Every Wednesday we invite you to Pause & Pray with us. Today’s Pause and Pray is written/curated by Elliot Weidenaar.

Image: From Monastery Icons

Scripture:

John 10:14-6

As Lent draws to a close we are faced with a Jesus who knows full well what is coming. He will die. Throughout this chapter in John they reiterate that they are the one who consistently and willing lays down their life. But in these verses we are faced by another Jesus— a Jesus who proclaims an inclusive multi sheepfold world. Jesus is the good Shepard. Their relationship with the first person of the trinity is not be of the driving factors in this passage, a loving invitation from parent to child to protect their beloved sheep.

In this moment so many of us are overwhelmed by attacks on our bodies, livelihoods, and dreams. Immigrants, especially black and brown immigrants, are facing dangerous conditions and unpredictable situations. Queer people and women are facing profound restrictions in their access to healthcare and self determination. The poor are having what economic means and hope they had under neo-feudalism being ripped out from underneath. And when any or all of these particularities combine it becomes impossible to breathe.

And while we walk the road to the cross it can feel as if the cross story is or has become meaningless. But for me it is in this moment that it feels all the more prescient. The good Shepard, the second person of the trinity, gathers together many sheep from many sheep folds, just as many grapes make up their blood and many grains make up their body. We too are invited into knowing that we are not alone. Across the history of the church others have faced these dangers. Even Christ themselves, a brown queer person who lived under the most dangerous empire in human history, felt these fears. But that being is also the good Shepard who stands with us yesterday, today, tomorrow, and throughout all days.

Prayer: God who calls themself the good Shepard, grant us in this moment the peace that passes all understanding so that we might be vessels for your gospel of faith, hope, and love. Amen.

Listen:

Through the echoes by Paolo Nutini.