All others are thieves and liars.
It is important that we know this.
In the time leading
up to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit celebration of Pentecost we are
reminded of these important facts because those miraculous gifts of the Holy
Spirit can lead people to think that anything supernatural is from God. We need to know that Jesus is the gate we
only receive our spiritual life through him.
All spiritual truth is found in him alone.
Recently I saw a post
on facebook. It was someone who wanted
to see a psychic because her Aunt had died and she desperately wanted to know
where her Aunt was now. It frustrated
me, because I know that this lady was someone who went through the Catholic
school system and should know better… but do we? The “better” that we should know is two
things; One is that it is forbidden by God to seek answers through “Mediums” or
psychics. The reason being is that these
are not of God and, often, are doing what they do through demons and lying
spirits –in other words; they are thieves and liars!. If we have been involved in these things we
need to renounce them in Jesus’ name and repent. Two, is that scripture gives us the
answer. It says that we are not to say
who will ascend and who will go down.
These things are between the person and God. BUT we must understand that
God does desperately love everyone and desires all to be saved. God always respects our free will. The choice is ours. I can’t make that decision for you and you
can’t make that decision for me – but what we can do is make it clear for each
other, what IS the way to life.
Our Psalm today is the famous Psalm 23. The Lord is my Shepherd. There is a line at the end that reads; “Surely
goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life…” This, in the original language implies that
God actively and persistently follows us – kind of like a blood hound – God
relentlessly and persistently pursues each of us, to bestow on us His goodness
and mercy. God does all He can to bring
us to salvation. We still have free will
to say yes or no. The job of the church,
therefore, is to be God’s body on earth and also actively and persistently
reach out to those around us with the message of God’s goodness and mercy.
It was always God’s
plan to bring us life. In our Gospel
reading we note that Jesus said he came that we might have life and have it abundantly
– to the full – overflowing…. When Jesus
suffered and died on the cross, he took the sins of the world. He was the lamb of God to which our sins were
transferred, and we are redeemed because the debt for sin was paid through his
sacrifice. Jesus rose from the dead,
proving that he is God and he has power over the grave, and we identify with
him through our baptism. We accept his
death for our own spiritual debt and through baptism, we are told we rise with
him. Jesus came to bring us life. – abundant life. And that abundant life comes to us through the
Holy Spirit which was poured out on the day of Pentecost.
It had been
prophesied, hundreds of years before Jesus was born, that God would send his
Holy Spirit, and we are told that through the Holy Spirit we are born anew of a
seed that is eternal. We read about
this last week. We know that the
followers of Jesus were overjoyed at discovering that Jesus was risen from the
dead. But it is significant that they
remained a small, frightened group until the day of Pentecost.
None of us, in our
own strength, has the power to live the Christian life and effect any change in
the world. But what we can achieve if we
invite the Holy Spirit to live through us is ….???? It is the power of God working through
us. How much are we willing to allow him
to live through us? We saw what impact
it had on the early church when the followers allowed the Holy Spirit to live
through them…. And eventually the whole world was changed. Today, pretty much, the whole world needs
changing. Our world needs the LIFE that
Jesus offers. But we need to be happy to
be sheep. Sheep who trust the shepherd
completely and only follow his voice. We
trust this shepherd because he doesn’t leave us when we go astray, but he
pursues us to bring us back to his goodness and mercy. He has proven himself, as he laid down his
life for us.
The Israelite
shepherds differ from Australian shepherds.
Where we herd from behind, urging the sheep on with threats of pain for
going astray, the Israelite shepherd led from the front. The relationship with the shepherd is the
reason to move in his direction. This
tells us that in all our worries Jesus goes before us. His ways are good and he makes us rest in
green pastures where there are waters of refreshment. How good is that!! He leads us in paths that are right, and cares
for our every need. Even his rod and
staff are a comfort because though it may seem harsh, they keep us safe. But to
follow him we must listen to His voice only.
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