readings 042626
Blessed be God.
Praise be to Jesus Christ, forever and ever. Amen.
Come, Holy Spirit—
fill us with joy,
set our hearts ablaze with Your presence.
My brothers and sisters,
When I was a young teenager,
the Baptist church I attended expected you to evangelize.
Knock on doors.
Invite people to church.
I hated it.
Not because I didn’t love God—
but because I didn’t know how to be that kind of bold.
And my mother…
Lord, she would hold me up against every other kid in that church.
“You should be like Johnny.
Susie is such an angel.”
But I knew the truth.
I had a couple of real friends—
the kind who knew my heart.
The rest…
they weren’t bad people,
but they had habits that could pull you off the path
before you even realized you were drifting.
And I had eyes on me everywhere.
My mother.
My father.
My coach—
who lived right across the street.
I couldn’t hide if I tried.
But then I got to college.
And like a lot of us…
I went a little wild.
Freedom can feel like a wide‑open pasture
with no fences
and no shepherd.
I remember one guy pulling onto campus
in a station wagon
packed with a keg,
hard liquor,
and girls.
He was ready to live it up.
He ended up playing in the NFL, the USFL—
and now he’s an evangelical minister
preaching Jesus with fire.
Because the Shepherd never stops calling His sheep.
Even the ones who sprint in the opposite direction.
Scripture says:
“Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.”
Not by hiding from the world—
but by running toward the Shepherd
who alone can save.
Peter stood up and cried out:
“Repent and be baptized…
and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
This promise is for you,
for your children,
and for all those far off.
And then Peter speaks the line
that shakes the soul awake:
“Let the whole house of Israel know for certain
that God has made both Lord and Christ,
this Jesus whom you crucified.”
Beloved…
that’s not condemnation.
That’s revelation.
Because the One we wounded
is the One who heals us.
As Saint Peter says:
“He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross,
so that, free from sin,
we might live for righteousness.
By His wounds you have been healed.”
We were all lost sheep.
We have all walked through dark valleys.
Every one of us.
Some of us wild.
Some of us pretending to be angels.
Some of us hiding behind good behavior.
Some of us hiding behind bad behavior.
But the Shepherd—
the Good Shepherd—
does not wait for perfect sheep.
He calls us by name.
He walks ahead of us.
He leads us out of the places
where we do not belong.
And the sheep follow Him
because they recognize His voice.
That is the heart of Good Shepherd Sunday.
Not that we are good sheep—
but that He is a Good Shepherd.
A Shepherd who goes after the lost.
A Shepherd who carries the wounded.
A Shepherd who stands at the gate and says,
“Come through Me.
Come into life.
Come into safety.
Come into grace.”
And maybe you’ve been the teenager
not bold enough to knock on the door
Maybe you’ve been the college kid
who ran a little wild.
Maybe you’ve been the one
who drifted farther than you meant to.
But hear this:
The Shepherd has not stopped calling your name.
He has not stopped walking ahead of you.
He has not stopped opening the gate.
We were all lost sheep.
But in Christ—
we are found,
we are forgiven,
we are led home.
Be good.
Be holy.
And preach the Gospel
by your life,
your forgiveness,
and your love.
Praise be to Jesus Christ, forever and ever.
Amen.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, Good Shepherd,call my heart back when it wanders.
Lift me when I fall
and heal me when I am wounded.
Guide me through every shadowed valley
until I rest in Your peace
and walk in Your love.
Amen.
