Easter 4 - Sunday 7th May 2006 - Godmanchester
Acts 4:5-12
1 John 3:16-24
John 10:11-18
English Grammar was never my favourite lesson in school....... but it was probably one of the most useful! I couldn’t (at the time) get excited about the use of the colon and semi-colon. It really didn’t worry me whether I ‘were’ using the correct form of the subjunctive. And I got very irritated when we had to keep going over the positioning of the apostrophe!
One lesson I do remember being ever-so-slightly fascinated by, though, was when we were exploring the verbs ‘to lie’ and ‘to lay’ - in their various meanings and tenses.
‘I lie’ - I tell a fib
‘I lied’ - I told a fib
‘I lie’ - I am horizontal
‘I lay’ - I was horizontal
‘I lay’ - as in, I lay something down....
or I lay an egg
‘I laid’ - I put something down in the past,
or I laid an egg
and so I could go on.....
Why - you may rightly be wondering - am I recalling English Grammar lessons some twenty-five years later? And what have they to do with this morning’s readings? Well, some of you may have noticed that one of these verbs appears in two of this morning’s readings, both written by St John. Let me remind you…
We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us - and we ought to lay down our lives for one another. (1 John 3:16)
Secondly:
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. (John 10:11)
and later:
For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. (John 10:17-18a)
In these various verses, St John encourages the Christian community to follow the example of Jesus Christ, the one who ‘laid down his life for his friends’ (John 15:13)
* * *
So what is this ‘laying down’? What did it mean for Jesus, and what might it mean for us?
Jesus uses the analogy of the ‘good shepherd’, (contrasted with the ‘hired hand’), to illustrate the lengths to which he will go for those who are in his care. Unlike the hired hand, who is ultimately more concerned about his wages and his own safety, the ‘good’ shepherd shows his love for the sheep by being willing to give his life for them.
His care for them is so great that no sacrifice is too much: even death itself. And St John makes the point that this death is not something which overwhelms the shepherd and takes him by surprise, but something to which he willingly surrenders himself because of his love for his sheep.
It is a matter of choice, grounded in love and obedience:
‘I lay (my life) down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.’ (John 10:18)
The ‘laying down’, or ‘laying aside’ which we see in Jesus, the good shepherd, in his death on the cross, is one of chosen self-giving, and chosen self-sacrifice, motivated by love.
It is the same self-surrender that we see in that passage from Philippians 2, where Paul writes:
‘He humbled himself, and became obedient to the point of death - even death on a cross’ (Phil 2:8)
And it is the same ‘laying aside’ of status which we see as Jesus washes his disciples feet at the Last Supper - as he literally ‘lays aside’ his clothes and takes up the towel.
Such is the example which St John invites his hearers to follow. They are to reflect on what Jesus has done, and are invited to imitate it, recognising that in his love expressed toward us, is the source of our love for one another. We too are invited to be those who ‘lay down’......
And that’s where knowing all about English grammar comes in. Because sometimes - ‘laying down’ can become ‘lying down’.......
The invitation to self-surrender, self-sacrifice is neither easy nor fashionable. For the prevailing attitude - certainly in the West, if not elsewhere - tends to be one of self-seeking, self-aggrandisement.
One where love of self is a higher motive than love of others; where notions of gain displace any idea of sacrifice.
Whatever we may aspire to, it is not easy to model a ‘laying down of self’ - when the current trend in society seems far more akin to a desperate need for ‘lying down’, having a break, and letting others get on with what needs to be done.
* * *
So what has all this got to do with us? Well, today – as you know already – is Vocations Sunday:
Here, in Godmanchester, some of you have recently been working your way through an excellent course on vocation designed by Ally.
St John’s words come to us this morning as a telling reminder of what it’s all about....
For at its heart, vocation is, for us, the same as it was for Jesus, the Good Shepherd. We are invited to lay down our lives for one another and for love of the lost sheep of our world. And, (as for Jesus), when we decide to respond to the call that we hear, it is not about personal preference or an unstoppable inevitability....
It is a matter of choice, grounded in love and obedience:
‘I lay (my life) down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.’ (John 10:18)
The thing is, God does not force us to respond to his calling. We have a choice.
And still he’ll go on calling....
And still he’ll go on encouraging....
And still he’ll go on protecting....
And he’ll never stop loving.
For ours is the Good Shepherd – the one who lays down his life for the sheep.
* * *
It took me ten years finally to respond to God’s call to explore ordained ministry. I kept on making excuses and trying to run away.... I wanted to ‘lie down’ rather than ‘lay down’. Life was too comfortable. I didn’t want to face what it might all mean. And so I tried to ignore it and get on with my life in my own way....
But still, he went on calling....
Still, he went on encouraging....
Still, he went on protecting....
And he has never stopped loving.
It is easy when we listen to today’s readings to listen to ourselves only as sheep. In one sense, that’s right. We are sheep: we get lost, we go astray, we need protecting, and it’s good to know we are cared for by the Good Shepherd and not the ‘hired hand’.
But I believe we can take the image further… For in this gospel reading, we see Jesus also as a model for ministry – not just for the ordained, but – as St John implies when he writes his letter - for all disciples as we are invited to lay down our lives for one another.
* * *
If God is calling you – whether to a particular ministry, or to a particular task within or beyond the church community; whether it’s something you need to respond to on your own, or whether it’s something that God is calling this community together to do or to be for him.... then my question to you this morning is:
Are you going to lay down or lie down?
Are you, like the Good Shepherd, going to lay down your whole selves to be used by him – even when you don’t quite know what that will mean – or are you going to lie down and stay comfortable, and walk away and say ‘no’?
The former UN Secretary, Dag Hammarskjöld, once wrote a very brief, but telling, prayer. It went like this:
“For all that has been – thanks.
For all that will be – yes.”
“For all that has been – thanks.
For all that will be – yes.”
For us, it is a prayer that comes with a ‘health warning’. But it is surely one that must have been on the lips of the Good Shepherd – the one who lay down his life for the sheep.
Today, he invites us, once more, to make it our own.
Let us pray:
Risen Christ,
faithful shepherd of your Father’s sheep;
teach us to hear your voice and to follow your command.
May your ‘yes’ be on our lips,
and your grace within our hearts,
that we may walk with you
in the strength of the Holy Spirit,
and serve you all our days.
This we ask for your name’s sake. Amen.