Dear friends,

I do hope all is well with you?

Just another short update from me this week including a copy of last Sunday’s sermon. If there’s any help you might need from me, just get in touch.

And please keep an eye on the website for what’s coming up: middleESKmoor.org.

With love and all good wishes,

Reverend Anthony

Please follow this link for the Readings that go with the sermon Reverend Anthony preached on Sunday morning in Lealholm and Egton:

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts together be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our rock, and redeemer. Amen.

Part of our gospel readings says, "The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep.” What are we to make of that?

Well, I guess it would be quite wrong to assume that just because a person is paid to do a job, they have less interest and less dedication to do that job. But maybe we can all recognise the truth in what Jesus says. We often complain that levels of service are "not what they were", and we get infuriated when we’re forced to listen to recorded messages on our phones, or when we get stuck in long queues waiting to hear from someone in a call centre. And you might all think that my sermons aren’t up to much and that you deserve a better service?

I wonder if it would be fair to say that, intrinsically, we want something extra, beyond what is efficient or economic. We want something from people that serve us that we can describe as ‘good’. Well, that’s what Jesus describes as the qualities of the good shepherd.

Jesus knows his sheep. Jesus protects them from the wolf.

Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd.”

Jesus is prepared to lay down his life for his sheep. The word that Jesus uses - "good" - describes the difference between the able person and the one who chooses to give love and service. Jesus isn’t talking about one occupation specifically, although the image of a shepherd obviously makes us think about pastoral care. No, Jesus is speaking about an attitude that should be an essential part of life for those who follow his teaching.

Naturally, we think that Jesus is speaking of himself as the shepherd, and the Church as his sheep. We are those who get lost, who run into danger, and who become scattered. There’s a message to the Church in this: we must try and avoid losing contact with our shepherd. We must try and keep together, we must try and think of ways of working together rather than fragmenting our church into little groups that need to be brought into one flock. We have different denominations and traditions in the UK within one big flock, but how well does that work in this part of the world. Can we do better? We have different parishes within one Church of England benefice, one big flock, but how well does that work in this part of the world. Can we do better?

I guess that we must recognise the gifts that the good shepherd displays, the pastoral gifts which we’re all called to show. Pastoral care springs from our faith in a loving, caring God. But we don’t employ people like me, or my successors, to carry out that task alone. I’d like to think that I’m not a hired hand! We’re called to share in the "shepherding" of the flock. And that’s where our annual meetings and our involvement in the governance and management of our Church of England presence in this place comes in. That’s all very much a collaborative project: joint shepherding.

Stepping outside of our church buildings and outside of Middle ESK Moor, there’s a message for us all in todays’ Gospel reading to do with the work we do each day. We’re called to be good as well as competent. There’s an extra responsibility that demands the commitment shown by the good shepherd: a care for those around us; a willingness to show integrity, and honesty, to go the extra mile. That’s what makes the difference between the ones who are just doing a job because they’re being paid to do it, and those who are fulfilling their calling - whatever that might be. And I put it to you that we’re all quite adept at being able to recognise that difference in others. But do others see that difference in us? Do our family and close friends see that difference in us? I wonder if we fall short on this whole good shepherding thing with those that we’re closest to? We might be impatient and intolerant, we might not acknowledge that we’re tired, we might allow our poor behaviour to let us down.

The good shepherd had to return home at the end of his tiring day in the fields and on the moors: Jesus clearly wouldn’t have suggested that the good shepherd could then forget his principles and cease to care for others — to drop an attitude of care and love. There’s a message here for all of us, and certainly for me. I fall short and can be irritable and not very ‘good’ with those closest to me. Just ask Sam or Amy or Zoe!

The picture that Jesus gives of the shepherd of his day is one that still applies to us, whatever our work and occupation. The concept of good work, done with honesty and integrity, is one that we can recognise. We can contrast it with jobs that are done grudgingly, without a sense of commitment and enjoyment. And we might think of ‘good’ versus ‘not-so-good’ shepherds here. Are we good or not-so-good? Can we choose to be better shepherds?

Those who choose to follow the teaching of Jesus, the good shepherd, should work and live to share God’s love abundantly. These are virtues that we can show in our churches, in our daily work and in our homes. In each of these places there’s a deep need for God’s love. In our churches we know instinctively that we should be one: one within each worshipping community, one within our different groupings (Church of England and with other denominations), and one within the whole Church of God. In our daily lives, in all those different aspects of our existence, we know instinctively the need for truth and healing. And in our homes, we know instinctively the need for honesty and purity.

All of us who try to follow Jesus are taught that we need to have, in every part of our lives, the qualities of the good shepherd. Those qualities enable us to share God’s love.

Amen

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The Reverend Anthony Bennett

Interim Minister – the Benefice of Middle ESK Moor