Sermon: John 10:1-10

<p>I know that, as we continue to live our lives within the context of this pandemic, there is a soundtrack of fear playing in the background of our minds. Many of us are experiencing an element of fear. I know I do. I fear for the health and well-being of all my kids and their spouses, my grandkids, my extended family, my friends and all of you. I pray everyone makes it through this pandemic, coming out healthy and whole on the other side once a vaccine is discovered. So, as I am honest and acknowledge that sense of fear, it is comforting to me that our readings today focus on God as our shepherd, the Good Shepherd. It is reassuring because I know I can place my trust in the Good Shepherd, regardless of what happens and what the future brings.</p> <p>We just heard the words of Psalm 23.  This is probably one of the best known, best loved poems in scripture.  It is known by people around the world.  In fact, I am sure many of you know Psalm 23 by heart.  As we live these present days, this psalm tells each one of you that God is like a <strong>Good</strong> Shepherd, caring for you, protecting you and guiding you.  God is the Good Shepherd who walks with you through all of life and provides you with what you need, even in dark valleys when we experience the shadow of death, even in trying times like those we now are experiencing.</p> <p>          In today’s gospel reading from John we hear more about the one we call the Good Shepherd. For the community to which John was writing, living with fear was a familiar aspect of daily existence. John’s community lived with the reality of persecution and the threat of extinction. Their first-century Mediterranean world was a scary place. Persecutions were heating up, and the followers of Jesus were, in the eyes of Rome, just more lambs for the lions. The Jesus movement was still new, struggling to define itself against the threat of Rome and the threat of competing philosophies and counter claims to truth.</p> <p>So, within that social context, these early Christians told