April 29, 2012

“Knowing the Good Shepherd”

Psalm 23; John 10:9-18

Introduction

Remember the ad from the ’70s and ’80s? “When E.F. Hutton talks, people listen.” Not anymore. That brokerage house has been defunct for a quarter-century and was briefly part of the old Lehman Brothers empire.  Brands of various goods and services spend so much time and money getting into our psyches. This year’s Superbowl ads cost $3.5 million for 30 seconds. “Capital One... what’s in your wallet?” DIRECT TV – “Don’t end up in a roadside ditch.” COCA COLA – “Open happiness.” The all-new CHEVY Sonic – “Let’s do this.”  
Or which news and commentary channel do you watch? CNN, FOX, PBS, ABC, none of the above? Do you have favorite newspaper columnist? Favorite author? Preacher? Professor? Website? In other words, when so-and-so talks, do you listen?
      In the Gospel of John chapter 10, several times questions of listening, paying attention, following, being influenced by are emphasized.  Jesus said, “The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out… his sheep follow him because they know his voice… they do not recognize a stranger’s voice; the sheep have not listened to them… I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me… I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. They too will listen to my voice.”

I. A Shepherd’s Calling? Or Just a Job?

    When Jesus says, “I am – I am the Gate,” and “I am the Good Shepherd”, he is doing two things. He is inviting people into his flock, into the community of faith, into what we properly call “the church;” and he is promising to be the One who protects, nurtures, shelters, and feeds his flock. One becomes a Christian by trusting in Jesus Christ as Savior. “Whoever enters through me will be saved,” said Jesus. And one lives the Christian life by trusting in Jesus Christ as Lord. “I have come that you may have life, and have it to the full.”
    On the subject of sheep and shepherds, Jesus certainly remembers the beauty of Psalm 23: “The Lord is my shepherd,” and the drastic prophecy of Ezekiel 34: “The word of the LORD came to me: ‘Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: “Woe to you shepherds of Israel who only take care of yourselves! You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally… Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD: I will remove them from tending the flock… I myself will search for my sheep and look after them… I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel… I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak… I will shepherd the flock with justice.” This is what the Sovereign Lord says, “I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd.” Jesus claims this messianic message as his own. Jesus is both Gate and Shepherd.
As a pastor, as a shepherd, as a gatekeeper for this congregation, I can only point people to Jesus. I can only preach Christ. I can only pray with and for the members, friends, and families of 1st Pres in and through Christ. I can only be an authentic pastor having myself entered the fold through Christ. For “the Lord is my Shepherd… he leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.”
    Jesus said, “The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice.” Only when you hear this gatekeeper, this preacher open the Gate before you, that is, preach Christ, only then should you listen. If I get off track (and sometimes I do…), listen for when I get back on (and I think I usually do…). Beware of those who climb in another way. There are many religious thieves and rip-off artists in the world. Israel was led way off the track and so can the church.  
One pastor/theologian wrote this: “Every claim in the past or in the present to give life except through Jesus is destructive of life.” Again Jesus said, “I am… I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” One of our church’s declarations of faith affirms it this way: “Jesus Christ, as he is attested for us in Holy Scripture, is the one Word of God which we have to hear and which we have to trust and obey in life and in death” (Declaration of Barmen 1934). Living a life of devotion to Jesus Christ through Christ-centered preachers and teachers is the goal of being in the fold.

II. The Death and Life of the Good Shepherd

     “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me… they listen to my voice.” Have you come to know Christ? Do you know the sound of his voice?
    Not long ago, a Palestinian woman lost her husband in a conflict with Israel. Soon after, she asked permission to call her sheep out of a huge mass of sequestered, detained animals. A hesitant Israeli officer quipped how impossible it would be to find her small flock among the hundreds in the pen. He agreed to let her try. The woman’s son began playing a simple tune on a small reed flute. Soon sheep heads began popping up across the pen. The woman and young boy walked home to that tune followed by their flock of 25 sheep. Each flock of sheep is apparently attuned to a very particular, unique-to-itself voice or sound. And Jesus is playing on that theme throughout his Shepherd Sermon.
    As we continue the Easter-Springtime-Resurrection season, the Lord wants us to hear his Word. “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep… The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again.”
    Jesus gave his life for us. He died, yes; and rose again for you and for me to free us from the destructive voices that seek to win us over. Our own sin and rebellion have been forgiven through his sacrificial death (a bit ironic, isn’t it? That sheep whose lives were often sacrificed for the - small “s” shepherd, now have the Shepherd with a capital “S” sacrificed for them). “We are his people, the sheep of his pasture,” says Psalm 100. “I lay down my life.” We have a shepherd who loves us so.

Conclusion

    As we come to the Lord’s Supper this morning, listen for his voice. Give praise to the Shepherd-Savior who gave his life for us. Rejoice in his resurrection knowing that in Christ we too will die and rise again. “I have come that you may have life, and have it abundantly. Friends, this is the joyful feast of the people of God…