Easter 4: Good Shepherd Sunday

Readings: Acts 2:42-47, 1 Peter 2:19-25 (sermon text), John 10:1-10, and Psalm 23.

These Sundays, being in Eastertide, are when the newly baptized are customarily instructed in the normal Christian life. Today, Peter exhorts slaves; however, why would they be suffering (as they were) for doing the right thing (as they were)? Serve even the unjust masters? Yet it is a gracious thing - according to His mercy, God has caused our salvation. For this reason, some think that 1 Peter was a baptismal sermon.

Follow Christ's example; He died a slave's death in our place, so we should be willing to become lowly to serve others. Even under persecution for the faith, remember that you are walking in and protected by Christ's footsteps, by His sacrifice as a Shepherd. Rejoice in your Savior!

A thought I have increasingly often: Given the incalculable majesty of God, His infinite grace, and the unspeakable sacrifice of His Son, why do we try to put words to praising Him for this? Our language falls so far short that sometimes I am, quite literally, wordless when I think about these things. Perhaps silence is in order more than most think it is.