The most recognizable symbol to present-day Christians is the Cross. But it was not always so! During the first three centuries after the ascension of Jesus, one of the most prominent images of the Faith was that of the Good Shepherd. 

This image - from the ancient art of the Catacomb of Priscilla to the modern art of Shin Maeng - communicates simultaneous authority and humility. These are forms that can bear the weight of lost sheep, and yet they are forms that are familiar to us, ordinary even. 

The authority and humility we find in our Good Shepherd permeates Paul's Letter to the Philippians. The Christ Hymn of chapter 2 sits like the center stone, the focal gem, in the setting of this epistle. It will be a few weeks until we explore this passage more directly on a Sunday morning, yet already the hallmarks of the hymn, the character of Jesus, casts interpretive light in all of Paul’s writings. Jesus' power and humility give us imagination to picture the Shepherd as the one who will “carry” his good work in us on to completion (1:6)

I look forward to being together this Sunday, celebrating our Good Shepherd as we sit - and stand and kneel and serve - under His care. May “the kindness, the courage, the grace, the love, and the beauty of the Good Shepherd” find us this week, and make us ever more familiar with his voice and his loyal love.

Grace and peace,
Sarah+