April 17, 2016, the fourth Sunday after Easter

Earth day is Friday this year. The Episcopal Church has published a bulletin insert for this Sunday (which you can find in our e-connections this week.) We will celebrate earth day next Saturday at our evening service. (It seems even our national church has succumbed to the practice of celebrating before and not after a holiday.) We will plant flowers and say prayers to give thanks for the earth, and maybe to remind ourselves to care for the earth.

Most of the time we take the natural world for granted. We have gardens and pets but it has been a long time since many of us really depended on a good harvest for our livelihood. So we are apt to have a romantic view of agriculture. We think of green fields and peaceful animals on a hillside. We don’t think so much of backbreaking labor. We don’t think of long hours or worry about the rain.

My wife has a friend Tony, who is monk. He went to visit the Holy land and he was appreciating the world around him. His friend called him to come to evening prayer. Tony said, “No, I’m just enjoying looking at these sheep grazing and resting on the hillside.” His friend said, “Tony, I can tell you were born in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Those are goats.”

Part of the work of being a follower of Jesus is to know the truth. We are called to know we are known and loved. We are grateful for this and we are further called to know who we are in relation to God and to one another. We are the sheep who hear the shepherd’s voice.

Jesus was teaching (and probably staying warm) in Solomon’s Portico in the Temple. The religious leaders asked Jesus to declare openly if he was the messiah. Jesus perhaps knows they are not asking genuinely, but are they are trying to trap him. Jesus merely states that the sheep hear his voice. The works and words of Jesus should be enough, but there is also a connection. The sheep simply know when their true leader is calling them.

This is a connection of faith. It is not rational. There is an inexplicable and emotional connection based on years of leading and following, where the shepherd ahs cared for the sheep.

Something like this is at work when Peter raises Dorcas from the dead. Peter knows he has no power in himself. He is trusting in his years of following Jesus, and in his now growing experience of following Jesus after the resurrection. He has begin to see for himself that God is working through him for some greater purpose.

Peter has much to learn. As before (and many times in the gospels,) Peter thinks he knows what God is doing. It is when he surrenders to what God asks instead of insisting on his own way that he finds the right way. In this story, Peter is used by God for a powerful miracle. There will be more to come. The story ends with Peter staying with Simon the tanner – who in a strict understanding of his religion would be considered unclean.

We hold on to a romantic vision of the sheep and shepherd. We can cherish the love of God and also let go of our passive relationship. Of course, we should follow Jesus with the trust of a lamb, or a child. And we are not children. We are not dumb animals. God has given us blessing and gifts. We are also called to use our gifts.

We know that if we pay no attention to the natural world around us, we will suffer. If we leave it to others to do what they will for the sake of profit or to exploit the world for short-term gain – then we will suffer from pollution or the loss of our natural world, or the loss of the earth we need to sustain us. We need to pay attention to the relationships that sustain us.

Our connection to nature reminds us of our common life and our common commitment to people around us. We are dependent on the web of life that gives us water and clean air. We are dependent on growing things to nurture us. We are dependent on the hands and backs that grow our food and tend the animals that feed and clothe us. They are all our sisters and brothers and our lives are intertwined with theirs – even when we are unaware.

Jesus reminds us to be aware. We listen for his voice. We are called into one flock. We are also called to help others find their way to the life=giving love of God.