Follow The Good Shepherd - Sermon for the Fourth Sunday of Easter (April 26, 2026)

Scripture Readings: Acts 2:42–47 | Psalm 23 | 1 Peter 2:19–25 | ​John 10:1–10

“For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps.” (1 Peter 2:21).
 
This morning, the fourth Sunday of the Season of Easter is sometimes called Good Shepherd Sunday, as our Scripture readings, especially the Gospel reading, highlight this well-beloved biblical theme… inviting us to contemplate how Jesus Christ the crucified and Risen Lord continues to lead us His people into God’s New Life today. 
 
Our Psalm today, Psalm 23, is probably one of the most well known parts of the Bible where the Living God’s steadfast love and care for His people is likened to the care of a shepherd for their sheep. As King David composed this Psalm, we can imagine him drawing upon his own experience as a young shepherd, in charge of providing for and protecting his father Jesse’s flock: spending his nights and days by their side… guiding them towards the nourishment they needed, and away from harm… and even putting his own life in danger in order to rescue them from wild predators.
 
And years later, David prayerfully imagines the LORD God at work in the same ways: providing for and protecting His people… constantly with them, day and night… and faithfully leading them towards abundant life. And even though at times God would lead them through pretty dark times… through the very shadow of death… David calls us all to place our faith… our trust in God our Good Shepherd, who walks ahead of us, and with us every step of the way… confident that, no matter what may come, God really does care for us, and has our best interests at heart. 
 
Many centuries after King David penned Psalm 23… in the Gospel of John Chapter 10 Jesus of Nazareth speaks about Himself in ways that draw upon this very same imagery… identifying Himself with the Living God, and His ministry with God’s care for His people.
 
In the verse after our reading today, Jesus explicitly says: “I am the Good Shepherd.” (John 10:11). But before that, in our reading today, He uses shepherding imagery to highlight the difference between the Good Shepherd, and the thieves and strangers who are only concerned about themselves.

John 10:1-5, “Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.”
 
Now the meaning of this passage was kind of confusing even to those who first heard it, but it might help us a bit to remember the context of Christ’s words here. Where they take place in the story. Jesus is saying all this right after He had healed a man who had been blind from birth… offering this man a great gift of mercy and grace, and new life… only to have the religious leaders in Jerusalem interrogate, insult, and eventually excommunicate the man… all because they refused to believe that God’s good work had been done through Jesus. They had witnessed the miracle, but refused to believe it. They claimed to be shepherds and guides of God’s people, and yet they accused and turned on the ones God had placed within their care.

In other words, Jesus was contrasting Himself with those leaders who claimed to be God’s faithful servants and shepherds, but who were actively opposing Him, and revealing their own suspect motives. 
 
And there are, of course, many today who are following in their unfaithful footsteps… who want us to trust and follow their lead, but who will not and cannot lead us into life. Think especially of those who claim to be Christian leaders and teachers, but who would have us completely ignore so much of Christ’s own words and ways, and offer us their own agendas instead. There are a lot of folks these days teaching some truly messed up stuff in Christ’s name, which is why it’s so important for us to actually know what Jesus our Lord has actually said… to seek to listen to His voice, and understand His character, and heart… and to do so in the context of the wider story of Scripture… the story of God’s great rescue mission.
 
If we don’t want to be misled… or worse yet, if we don’t want to become thieves and strangers ourselves… those opposing Christ’s good work in the world… we really do need to draw near to Jesus again and again, and become intimately familiar with Him, and know how to discern  His voice, and how to spurn all who would lead us away from Him. 
 
After Jesus first draws this distinction between the Good Shepherd, who knows the sheep, and whom the sheep trust and follow… and all the other strangers and thieves… He then changes the metaphor and calls Himself the Gate… the entryway to gain access to life, and the true safe harbour for the sheep. John 10:9-10, “I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”
 
This marks a turn from a warning, to an invitation: calling us all to listen to His voice! To come to Him, and find Him to be the source of God’s gracious provision and protection. To come to Him, and hear His teachings, and put them into practice, trusting that Jesus is the One leading us into God’s new, abundant life. Sounds like Good News to me.  
 
But here’s where we run into a serious challenge as Christians… because, as we know, going through the gate is not always easy… and the path of the Good Shepherd can often be a whole lot harder than we want it to be. Not hard in terms of who’s welcome and who’s not… no, all are invited to draw near to God’s Good Shepherd. The problem is that at times the path to abundant life can be painful. 
 
I mean, what comes to your mind when you hear the words “abundant life”? Success and status? Peace and security? Prosperity? Friendship and full bellies? That’s what a lot of folks spend their lives pursuing, and for good reason! Without these things, life can be quite painful. We can all name several places in our world today where these kinds of things are in short supply, or absent entirely… where suffering seems to be growing stronger day by day, and the shadow of death seems almost unstoppable.
 
Maybe you feel like you’re in one of those dark places today, and words like ‘abundant life’ seem more like a distant memory, or a fantasy than an anchor and promise to hold onto. If you are, know that you’re not alone, and that there’s Good News for you today too. 

On top of all the pain and the grief that it can cause, suffering is often also seen as a sign that we’re off course somehow… a sign that we must have made some big mistakes somewhere along the way. If ‘abundant life’ is the goal, many of us pursue it by avoiding as much suffering as possible. And lots of would-be leaders gather followers by promising to help them do just that.
 
And yet, the Good News of Jesus Christ consistently offers us a very different understanding of suffering.
Far from being a sign of our faults or failures… suffering is acknowledged as a common reality of life for all of us at one time or another outside of Paradise. Yes, when we humans make foolish or selfish decisions, we can certainly bring about all kinds of unnecessary suffering… but even those who consistently do what is right can often find themselves facing incredibly painful situations too.
 
As the story of the man born blind in John Chapter 9 reminds us, there’s no simple line of cause and effect between our choices and our current circumstances. In fact, doing the right thing and making the right choice can also lead us into a great deal of difficulty.

After all, Christ Jesus Himself suffered precisely because He was faithful! The agony of cross was not His fault… He was the sinless One! Yet, staying true to God’s good ways in a world turned upside down can make things much harder than they should be. No, Jesus suffered faithfully, laying down His own life to save us… and showing us in the process where and how God’s Good Shepherd is leading us.

In our second reading today from the first letter of St. Peter Chapter 2, we hear the words of the Apostle writing to Christian communities scattered around the Roman Empire… pockets of believers, frequently surrounded by hostile, or at least estranged neighbours and under threat of state sanctioned persecution. These early Christians were not exactly having an easy go of it. Many were struggling daily… especially those from the lower social classes, including many slaves who often faced harsh treatment and abuse from their masters.
 
But rather than promise his fellow believers an easy path to avoid all their pain and problems… St. Peter reminds them and us, that although we may not be able to avoid suffering… what we are suffering for, and how we choose to face that suffering is a vital part of our story.
 
Speaking directly to Christian slaves… to those without freedom, or civil rights, and who were frequently mistreated and looked down upon… St. Peter first of all warns them against suffering for bad reasons. But then he goes on to say that if they do what is right and still suffer because of it, there is no shame in that at all. In fact, when that unjust suffering occurs, they’re actually sharing in the very experience of Jesus Christ, our Good Shepherd… who was Himself unjustly abused, and executed as a slave, without honour or mercy.
 
And yet, despite all that was done to Him to dehumanize and destroy Him, the Living God raised Christ Jesus from the dead… honouring Him above all others, and bringing Him through the very shadow of death and into God’s blessed eternal life. The cross is the amazing story of God turning Christ’s unjust suffering into, not only His ultimate glory, but also into the means by which God’s mercy and saving love were made known to the world…
reaching out to save the lost, and to lead them into life.

St. Peter isn’t saying that we should seek out or glorify suffering in itself… or that we should simply allow others to endure injustice and oppression when it is within our power to do something about it. Far from it. What he is saying is that, when we find ourselves in those dark places… feeling powerless and alone… we can trust that our Good Shepherd has not abandoned us in our time of need. No, He has walked this dark path Himself already… and He walks it with us still… faithfully leading us through the valley of the shadow of death, and inviting us to faithfully follow His own example… to follow, not just His words, but His way of life… including His faithfulness in the face of suffering.
 
1 Peter 2:21-25, “For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps.
“He committed no sin,
and no deceit was found in his mouth.”
When he was abused, he did not return abuse; when he suffered, he did not threaten; but he entrusted himself to the one who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. For you were going astray like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.”
 
Jesus suffered faithfully once and for all at the cross to save us, not from all pain and suffering, but from sin! From all the evil and self-centeredness at work in us, and in our world that leads us all astray in so many ways… that leads us to turn against one another… to oppress, and abuse, and exploit our fellow humans, made in God’s image… to ignore those in need all around us… and to place our own status and agendas above the commandment to love our neighbours as ourselves.
 
This is what Christ came to save us from. And He saved us for a new and truly abundant life… one marked by compassion, integrity, generosity, humility, and sincere fellowship with one another. A life where we look out for one another… and take care of each other when we’re struggling… where we look for ways to lift up, and encourage, and support one another… so that everyone has what they need… becoming more and more like our Good Shepherd as we listen closely to His voice, and follow His example of long-suffering love.  
 
We get a glimpse of this abundant life that our Good Shepherd is leading us into in our first reading today from the Book of Acts Chapter 2, in the early days after Pentecost.  God’s people, empowered by His Holy Spirit, were truly living like Jesus, their Good Shepherd: caring for one another. Supporting one another. Even giving up their own goods to meet the needs of those who were struggling. Providing for and protecting one another by embodying God’s holy, self-giving, and long-suffering love… by listening to the voice of Jesus Christ, the Risen Lord, and following closely where and how He leads.
 
And so, may we who have gathered here today in Gondola Point, listen closely to the voice of our Good Shepherd, and follow Him always. May we be willing to face our own times of suffering faithfully… for the sake of God’s people and God’s world… growing in love for the Living God, and for one another, even when it’s hard… searching for ways to provide for and protect others… just like Jesus our Good Shepherd has first loved us… trusting Him to lead us through it all into His blessed and unending abundant life. Amen.