The True Shepherd
Sermon
Sermons On The Gospel Readings
Series II, Cycle A
Object:
It's no wonder that the image of the shepherd was so frequently on the lips of our Savior. It's no surprise he used that illustration so often. For the image of a shepherd and the sheep was very much a part of Jesus' heritage and culture. Abraham, the father of the Jewish people, was the keeper of great flocks of sheep. Moses was called by God to be God's deliverer of the ancient Jewish people while living as a shepherd and tending the flocks of his father-in-law. And David, the greatest king of the Jewish nation, was a shepherd boy called from the fields when God selected him for service.
The imagery of the shepherd is deeply rooted in the history and tradition of the Jewish people and imprinted in the literature of the Israelites that Jesus studied. As a good Jewish boy, Jesus would have learned the Hebrew scriptures and there among those writings were example after example of God's love for God's people, often using the image of a shepherd and the sheep. Among the words Jesus would have known and treasured are the words we read today from Psalm 23. "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside still waters."
In fact, when the Old Testament prophet Isaiah spoke of the coming of the Messiah, he portrayed the Savior with the same image when he said, "He will feed his flock like a shepherd! He will gather his lambs into his arms." Yes, the tradition of the shepherd was very much a part of the heritage of Christ.
This picture of God as a shepherd who cares for the flock comes even more clearly into focus in the New Testament. Jesus once told a story about a shepherd who had 100 sheep, but one of them went astray. In our way of thinking, a 99% return on our investment would be fine, most desirable, in fact. But not for the shepherd. In Jesus' teaching, the shepherd leaves the 99 alone in the wilderness to go in search of that one lost sheep. Later, when Jesus was speaking to the crowds who flocked to him, the gospel writer, Mark, tells us that Jesus had compassion upon them because they were "as sheep without a shepherd."
Throughout the scriptures, this image of the shepherd and the sheep is scattered throughout. In our reading for today, the same picture is held up in front of us. Jesus again taps into this imagery when he refers to himself as the gate for the sheepfold -- as the one who leads the sheep to safety. For the next few moments, I'd like to have us ask ourselves: What does Jesus have in mind here? What is Jesus trying to teach us this morning with this talk of the true shepherd and the false shepherd? Well, the first thing we discover as we look at Jesus' words again is that we have a shepherd who cares for us.
United Methodist Pastor, Reverend Larry Daniel, is a well-known writer of Civil War novels and he tells a story on himself. He says, "I will never forget when I got my wife's engagement ring. Even as a college student, I was fascinated with the Civil War. In fact, during my senior year, I'd been saving up all the money I could to buy an antique musket, an 1864 US Springfield rifle. Oh, was it a beauty! Well, all that changed when I met my future wife. Instead of buying the gun, I decided to buy an engagement ring. The Bible verse that comes to mind is, 'Greater love hath no man than that,' because it wasn't an easy choice. I really wanted that gun, but I knew that if I didn't get her a nice ring, she'd be the one buying a gun!" After he had bought the ring, Pastor Daniel said to the jeweler, "Now, be honest with me. The deal is made. I can't back out of it. Can you really tell the difference between a real diamond ring and one of those cheap rings you see on the shopper's channel on television?"
"Well," the jeweler said, "come around here and look at this. I want to show you something." He put two rings under the jeweler's light -- the one that Larry had just bought and a cheap phony ring from a box below the counter and gave Larry his jeweler's eyeglass. "Look," he said. "Look at the cheap ring and then look at what you just bought." When he did, Pastor Daniel was amazed. The real diamond ring sparkled while under the light, under closer examination, while the counterfeit ring was dull and had no luster.
In the gospel reading, Jesus compares two shepherds. Outwardly they may seem the same. The skin of both is bronzed by the sun and weathered by the wind. They both wear a coat of sheep's wool to keep them warm at night. Both carry a shepherd's staff. But only one is a genuine shepherd and the other is a counterfeit. One is a shepherd in his heart; the other is a shepherd for hire.
On an ordinary day, you would never tell them apart. But let trouble approach, or let a pack of wolves appear, and the difference comes out. The counterfeit runs, because it is only a job to him. He has no ownership of the sheep. But the real shepherd stays. The real shepherd risks everything to protect his sheep. The real shepherd lays down his life for them. Isn't that what Jesus says in our text? "I am the true shepherd for I lay down my life for the sheep." For that is the difference between the real shepherd and the false one.
Now, this is good news. Here is God's word of grace for us today. Jesus says, "I don't care how much trouble comes your way; the good shepherd will never leave you. I don't care how difficult times become, the good shepherd will never desert you. I don't care how helpless, how hopeless, how hapless your life may seem, the good shepherd will always be at your side. He will not desert you in time of need. For the true shepherd lays down his life for the sheep."
But that's not all. As we look at this text, we see more. Jesus says the true shepherd knows his sheep. Sir George Adams Smith, the great Anglican church leader, tells of touring the Holy Land many years ago. One day on his travels, he saw several different groups of sheep converging together on a watering hole. Now, there will be trouble, he thought. They'll all get mixed up. The shepherds won't like this. But to his amazement, the shepherds gave it no thought. All the sheep came together and formed one big flock of sheep. They all looked alike -- a big mass of white wool. What will they do now? Smith thought. How will the shepherds ever separate them out? To his amazement, when they had finished drinking, each shepherd gave out a cry. Each let go his unique call, and almost by magic, the sheep divided back into their original folks. Jesus says to us, "I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me."
Tony Campolo loves to tell the story of a particular census taker who went to the home of a rather poor family in the mountains of West Virginia to gather information. He asked the mother how many dependents she had. She began, "Well, there is Rosie, and Billy, and Lewella, Susie, Harry, and Jeffrey. There's Johnny, and Harvey, and our dog, Willie." It was then that the census taker interrupted her aid said: "No, ma'am, that's not necessary. I only need the humans."
"Ah," she said. "Well, there is Rosie, and Billy, and Lewella, Susie, Harry, and Jeffrey, Johnny, and Harvey, and...." But there once again, the census taker interrupted her. Slightly exasperated, he said, "No, ma'am, you don't seem to understand. I don't need their names, I just need the numbers." To which the old woman replied, "But I don't know them by numbers. I only know them by name."
It strikes me as a rather comforting thought that the creator of the universe, the almighty God, and Father in heaven above knows me by name. He knows my situation. He knows my worries and cares. He knows my joys and sorrows. Oh, I know there may be those who scoff at this idea. There are those who would question the thought that the God of all creation would also be a caring shepherd. But isn't that what Jesus is telling us this morning? Isn't that what he means when he says, "I am the gate for the sheep. Whoever enters through me will be saved."
About a year ago, a murder took place in a small Mississippi town. The neighbors who were interviewed on the news were all shocked. It seemed impossible to them that the man next door would have done such a thing. "We knew these people," they said. "We knew what was going on in their lives. Or at least we thought we did." You see, that's the difference between God and us. God knows. We only think that we do.
But Jesus says more than that. Remember what he says? "The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. The watchman opens the gate for him and the sheep listen to his voice." Did we hear that? "The sheep listen to his voice." So the question before us today is, "Do we?" Do we listen to his voice? Do we know the voice of the shepherd? Are we reading his word? Are we speaking to him in prayer?
Have you ever seen the painting done in the 1930s of a dog, looking with a cocked head, at an old gramophone? The name of the painting is His Master's Voice, and it's a symbol of what Jesus is saying to us. "The sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out."
Now, I know there have been times in my own life when I haven't recognized the master's voice as I should have. There have been times when I've been too busy, too preoccupied, too centered on my own concerns. And frankly, there have been times when I was afraid to hear his voice; for I figured he'd have something to say that I didn't want to hear. Maybe you're like that, too. That's why Jesus says, "The sheep listen to his voice. He calls them by name and leads them out."
Some people know the sound of high finance. Others don't miss a word spoken by their favorite politician. Young people know the voices of rappers and all the lyrics from their favorite songs. But do we know the voice of the shepherd? In the verses that follow our text for today, Jesus makes it clear when he says, "I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me." This is a great word of promise and a great blessing for us. But we dare not hear it only in the Reader's Digest version that says only, "I know my own." Because the whole blessing of this verse comes in saying it through to the end, "I know my own and my own know me."
Do not miss that! I know my own and my own know me. We cannot know the voice of the shepherd if we do not listen for it. We cannot recognize the Father in heaven if we do not spend time in his house here on earth. We will never be sure of the good shepherd's presence if we do not live our lives with his flock. If the church is always just an option to us, just another activity in our busy schedule -- if worship is something we do only when there is nothing else scheduled -- if we do not set aside time in our daily living for prayer and Bible reading -- the voice of Jesus will always be the voice of a stranger and the promise and blessing of the shepherd will never be ours.
That's what Jesus' illustration of the gate is all about. It is by following the true shepherd into pastures of blessing that we truly find peace. It is by hearing his voice and following his leading that we go the right way. That's why Jesus says, "All who came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved." For the true shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
Isn't that what Easter is all about -- a shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep? A Savior who dies for the sinner? In using this illustration, Jesus points out the true nature of the cross. He reminds us that this is no exchange between equals. A shepherd dies for the sheep. A person sacrifices his life for an animal. The God of creation dies to redeem the wayward ones, and a Savior offers up himself for the world. That's what he means when he talks of being the gate through which the sheepfold passes.
A true shepherd comes that we might have life and have it in fullness. Through his leading we are saved. Through his death on the cross, we are redeemed and made children of God. For it is not enough that we simply remain sheep. It is not enough to wander about in life like a bunch of stupid lambs. Jesus calls us his children and asks us to be shepherds. He invites us to be the shepherd of the sheepfold in his place. He wants us to share God's love with one another and offer up our lives for something worth living.
Remember these words. I am the gate for the sheep. Whoever enters through me will be saved. For the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. In Jesus' name. Amen.
The imagery of the shepherd is deeply rooted in the history and tradition of the Jewish people and imprinted in the literature of the Israelites that Jesus studied. As a good Jewish boy, Jesus would have learned the Hebrew scriptures and there among those writings were example after example of God's love for God's people, often using the image of a shepherd and the sheep. Among the words Jesus would have known and treasured are the words we read today from Psalm 23. "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside still waters."
In fact, when the Old Testament prophet Isaiah spoke of the coming of the Messiah, he portrayed the Savior with the same image when he said, "He will feed his flock like a shepherd! He will gather his lambs into his arms." Yes, the tradition of the shepherd was very much a part of the heritage of Christ.
This picture of God as a shepherd who cares for the flock comes even more clearly into focus in the New Testament. Jesus once told a story about a shepherd who had 100 sheep, but one of them went astray. In our way of thinking, a 99% return on our investment would be fine, most desirable, in fact. But not for the shepherd. In Jesus' teaching, the shepherd leaves the 99 alone in the wilderness to go in search of that one lost sheep. Later, when Jesus was speaking to the crowds who flocked to him, the gospel writer, Mark, tells us that Jesus had compassion upon them because they were "as sheep without a shepherd."
Throughout the scriptures, this image of the shepherd and the sheep is scattered throughout. In our reading for today, the same picture is held up in front of us. Jesus again taps into this imagery when he refers to himself as the gate for the sheepfold -- as the one who leads the sheep to safety. For the next few moments, I'd like to have us ask ourselves: What does Jesus have in mind here? What is Jesus trying to teach us this morning with this talk of the true shepherd and the false shepherd? Well, the first thing we discover as we look at Jesus' words again is that we have a shepherd who cares for us.
United Methodist Pastor, Reverend Larry Daniel, is a well-known writer of Civil War novels and he tells a story on himself. He says, "I will never forget when I got my wife's engagement ring. Even as a college student, I was fascinated with the Civil War. In fact, during my senior year, I'd been saving up all the money I could to buy an antique musket, an 1864 US Springfield rifle. Oh, was it a beauty! Well, all that changed when I met my future wife. Instead of buying the gun, I decided to buy an engagement ring. The Bible verse that comes to mind is, 'Greater love hath no man than that,' because it wasn't an easy choice. I really wanted that gun, but I knew that if I didn't get her a nice ring, she'd be the one buying a gun!" After he had bought the ring, Pastor Daniel said to the jeweler, "Now, be honest with me. The deal is made. I can't back out of it. Can you really tell the difference between a real diamond ring and one of those cheap rings you see on the shopper's channel on television?"
"Well," the jeweler said, "come around here and look at this. I want to show you something." He put two rings under the jeweler's light -- the one that Larry had just bought and a cheap phony ring from a box below the counter and gave Larry his jeweler's eyeglass. "Look," he said. "Look at the cheap ring and then look at what you just bought." When he did, Pastor Daniel was amazed. The real diamond ring sparkled while under the light, under closer examination, while the counterfeit ring was dull and had no luster.
In the gospel reading, Jesus compares two shepherds. Outwardly they may seem the same. The skin of both is bronzed by the sun and weathered by the wind. They both wear a coat of sheep's wool to keep them warm at night. Both carry a shepherd's staff. But only one is a genuine shepherd and the other is a counterfeit. One is a shepherd in his heart; the other is a shepherd for hire.
On an ordinary day, you would never tell them apart. But let trouble approach, or let a pack of wolves appear, and the difference comes out. The counterfeit runs, because it is only a job to him. He has no ownership of the sheep. But the real shepherd stays. The real shepherd risks everything to protect his sheep. The real shepherd lays down his life for them. Isn't that what Jesus says in our text? "I am the true shepherd for I lay down my life for the sheep." For that is the difference between the real shepherd and the false one.
Now, this is good news. Here is God's word of grace for us today. Jesus says, "I don't care how much trouble comes your way; the good shepherd will never leave you. I don't care how difficult times become, the good shepherd will never desert you. I don't care how helpless, how hopeless, how hapless your life may seem, the good shepherd will always be at your side. He will not desert you in time of need. For the true shepherd lays down his life for the sheep."
But that's not all. As we look at this text, we see more. Jesus says the true shepherd knows his sheep. Sir George Adams Smith, the great Anglican church leader, tells of touring the Holy Land many years ago. One day on his travels, he saw several different groups of sheep converging together on a watering hole. Now, there will be trouble, he thought. They'll all get mixed up. The shepherds won't like this. But to his amazement, the shepherds gave it no thought. All the sheep came together and formed one big flock of sheep. They all looked alike -- a big mass of white wool. What will they do now? Smith thought. How will the shepherds ever separate them out? To his amazement, when they had finished drinking, each shepherd gave out a cry. Each let go his unique call, and almost by magic, the sheep divided back into their original folks. Jesus says to us, "I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me."
Tony Campolo loves to tell the story of a particular census taker who went to the home of a rather poor family in the mountains of West Virginia to gather information. He asked the mother how many dependents she had. She began, "Well, there is Rosie, and Billy, and Lewella, Susie, Harry, and Jeffrey. There's Johnny, and Harvey, and our dog, Willie." It was then that the census taker interrupted her aid said: "No, ma'am, that's not necessary. I only need the humans."
"Ah," she said. "Well, there is Rosie, and Billy, and Lewella, Susie, Harry, and Jeffrey, Johnny, and Harvey, and...." But there once again, the census taker interrupted her. Slightly exasperated, he said, "No, ma'am, you don't seem to understand. I don't need their names, I just need the numbers." To which the old woman replied, "But I don't know them by numbers. I only know them by name."
It strikes me as a rather comforting thought that the creator of the universe, the almighty God, and Father in heaven above knows me by name. He knows my situation. He knows my worries and cares. He knows my joys and sorrows. Oh, I know there may be those who scoff at this idea. There are those who would question the thought that the God of all creation would also be a caring shepherd. But isn't that what Jesus is telling us this morning? Isn't that what he means when he says, "I am the gate for the sheep. Whoever enters through me will be saved."
About a year ago, a murder took place in a small Mississippi town. The neighbors who were interviewed on the news were all shocked. It seemed impossible to them that the man next door would have done such a thing. "We knew these people," they said. "We knew what was going on in their lives. Or at least we thought we did." You see, that's the difference between God and us. God knows. We only think that we do.
But Jesus says more than that. Remember what he says? "The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. The watchman opens the gate for him and the sheep listen to his voice." Did we hear that? "The sheep listen to his voice." So the question before us today is, "Do we?" Do we listen to his voice? Do we know the voice of the shepherd? Are we reading his word? Are we speaking to him in prayer?
Have you ever seen the painting done in the 1930s of a dog, looking with a cocked head, at an old gramophone? The name of the painting is His Master's Voice, and it's a symbol of what Jesus is saying to us. "The sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out."
Now, I know there have been times in my own life when I haven't recognized the master's voice as I should have. There have been times when I've been too busy, too preoccupied, too centered on my own concerns. And frankly, there have been times when I was afraid to hear his voice; for I figured he'd have something to say that I didn't want to hear. Maybe you're like that, too. That's why Jesus says, "The sheep listen to his voice. He calls them by name and leads them out."
Some people know the sound of high finance. Others don't miss a word spoken by their favorite politician. Young people know the voices of rappers and all the lyrics from their favorite songs. But do we know the voice of the shepherd? In the verses that follow our text for today, Jesus makes it clear when he says, "I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me." This is a great word of promise and a great blessing for us. But we dare not hear it only in the Reader's Digest version that says only, "I know my own." Because the whole blessing of this verse comes in saying it through to the end, "I know my own and my own know me."
Do not miss that! I know my own and my own know me. We cannot know the voice of the shepherd if we do not listen for it. We cannot recognize the Father in heaven if we do not spend time in his house here on earth. We will never be sure of the good shepherd's presence if we do not live our lives with his flock. If the church is always just an option to us, just another activity in our busy schedule -- if worship is something we do only when there is nothing else scheduled -- if we do not set aside time in our daily living for prayer and Bible reading -- the voice of Jesus will always be the voice of a stranger and the promise and blessing of the shepherd will never be ours.
That's what Jesus' illustration of the gate is all about. It is by following the true shepherd into pastures of blessing that we truly find peace. It is by hearing his voice and following his leading that we go the right way. That's why Jesus says, "All who came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved." For the true shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
Isn't that what Easter is all about -- a shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep? A Savior who dies for the sinner? In using this illustration, Jesus points out the true nature of the cross. He reminds us that this is no exchange between equals. A shepherd dies for the sheep. A person sacrifices his life for an animal. The God of creation dies to redeem the wayward ones, and a Savior offers up himself for the world. That's what he means when he talks of being the gate through which the sheepfold passes.
A true shepherd comes that we might have life and have it in fullness. Through his leading we are saved. Through his death on the cross, we are redeemed and made children of God. For it is not enough that we simply remain sheep. It is not enough to wander about in life like a bunch of stupid lambs. Jesus calls us his children and asks us to be shepherds. He invites us to be the shepherd of the sheepfold in his place. He wants us to share God's love with one another and offer up our lives for something worth living.
Remember these words. I am the gate for the sheep. Whoever enters through me will be saved. For the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. In Jesus' name. Amen.
