The One Shepherd
Preaching
Preaching the Parables
Series II, Cycle B
The Good Shepherd parable comes on the fourth Sunday of Easter. While it is located in the Gospel before the crucifixion, it interprets the meaning of the events. The message enables the church to see them not as unrelenting tragedy and failure but as signs of victory and hope.
The key interpretation is not that the enemies of Jesus were in control by their ability to take his life. Rather it is that Jesus by an act of the will of God could lay down his life for his followers and take it up again. Their mission is to continue as his flock under his leadership as eternally present. They are to identify his other sheep and bring them into his flock.
The full meaning of the "I am the Good Shepherd" claim could not be understood by the disciples prior to Easter. At that time they could only think of it as pertaining to his earthly ministry. The extension of it into an unlimited future could only be understood by them and by us because of the Easter event. It is as they and we look back at it from beyond Easter that the full import of the claim becomes clear.
Context of the Lectionary
The First Lesson. (Acts 4:8-12) Even though Jesus was crucified the contention with his enemies continued. In this passage Peter asserts that the healings which the apostles performed were actually accomplished by the power of Jesus Christ, whom his enemies had had crucified but whom God had raised from the dead. Peter further made the bold claim that salvation, the fullest meaning of healing, was only possible according to the very being of Jesus Christ.
The Second Lesson. (1 John 3:16-24) The writer of 1 John picks up a theme from the parable of the Good Shepherd. He affirms that Jesus laid down his life for those who follow him. That places upon them the obligation to obey his commands, the primary one being the commandment to love. That love is defined in the final analysis by the example of Jesus, who served others to the extreme extent of giving his life willingly for them. His eternal presence enables his followers to obey the command to love in the same manner as he loved.
Gospel. (John 10:11-18) The parable of the Good Shepherd contains the statement by Jesus that an evidence that he is the shepherd is his readiness to lay down his life for the flock. Furthermore, he also has the power to take it up again. That sets him apart from the others who also acted in the past as shepherds when kings were also called shepherds.
Psalm. (Psalm 23) This Psalm of assurance was surely part of the basis for Jesus' claim to be the good shepherd. In light of the identification of the Lord as a shepherd, the claim to be the good shepherd lays claim to divinity on the part of Jesus. It is the resurrection which validates his claim.
The Context of the Gospel Lesson in John
We need to be aware that the parable of the Good Shepherd comes at the approaching climax of the conflict between Jesus and his detractors. The Gospel according to John develops the theme of increasing popularity of Jesus among the common people contrasted with increasing hostility from the leaders of the institutionalized religion of his day.
A central sign for Jesus, according to John, was the expulsion of the man born blind whom Jesus had healed (John 9). It was the growing and persistent acknowledging of Jesus as the Christ that led the man born blind to be expelled from the synagogue. Jesus then fully realized the depth of the opposition to his ministry and its impact on those who accepted him as the authentic agent of God, as the Messiah.
Jesus shifts the focus of his concern to a larger field. He is concerned for his disciples. But he is not limited to the small group close to him or to others who were ready to follow him because of his teaching and healing. He looked beyond with a larger vision to all those who stood in need of salvation.
Context of Related Scriptures
Genesis 49:24 - Joseph's greatness supported by the Shepherd.
Numbers 27:16-17 - Moses appoints a successor as a shepherd.
Psalm 78:52-53 - Moses seen as a shepherd.
Isaiah 40:11 - The Suffering Servant as a shepherd.
Jeremiah 23:1-4 - The shepherds who scatter contrasted with the Lord who gathers the sheep and raises the shepherd.
Ezekiel 34 - Israel's false shepherds contrasted with God as the true shepherd.
Micah 2:12 - God's assurance that he will gather a remnant as sheep into a fold.
Matthew 10:16 - Disciples are sent like sheep amidst wolves.
Mark 14:27 - Jesus sees the disciples scattered like sheep when the shepherd is struck.
John 21:15-19 - The straying sheep return to the shepherd.
1 Peter 2:25 - The straying sheep return to the shepherd.
Content
Precis (John 10:11-18)
Jesus makes one of his "I am" claims. They appear frequently in the Gospel according to John. Jesus claims to be the good shepherd. He proceeds to define the good shepherd as one who lays down his life for the sheep. It is also implied that he is actually the owner of the sheep. The good shepherd who owns the sheep is contrasted with the hireling who, when he sees danger approaching, abandons the sheep and flees. When a shepherd flees in the face of dangers, some of the sheep are killed and the others are scattered.
Jesus proceeds to an analogy about the mutual knowledge between those who belong to him and his knowledge of them arising from the mutual knowledge between himself and God, referred to as the Father. He also extends the scope of his sheep beyond the disciples to whom the parable is addressed. He has other sheep as well. They are those who listen, with implications that they also obey and follow him.
Jesus concludes with an assertion of the voluntary nature of his death and his ability to recover his life. He makes the claim because he has been told to do so by God.
Thesis: The good shepherds are the ones who will readily lay down their life for the sheep.
Theme: Those who belong to Jesus are those who hear his teachings, obey them, and follow him.
Key Words in the Parable
1. "Good." (v. 11) The term indicates fitness for the task. It implies that Jesus is the model shepherd.
2. "Shepherd." (v. 11) A shepherd is one who cares for us by nourishing and protecting his sheep. He will do so even though it costs him his life. Therefore he can be trusted regardless of what happens.
3. "Hired Hand." (v. 12) The hireling only does the job because he is paid to do it, not because he really cares for the sheep. In the context of the time it referred to the leaders of Judaism who only took care of the people as long as they were paid to do the job and were not threatened by adversaries. From this, in part at least, the Quakers did not pay their leaders of meeting a fixed salary but only gave them gifts toward their support, for fear that they would become hirelings. They referred to the state church pastors as hirelings.
4. "Knows me, know the Father." (v. 15) For Jesus, God was not an abstract being or an intellectual concept. The knowledge of each for the other arises from an I-Thou relationship of personal interaction. It was not merely an I-It relationship. It was also a tenderly mutual affair.
5. "Other Sheep." (v. 16) In the claim of Jesus to have other sheep Paul and others found authorization to include Gentiles in the church. The criteria for inclusion is not genealogy but the readiness to accept the lordship of Jesus.
6. "Fold; Flock." (v. 16) The term fold tends to put the emphasis on the place. The term flock shifts the emphasis to the persons. It is not where the sheep are, such as in Israel, but who they are, that is, obedient followers of Jesus.
Contemplation
Issues and Insights
1. The Divinity of Jesus. The so-called "I am" passages of John are assertions supporting the claim that Jesus was of divine nature in a special way. In this parable or extended metaphor John is asserting the basis of Jesus' divinity as arising from a special relationship. He was intimate with God as a son to a father.
Jesus not only had perfect knowledge of the Father so that he had a kind of intellectual unity with him. He also was in perfect obedience to the will of God. Ultimately it is God who is the giver of life. Jesus was ready to let that life be taken away in obedience to his mission as the Christ. Because he was fully aware of God's power over life he believed that he could receive it again.
2. The Call to Belong to Jesus. If we claim to be Christian it places a special demand upon us. We are to enter into the same kind of personal relationship with Jesus that he had with the Father. It means that we know fully his intentions and his will so that we partake of his nature in ourselves.
The demand is not to know a set of propositions or a list of rules to follow. We do not live according to the law. It is rather to know a person so completely that our will is in unity with his. In that sense we also partake of a measure of divinity. We have given our life into his hands because we trust that only through him do we have the power to give up our life and receive it back again. Then we experience life in its fullest realization.
3. Self-Sacrificing. The first law of life for those who do not trust their life to the power of God is to preserve their life. Any measure is justified to maintain their life. They are like the hired hands who ask that they perform only so long as they are paid for doing the job and can save their own skin.
Jesus calls his followers to be shepherds rather than sheep and good shepherds in the sense that he was. We are to care enough for people that we are ready to let our life be taken rather than abandon them. So sacrificial living for others is the first law of life. It is not in preserving our life at all costs that we are followers of Jesus. It is our readiness to let it be taken in obedience to God's will that we receive life in its fullest.
4. Who are the Wolves, Robbers and Thieves? The early church lived in the midst of persecution. The passage about the danger to the sheep from attack was very real to them. That was especially the case in the time when the leaders of the church were specifically targeted for persecution in the attempt to eliminate Christianity. They knew who their adversaries were. To have the message that the good shepherds were those who gave their life for the sheep rather than abandon them was a great strength and comfort.
Most western Christians live in situations where they are seldom threatened with loss of life for being Christian. The dangers are more subtle but just as real. They come from threats to our readiness to follow Jesus completely. The threats are in the false values that are propagated as giving the real meaning to life. We are assailed with the notion that serving self, that striving for comfort, that avoiding even the slightest pain or suffering is what life is about.
Any threat to our standard of living is offered as the wolves, robbers and thieves. Thus an illegal immigrant is a person to be rejected. A person of another race or ethnic group is to be hated. So we are to fight any relinquishing of our national interest or sovereignty for the welfare of the larger global society so that other people who are in dire straits may have a better life. Any question about our status as number one in the world requires that we spend more for sophisticated weapons and a stronger armed force to enhance our security.
Are not these the assumptions and values that enter into the fold and scatter the flock today?
5. The Role of Leadership. Two differing styles of leadership can be observed. One is to exercise power and dominion over people. It uses force to make people do what they don't want to do. It seeks power and benefits for self-aggrandizement. Such leadership generates resentment and hatred. It usually ends up hurting people and causing injustice. Such leaders drive people from behind with threats and punishment. It tends toward tyranny.
Another type of leadership is the shepherd-servant style. It assumes the burdens of people. It demonstrates by a life lived at a level above the flock what should be done to achieve higher purposes. It relieves the hurts and pains of the followers. It invites people to follow because they want to do so rather than forcing them by fear and threat.
Jesus as the suffering servant and the good shepherd provides a model for Christian leadership.
Homily Hints
1. The Good Shepherd. (v. 11) The sermon could deal with how Jesus exemplified the Good Shepherd.
A. How Jesus Related to His Disciples
1. Inviting to follow
2. Teaching and supporting
B. How Jesus Related to Those Outside the Flock
1. Healing the Syro-Phoenician woman
2. Forgiving the tax collectors
3. Healing the Roman nobleman's child
C. How Jesus Related to God
1. Perfect understanding of God's will
2. Obedience even unto death on the cross
2. I Know the Father. (v. 15) Examine the issue of how we know the Father.
A. Through the Life of Jesus
B. Through Others who Know God
C. By Cultivating the Presence of the Holy Spirit
3. One Flock, One Shepherd. (v. 16) What is the ecumenical vision? How do we relate to Christians of other traditions? What is the nature of Christian unity?
A. Openness to listen to the beliefs and needs of others
B. Ready to testify to the truth we hold firmly
C. Humility about the certainty of our position; ready to listen to firmly-held beliefs of others
D. Separation only when others reject us and our position
4. Heed My Voice. (v. 16) How can we heed the voice of Jesus speaking to us today?
A. Steep Oneself in Scripture about Jesus
B. Be Sensitive to the Hurts and Pains of People
C. Seek to be Faithful to Jesus' command in Word and Deed
5. The Sheep Are His Own. (v. 14) The importance of the Christian community to identify itself as the Body of Christ.
A. The Community Forgiven and Being Forgiven by Christ
B. The Community Carrying forward Jesus' Ministry of Teaching, Preaching, and Healing
C. The Community Inviting Others to Come into the Fold
6. Validating Belief. (vv. 11-18) Jesus says he is the Good Shepherd because he is willing to go to the extreme measure of giving his life for his sheep.
A. Validated by Obedience to Christ - even under persecution and threat
B. Validated in Upholding And Protecting Others - tending to the welfare of the neighbor
C. Validated by the Test of Love - even for the enemy
Contact
Points of Contact
Vulnerability. People are very vulnerable. A television ad points out the fragility of life. It points out that persons can only live two or three months without food, a few days without water and only a few minutes without air. It then asks how long a person can live without love. The image of the shepherd is of one who cares for the sheep, a particularly vulnerable animal. Contrary to other animals which have sharp teeth or fangs, claws with talons, or other means for aggression or defense, a sheep has very little in the way of means for inflicting injury on another or defending itself. They need a shepherd to care for them.
People need to know that at the heart of the universe there is care for the person. Jesus' identification of himself as a shepherd points to a God who is compassionate and caring. Persons often fall short of their own self-image. They know that they have not lived up to the best that is in them. If God is harsh, judgmental, and condemnatory, people will fear him. If God is characterized more as a caring shepherd, they can know that despite their failures and tendency to stray from being their best they can still be accepted and try anew.
One of the strongest reasons for opposition to Jesus was his claim to forgive sins. The good shepherd extends hope of forgiveness to vulnerable people. They receive his care and compassion. The good pastor (the Latin word for shepherd) will extend that kind of caring and support to people aware of their failures and vulnerability.
A Global Mission. Two concerns may be addressed from this passage. They deal with Jesus' statement that he has other sheep not of this fold. The disciples understood from this statement that it was for them to gather the persons who were outside the fold. That gave the impulse for missions. In a culture that values diversity and pluralism the issue of evangelism and missions is one which needs new consideration and vision.
The so-called "white man's burden" for inferior cultures and more primitive people no longer gives impetus for missions. Many of the cultures which are not heavily influenced by Christianity are quite sophisticated today. The level of culture in a country such as Japan is quite advanced. The people generally enjoy a high standard of living and longevity of life. Do they still need to be brought to Christianity to know the fullness of life? Is it enough that they are adjusted and satisfied with their religious understandings? The mission work of many denominations is suffering today because church members no longer feel the same impulse for missions that they did a century ago.
The same question can be raised about how you evangelize in a culture and society that wants to emphasize the value of diversity. The melting pot image is no longer the dominant one in American society. Perhaps the image of the variegated colors of a patchwork quilt is the dominant one.
Only as we experience the joys and security of the Christian life can we invite other persons to join us in the fold, to come to Christ and his church. It is not necessary to put down the values that people already have in order to engage in evangelism and missions. It is rather to offer to them even more and greater values in the personal knowledge of Christ's compassion and love that offers to people an even fuller meaning and experience of what life should be.
Illustrative Materials
1. Laying Down Life for Others. Raoul Wallenberg, a Lutheran, was a Swedish diplomat in World War II. He used his post in Hungary to aid 30,000 Jews to escape persecution and death from the Nazi party. Just before the Soviet Union invaded Budapest, he persuaded the Nazi officials not to execute 70,000 other Jews and so saved their lives. He was captured by the Russians, who claimed he was a spy for the Americans. He almost certainly suffered death himself in a Soviet prison. What happened to him and why he suffered from the Soviets rather than from the Nazis is not clear. It is, however, clear that he was a good shepherd who gave his life for people who were different from him religiously and who were the object of hatred, fear, and destruction by others.
2. Hirelings, Robbers and Wolves. A number of television evangelists have been exposed recently as betraying their office as a shepherd or pastor. Jim Bakker engaged in a scheme which essentially defrauded many people who thought they were investing in security for their old age with a Christian organization. His downfall came when he let his sexual desires consume him.
Others have disclosed that their interest was really for serving their own needs rather than the flock which they gathered through their radio and television ministries. They served their own needs with lavish living and immorality while they presented themselves as pastors concerned for others.
3. Giving Life For Other Sheep. Corrie ten Boom tells the story of her family's efforts to save Jews from the Holocaust during World War II in the Netherlands. (The Hiding Place, by Corrie ten Boom with John and Elizabeth Sherrill. Carmel, New York: Guideposts Associates, Inc., 1971.) She and her family, who were Dutch Reformed Christians, worked through much of the war at great risk to themselves to hide Jews. Eventually they were discovered, arrested and sent to concentration camps. Corrie ten Boom survived after much suffering to tell the story, but her father and sister both died in the camps, giving up their lives in the attempt to save others.
The key interpretation is not that the enemies of Jesus were in control by their ability to take his life. Rather it is that Jesus by an act of the will of God could lay down his life for his followers and take it up again. Their mission is to continue as his flock under his leadership as eternally present. They are to identify his other sheep and bring them into his flock.
The full meaning of the "I am the Good Shepherd" claim could not be understood by the disciples prior to Easter. At that time they could only think of it as pertaining to his earthly ministry. The extension of it into an unlimited future could only be understood by them and by us because of the Easter event. It is as they and we look back at it from beyond Easter that the full import of the claim becomes clear.
Context of the Lectionary
The First Lesson. (Acts 4:8-12) Even though Jesus was crucified the contention with his enemies continued. In this passage Peter asserts that the healings which the apostles performed were actually accomplished by the power of Jesus Christ, whom his enemies had had crucified but whom God had raised from the dead. Peter further made the bold claim that salvation, the fullest meaning of healing, was only possible according to the very being of Jesus Christ.
The Second Lesson. (1 John 3:16-24) The writer of 1 John picks up a theme from the parable of the Good Shepherd. He affirms that Jesus laid down his life for those who follow him. That places upon them the obligation to obey his commands, the primary one being the commandment to love. That love is defined in the final analysis by the example of Jesus, who served others to the extreme extent of giving his life willingly for them. His eternal presence enables his followers to obey the command to love in the same manner as he loved.
Gospel. (John 10:11-18) The parable of the Good Shepherd contains the statement by Jesus that an evidence that he is the shepherd is his readiness to lay down his life for the flock. Furthermore, he also has the power to take it up again. That sets him apart from the others who also acted in the past as shepherds when kings were also called shepherds.
Psalm. (Psalm 23) This Psalm of assurance was surely part of the basis for Jesus' claim to be the good shepherd. In light of the identification of the Lord as a shepherd, the claim to be the good shepherd lays claim to divinity on the part of Jesus. It is the resurrection which validates his claim.
The Context of the Gospel Lesson in John
We need to be aware that the parable of the Good Shepherd comes at the approaching climax of the conflict between Jesus and his detractors. The Gospel according to John develops the theme of increasing popularity of Jesus among the common people contrasted with increasing hostility from the leaders of the institutionalized religion of his day.
A central sign for Jesus, according to John, was the expulsion of the man born blind whom Jesus had healed (John 9). It was the growing and persistent acknowledging of Jesus as the Christ that led the man born blind to be expelled from the synagogue. Jesus then fully realized the depth of the opposition to his ministry and its impact on those who accepted him as the authentic agent of God, as the Messiah.
Jesus shifts the focus of his concern to a larger field. He is concerned for his disciples. But he is not limited to the small group close to him or to others who were ready to follow him because of his teaching and healing. He looked beyond with a larger vision to all those who stood in need of salvation.
Context of Related Scriptures
Genesis 49:24 - Joseph's greatness supported by the Shepherd.
Numbers 27:16-17 - Moses appoints a successor as a shepherd.
Psalm 78:52-53 - Moses seen as a shepherd.
Isaiah 40:11 - The Suffering Servant as a shepherd.
Jeremiah 23:1-4 - The shepherds who scatter contrasted with the Lord who gathers the sheep and raises the shepherd.
Ezekiel 34 - Israel's false shepherds contrasted with God as the true shepherd.
Micah 2:12 - God's assurance that he will gather a remnant as sheep into a fold.
Matthew 10:16 - Disciples are sent like sheep amidst wolves.
Mark 14:27 - Jesus sees the disciples scattered like sheep when the shepherd is struck.
John 21:15-19 - The straying sheep return to the shepherd.
1 Peter 2:25 - The straying sheep return to the shepherd.
Content
Precis (John 10:11-18)
Jesus makes one of his "I am" claims. They appear frequently in the Gospel according to John. Jesus claims to be the good shepherd. He proceeds to define the good shepherd as one who lays down his life for the sheep. It is also implied that he is actually the owner of the sheep. The good shepherd who owns the sheep is contrasted with the hireling who, when he sees danger approaching, abandons the sheep and flees. When a shepherd flees in the face of dangers, some of the sheep are killed and the others are scattered.
Jesus proceeds to an analogy about the mutual knowledge between those who belong to him and his knowledge of them arising from the mutual knowledge between himself and God, referred to as the Father. He also extends the scope of his sheep beyond the disciples to whom the parable is addressed. He has other sheep as well. They are those who listen, with implications that they also obey and follow him.
Jesus concludes with an assertion of the voluntary nature of his death and his ability to recover his life. He makes the claim because he has been told to do so by God.
Thesis: The good shepherds are the ones who will readily lay down their life for the sheep.
Theme: Those who belong to Jesus are those who hear his teachings, obey them, and follow him.
Key Words in the Parable
1. "Good." (v. 11) The term indicates fitness for the task. It implies that Jesus is the model shepherd.
2. "Shepherd." (v. 11) A shepherd is one who cares for us by nourishing and protecting his sheep. He will do so even though it costs him his life. Therefore he can be trusted regardless of what happens.
3. "Hired Hand." (v. 12) The hireling only does the job because he is paid to do it, not because he really cares for the sheep. In the context of the time it referred to the leaders of Judaism who only took care of the people as long as they were paid to do the job and were not threatened by adversaries. From this, in part at least, the Quakers did not pay their leaders of meeting a fixed salary but only gave them gifts toward their support, for fear that they would become hirelings. They referred to the state church pastors as hirelings.
4. "Knows me, know the Father." (v. 15) For Jesus, God was not an abstract being or an intellectual concept. The knowledge of each for the other arises from an I-Thou relationship of personal interaction. It was not merely an I-It relationship. It was also a tenderly mutual affair.
5. "Other Sheep." (v. 16) In the claim of Jesus to have other sheep Paul and others found authorization to include Gentiles in the church. The criteria for inclusion is not genealogy but the readiness to accept the lordship of Jesus.
6. "Fold; Flock." (v. 16) The term fold tends to put the emphasis on the place. The term flock shifts the emphasis to the persons. It is not where the sheep are, such as in Israel, but who they are, that is, obedient followers of Jesus.
Contemplation
Issues and Insights
1. The Divinity of Jesus. The so-called "I am" passages of John are assertions supporting the claim that Jesus was of divine nature in a special way. In this parable or extended metaphor John is asserting the basis of Jesus' divinity as arising from a special relationship. He was intimate with God as a son to a father.
Jesus not only had perfect knowledge of the Father so that he had a kind of intellectual unity with him. He also was in perfect obedience to the will of God. Ultimately it is God who is the giver of life. Jesus was ready to let that life be taken away in obedience to his mission as the Christ. Because he was fully aware of God's power over life he believed that he could receive it again.
2. The Call to Belong to Jesus. If we claim to be Christian it places a special demand upon us. We are to enter into the same kind of personal relationship with Jesus that he had with the Father. It means that we know fully his intentions and his will so that we partake of his nature in ourselves.
The demand is not to know a set of propositions or a list of rules to follow. We do not live according to the law. It is rather to know a person so completely that our will is in unity with his. In that sense we also partake of a measure of divinity. We have given our life into his hands because we trust that only through him do we have the power to give up our life and receive it back again. Then we experience life in its fullest realization.
3. Self-Sacrificing. The first law of life for those who do not trust their life to the power of God is to preserve their life. Any measure is justified to maintain their life. They are like the hired hands who ask that they perform only so long as they are paid for doing the job and can save their own skin.
Jesus calls his followers to be shepherds rather than sheep and good shepherds in the sense that he was. We are to care enough for people that we are ready to let our life be taken rather than abandon them. So sacrificial living for others is the first law of life. It is not in preserving our life at all costs that we are followers of Jesus. It is our readiness to let it be taken in obedience to God's will that we receive life in its fullest.
4. Who are the Wolves, Robbers and Thieves? The early church lived in the midst of persecution. The passage about the danger to the sheep from attack was very real to them. That was especially the case in the time when the leaders of the church were specifically targeted for persecution in the attempt to eliminate Christianity. They knew who their adversaries were. To have the message that the good shepherds were those who gave their life for the sheep rather than abandon them was a great strength and comfort.
Most western Christians live in situations where they are seldom threatened with loss of life for being Christian. The dangers are more subtle but just as real. They come from threats to our readiness to follow Jesus completely. The threats are in the false values that are propagated as giving the real meaning to life. We are assailed with the notion that serving self, that striving for comfort, that avoiding even the slightest pain or suffering is what life is about.
Any threat to our standard of living is offered as the wolves, robbers and thieves. Thus an illegal immigrant is a person to be rejected. A person of another race or ethnic group is to be hated. So we are to fight any relinquishing of our national interest or sovereignty for the welfare of the larger global society so that other people who are in dire straits may have a better life. Any question about our status as number one in the world requires that we spend more for sophisticated weapons and a stronger armed force to enhance our security.
Are not these the assumptions and values that enter into the fold and scatter the flock today?
5. The Role of Leadership. Two differing styles of leadership can be observed. One is to exercise power and dominion over people. It uses force to make people do what they don't want to do. It seeks power and benefits for self-aggrandizement. Such leadership generates resentment and hatred. It usually ends up hurting people and causing injustice. Such leaders drive people from behind with threats and punishment. It tends toward tyranny.
Another type of leadership is the shepherd-servant style. It assumes the burdens of people. It demonstrates by a life lived at a level above the flock what should be done to achieve higher purposes. It relieves the hurts and pains of the followers. It invites people to follow because they want to do so rather than forcing them by fear and threat.
Jesus as the suffering servant and the good shepherd provides a model for Christian leadership.
Homily Hints
1. The Good Shepherd. (v. 11) The sermon could deal with how Jesus exemplified the Good Shepherd.
A. How Jesus Related to His Disciples
1. Inviting to follow
2. Teaching and supporting
B. How Jesus Related to Those Outside the Flock
1. Healing the Syro-Phoenician woman
2. Forgiving the tax collectors
3. Healing the Roman nobleman's child
C. How Jesus Related to God
1. Perfect understanding of God's will
2. Obedience even unto death on the cross
2. I Know the Father. (v. 15) Examine the issue of how we know the Father.
A. Through the Life of Jesus
B. Through Others who Know God
C. By Cultivating the Presence of the Holy Spirit
3. One Flock, One Shepherd. (v. 16) What is the ecumenical vision? How do we relate to Christians of other traditions? What is the nature of Christian unity?
A. Openness to listen to the beliefs and needs of others
B. Ready to testify to the truth we hold firmly
C. Humility about the certainty of our position; ready to listen to firmly-held beliefs of others
D. Separation only when others reject us and our position
4. Heed My Voice. (v. 16) How can we heed the voice of Jesus speaking to us today?
A. Steep Oneself in Scripture about Jesus
B. Be Sensitive to the Hurts and Pains of People
C. Seek to be Faithful to Jesus' command in Word and Deed
5. The Sheep Are His Own. (v. 14) The importance of the Christian community to identify itself as the Body of Christ.
A. The Community Forgiven and Being Forgiven by Christ
B. The Community Carrying forward Jesus' Ministry of Teaching, Preaching, and Healing
C. The Community Inviting Others to Come into the Fold
6. Validating Belief. (vv. 11-18) Jesus says he is the Good Shepherd because he is willing to go to the extreme measure of giving his life for his sheep.
A. Validated by Obedience to Christ - even under persecution and threat
B. Validated in Upholding And Protecting Others - tending to the welfare of the neighbor
C. Validated by the Test of Love - even for the enemy
Contact
Points of Contact
Vulnerability. People are very vulnerable. A television ad points out the fragility of life. It points out that persons can only live two or three months without food, a few days without water and only a few minutes without air. It then asks how long a person can live without love. The image of the shepherd is of one who cares for the sheep, a particularly vulnerable animal. Contrary to other animals which have sharp teeth or fangs, claws with talons, or other means for aggression or defense, a sheep has very little in the way of means for inflicting injury on another or defending itself. They need a shepherd to care for them.
People need to know that at the heart of the universe there is care for the person. Jesus' identification of himself as a shepherd points to a God who is compassionate and caring. Persons often fall short of their own self-image. They know that they have not lived up to the best that is in them. If God is harsh, judgmental, and condemnatory, people will fear him. If God is characterized more as a caring shepherd, they can know that despite their failures and tendency to stray from being their best they can still be accepted and try anew.
One of the strongest reasons for opposition to Jesus was his claim to forgive sins. The good shepherd extends hope of forgiveness to vulnerable people. They receive his care and compassion. The good pastor (the Latin word for shepherd) will extend that kind of caring and support to people aware of their failures and vulnerability.
A Global Mission. Two concerns may be addressed from this passage. They deal with Jesus' statement that he has other sheep not of this fold. The disciples understood from this statement that it was for them to gather the persons who were outside the fold. That gave the impulse for missions. In a culture that values diversity and pluralism the issue of evangelism and missions is one which needs new consideration and vision.
The so-called "white man's burden" for inferior cultures and more primitive people no longer gives impetus for missions. Many of the cultures which are not heavily influenced by Christianity are quite sophisticated today. The level of culture in a country such as Japan is quite advanced. The people generally enjoy a high standard of living and longevity of life. Do they still need to be brought to Christianity to know the fullness of life? Is it enough that they are adjusted and satisfied with their religious understandings? The mission work of many denominations is suffering today because church members no longer feel the same impulse for missions that they did a century ago.
The same question can be raised about how you evangelize in a culture and society that wants to emphasize the value of diversity. The melting pot image is no longer the dominant one in American society. Perhaps the image of the variegated colors of a patchwork quilt is the dominant one.
Only as we experience the joys and security of the Christian life can we invite other persons to join us in the fold, to come to Christ and his church. It is not necessary to put down the values that people already have in order to engage in evangelism and missions. It is rather to offer to them even more and greater values in the personal knowledge of Christ's compassion and love that offers to people an even fuller meaning and experience of what life should be.
Illustrative Materials
1. Laying Down Life for Others. Raoul Wallenberg, a Lutheran, was a Swedish diplomat in World War II. He used his post in Hungary to aid 30,000 Jews to escape persecution and death from the Nazi party. Just before the Soviet Union invaded Budapest, he persuaded the Nazi officials not to execute 70,000 other Jews and so saved their lives. He was captured by the Russians, who claimed he was a spy for the Americans. He almost certainly suffered death himself in a Soviet prison. What happened to him and why he suffered from the Soviets rather than from the Nazis is not clear. It is, however, clear that he was a good shepherd who gave his life for people who were different from him religiously and who were the object of hatred, fear, and destruction by others.
2. Hirelings, Robbers and Wolves. A number of television evangelists have been exposed recently as betraying their office as a shepherd or pastor. Jim Bakker engaged in a scheme which essentially defrauded many people who thought they were investing in security for their old age with a Christian organization. His downfall came when he let his sexual desires consume him.
Others have disclosed that their interest was really for serving their own needs rather than the flock which they gathered through their radio and television ministries. They served their own needs with lavish living and immorality while they presented themselves as pastors concerned for others.
3. Giving Life For Other Sheep. Corrie ten Boom tells the story of her family's efforts to save Jews from the Holocaust during World War II in the Netherlands. (The Hiding Place, by Corrie ten Boom with John and Elizabeth Sherrill. Carmel, New York: Guideposts Associates, Inc., 1971.) She and her family, who were Dutch Reformed Christians, worked through much of the war at great risk to themselves to hide Jews. Eventually they were discovered, arrested and sent to concentration camps. Corrie ten Boom survived after much suffering to tell the story, but her father and sister both died in the camps, giving up their lives in the attempt to save others.
