Sunday Homily 4-29-12, 4th Easter
Readings:
Acts 4, 8-12, In his name this man stands before you healed;
Psalm 118, The stone rejected by the builders has become the corner stone;
1 John 3, 1-2, See what love the Father has bestowed on us;
John 10, 11-18, I am the good shepherd.
Acts: A review–
Date: ca. 70-100 A.D.
Author: Luke, who wrote both the Gospel and Acts
Setting: Just like the last 2 Sundays, Peter & John have just healed a lame man outside of the temple gate. The people rush to question them. They say it happened because of God's power and that Jesus was raised from the dead. The high priests hear about this and have them arrested. After telling them to stop saying Jesus was raised from the dead, the two are released.
Our Selection: last week we read Peter's discourse to the local believers in a room. The week before we read about the quality of life of the local believers, communal. Today's account is Peter talking to the high priests and elders of the high court. They are on trial.
John:
Date of Gospel: A.D. 85-95
Author: scholars have doubts that the Apostle John is the writer of the 3 works attributed to John, the Gospel, 3 letters, & Revelation. Doubts exist even that one writer composed all the works.
Who is my Shepherd?
This morning I want to talk with you about being a shepherd. In some ways this is easy to talk about. I have numerous shepherds who guided me through life. On the other hand, who was most significant, whom do I leave out? I have four little vignettes.
First, Charles Colson. I do not know this man personally. He died at 80 a week ago Saturday. I read about him in an editorial in the Dallas Morning News, Tuesday, April 24.
Colson had two lives. His fame comes from his first life. He was Nixon’s top political consultant and he was convicted and sent to prison for his role in the Watergate scandal, around ’72-’74, the year Nixon resigned. In this life he was a win at all cost political advisor. He once said that he would walk over his grandmother to get Nixon elected.
It was in his second life of 35 years that Colson became a shepherd. After his conviction he apparently experienced a conversion. He went to prison, spent almost a year there, became attached to his fellow prisoners, and never left them.
In ’76 he founded Prison Fellowship. The Fellowship set up in prison job training, provided support for prisoners & their families, helped rehabilitate prisoners coming out, and tried to change laws that treated violent & non-violent offenders with the same severity.
Every Easter Colson spent with inmates in prison, which he called the darkest place in American life. Colson became a shepherd for prisoners & their families.
Which leads me to my second shepherd. You know him. My friend & companion since grade school at Christ the King, Eddie. He has talked here twice about AA. A week ago Friday evening we were having our usual get together, the 5 of us guys from high school, plus wives.
Eddie mentioned in passing that for 19 years every Wednesday evening he has run an AA program for prisoners in one of the downtown jails. With fondness he talked about how good & intelligent these men were.
Which leads to my third shepherd. Tomorrow morning I have been invited to Jesuit to help host a fellow classmate from our ’58 graduating class, Charlie Edmond. Charlie was the first black student to enter a white high school in Dallas. The year, 1955, the year after the Supreme Court decision. In my sophomore class Charlie sat in the seat right in front of me.
The shepherds were the Jesuits.
Finally, I cannot close without mentioning the parents I had the privilege to meet at the Love for Kids picnic the last Saturday of March. The care & tenderness showed by these parents to their handicapped children humbled me and touched me to tears.
Two individuals, some teachers, and some parents, all different types of good shepherds.
Who were, who are the Shepherds in your life?
For whom are you a shepherd?
Source: Dallas Morning News, April 24, 2012
Video: Jan & Sir Charles renew vows at 50 years. (1 min.)