The Good Shepherd & Faith Communities 08-05-2022

8th May 2022 (Fourth Sunday of Easter)

Title: The Good Shepherd & Faith Communities

(Acts 9:36–43 & John 10:22–30)

                                                                                  By Heeyoung Lim

Happy Mother’s Day! May the Lord bless your home and the places of your work with His grace and blessing. I hope that today will be a day of blessing for all mothers, and God’s special grace and comfort will be with those who have parted with their mother on earth. 

In Acts 9, Suddenly the topic shifts from the conversion of Paul to Peter’s miraculous raising of Tabitha. In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (in Greek her name is Dorcas). In verse 36, she was introduced by name and called as a disciple. 

When she became sick and died, without telling Peter why, the congregation from Joppa requested his presence, “Please come to us right away!” They lovingly cared for Dorcas’s body. Witnessing to God’s gracious acts can take many forms. When Tabitha died, her friends tried to let Peter know how important and valuable she was. They brought all the clothing that she had made for the widows, tangible symbols of her compassion. Their acts showed how Tabitha demonstrated God’s love each day of her life. They shed tears together and waited prayerfully outside while Peter was with Dorcas. 

Peter entered the room and knelt to pray. Then he told Tabitha to get up, and she did! The Spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead brings back to life this faithful woman whose acts of compassion are central to the new reality of God’s reign. Sometimes God may choose to intervene in a miraculous way for His people. May we pray first when faced with a difficult ministry task.

Tabitha was a disciple who devoted to good works and acts of charity. (v. 36) She served others and looked after people who are in need until she dies. The congregation in Joppa was making communal intercession for the healing of one of its members, hoping desperately for her wholeness. The congregation was vulnerable, but they stood together, sharing all they had including spiritual resources and weeping together, hoping together, and celebrating together. They were unafraid to walk into each other’s lives in transforming ways. 

Dorcas or Peter will not live forever on earth. Peter provided a temporary restoration to life for this lovely Christian female disciple at Joppa with the power of Risen Christ. The emphasis of this text is upon a community honing all the spiritual strength and resources passionately upon life and wholeness rather than individuals. May we find ways to experience, energize, and celebrate the marks of a loving and healing community in today’s individualistic culture.

It indicates the expansion of the growth of God’s love from Jewish to Gentile. We know Paul is called by Christ mainly for Gentile, but Peter also proclaimed the gospel to Gentile and showed the love of God to many people. This became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord. (42) That would be enough to know that the power of God was working through Peter and Dorcas. 

Faith communities are drawn toward healing because brokenness is so much a part of our lives. Christians today are more aware than ever of the power of holistic healing, the intercession of prayer, positive attitude, and the resources of medicine. We are more aware than ever that no one should face disease alone. Prayer, love, and service from faith communities can support us, complementing medical treatment. 

Communities are powerful healing partners in helping us overcome illness and brokenness. This was true for Dorcas, and it remains true for us today. May we, individually and as the church, learn from Tabitha and Peter about life-giving service. Simple quiet service for God is no less important than complex public service. May we be in actions that show the presence and the power of God with us through the acts of love and kindness. 

We experience how everyday acts of love, compassion, and kindness have the power to lift people to life. In today’s text, the life-giving acts were revealed through the example of Tabitha’s loving service and kindness and Peter’s prayer and ministry. We are comforted by the image of a shepherd that protects, defends, leads, and feeds.

In John 10:22–30, Jesus promises that His sheep will be with Him and can never be snatched away. No matter what occurs, we can look to Christ and identify Him as our good shepherd. Christ’s sheep can look to Jesus, those sheep are recognizable because they believe in the Shepherd, they listen to the Shepherd, and they follow the Shepherd. True sheep listen to the shepherd, but false sheep pay no attention. 

The Good Shepherd has purchased our salvation with His blood and now offers shelter and security to all who follow Him. We become a true sheep by placing faith in Jesus Christ for salvation. But once the Holy Spirit implants that nature in us, we respond to the Shepherd because that is what sheep do. There are times in our lives when we are affected by evil and there are times when we are shaken by temptations, but we trust that our Lord, the Good Shepherd, will always protect and guide us. Believers behave like sheep, and the good shepherd makes a sheep feel safe. No one can tear us away from His love. May we trust our lives to the Good Shepherd. 

Jesus calls us “my sheep”, it means the union of Christ. His calling is “listening to His voice”. Jesus knows us, and we follow Him. He also gives us eternal life in grace and love. We all remember the life-giving acts of Jesus.

The voice of the Good Shepherd is a voice that liberates rather than oppresses. It does not say, “Do this, and then maybe you will be one of my sheep.” It says, “You belong to me already. No one can snatch you out of my hand.” Secure in this belonging, we are free to live the abundant life of which Jesus spoke earlier in the chapter: “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly”. (v.10).

The abundant life of which Jesus speaks is not necessarily about abundance in years, or in wealth, or status, or success, or accomplishments. It is life that is abundant in the love of God made known in Jesus Christ, love that overflows to others (John 13:34-35). It is eternal life because its source is in Jesus, who is the resurrection and the life (11:25-26).

May we discern the Shepherd’s voice amongst all the other voices that appeal for our attention. May we oppose other voices with all our strength and follow the one who is our good shepherd! No matter what the future holds, God’s hand is holding us, and nothing can snatch us away. May we express our gratitude for the eternal life Christ gives us and follow our good shepherd Jesus in all circumstances.

The Easter season is a call to get up and live in the power of the risen Christ, which can empower us to overcome those things that have harmed and hindered us, and to take the lead in loving service in the communities in which we live. I pray that we can encourage and support others in making their own personal and collective faith journeys and experiencing the living Lord themselves.

God calls us to rise, to live, to seek the welfare of others, and to offer words and deeds that are life-giving. May our lives be filled with the presence of God’s spirit, and we grow as disciples of Risen Christ and followers of the good shepherd.

Thanks be to God! Amen.
(Ref. Bible, commentaries, theological books, UCA materials)