Hi everyone,
Welcome to worship for this 4th Sunday of Easter, landing on April 26, 2026!
The bulletin for the service can be found here. You can use it to follow along with the order of worship, the words of the liturgy, as well as the full sermon. The words will also appear on your screen and the sermon is on this page below the video.
For an enhanced worship experience online, you are invited to have a lit candle in your space for the duration of the service, which can be extinguished near the end of the service when the altar candles are extinguished after the sending hymn. You are also welcome to participate in communion if you are comfortable, by having something small to eat and drink prepared for that part of the service. Further instruction will be given then.
May God’s loving voice speak to you love, joy, and peace, this day and always!
Loving God, sent to us your Spirit this day, to strengthen us, to increase our faith, and to renew our devotion to you, your teachings, and your Word, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Do you remember the Disney movie “The Little Mermaid”?
Not that unpopular live-action one that came out a few years ago that I still didn’t see, but the original animated version that came out in the late 80s/early 90s. If by chance you don’t know what I’m talking about, the movie is basically about this 16-year-old mermaid named Ariel, who has this typical teenager/parent relationship with her dad, King Triton. Ariel is completely infatuated with the surface world, even sings a whole song about it where she showcases her cavern with gadgets and gizmos a-plenty, whozits and whatzits galore, and at least 20 thingamabobs that she’s collected over the years from shipwrecks and I assume floating garbage that the humans left behind. Triton, however, hates the surface world and sees humans as these dangerous, barbaric fish-eaters that pose a threat to the mer-folk way of life. Still, Ariel continues to be this a wide-eyed wonderer and, unphased by her dad’s concerns, wishes to be, as per that song title, part of that world.
As fate would have it, Ariel saves from drowning this hunky human called Prince Eric, and completely falls head over heels for him. Her dad of course finds out and in a fit of rage, destroys Ariel’s carefully curated collection of gizmos and thingamabobs. So then in an act of rebellion, Ariel goes and makes a deal with Ursula, the Sea Witch, who temporarily makes her human so she can attempt to get Prince Eric to fall in love with as well. Only, Ariel’s part in this transaction, was to give up her voice. So she somehow has to figure out how she can win the heart of that beautiful prince in order to live the life that she had dreamed of for so long.
I know, kind of sounds like a typical Disney movie, but back then to an early-pubescent kid like me when it first came out? This movie was the bee’s knees. I mean, it was peak coming-of-age movie for me as not only was it funny and had a bunch of feel-good moments which I totally dig, but it really spoke to me as a rebellious kid myself. Not to mention that it was full of these bangers, like the classic “Part of Your World” song that I already mentioned, but also the award-winning reggae-style smash, “Under the Sea,” the sultry “Kiss the Girl” ballad, and of course the humorous seafood chef anthem, “Les Poisson” (hee hee hee, haw haw haw).
All that aside though, this movie goes deeper than we often give it credit for. While it sounds superficial with the very quick romance between Ariel and Eric, it offered a lot in the way of forgiveness, redemption, and grace. Yes, this is a cartoon movie about a mermaid who wants to engage in an inter-species relationship with a human, which I’m pretty sure is illegal. But as this Canadian-born Asian kid who mostly always felt like he didn’t fit in, The Little Mermaid gave me the groundwork to ponder who I am, wonder why I am, and maybe figure out what is it that I can do.
I think we get a bit of that from today’s text out of John. As you may know, today is the 4th Sunday of Easter, which is also generally known as Good Shepherd Sunday. I’m not sure which came first, the day or the text, but every year on Good Shepherd Sunday we get a passage from John chapter 10, which describes Jesus as… you guessed it, the Good Shepherd. Or at least, some facet of his good shepherding nature.
In today’s case, Jesus states that he is the gate that leads into the fold and also the gatekeeper that holds the gate open for the Good Shepherd who also Jesus, as he calls the sheep by name. Anyone who enters around the gate or over the fence is but a thief and a bandit. It’s not a perfect metaphor, but we get the idea.
And sure, we might think, it makes enough sense. Listen for his voice, enter through the gate, follow the shepherd. Otherwise we’re thieves and bandits, right? Easy.
Or is it?
I mean, it was confusing enough that Jesus had to explain it a second time. He reiterates that he is the gate that we enter through, but he also explains how the thieves and bandits aren’t just the ones who didn’t enter through the gate, but they were already present in the fold and also calling the sheep. This means that they have a voice as well.
Suddenly things got a bit more complicated. I mean, now we have to listen specifically for Jesus. We have to learn to recognise him. We have to know the difference between his voice and the voice of the pretenders who might look and act and maybe even sound like Jesus, but simply are not him.
Not exactly easy anymore.
Going back to the Little Mermaid, I mentioned that Ariel had to give up her voice to be human and try to get Eric to love her without it. But what I didn’t say was that it was her voice that the hunky human already fell in love with when he heard her singing as she was saving his life, because why not? It’s a Disney movie. So he was looking for that voice when he met Ariel, but since she didn’t have one, he deduced that she wasn’t the girl he was looking for. Then to complicate things, the Sea Witch magically used Ariel’s voice to sound like her, and when Eric heard it, he recognised it as the voice he loves, and wanted to marry the Sea Witch right away. He was under a spell at the time as well, but whatever.
The point is that the voice sounded the same, but it was a different source. The voice sang the same song, but for a different reason. The voice was just as beautiful and alluring, but it gave a different message.
So how do we recognise Jesus’ voice? In a world that is so competitive with who can be the loudest and most heard, how can we know who to listen to? When we are inundated with different ideals, different methods, different gates, how can we know which is the right path? When so many voices sound the same, seem to come from the same places, and even give us the same messages that we might want to hear, how can we know which is Jesus?
Well, in the movie, the hunky human was looking for the voice, yes, but we see that he was still falling for Ariel, even when she couldn’t audibly communicate with him. He couldn’t hear her speak, but he could see her tenderness, he could feel her warmth, and he could sense the goodness in this person, even without her saying a thing.
See, a voice isn’t just audible.
But Jesus’ voice can be heard in the compassion that is shown to others. It can be seen in the humble service of neighbours and allies in our city and beyond. It is felt in the warmth and love that can be shared even amongst perfect strangers.
This is Jesus’ voice. Not one that promises us riches and power, but one that promotes grace and mercy. It’s not a voice that forces its way in to be heard, but one that speaks volumes through charitable action and welcome. It’s not a voice that demands our attention and respect, but one that invites us into community full of love and acceptance and allows us to live life abundantly.
See the gate that Jesus is talking about isn’t a difficult pathway through which we must traverse to get into the kingdom. It isn’t a set of goalposts through which we must score to win a prize. It isn’t a bunch of rules that we have to follow to earn a reward.
Rather, the gate is a way of living. It’s a way of seeing the world as through God’s eyes. It’s hearing, heeding, and following the voice of compassion, healing, and peace. My friends, this is the life to which we are called. This is the life that we are empowered to live. This is the life full of abundant blessing and love that speaks louder than any words.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
