At least Australians, unlike most city dwellers, are probably
quite used to sheep
No image is fonder to traditional Christians than that of Jesus as the Good Shepherd.
Yet it is a foreign image which bears little relevance to most of us urban city dwellers.
Even in this country (Australia) the intimacy of the image...one shepherd caring for a small flock of sheep...is not the way we look after sheep.
They are in hundreds and thousands, largely left to their own devices
until the time comes for them to be killed or shorn.
So we need to look beyond the image and translate it to our modern times.
A couple of pointers
being a sheep is about belonging
It's only as we belong to Christ
that we understand and believe
This would suggest that the Good News is about the decision we make to be Christ's
And not so much about intellectual knowledge.
As important as doctrine and learning are, life in Christ is actually about being in touch with the person of the Risen Christ
How might we be in touch?
We need to maintain a deep commitment to personal and regular prayer.
We will meet Jesus in so far as we encounter him in the early morning,
and in the evening,
this is a figurative way of looking at prayer of course. but we need to do it
We will meet Jesus in the shared life of the Christian community.
There are no solitary Christians
...we are the Body of Christ, members of one another.
in so far as we struggle with one another (difficult as we are)
we are exploring the depth of relationship in Christ
and coming to know Jesus in depth
The spirit of obedience
Jesus could not be blunter..
We hear his voice, and we do what he tells us.
What is Christ saying to me in my life?
Do I respond by doing what he tells me to do?
What does the life of the Body of Christ say to me
about what Jesus invites me to be and do?
Do I do it?
THIS WEEK
- Take some time to reflect on what I hear Jesus saying, through my prayer, through my life, through experience of community
- What 2 or 3 things do I seem to hear Jesus saying to me about how to faithfully follow
- What resistance do I have to obedience? What do I need to do about it?
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