<html><body><div>I'm glad I got a head start on this draft for Sunday!</div><div><br></div><div>Bob</div><div><br></div><div><p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;background:white"><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'>THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF ST. ALBAN, ALBANY <span style="margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>4 EASTER a</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'>ACTS 2:42-47<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>7<sup>th</sup> MAY, 2017</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'>1 PETER 2:19-25<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>PSALM 23</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'>JOHN 10:1-10</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><br></p><p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;background:white"><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'> </span><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>“Have you been saved?” – or its companion “Are you saved?”.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><br></p><p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;background:white"><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Potentially two of the worst, most intimidating questions that can be asked, in my opinion. If one is charitable, one might say that the questioner is concerned about how you and I are going to spend eternity. Now, I like being charitable. It’s kind. But cynicism has its place too, and cynicism tells me that the person who asks me if I’m saved is really trying to control me, to tell me how I should behave, how I should speak, perhaps even what I should wear, what my hair length should be, and, definitely, how I should think and act. So, if I guess that someone is about to ask me if I’m saved, I try to find a way of defusing the situation. That and escaping.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><br></p><p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;background:white"><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>I’m <u>SURE</u> this isn’t what Jesus or, for that matter, most, if not all of the messengers of God described in the Bible, want for me. This isn’t how <u>THEY </u>behaved. In fact, if you look at everyone in the Bible who was criticised for falling short of the critic’s understanding of righteous life in God, you’ll see that it was practically always because those criticized wanted to control people, especially those shoved to the margins of society, those who’d trouble defending themselves and having the means to care for themselves properly.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><br></p><p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;background:white"><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>I may be wrong, but I don’t recall Jesus <u>ONCE</u> ever saying to anyone, “Are you saved?” Certainly not in these words. Jesus’ comment about sheep and goats, for instance, was all about how we care for everyone. Instead, He asked what the people’s problems were and whether or not they wanted a solution to them. And, as often as not, Jesus engaged the disciples and pointed out ways in which they could make life better for the poor, the broken-hearted, the sick, the hungry, the abused, and so on.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><br></p><p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;background:white"><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Jesus’ message <u>CAN’T</u> possibly have been very different from this. If it had been, then all those stories from the opening chapters of the Book of the Acts of the Apostles would have a different thrust. Like this morning’s first reading, for instance.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><br></p><p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;background:white"><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The first generation of Jesus’ followers were so engaged in taking care of people that those to whom they talked were entranced by what the apostles were doing and saying. These “second generation” of Jesus’ followers took on the lifestyle and outlook of the apostles. And so the numbers grew, simply by people listening to people tell them stories; by being sympathetic and compassionate; by tending to peoples’ needs. You’ll notice that nothing is said about signing a statement of belief, or of promising to give up certain behaviours, or even – don‘t tell Maggie Lang or the B.A.C. – or even of making a pledge of money! What <u>IS</u> stressed here is the way in which everyone came together – both for teaching and for fellowship. It was doing these things <u>TOGETHER</u> that was the living sign of whether a person knew Jesus and loved Jesus. It was because all the first, and second, and third generation disciples were caring for one another in a very positive way that, as the writer of this Book put it, “day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.”</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><br></p><p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;background:white"><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>So it’s a person making a decision to <u>ACT</u> in a certain way that marked them as saved. <u>AND</u> – and note this – the verse says “those who were <u>BEING</u> saved.” It’s a process – a procession, a pilgrimage, a journey – in which all Jesus’ disciples are engaged. It’s not just the act of an isolated individual. It’s the way of life in which the community works in living-out common goals that shows that they’re working towards salvation. Each day, especially when new people come into this building which symbolises Church for us; each day, through acts of listening, of kind empathy, of support and, most likely, not much talking on our part, certainly not overwhelming someone, but mostly talking when we’re asked a question or for an opinion; each day we ourselves as a community draw closer to God’s reign as God wishes us to be. And <u>THIS</u> is salvation, if we want to use that word.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><br></p><p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;background:white"><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>You’ve all heard it before, I’m sure, how shepherds functioned in both Hebrew and Christian eras. In fact shepherds <u>STILL</u> do this in the area we call the Middle East. They lead. Unlike in this country, or in Britain and the majority of European countries, in the lands around the eastern end of the Mediterranean, shepherds walked in front, checking out the terrain, making sure that there weren’t any predators or other dangers. Perhaps if any of us had sheep and lived in North Albany, perhaps this wouldn’t be a bad idea today. If we cared about the sheep, at any rate. If, however, we’d rather throw the sheep to a cougar than risk getting attacked ourselves, then, by all means, we should continue to operate as shepherds do here today – and simply push the sheep along from behind.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><br></p><p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;background:white"><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The good shepherds of the time of Jesus’ ancestors and of Jesus Himself, however, led by example, talking so that the sheep were familiar with the voices that engendered trust and confidence in them. This way, the whole herd was kept together, or as together as they could be. This was <u>THEIR</u> community, and it was in community that they found their safety, their salvation. </span></p><p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><br></p><p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;background:white"><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></p></div></body></html>