Author: Judith Russenberger

11th May 2025

Reflection with readings below

Shepherds and sheep represent an interesting communal dynamic. A good shepherd is the one who knows both the way the flock behaves as a group and the characteristics of the individual sheep, the particular needs of the sheep and how that interacts with the  lie of the land and the time of year.

For the sheep there is their trusting relationship with the shepherd, as well as internal dynamics within the flock. Sheep are communal beings with strong social bonds,  often with a hierarchy led by a matriarch. Sheep will protect each, banding together to see off predators. Additionally the older sheep have a knowledge of the land  – the boundaries of their territory, where the best grass is, where to shelter in a  storm – and this localised knowledge is something they will pass on to their offspring.

Both the Psalmist and Jesus use the imagery of sheep and shepherd to describe the relationship that God desires to have with people. If we pay attention to God, stay alert to hear what God is telling us, if we follow where God leads – then God’s loving care for us will keep us safe. We benefit from God’s wisdom. The alternative scenario where we ignore God – ignoring what God is saying to us, ignoring where God is leading us – and end up falling into situations of harm and danger.

But Jesus’s teachings – and indeed much of the teachings of the Hebrew Scriptures – emphasises the importance of being a community that looks after each other (including the orphan, the widow and the alien).  God has created humans to live together as a flock, supporting and caring for each other.

In the first reading today, we hear the story of Dorcas and how much she is loved and revered by her community, and how much she has given to that community. This community is very much an example of a flock of sheep – one with Jesus as its Good Shepherd. 

Recently I joined a Green Christian zoom workshop on intentional communities. Part of the discussion highlighted that the climate crisis that we are facing is already changing weather patterns and putting us all at risk of the extreme events that upset daily life – floods, storms, heat waves, power cuts, food and water shortages, damage to buildings, disruption to transport and communications etc. In such situations there is clearly a benefit in having strong communities which care for each other, and localised communities that can be a source of local food, energy, support and comfort. And one hopes that Christian groups would be ideally placed to create and nurture such resilient communities. Following the parables of Jesus’s teachings we might even see church buildings as the equivalent of a sheep fold.

Acts 9:36-43

Now in Joppa there was a disciple whose name was Tabitha, which in Greek is Dorcas. She was devoted to good works and acts of charity. At that time she became ill and died. When they had washed her, they laid her in a room upstairs. Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, who heard that Peter was there, sent two men to him with the request, “Please come to us without delay.” So Peter got up and went with them; and when he arrived, they took him to the room upstairs. All the widows stood beside him, weeping and showing tunics and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was with them. Peter put all of them outside, and then he knelt down and prayed. He turned to the body and said, “Tabitha, get up.” Then she opened her eyes, and seeing Peter, she sat up. He gave her his hand and helped her up. Then calling the saints and widows, he showed her to be alive. This became known throughout Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. Meanwhile he stayed in Joppa for some time with a certain Simon, a tanner. 

Psalm 23 

1 The  Lord is my shepherd; *
I shall not be in want.

2 He makes me lie down in green pastures *
and leads me beside still waters.

3 He revives my soul *
and guides me along right pathways for his Name’s sake.

4 Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil; *
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

5 You spread a table before me in the presence of those who trouble me; *
you have anointed my head with oil,
and my cup is running over.

6 Surely your goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, *
and I will dwell in the house of the  Lord for ever.

Revelation 7:9-17

I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a loud voice, saying, 

“Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, singing, 

“Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom

and thanksgiving and honour

and power and might

be to our God forever and ever!
Amen.”

Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?” I said to him, “Sir, you are the one that knows.” Then he said to me, “These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

For this reason they are before the throne of God,
and worship him day and night within his temple,
and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them.

They will hunger no more, and thirst no more;
the sun will not strike them,
nor any scorching heat; 

for the Lamb at the centre of the throne will be their shepherd,
and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, 

and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

John 10:22-30

At that time the festival of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered, “I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me; but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.”