Last Sunday after Pentecost, 2017: Proper 29A

1^st Reading:  Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24

After criticizing Israel’s shepherds (kings) in 34:1-10, God proclaims himself as the good shepherd who will re-gather a flock that has been scattered and abused. Among the sheep there will be some in need of judgment. The sheep need to be “fed with justice,” meaning that they must both be re-taught just living and are in need of justice given their past abuse by the bad shepherds. Finally, in line with the theme of shepherd and sheep, there will be a ruler in David’s line to come, David being with whom the shepherd image began.

^34:11 For thus says the Lord God:  I myself will search for my sheep, and will seek them out. ¹² As shepherds seek out their flocks when they are among their scattered sheep, so I will seek out my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places to which they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. ¹³ I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses, and in all the inhabited parts of the land. ¹⁴ I will feed them with good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel shall be their pasture; there they shall lie down in good grazing land, and they shall feed on rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. ¹⁵ I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will make them lie down, says the Lord God. ¹⁶ I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with justice. ²⁰ Therefore, thus says the Lord God to them: I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.  ²¹ Because you pushed with flank and shoulder, and butted at all the weak animals with your horns until you scattered them far and wide, ²² I will save my flock, and they shall no longer be ravaged; and I will judge between sheep and sheep. ²³ I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. ²⁴ And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them; I, the Lord, have spoken.

Psalm 100

Psalm 100 is the quintessential psalm of thanksgiving. It has long been a fixture in Morning Prayer in the tradition of The Book of Common Prayer, where it is known as “The Jubilate” (see pp. 45, 82). Notice the metaphor of sheep, of frequent use in the Hebrew Scriptures (see especially Psalm 23 and today’s first reading).

1   Be joyful in the Lord, all you lands; *

                  serve the Lord with gladness

                  and come before his presence with a song.

2   Know this: The Lord himself is God; *

                  he himself has made us, and we are his;

                  we are his people and the sheep of his pasture.

3   Enter his gates with thanksgiving;

     go into his courts with praise; *

                  give thanks to him and call upon his Name.

4   For the Lord is good;

     his mercy is everlasting; *

                  and his faithfulness endures from age to age.

Or this

Psalm 95:1-7

Psalm 95 is one of a series psalms (Beginning with Psalm 93) to praise God in his role as Creator and King. It has long been a fixture in Morning Prayer in the tradition of The Book of Common Prayer, where it is known as “The Venite” (see pp. 44, 82).

1   Come, let us sing to the Lord; *

                let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation.

2   Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving *

                and raise a loud shout to him with psalms.

3   For the Lord is a great God, *

                and a great King above all gods.

4   In his hand are the caverns of the earth, *

                and the heights of the hills are his also.

5   The sea is his, for he made it, *

                and his hands have molded the dry land.

6   Come, let us bow down, and bend the knee, *

                and kneel before the Lord our Maker.

7   For he is our God,

     and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. *

                Oh, that today you would hearken to his voice!

2^nd Reading:  Ephesians 1:15-25

This passage may reflect an early Christian hymn, proclaiming the exaltation of Christ over the whole creation, including the Church.  Like in our first reading, at the end is emphasized that we remain his Body on earth.  In us lies the mission of his purpose to “fill all in all,” that is, as the Catechism of The Book of Common Prayer says, “to restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ” (p. 855).

^1:15 I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, and for this reason ¹⁶ I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. ¹⁷ I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, ¹⁸ so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, ¹⁹ and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. ²⁰ God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, ²¹ far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. ²² And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, ²³ which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

Gospel Reading  Matthew 25:31-46

The last of the parables in Matthew’s Gospel, often called the parable of the sheep and the goats, might be better termed, “The Judgment of the Nations.” That alone is an important detail of the story. It is “the nations” that are being judged, not individuals. There is also the implication that this parable is intended for the Gentiles (whereas the previous parable was meant for the Jews, or at least their leaders). “The nations” is the same word that will end this Gospel (the disciples being sent to “the nations,” 28:19). The main point, however, will certainly be for all Jesus’ followers: our treatment of one another is our treatment of Jesus himself.

^25:31 [Jesus said,] “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. ³² All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, ³³ and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. ³⁴ Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; ³⁵ for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, ³⁶ I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ ³⁷ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? ³⁸ And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? ³⁹ And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ ⁴⁰ And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’ ⁴¹ Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; ⁴² for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ ⁴⁴ Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?’ ⁴⁵ Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ ⁴⁶ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

The Scripture quotations (except for the psalm) are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and are used by permission.  All rights reserved.  The Collect of the Day and the Psalm translation are from The Book of Common Prayer.  Commentaries are copyright © 2017 Epiphany ESources, 67 E. Main St., Hornell, NY 14843. www.EpiphanyEsources.com. All rights reserved. Permission is given to copy for congregational use with this attribution.