May 8th, 2022 A Good Shepherd Belonging to Christ's Flock John 10:22-42
To begin with on this Mother’s Day I want to wish all Mothers, Grandmothers of all ages and God Mothers and very Happy and Blessed Mothers Day. Today also happens to be if you have not realized it yet “Good Shepherd Sunday.” This is actually Susan’s favorite Sunday of he whole church year, but this year she is not here as her daughters have made arrangements for a get away to Daytona Beach. So Pam Bardon is here this morning playing for us.
On this Good Shepherd Sunday we begin our sermon.
A couple retired to a small Arizona ranch and acquired a few sheep. At lambing time, it was necessary to bring two newborns into the house for care and bottle-feeding. As the lambs grew, they began to follow the rancher’s wife around the farm. She was telling a friend about this strange development. “What did you name them?” the friend asked her. “Goodness and Mercy,” she replied with a sigh. (1)
She was referring of course to a line in everyone’s favorite Psalm, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever” (KJV).
Our lessons for today from Scripture all refer to sheep or shepherds. It is probably the most familiar image in Scripture. God is a shepherd. We are God’s sheep. Sheep were important to the agricultural lives of the ancient Hebrews. That is perhaps why sheep are mentioned more than 500 times in the Bible, more than any other animal.
For King David, who authored much of the Book of Psalms, the metaphor of the sheep and the shepherd was an obvious way to think of our relationship with God. He had vivid memories of life as a young shepherd before he became a warrior and a king. Thus he begins his popular and beloved Psalm 23 with, “The Lord is my Shepherd.”
But David wasn’t the only Old Testament writer to use this imagery. The Prophet Isaiah used sheep to illustrate the waywardness of God’s people. Isaiah writes, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way.” Now you’re probably thinking, how did he know about us? He sure got us right. And, of course, this descriptive language is carried over into the New Testament, concerning Jesus. He is the ultimate Shepherd of God’s people as well as the unblemished, sacrificial Lamb of God.
Now, unless you’ve grown up on a sheep ranch or spent a lot of time at a petting zoo, you’re probably not all that familiar with sheep. In any case, you probably wouldn’t think that being described as a sheep is very flattering although, the truth is, sheep have more right to be offended by the comparison than we do.
Most of us probably prefer to think of ourselves as mavericks, too smart, too free-spirited and individual to go along with any herd. It’s natural, perhaps for Americans in particular, to celebrate qualities that are more characteristic of mules than of sheep. Sheep, unless someone is having a hard time getting to sleep, tend to be woefully under-appreciated.
When most of us think of sheep, we suppose them to be feeble-minded animals too stupid to think for themselves, and therefore apt to follow along with the rest of the herd, sometimes into dangerous or deadly situations. However, this image of the life of a sheep is based on a lack of understanding. When you really get to know a little bit more about sheep, you begin to realize that being a good sheep that is, a sheep that sticks with its flock and tries to remain close to the shepherd requires some basic qualities that are also essential to being a disciple or true follower of Jesus Christ. And, like the disciple of Christ, the sheep benefits greatly from belonging to the flock, gaining safety, guidance, nourishment, correction and care, as well as the opportunity to be useful and productive. Being part of the flock is the sheep’s equivalent of American Express membership has its privileges.
But membership also has its responsibilities. And in our more mule-like character, we are sometimes resistant to those responsibilities. It requires the work of the Holy Spirit to make us into the right kind of sheep to follow Jesus especially those of us who, if you don’t mind a bad pun, are seriously “hard-of-herding.”
We need to ask ourselves, what does being a good sheep require? How can we make sure we’re in the right flock, obeying the Good Shepherd instead of wandering off on our own or following a stray herd? What do we need to know and do as members of Christ’s flock? Let’s look at that for just a few moments.
Our lesson from John’s Gospel is set during the Festival of Dedication at Jerusalem. The Festival of Dedication is what we know nowadays as Hanukkah or the Feast of Lights. It’s celebrated for eight days in December.
Jesus is in the temple courts walking in Solomon’s Colonnade. Solomon’s Colonnade was a long covered walkway on the east side of the temple. As he walked, some inquiring Jews came up to him and asked, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”
Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”
Jesus says that he knows them individually. This is a beautiful picture of our relationship with God, each of us is known by God. Christ knows his sheep by name. He keeps loving us over and over, millennia after millennia, even when we reject his love. He is compelled to love us, even though we sin more than any people. That’s the first thing Jesus says about our relationship with the Shepherd. He knows us individually.
Jesus says the sheep listen to his voice. This relationship between the sheep and the shepherd is not one-sided.
A man in Australia was arrested sometime back and charged with stealing a sheep. But he protested that he owned the sheep and that it had been missing for many days. When the case went to court, the judge didn’t know how to decide the matter. Finally, he asked that the sheep be brought into the courtroom. Then he ordered the plaintiff, the man who had accused the man of stealing his sheep, to step outside and call the animal. The sheep made no response except to raise its head and look frightened. The judge then instructed the defendant to go to the courtyard and call the sheep. When the accused man began to make his distinctive call, the sheep ran toward the door and his voice. It was obvious that the sheep recognized the familiar voice of his master. “His sheep knows him,” said the judge. “Case dismissed!”
Let me ask you a question: is this imagery descriptive of your relationship with Christ? Do you listen to the voice of Christ? It reminds me of something Fred Rogers, “Mister Rogers” to many of you, once wrote. He said, “Listening is where love begins listening to ourselves, and then to our neighbors.” I believe Fred Rogers, in the proper context would have added, “As well as listening to God.”
I believe you will agree that most of us are great talkers when it comes to our devotional life, but poor listeners. We give God our orders for the day, but we are not committed to reverently listening to the orders God has for us. Christ says he knows his sheep, but then he adds, “and they listen to my voice.” Then he says his sheep follow him.
You can judge whether a person is a disciple of Christ by how well he or she follows. Many of us want the benefits of belonging to Christ’s flock to be known completely and intimately by God without the responsibility of listening to Christ and following him daily. We want to know him as our Savior without having him as our Master.
Jesus is well aware of our weakness and our waywardness, so he adds this final word of Grace: Christ says that no one can snatch his sheep from him. Nothing in all creation can come between us and our Shepherd.
There is a story from yesteryear that says it beautifully.
“The Lord is My shepherd.” Or as Jesus said, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”
Jesus, the Good Shepherd knows us by name. We are to listen for his voice and follow him, knowing that he will provide for every need. And nothing will every separate us from his love. This is his promise to his people, the sheep of his pasture.