Sermon for Good Shepherd Sunday

Easter 4 (Good Shepherd Sunday)
April 25, 2010
John 10:22-30
Unsnatchable

In the name of the Great Shepherd of the sheep, Jesus, amen. What a beautiful name for Jesus is given to us this morning. Names are so important. Parents give children a name, and when you have a name, there is the identification that you belong to someone, you are part of a family. When children are made fun of by their peers, even rejected by them, those children know they are accepted and loved by their family. They know they are safe and will find protection from their parents’ loving hands.

The disciples of Jesus were living in a hostile world. So Jesus reminds them that he knows them by name and will keep them safe from all harm. As surely as the disciples were living in a hostile world and needed the sweet consolation of Jesus, so we need to be comforted that our Good Shepherd calls us by name and keeps us safe in the hands of the heavenly Father. That is a protected place and we cannot be snatched from that blessed place.

Jesus’ sheep will always be under attack. The world is hostile to the message of love, forgiveness, mercy, and service. The world does not want to hear the Gospel imperative to serve your neighbor, the world wants to hear when they will be served. Don’t tell me to love others, tell others to love me! The disciples of Jesus will move into the world proclaiming the name of Jesus and in return the disciples will be mocked and martyred.

Strangers, thieves, robbers, and wolves represent the world in John 10 because they seek to draw the disciples away from Jesus and his words. Strangers offer children candy and toys to lure them into danger. Strangers offer Christians unbiblical messages of wealth and glory and power to lure them away from the Gospel message of the Bible. Wolves scare the sheep with their sharp teeth and horrifying howls and the sheep run away in panic. Wolves howl at Christians and in panic, Christians run from the cross rather than to it. Christians are lured away from their Shepherd. They are chased away by false shepherds. They are not tended by the compassionate Shepherd who binds their wounds and anoints them with healing oil.

Living in that world without a shepherd was a terrifying thought. There would be no direction, no safety net. Strangers would deceive them. Thieves would snatch them away. Without a shepherd, the sheep would only wander the way of death. The thief comes to kill and steal and destroy.

This is our world, not merely the world of Jesus’ first disciples.

Every day the Word and will of Christ is demonized- hatemongers, narrow-minded, closed-minded even, backwards, unthinking, homophobic, and many other such characterizations. In our newsletter this morning is a page that highlights the ongoing ministry of A Rose and a Prayer, a Christian pro-life organization. Show that page to some of your acquaintances, family, neighbors, or coworkers and chart the various reactions. Good for you! Shame on you! That’s great! That’s awful!

Every minute we are tempted by the world to follow false Christs- gods of our bellies, prophets of prosperity, theologies devised and crafted by men! How many Christians are deceived by the notion that if they only give enough to the ministry then God will ‘solve’ their woes? Without a shepherd, we’d quickly fall prey to any of these worldly views.

Jesus loved his disciples. He still does. And He promised that He would always keep the disciples under the care of the great Shepherd, himself. Through His Word, the Good Shepherd calls his disciples by name. He knows us, for good or for ill. We know His voice and we follow him. Through His Word, the Good Shepherd saves and gives life abundantly to those whom He calls.

The Good Shepherd calls to us and we follow. The Good Shepherd keeps us safe in this world. This space is cool pasture. We are able to eat and drink, laugh and learn, rest and be energized. In our homes the Good Shepherd provides us with the same things as we pray with our families, as we find moments of rest and energy, as we learn that God’s protection hovers over us.

The Good Shepherd cares for us, so much so that he lays down his life for them in order that he would save his sheep. We are saved from the false prophets. We are saved from eternal death. We are saved in order to proclaim the wonderful deeds of our Good Shepherd.

The Good Shepherd saves us to deliver us into the unsnatchable place. We know the Son, and to know the Son is to know the Father. Jesus is the voice the Father has given us to hear, and we hear Jesus’ voice every time the pastor speaks God’s Word to us. Beloved, those are hard words to say for I know my faults, imperfections, and sins. But the Word of God has such power that in spite of how grievously I fail you, God’s Word is the voice of Jesus for all of us.

In the same way, when we see Jesus loving, healing, caring, speaking kindly, touching gently, we understand what the Father is like. We know the pure love of God the Father, Son, and Spirit for his people, his people that often wander and go astray.

As our Good Shepherd, the Son speaks to us, not in words we cannot understand, not impersonally. Our Shepherd speaks to us, by name. He knows our fears. He knows what scares us and what confuses and He addresses all of those things.

Our sin terrorizes us because of the separation it creates. Sin cuts us off from the people we love because we know how selfishly, greedily, and unlovingly we have acted. Our Shepherd binds up our wounds and applies the salve of his forgiving blood. He cleans us up, strengthening us to follow in the way of the cross, strengthening us to seek forgiveness from the ones we have hurt.

Our Shepherd calls us by name and tells us, often gently, sometimes forcefully, to follow. Jesus leads us in the way of our baptism. In baptism our parents declared what our name was. In baptism, God declares the other name we have- the name of Christian. God knows both our names. He knows our given name. He knows each of us that personally. And even more, he knows our baptismal name. He knows that we are baptized into Christ. God knows that our baptism does not make us perfect. It does not mean that we will do the right thing at the right time all the time. Being baptized and wearing the name of Christian means that we know our sin and that we know our savior.

We have a shepherd, which is great because we have someone who cares us, who seeks us out and protects us in the midst of a dangerous world. We rest secure in the hands of our God, safe in the knowledge that no one can snatch us from that blessed place. SDG